Here’s the Best Detox Drink to Get Back on Track After a Day of Overeating

So you swore to yourself you'd only have a single helping, then went back for more gravy, stuffing and a heap of salad to make it "healthier." Or when cleaning up in the kitchen, you just had to sample the homemade pecan pie (homemade, or several fork-fulls of it. Whatever your Thanksgiving indulgences -- too much stuffing, biscuits, marshmallow toppings, pie...) today is a great day to start fresh and get back on track, and here at The Beet, we are with you every step of the way.

One thing to do: Get out of the house and get moving. If you already did, nice job. (We favor a morning swim, walk, yoga or stretch to just tell the body: That crazy behavior was so yesterday. Today we are back to being healthy, active and taking care of things the right way.)

Studies show that people who are consistently healthy eaters or move daily rarely gain weight from one blow out of an eating extravaganza. The "norm" wins, so if your normal behavior is to eat healthily and be fit and active, your body will let one day of crazy eating go, like the aberration that it was.

But if you want to "flush out" all the excess sugar, fat, calories and lose that heavy feeling after overdoing it, try this detox drink that uses natural plant power to help your body do its job. When we talk about detox, let's be clear: your liver, kidneys, bloodstream, and even lungs and pores are all elegant cleansing machines. The cells in your body take in fuel and return waste into the system to be flushed out by all your healthy organs. But you can feed those cells in a way that is helpful, and of course, stay away from the added sugar and unhealthy fats today in an effort to let them do their job. Just to signal: Today we are trying something new, you may want to forgo the coffee or caffeinated tea, and stick to this juice and water to give your body a momentary break from both sugar, fat, and caffeine.

Exercise: done. Junky food, stowed. Caffeine skipped.

Next up, add this easy cleansing "juice" drink to start your morning routine. We have seen and heard many different permutations on the ginger, pepper, vinegar solutions people use to detox. This is one of our favorites since it also adds natural fiber and sugar from an apple into the mix, and that amount of solid makes you feel full and activates the gut. Try this, and if you want to add some water to it, that makes it a little less thick. Mix one lemon, apple and ginger with a pinch of pepper to signal to the body to "start your scrubbing:"

• 1 apple
• 1 lemon (peeled)
• 1 inch of raw ginger (peeled)
• pinch of cayenne pepper