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.