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Cleanses & Detoxification Programmes
Introduction | What exactly are these toxins? | Speed of Elimination | Healing Crisis - What is it? | Regimes & Exercise | When Not To Cleanse | Excessive Detoxification | How to Plan a Detox | One and Three Day Cleanses | 28 Day Cleanses | Frequently Asked Questions Do Not Attempt If you are Pregnant, Breastfeeding, under 16 years, underweight, frail, diabetic or suffer any kind of glandular fever post viral syndrome type disorders. Seek professional assistance before commencing any cleanses if you have any hesitation as to the therapeutic benefit in your individual case. |
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Our bodies can literally die in their own waste if it is not eliminated. Many of us, even the very health conscious, need a Spring clean from time to time. Others need a more concentrated clear-out, following years of unhealthy eating and drinking habits, or sluggish metabolism and poor powers of elimination - perhaps all three! In order to build new healthy cells, old ones must be broken down and shed as quickly as possible. Whatever category you come from, the same rule applies for all: detoxifying must be paced - 'so cleanse a little, build a little, cleanse a little, build a little'. Taking a cleanse at your own pace is vital - so treat any doses and instructions as guidelines, only to be used in conjunction with your gut feelings. If you are a personality that can be intense and over motivated, step back a little and remember to go easy and nurture yourself through out the whole experience. If you are a more sedentary or un-focused individual, then allow yourself to be 'geed-up' a bit and push yourself a little harder, whilst still listening to your gut reactions. |
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They can be excessive mucus, abundant free-radicals, fungal and other infestations: in fact anything that blocks tissues and suffocates cells, causing stagnation and disease. Free radical damage is a common factor in chronic disease; these are irritants which cause tissue to inflame, blocking normal, free-flowing function at every level. Whatever the toxicity, and whatever the cause of it the effects can manifest themselves in many ways. Diabetes, diverticulitis, obesity, fatigue, immune weakness, sexual disorders, swollen joints, headaches and depression are all examples of this. Disease and functional disorder can develop when the digestive system is compromised, the bowel and liver are sluggish or the kidneys and respiratory system are under-functioning. Good health relies entirely upon a correctly functioning gastrointestinal tract, which assimilates nutrients from the food we eat and swiftly removes toxic substances. Because this area creates harmony and balance, it stands to reason that foods, or lack of them, can be the major mechanisms by which to heal. Herbs, exercise and hydrotherapy have a supportive role in healing and should be used alongside individually appropriate healing food programmes. |
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Speed of Elimination:It is important to keep in mind that 'fast elimination is not necessarily the best elimination'. Excessive toxins forced through a weak and under or active organ can result in overload and unnecessary crisis. If you stir up toxins faster than they can be shed then you may feel tired or unwell. Side effects like headaches, raised glands and nausea can reflect a toxin overload. Always drink plenty of water to make sure the job of shedding toxins is made easy. |
A critical rule to observe when detoxing is:
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The body's systems all have their own capacity, their own delicacy. A car engine doesn't run on jet fuel. Healing is the careful creative use of purifying elements. In a classic system, W. H. Cook described four groups and their relation to the foods and herbs relating to them:
From The Textbook of Modern Herbology by Terry Willard |
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How to Plan a Detox:Main Detox Components: Herbs - Water - Food - Exercise - Sleep AM - Take water (3/4 litre by 1 pm), herbs, food. PM - Take herbs, food, water (3/4 litre by 5 pm), exercise. Evening - Take herbs, water (1/2 litre by 9 pm), food, sleep. Herbs - will be covered in individual cleansing programmes. Water - at the beginning of your cleanse get in plenty of bottled still, spring water - or alternatively you can use a distiller. (For 'treats' buy yourself alkaline and naturally bubbling waters like Badoit). Consume not less than two litres daily - on top of herb teas. Take much more water according to body weight (this will mean four litres of water daily for some). Drinking these unusual quantities can be difficult for many, so it may help to have times by which amounts should have been drunk e.g. ¾ litre by noon, ¾ litre more by 5.00 pm and another ½ litre by 9 pm. For the purpose of ensuring a two litre per day intake, buying two litre containers can be an easy way to make sure the required amount has been drunk by mid-evening. Always keep the water at room temperature and don't drink it if you feel cold in wintry conditions - wait until you are warm. Food - Avoid dairy, wheat and meat. Eat more grains, vegetables and fruit as