Now let's look at what is meant by a cleanse, detox, fast and an elimination diet, so you will have a better idea what your doctor is recommending once they have determined your body can handle the work.
Most of us have heard our doctors tell us to fast before taking certain blood tests. Have we ever thought about why we need to fast prior to these tests or when looking to clean out our bodies?
We absorb nutrients, minerals and sugars from the food and beverages we eat. When our health care providers are trying to determine what our baseline levels are we need to avoiding eating or drinking anything that will increase, Iron levels, blood glucose (sugar), lipids, or affect our liver enzymes ( such as drinking alcohol). Usually to ensure there are no false readings our medical team will have us avoid eating and drinking for anywhere from 8-12 hours and 24 hours when dealing with alcohol. Eliminating liquids does not include water. This is known as a fasting blood test. It is not dealing with cleaning out your body, but rather it's looking to see how your body has been absorbing and utilizing the food it consumes. In this way the doctor can see if you need to eat foods with more Calcium (as one example) or you are not processing sugars well and may be heading to diabetes or other system issues.
Another popular reason to fast is religious observance. Fasting has been very common in the Catholic church for years. The saints would consume only water for one day a week to help them maintain balance and connection or to show devotion by giving up something of value. I carry the name of one of those saints. But that's for another blog story. Not only did this practice help them spiritually it improved their well-being. Though this practice has been around for centuries and has scientific backing, the research has yet to explain why intermittent fasting is beneficial to well-being. The research has shown periodically restricting food intake for 24-48 hours can help the body deal with stress load, improve the neuronal health of brain cells, have a better response to insulin, improved metabolism, improved immune response and increase overall life span.
By definition fasting means to consciously reduce or eliminate certain or all food and drink for a period of time. An absolute fast is solely consuming water for 24 - 48 hours.
What does the body do when we limit the availability of food? It begins to function to optimize energy. Our bodies are wonderful at adapting and utilizing what has been stored in the cells and fat more efficiently. The fatty tissues (adipose) hold onto resources for a long-term energy source. While the liver can convert its stores of glucose into fast energy. Once the body uses up the liver's energy stores it begins to break down the fat for fuel. This shift in energy source may be one reason why fasting leads to the benefits it produces within the body.
Who shouldn't fast:
1. Someone with liver or kidney issues
2. Someone with a history of heart rhythm issues
3. Someone with a history of malnutrition or eating disorder
4. Women who are or may be pregnant
What is an elimination diet?
This form of eating requires a person to remove all foods that could be seen by the body as an allergen and then gradually reintroduce those foods one at a time. Most people will turn to this method when they are having allergy symptoms or experiencing unexplained sensitivity reactions.
Your doctor will be the best one to direct you as to which foods to eliminate. In general most elimination diets remove all gluten sources, all animal products (meat, eggs and dairy), soy, corn, coffee, caffeine, alcohol, most sugars, nuts, citrus fruits (orange, lemon, grapefruit, strawberries etc), and nightshade vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant etc). The time one follows this food adjustment varies depending on why your doctor determined its need. Usually for an adult it will last about a month. At the end of the month your doctor will have you bring back one food, usually what you think may be effecting you the most, for one day. Then you will monitor your response for two to three days. If no adverse signs or symptoms are seen then you introduce the next food and so on for approximately 5-6 weeks. With the allergens identified most people will feel an increase in energy, stamina, and thought processes.
What is meant by detoxifying your body? From a biology stand point the body is built to detox on a daily basis with no extra help from us. When we exhale we are eliminating unwanted wastes. Once we take in oxygen,use it, we then need to get ride of its counter part, carbon dioxide (which as you know at high levels can kill). Our livers are riding us of waste as bile, kidneys produce urine, colon produces fecal matter, and the skin is constantly shedding dead skin cells and sweet (to name a few of its waste products). For women the biggest detox process happens on a monthly basis via the menstrual cycle. In the world of holistic health a detox program in general is geared to support the body's organs of elimination to work more efficiently.
In general most discussion will use the term cleanse and detox interchangeable. In my opinion a cleanse is a method of introducing food in a way that will move built up waste through the body's tubes, pipes, vessels faster and more efficiently. It is a way to enhance the natural detox system of the organs of elimination.
What is needed to break build- up from the walls of your piping system and wash it out of the body? Well we have already discussed the most important means, water. Liquid is the number one enhancer however, there are no calories, fats, protein, sugars, fiber or vitamins and only trace mineral in water. Therefore, a prolonged cleanse requires liquids that are nutrient dense, which brings us to the practice of juicing fruits and vegetables. By juicing raw fruits and vegetables you will have the nutrients you need to maintain health while providing fluid to wash away toxins and other debris.
Besides washing out the tubes we also need to introduce foods like Chlorophyll which will bind to toxins and carry them out of the body. We can eat fruits and veggies with high Vitamin C contents to convert toxins into more digestible materials. Eating Citrus foods are important as they spark the liver's enzymatic process. The liver can also be enhanced by antioxidant foods such as green tea. "Good" oils such as the omegas are helpful with the lubrication of the intestinal walls. During a cleanse we also want to address other organism that may have grown to unhealthy numbers or are parasitic, garlic is a food to help in this area. Finally we want to consume foods like turmeric to help us reduce or eliminate inflammation. It is not uncommon to experience more pain and inflammation or even flu like symptoms while doing a cleanse. This usually happens when we are doing a cleanse for the very first time or we have overwhelmed our bodies for an extend period with less beneficial foods or lived in toxic/polluted environments.
Another food source that is valuable during a cleanse are herbs. The subject of herbs for enhancing the body's detox process can generate volumes of books. Supplements for cleansing are basically herbs placed in capsules. There are also two camps of herbs Western and Eastern and that is all I'll say on this subject.
Whether to do a cleanse focused on eating raw vs. cooked foods will be determined by your doctor based on your constitution and any symptoms you presented at the start of your testing. One symptom would be cold feet and hand or mucus. In this case a Naturopath may recommend you focus on lightly cooked foods and avoid foods that have high water contents and raw foods.
What does all of this information tell us? First, if we are eating clean, healthy, balanced foods and consuming enough water our bodies are built to detox on a daily basis without extra work by us. Knowing our baseline functioning and our constitution will help us determine what to introduce to enhance our natural detox system if we have created a build up of toxins and hard to digest materials.
I am not one to follow what I consider a fade cleanse like doing only, a mixture of honey, lemon, cayenne pepper and water for weeks or the salt water cleanse. I believe in doing a cleanse in stages by kick starting the energy stores with a water fast. Then cleaning the liver so it is working at top form to handle the dumping of toxins from the fat stores and other storage sites. Followed by an elimination diet to see if the body has developed any intolerance for any foods. Finally, completing the process by reintroducing foods that can continue cleaning out all systems. Once everything is clean and shiny I like to continue eating clean and healthy foods to maintain a balanced system for as long as possible. I feel staging the process is less traumatic to the body.
Finally, if you are interested in adding herbs to your cleanse routine, I highly recommend finding a good medical provider well versed in either Western or Eastern herbs. Personally, it has been easier to go with Western herbs because I can recognize the names and more readily find information explaining their usage.
My next installment will discuss what massage techniques can enhance your cleanse routine.
Again, I hope you found this information to be of value.
