In the animal kingdom, fall is all about one thing:
preparing for the harsh winter months ahead. After the fall equinox on
September 22, we humans would be smart to follow their lead. A
detoxifying cleanse will strengthen your body for the major changes in climate
and lifestyle that we make each year as winter approaches.
Ayurvedic and Chinese traditions and most indigenous
societies incorporate cleansing in the spring and the fall into their life styles.
Europeans embrace the concepts of cleansing regularly. In this country,
conventional medicine has been slow to appreciate the healing power of
cleanses. Fortunately, things are changing.
Ayurvedic fall cleanses are not so much to remove toxins as
to prevent the body from building up toxicity during the coming winter
months. This is a cleanse designed to strengthen the digestion and
cellular metabolism in order to best create and maintain healthy tissue. Read
more about Ayurvedic cleanses here.
Fall in
Chinese medicine is the time of the metal element, with emphasis on the mind
and breath. The lungs and colon are spotlighted during this time, serving
to take in vital energy from the harvest and release what is not needed. Read
more about Chinese fall cleansing here.
Naturopathic
and integrative medicines honor these traditions and take it a step further. Naturopathic physicians recognize that
the body has an innate ability to self-regulate and repair itself. However, in 2012 it’s easy for the body
to become overwhelmed by environmental toxins, processed foods, chronic stress,
pharmaceuticals, an imbalance in the healthy germs that live in our gut, and
unrecognized infections.
Depending on your genetics, nutritional status, health of your immune system, and
whether you have a fragile or a strong nature, you may be unaware of these
toxic influences or you may develop chronic illness. Many people simply will not have the energy, mental clarity
or reserve that they used to. Cleansing at
least twice a year will help to restore your body’s healthy balance.
A fall
cleanse will strengthen your cellular metabolism where all health begins. The cleanse will remove toxins that
compromise the optimal functioning of your cells. It will also enhance your liver’s ability to detoxify toxins
and your intestinal tract’s ability to eliminate toxins. This cleanse will strengthen your
digestion and restore a healthy balance of health enhancing bacteria in your
gut.
All cleanses use a combination of fasting, restricted diet, supplements,
exercise, massage, water intake, and colon cleansing. Sauna, chelation for heavy metals,
emotional cleansing, and many other aspects of cleansing will not be reviewed
in this article.
The fall cleanse utilizes foods that naturally are available
in the fall and addresses parasites that may have taken up residence in your
body while playing or working outside in the summertime.
Fasting: Start the cleanse with a lemon water or juice fast to
revitalize your digestive system by allowing the liver to take a break from
digestion and focus its energy on cleansing the rest of the body. While this
can be a helpful component of a cleanse, ask your doctor, dietician or
nutritional practitioner for guidance beforehand. Or read
7-Day Detox Miracle by Drs. Bennett and Barrie.
A common mistake is fasting for more than two days without
adding protein back into the diet. When fasting, the liver doesn’t have to
process food from the gut. It’s able to use its entire detoxifying capacity to
cleanse toxins from the blood that flows through it. BUT, the enzymes in each
liver cell, which actually perform the detoxification process, are made of
proteins. In a sense you burn
through these proteins over a two-day period. So, add a protein shake made of rice, hemp and/or green pea
protein back into your diet after 48 hours of a juice fast. This is different from Ayurvedic and
Chinese traditions. Since we live
in a polluted world and we are polluted people, it is a necessary modification
to traditional water or juice fasts.
Restricted Diet: After
the two-day fast, you may incorporate a variety of fall vegetables, some fall
fruits, cooked rice, and warming spices into your diet for another five days.
You may extend the cleanse beyond this if you like. The best diet for a fall
cleanse is one that is that is light, fiber-rich, unprocessed and well spiced. Cooked
vegetables are easier to digest. Roasted beets and sweet potatoes are an
especially nice combination if you are leery of beets. Beets are one of the
best foods to nourish your liver and relieve constipation. Juicing raw
vegetables and fruits make them more easily digested.
“Whole” juicing in a strong blender increases the fiber and nutrients compared to traditional juicers. Olive oil enhances detox. One ounce of olive oil and one ounce of lemon juice combined and shaken together (think: salad dressing), then consumed 30 minutes before breakfast are an excellent stimulant to produce and release bile.
“Whole” juicing in a strong blender increases the fiber and nutrients compared to traditional juicers. Olive oil enhances detox. One ounce of olive oil and one ounce of lemon juice combined and shaken together (think: salad dressing), then consumed 30 minutes before breakfast are an excellent stimulant to produce and release bile.
