Paltrow New Year detox plan goes way beyond Christmas excess

Gwyneth Paltrow - a January detox is serious business. Photo / AP

For most people the prospect of a New Year health drive means little more than cutting back on the booze after a few too many festive sherries, or a shuffle around the park to counteract that extra helping of Christmas pudding.

But if you are Gwyneth Paltrow the prospect of a January detox is a decidedly more serious business - aimed less at tackling the effects of trifle or chocolate log than the poisonous chemicals feared to be hidden in everything from furniture treatments to rubber ducks in the bath.

The actress, one of the most devoted A-list proponents of a strict health and fitness regime, has offered the world her musings on the most effective New Year purge, complete with pureed garden weeds, "infrared sauna" sessions and, of course, colonic irrigation.

She has published a detailed January detox plan on her lifestyle website Goop, which is dedicated to "health, fitness, and the psyche". Her seven-day diet will, she hopes, help rid people not only of the extra pounds gained over Christmas but "heavy metals, fire retardants, and pesticides".

It extols the virtues of flax seeds, safflower oil and the "mild laxative" effects of eating dandelion leaves. Those recovering from festive overindulgence are advised to turn to chia seeds, liquidised almonds and kale.

But nutritionists warn that the recipes are likely to leave many people struggling to sleep from hunger - and could leave them facing a financial headache if they try to source ingredients such as "young Thai coconuts".

Paltrow explains that she turned to Bruce Lourie, an "environmental thought leader", to come up with something that would help people "not only drop some accumulated weight, but to get rid of some of the heavy metals, fire retardants, and pesticides in our systems, too".

Dr Carina Norris, a registered nutritionist, said: "There are an awful lot worse detox diets out there than this, but my view is it is just not necessary ... because if your liver and kidneys are in [good order], they are your detox organs."