TCL s How to Cleanse & Detoxify Safely

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1 If you're at all like me, when someone mentions cleansing or detoxing, you immediately have images of sitting on the toilet with your pants around your ankles, sweating, feeling faint, and groaning in pain, all the while wondering how in the world you ever could have thought cleansing might have been a good idea and vowing never to do it again. It doesn't have to be this way. It can be much, much easier. Painless, in fact. Why Cleanse? Anytime you suffer from skin problems, aches, pains, digestive problems or weight problems it s probably a good idea to consider a cleanse (detox) to remove toxins from your system.

2 Cleansing is an old world remedy that has been practiced for hundreds of years by cultures all around the world. It's really just about getting plenty of rest while eating right (or not at all, such as in fasting) for a certain amount of time in order to give your body time to remove toxins and other impurities from your liver where toxins are processed for elimination. This process helps to clean up your blood from impurities as well. Meaning, your cells will become healthier with less chance of disease. Your lungs, kidneys, intestines, lymph glands and your skin also help to eliminate toxins from your body. When your cells are unable to eliminate toxins properly the following symptoms may arise. Unexplained Fatigue Constipation Skin Irritations/Rashes Puffy Eyes Bloated Abdomen Allergies Low-Grade Fevers Repeated Infections Menstrual Irregularities/Pain Brain Fog/Mental Confusion Moodiness/Depression The Benefits of Cleansing Cleansing detoxifies every cell in your body by improving circulation. Increases your body's natural ability to eliminate toxins and, when fasting, gives your major organs a rest. Raises your energy level but in a calm, uplifting way. Gets rid of bodily toxins and wastes.

3 Improves circulation. Helps you to sleep better. Improves memory and focus. Helps with weight loss. Boosts your immune system. Makes your skin look radiant. Improves your breath. Helps you live longer by balancing your ph. Makes your hair healthy and shiny. Cleansing Precautions Cleansing at least once a year is suggested, unless you are under 18, pregnant, a nursing mother, or have a chronic degenerative disease, diabetes or cancer. Ask your doctor about cleansing if any of these conditions apply to you. Cleansing the Easy Way A healthy diet can help you to cleanse over a period of a few weeks or months, but when you need to detox (a head to toe cleansing) now, today, what then? Do you rush out and buy Wheatgrass or an intestinal detox kit? I hope you don't, because if you are a more sensitive person your body may react more strongly and unfavorably to anything too harsh, whether the methods are natural or not. So, how do you cleanse and detoxify without causing yourself more damage than good? You do it over a longer period of time and not as harshly. It takes more of a commitment, simply because it takes longer (which is actually good for you), but it is more of a challenge to stick to.

4 Detox Step I. ~ Elimination First, eliminate alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, refined sugars, fake sweeteners, and transfats. All of these are toxic. You will also want to go through your personal care products at home and make sure they are all 100% natural. Also, eliminate your use of any household cleaning products that are not 100% natural. Detox Step II. ~ Exercise Stress hormones are released whenever you become overwhelmed. These hormones may give you the edge you need to cope in the short term, but when stress is ongoing you end up with too many of them floating around in your system. They end up creating toxins in the liver and slow down your body's natural detoxification process. One of the best ways of dealing with stress is to exercise but within limits. Tai Chi, Yoga, Mermaid Pilates or swimming, and jumping rope (or on a rebounder) if you are able can help you to detox more quickly. Isometrics help to move acids out of your muscles and improve muscle tone. Detox Step III. ~ Choosing a Method Choose a method of cleansing and detoxing. There are various methods to perform a cleansing. Just look online. However, some are just ridiculously unsafe. Generally speaking, when detoxifying your body you'll be limited to eating or drinking only particular foods or beverages for a certain amount of days or weeks.

