Spring Cleanse!
First of all, doing a cleanse is a good idea in our modern world. Even though our bodies were meant to endure difficult times and insults such as famines, droughts, bacteria and viruses, our organs of detoxification have never dealt with the load of heavy metals, plastics, agrochemicals, and food additives that are in our lives today. Because we have plentiful food, water, and access to antibiotics and medical care, we may not realise the dire condition our bodies are in at the cellular level. We go along drinking coffee for energy, riding our bikes in congested traffic (breathing car exhaust), and swimming in chlorine-filled pools for recreation (not to mention smoking, alcohol, and Little Debbie cakes). It's no wonder that the liver could use a little help every now and then.
The liver is one of the organs of detoxification - organs that take unnatural, unusable or dangerous substances out of the body. These substance can include free radicals, excess hormones, molecules and atoms that just don't belong, and waste products of inflammation, enzymatic processes, and cellular turnover. When the detox pathways are overwhelmed, waste products can embed in and around cells and interfere with normal function. One aspect of a cleanse is to decrease the amount of junk entering the body that needs to be detoxed, and the other part is helping the detox pathways get rid of junk that's trapped in your tissues.
Did you know that cellulite is one of the ways a body can protect itself from heavy metals? When the body can't get rid of a substance, it may try to wall it off somewhere out of the bloodstream. I've had friends tell me that they could never lose weight, but when they did a heavy metal detox, they lost fat without trying.
How are the heavy metals drawn out? Detoxification factors. Detox factors can be given in an IV with close monitoring by a doctor, but a safer at-home method can be a part of a cleanse through supplementation of detox factors in a smoothie or drink.
Water-only cleanses focus on the first aspect of the cleanse: eliminating toxins. With plain water we depend on the body's ability to find homeostasis and detox. While I think this is a good way to recover from serious problems such as diabetes, it should be closely monitored by a doctor. For average people without serious problems who won't need a doctor, a water cleanse will likely not have any long term health benefit. People either give up after a couple of days or go back to their normal diet when the cleanse is over. My uncle did a 40 day water only cleanse. He lost weight and looked great overall. But as soon as it was over, he went back to Diet Coke and his usual diet. His skin quickly became red again, he gained a little weight back, and a few years later, he died of a sudden heart attack.
Juice based cleanses provide glucose to keep the blood sugar up and vitamins to help with energy and organ health. This can help people stay on a cleanse because they won't feel as light-headed or hungry from low blood sugar. However, many people use too much fruit juice instead of vegetable juice, and this can feed candida--causing yeast infections, mucous build-up, and skin problems.
Raw food cleanses (eating raw foods only for a period of 3 or more weeks) keeps hunger at bay, eliminates toxins entering the body, provides vitamins and minerals for organ and skin health, plus raw food provides fiber to help eliminate any excess toxins, fats, or hormones from the body. If you are sensitive to raw food, it is Ok to lightly steam all vegetables while on a cleanse.
The cleanse we use in our clinic has the benefits of raw and steamed foods plus gives extra detoxification factors in the form of concentrated greens and a whey protein based shake. Whey provides cysteine, which the body uses to detox. You can substitute a rice powder for amino acids and take NAC in capsules to get the cysteine. The benefit of combining real food and food concentrates give the cleanse the ability to detox quickly as well as get you in the habit of eating vegetables and staying away from junk food.
The combination of food based meals plus shakes for snacks means you don't get hungry. Hunger is one of the most common reasons for giving up a cleanse in the first few days. We do a three week cleanse, which is the time needed to start a new habit. Your new habit could be eating more vegetables, staying away from certain foods, and having a smoothie recipe you can use as a healthy snack or quick meal replacement when in a hurry for the rest of your life. This may be the most important aspect of a cleanse--even more than losing weight and getting great skin.
Another popular detox aspect is laxatives. Gwenyth suggests drinking a half a cup of castor oil! eeewww! Could you really stomach that? This not only tastes bad, but it's a bad idea. No matter what type of laxative you use--epsom salt, castor oil, or herbs--your body will have an opposite reaction: constipation! Nothing can halt the healing benefits of a cleanse like constipation. Elimination is the last aspect of a cleanse. If you don't eliminate, you can reabsorb heavy metals and estrogens, and encourage gut dysbiosis. Some cleanses suggest getting colonics. While this may have health benefits, it can be expensive, embarrassing, and it doesn't encourage normal bowel function. We use more gentle forms of preventing constipation. Castor oil rubbed on the abdomen in a clockwise motion encourages peristalsis. Also, the feet can be massaged to stimulate the large intestine reflexes. This is much more enjoyable than either a colonic or a glass of castor oil, and you won't have to stay near a toilet all the time!
To get all the info on our wonderful health supporting cleanse, join one of my spring or summer group cleanses or to do an individual cleanse in office or long distance by contacting me at drwagnernd@yahoo.com