these provide fibres, remove acid forming components and change your body to a more healthy alkaline state. Adopt a Carol Vordeman style diet - her book Detox for Life could be a very useful purchase (160 pages ISBN: 0753507269 approx. £10.00.) Hints and Tips when Eliminating Certain Foods Exercise - To release the toxins the circulatory system must be invigorated. Just 20 minutes a day of heart pounding exercise is all that is needed. If this is not possible then try brisk (power) walking for ¼ hour to ¾ hour. Swimming, dancing, Yoga, pilates; anything will help according to your abilities. Any movement massages your organs and moves your internal systems to help eliminate and neutralise toxins quicker, and with less dis-ease to yourself. Sleep - you need more than usual when you are detoxifying, because the body is having to work that little bit harder and even take on tasks it's rusty at performing. Sleep is a great healer and rejuvenator. Sleep is normally a time when the bodies household tasks are undertaken as a matter of course, but with more work than usual to get through, more sleep is required. Historically we all used to sleep 10 hours; it is only in the last 100 years that this has become 8 hours (electric light invention, TV etc.) with that being shaved even shorter to 6 or 7 hours for many. Stock up on 10 hours and try and make this 12 hours at weekends! (Children and other caring and work duties permitting.) |
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A one day cleanse can be a gentle introduction to cleansing. One day is not usually sufficient to induce the effects of excessive toxin release; if you do feel uncomfortable in any way on the night of the cleanse, there is no need worry as you will feel fine after eating a meal the next day. Eating naturally prevents detoxification. A one day cleanse, for those with very congested organs, will be all some people can manage, because of the 'severity' of the detox could create strong headaches or even migraines. These can be so excessive that they become counter-productive. Do talk to the recipient and go very gently if the person is prone to migraine in particular. A short detoxification is usually very safe for anybody to try. Choose a day when you have to do little or no work either on that day or the next; Fridays or Saturdays are ideal. Choose the same day or days each month. The mind has a chance to rest and relax, as well as the body, and the detoxification makes eating afterwards all the more pleasurable! Firstly drink a glass of pure, organic prune juice or fresh plum juice and then purified water with a little cayenne, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice in it and add a teaspoon or more of olive oil in order to cleanse the toxins from the liver. This can be a little hard on an empty stomach. Drink lots of spring or distilled water to encourage the process. The next day, make your first foods fruit, then vegetables, building up to grains and the heavier proteins towards the end of the day. |
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These cleanses are generally more sedate and gentle to the body, providing a thorough clear out of the appropriate body system. It can be carried out during your normal day as part of everyday life and work. This may suit those who work shifts and find that the concentrated shorter cleanses are more complicated to accommodate. |
Superfood is a good addition to any cleanse
Click here for further details about this wonderful food drink |
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This is so called because it can feel like a physical and emotional crisis and it almost always accompanies a cleansing. This process should be supervised to ensure it is done correctly and to avoid any degeneration of an illness. It is in fact the body healing itself by expelling the excess toxins. It can look as though you are getting sicker because things can get worse and in some cases it may remind you of (or be exactly like) the worst times of any chronic illness or disease you have experienced. This stage should last at the most 3 - 4 days and never more than 7 days. This is a useful guideline to know in case someone is pursuing something that might not be a healing crisis. Many things can happen from a headache (very common) to aching limbs or extra spots, rashes, etc. But whatever form it takes, this as a sign that toxins and stagnant materials are leaving the body that were previously poisoning it. The liver and colon are major areas to be cleaned out and they can release years of toxicity that was keeping you sick. The bowel can easily seize up with the new regime unless careful advice and herbal help has been given, and so gentle laxatives are often needed to accompany the cleanse. Constipation at this stage is working directly against what you are trying to achieve. A healing crisis can be slowed down if it is too awful simply by eating cooked food and reducing the number of days the cleanse is done for. Do not feel you have 'failed' because of this but regard it simply as you need more time and experience to stay the course. Often the body is better off detoxifying in smaller, less strenuous amounts. Preliminary, one day cleanses, can provide a gentle start, slowly progressing to 3 days, or 5 days and longer at later dates, as you become more experienced and the body has less toxins to expel. Drinking water and lemon juice will flush the toxins through more quickly and within a few days the worst will usually be over. For the fit and able, extra exercise will help alleviate the headaches and body aches by increasing circulation, thus moving and expelling the toxins more rapidly. For those who are very sick and weak, who find exercise almost impossible or very debilitating, cold showers are a perfect substitute; alternatively try a little yoga - deep breathing helps the lymph system work more efficiently. The fit and able must do all of these. |