5 Method #1: Fruit & Veggies ~ Juicing & Cooking Choosing to eat whole fruits and veggies can be an excellent way to detox. However, thin-skinned fruits and veggies should be organic only. I'm not in favor of juicing unless you have a blender that uses the entire fruit and vegetable, including the pulp and skin (or close to). Otherwise, eat your veggies and fruits raw or cooked until just tender (boiled, baked or broiled). Best fruits and vegetables for cleansing and detox are beets, blueberries, cabbage, carrots, celery, cranberries, cucumbers, kale, lemon, and pineapple. Wheatgrass, mentioned earlier, is often touted as good for humans, but humans are not built to digest grass. You will, no doubt, hear differently from other sources, but I don t suggest it, at all. If you insist on trying it, start out with very small amounts to see how your system responds. A juice fast for beginners can last between 1-5 days. Note: If you are diabetic or lean toward hypoglycemia, please speak to your doctor before trying a juice or smoothie fast. If your blood sugar issues are diet controlled, be sure to add a fat or a protein to your juices and smoothies in order to keep your blood sugar level and balanced at all times. You can add real butter, walnuts or almonds (no peanuts) and seeds (ground Flax comes to mind), oils (Virgin olive, ghee or coconut oil), seaweed and Spirulina (algae) to your fruits and veggie concoctions to maintain blood sugar.

6 Method #2: The No Sugar Diet No added sugars allowed. The American Heart Association recommends limiting your added sugar intake to 100 calories per day for women and 150 per day for men. Added means any sugar that is not already naturally found in whole fruit or vegetables. This means no granulated sugar, donuts, pastries, ice cream, no dried fruit, cereal or granola bars with added sugar. Some fruits are even too high in sugar to be on the no sugar diet. Do not eat any white flour products and limit your consumption of pasta and white rice. The No Sugar Diet usually takes about 21 days to get used to. It is normal to experience headaches, irritability, and feel aches and pains for the first 3-5 days while you are detoxifying from sugar. Cravings may also be off the wall because the overgrown bacteria in your gut will be signaling your brain for sugar, which will cause intense cravings. So, make sure you have some whole fruit on hand or some coconut flakes, but only indulge a little. In a pinch, you can use Stevia, which is a plant leaf that is very sweet. It doesn t affect blood sugar levels like sugar does and is safe for diabetics. It is sold in most grocery stores, but I don t suggest eating regular white store-bought Stevia, due to the way it is processed. Green Stevia is best. You may also use raw honey (1-3 teaspoons per day), even if you are diabetic. If you add a bit of cinnamon to your food or beverage containing honey you will reduce the spike of sugar in your blood. Of course, be sure to talk to your doctor about following a no sugar diet and of adding any new sweetener to your diet if you are being treated for diabetes which is also known as sugar disease.

7 Method #3: Hypoallergenic Diet Typical foods that cause food sensitivity and allergies are eggs, nuts, nightshades, beans, dairy and any foods containing gluten, dyes, preservatives or artificial sweeteners. Avoid these foods for a period of two weeks. Then, add them back into your diet to see if symptoms return. You might just try eliminating all white foods or all white flour foods during this time as well. After Cleansing & Detoxifying After cleansing, refuel your body with healthy nutrients, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and seaweeds. Eat fresh fruits, vegetables and foods full of fiber each and every day, such as brown rice, seaweed, raw cabbage, broccoli, and beets. It s better if most vegetables are steamed and slightly cooked, rather than raw, to avoid stomach upset. You might supplement your diet with dandelion root (digestion), milk thistle (liver cleansing), spirulina, chlorella, seaweed, and/or Vitamin C (an antioxidant) supplements. Eat fish 2-3 times per week or take fish oil supplements to give your body the healthy fats it needs. Drink 3-4 cups of green tea per day. You will want to limit your consumption of caffeine, so choose decaf or green tea with less caffeine content, such as Sencha. Drink plenty of fresh, pure water (at least four to eight 8 ounce glasses per day).

8 Do NOT use ordinary table salt. It's poison. Your body can't do anything with it, but store it as a toxin. Use natural sea salt instead. Sweat, either by sitting in a sauna or through exercising and breathe deeply to reduce stress as often as you can remember to do so. Use a loofah to remove dead cells from your skin and boost circulation during your bath or shower. While in the shower, alternate warm water for 5 minutes and cold water for 30 seconds. Repeat two more times. Then, wrap up in a blanket for a half hour and read, sleep, or watch TV. Drinking 8 ounces of water after this hydrotherapy treatment can help to move toxic wastes out of your system as well. You might schedule one day each week to perform a mini-cleanse and detox using one of the methods above under Detox Step III. Photo Credit: Water Drop by Gabriel Del Castillo