If you’re adventurous, an Ayurvedic dish--kichadi--is made
from basmati rice, mung dal, vegetables and spices. It's light and easily
digested, but it also meets most of your nutritional needs.
Do not stop your protein shakes while in this phase of the
cleanse. One to three servings a day will help you avoid a healing crisis. Again, our
livers need all the help they can get when trying to detoxify our polluted
bodies.
No caffeine, alcohol, wheat, sugar, processed foods, heavy
meats, dairy, food additives, corn, eggs, nuts, chocolate, coffee and black
tea. Yes this is tough. And it’s worth it. And it is only for a total of seven days
each fall.
Supplements: You can support your fall cleanse through common
herbs, like those in your kitchen cabinet, as well as with doctor-recommended herbal
supplements. Fennel, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and turmeric will
enhance digestion and liver detoxification. Cook with them or take them in pill
form. Take a good multiple vitamin pill with minerals and antioxidants. Take
extra vitamin C 500mg 3x/day. Milk thistle, alpha lipoic acid, and n-acetyl
cysteine (NAC) all support the liver detoxification process.
If you can’t take a multi because it causes nausea or
queasiness, at least take activated charcoal, vitamin C 500mg and milk thistle
capsules three times a day. Charcoal binds toxins in the bowel. Vitamin C helps to protect
the body from toxins as they move from storage depots in your fat and other
organs toward your liver. Milk
thistle enhances production of glutathione: your body’s most plentiful and
powerful antioxidant and detoxing agent.
Lastly, rebalance the germs in your gut by taking a variety
of probiotics. Around 25-50 billion CFU daily
are appropriate during a cleanse. Lactobacilli live in your small bowel and
Bifidobacterium live in your colon. If you’re adventurous, try making your own
fermented foods, which have enzymes and Lactobacilli. Visit www.tasteofhealing.com for more information on this.
Many other herbs or supplements are helpful in certain
circumstances. For example, black walnut hulls, wormwood and cloves are needed
if parasites are suspected.
Exercise: During a fall cleanse, exercise daily. Ideally, you
should break exercise into two periods: stimulating morning exercise and
restorative evening exercise. For example, taking a brisk walk every morning
and practicing calming yoga before bed each night is a great routine for a fall
cleanse. However, you can choose whatever activities work best for you.
Massage: Massage has an important role in cleansing. During the
cleanse, your body's purification systems are being activated—your digestive
system is alkalizing and removing toxicity and your liver is purifying your
blood and clearing lymph. Massage assists this process. For the treatment to be
most effective, have a massage performed by a professional massage therapist. This
also helps you relax and recharge mentally. However, if that's not an option, ask
a friend or do self-massage as a helpful alternative. If you're massaging
yourself, work from your toes and fingers toward your right collarbone. Or use
a dry brush on your skin to mobilize lymph.
Water Intake: Adequate water is critical to a cleanse. Drink
approximately one ounce of water for every two pounds of body weight. A
150-pound person should drink about 75 ounces of water each day. This includes
water in soup, juices and teas.
Colon Cleansing: This can be accomplished from the top down or
bottom up. Anyone who has had to prep for a colonoscopy knows it is possible,
though not pleasant, to “get cleaned out.” Gentler bowel stimulants like senna
or magnesium oxide are available. Sometimes enemas or colonics are needed to
release accumulated waste from the bowel. Coffee enemas are especially helpful to
support the liver in its detox function especially if it gets overwhelmed in
the cleansing process.
A Note about Healing Crisis
This may happen if you do not take the
recommended supplements, maintain excellent hydration, or have more toxins to
eliminate than you realized. You may experience headaches, fatigue, pain, brain
fog and other symptoms. If this happens, drink one to four glasses of lemon water and take
three to six activated charcoal capsules. Wait for 30 minutes. If you're not better, take a
coffee enema. Overall, increase your protein shakes. Get professional care if
you do not feel better with rest in 24 hours.
Getting Started
If you plan to undergo a fall cleanse, talk to your doctor
first. Cleanses aren't recommended for everyone—but they are beneficial for most
people. If you'd like customized recommendations for a cleanse, contact my
office at (336) 808-3627, extension 13, to request a consultation. Also join us on October 25 for a free seminar on on fall cleansing at Vaughan Integrative Medicine.
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