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It is important to remember that too many shocks and new regimes all at once can be a bit overwhelming for the body. Keeping a balanced overview during the cleanse will be vital. If you normally do very little exercise, be content with managing a twenty minute brisk walk each day as a good upgrade. Intense exercise can weaken the immune system making you more susceptible and vulnerable to immune weakness e.g. colds and other over exaggerated de-tox reactions. Limit excessive exercise routines; do ensure that your daily routine suits you. |
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Do Not Cleanse in any of the following situations:
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Excessive use of laxatives, colonics, enemas, fasting and cleansing programmes can cause nutritional losses resulting in protein, vitamin, mineral, fat, fibre and trace element deficiency. Remember you are aiming to achieve equilibrium in your body; this will not result from obsession or extremes. For many relatively healthy people it is simply pleasant and rejuvenating to perform a cleanse at the onset of each season. Choose cleanses to fit the weather and mood. Lots of juiced root vegetables, raw hot chillies and ginger, accompanied by plenty of potassium broth and warming herbal teas should be used in autumn and winter, whilst for the spring and summer watery vegetables and fruits like melon and cucumber, along with an abundance of green salads, would be ideal. For those wishing to cleanse only twice a year then the first cleanse should take place in spring because this is traditionally the best time of year to cleanse, helping to replenish your energy and to shrug off the excesses of winter; the second should be carried out in autumn to balance the body in preparation for the following winter; a time when the body and immune system are called upon to endure the cold and infections. |
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Do I need to give up everything like coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, red meat, wheat, dairy etc. while doing these cleanses? Ideally, yes! There are no real rules and while ideal it's a lot to do at once. For those new to cleansing, start by dropping one or two in the list or simply use the cleanse to feel better. Giving up the more addictive toxic foods etc., then becomes an easier task as time goes by. We often eat and drink what we know we shouldn't because we feel lethargic, lacking in energy and may have low blood sugar. Often this does not go away over night. It can be useful to provide more energy first. Each time you cleanse (and you can repeat this cleanse every few months) you can drop one or two more things. You might spread the whole plan over one or two years. What is really important? Drinking water and taking some exercise. Water dilutes toxins and allows them to be flushed out, so without water you are really wasting your time and probably just making yourself feel sick. After that make sure your bowels are moving, again it's about making sure to release those toxins quickly. Practice drinking water (2 litres) a day before altering your food patterns too drastically. Many people find even three days of high water intake really flushes out lots of toxins; this alone can give a slight headache or even a mucous discharge or raised glands. Should these symptoms occur, use Echinacea (acute dose) and start the cleanse proper when the symptoms have subsided. Will I Loose Weight? A lot of toxins are stored in fatty tissue, so for those who are overweight this would be ideal. If you use this cleanse with the Carol Vordeman (vegetarian, no wheat, dairy etc.) food programme then yes you will. If you are at ideal weight or even a little less and just want a detox, you will find that the cleanse simply keeps you at an ideal body weight. If you do loose a few pounds they will come back on quickly once the cleanse has finished. If I Feel Odd, Ill or Sick During the Cleanse What Should I Do? Drink more water. Toxins may be backing up and this will help to move them on. Otherwise slow down the amount of herbs you take. Likewise check the bowels are emptying frequently enough, you don't want toxins re-circulating in the body. Fresh ginger tea will really help any nausea. |
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How do I make fresh ginger tea? Use ¾ oz (20g) of dried or 1 ½ oz (40g) of chopped fresh ginger rhizome to 3 cups of cold water. Put the ginger in a saucepan and simmer on a very low heat for 20-30 minutes. Pour out a cup, then store the remainder in a cool place, or refrigerate if storing longer than a day. |
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