A Natural Detox Protocol

Ever since I finished The Cleanse, I've had people come up to me and ask for advice.  They say that they want to do a cleanse but don't want to purchase all the expensive supplements.  I tell them, "No problem! You can encourage healthy elimination and  increase detoxification with food!"

Reduce toxic load
The first step of cleansing is to reduce your exposure to toxins in your diet. These include processed foods, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, additives, dyes, caffeine, and alcohol.  Conventionally grown produce contains higher levels or pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and larvicides, so it is best to choose organic fruits and vegetables while cleansing.  If this isn't possible for your financially, I strongly suggest you at least purchase organic those foods listed on the Environmental Working Group's dirty dozen list.

If you think your symptoms might be linked to food allergies, it can also be helpful to eliminate the common allergenic foods wheat (gluten), dairy, eggs, and peanuts.  If you have joint pain, I also recommend avoiding nightshade plants (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers).

Increase detoxification
The body has several organs of detoxification, including the liver, kidneys, digestive tract, lungs, and skin.  The following foods and activities help these detoxification organs do their job better.

• Water. Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily.  In addition to helping your kidneys to produce more urine, which helps eliminate water-soluble toxins from the body, sufficient water also prevents constipation.

• Brassica vegetables.  Vegetables in the mustard family (Brassica oleracae) are very high in glucosinolates.  Glucosinolates are broken down, or metabolized, into isothiocyanates and indoles.  Indoles and isothiocyanates increase phase I and phase II liver enzymes, respectively, which help convert oil-based chemicals (which is most chemicals) into water-soluble compounds so they can be eliminated.

• Colorful, flavorful plants. The body creates some free radicals as a side effect of essential oxidation processes (like digestion).  While the body naturally produces some antioxidants to stop, or quench, the free radicals, you can help your body fight against additional, external free radicals (i.e. environmental toxins) by eating a diet rich in antioxidants.  Choose foods that are high on the ORAC scale (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), such as acai, wild blueberries, raw cranberries, English walnuts, plums, blackberries, raw garlic, raspberries, and herbs such as basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, ginger, cinnamon, and tumeric.

• Fiber. Dietary fiber from whole grains, fruits and raw vegetables encourages a soft stool and aids in elimination.  Once toxins are mobilized from fat stores, it is very important to get them out of the body!  Don't allow them to sit in your colon for 3 days.  Certain pre-biotic fibers, like inulin and FOS, feed healthy gut bacteria, which improves intestinal flora and elimination in general.

• Lean protein. The organs of detoxification need amino acids to make new enzymes and other protein-based tissues.  Choose cold-water fish, free-range chicken, beans or tofu.

• Sweat it all out!  Whether you are exercising vigorously or siting in a 180 degree sauna for 10-15 minutes, sweating is a great way to open up the pores in your skin and rid the body of toxins.

• Relax. The organs of detoxification work best when the body is well rested and relaxed.  Too much stress weakens all the body systems.  During your time of detoxification, treat yourself to a full body massage.  Maybe take a relaxing bath, adding a few drops of relaxing essential oils like lavender, chamomile, or sandalwood to the bathwater.  It is normal to feel a little tired while detoxing.  So be sure to allow yourself least 8 hours of sleep each night.

A snack to tide you over

I've been wanting to write about ways to detoxify without using expensive supplements, but I haven't had the time.  The article I want to write - on that is that perfect balance of humor and information - requires a small, but significant, amount of research that my crazy life has not allowed.

In the last week, I was offered a new job, drove to Ithaca (6 hours, each way) to see a long-lost friend, participated in a three-day online bulletin board, and helped nurse a sick boyfriend back to health.  I've had such little sleep, that I feel like God must be training me to be a new parent.

So please forgive me for not writing.  I promise to get back to a regular schedule soon.

Day 21: The Cleanse Is Over!

As I write this blog entry, I am sucking down my last smoothie and day dreaming about what I will eat tomorrow.  Yes, friends, today is my last day on the cleanse.  Hallelujah!

Earlier this evening, I weighted myself at the gym.  Sadly, I did not achieve the goal to maintain my weight.  I believe the only reason I ended up losing 2 pounds is because I got tired of forcing myself to eat all the time.  Seriously, there is a reason Weight Watchers awards fresh fruits and vegetables a PointsPlus^TM value of ZERO!  Another possible reason for the weight loss was because I tried to keep a normal schedule while on the cleanse.  This included rock climbing 1-3 times a week, running 1-2 times a week, and going out with friends on the weekends.  Although I tried my best to plan and bring enough food to sustain my long days - you should have seen the pile of to-go containers in my sink every night! - I sometimes ended up going hungry.

Friends have asked me if I feel any different, or any healthier, since beginning this journey.  I wish I could say that I feel ten times better and that all my previous bodily dysfunction has disappeared, but it hasn't.

Overall, I feel pretty much the same.  I have about the same amount of energy.  I still get tired at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, especially if I've been sitting all day.  I still get a headache when I don't eat enough food, or if I go too long without eating.  I still have chronic phlegm in the back of my throat (probably due to black mold in my rental house).  I still get blemishes on my skin.  Brassica vegetables still give me gas (more on this later).  The only noticeable change has been in the quality of my digestion.

My intestinal flora has definitely changed as a result of eating mostly fruits and vegetables.  At the beginning of the cleanse, it was very clear that my body had a difficult time digesting raw vegetables.  Now that I've reached the end, my digestive tract is doing a much better job at breaking down every last morsel of food and fiber.  I attribute this to an increased number of good bacteria helping my endogenous enzymes break down the food I eat.  We are not what we eat, we are what we digest, absorb and assimilate!

Over 33,000 species of bacteria live in the human digestive tract.  If we foster the growth healthy gut flora, these microbes help us digest our food and absorb nutrients.  They also help us ward off infections by training our immune system to fight against pathogenic invaders.

If you get a chance, check out the The Secret World of Microbes (National Geographic, Jan 2013 )

The Standard American Diet, high in sugar, white flour and processed foods, promotes the growth of pathogenic microbes like the bacteria E. Coli and the yeast candida albicans (candida overgrowth can result in vaginal yeast infections).  On the other hand, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and whole grains promotes the growth of good bacteria such as Lactobacillus (acidophilus) and Bifidobacteria.