Detoxing is the subject of a great many myths, theories, stories and general scare-mongering. After working as a corporate lawyer for over a decade I turned to alternative medicine as a way of helping my son recover from multiple food allergies, eczema and anaphylaxis. It worked so well, I left my job, and never looked back.
So let me tell you a little about detoxing and why it's so important.
Let's think of the body as a self- calibrating computer, whose only purpose is to bring you back to balance all the time. This is the body's all-consuming focus - to tune and tweak your system millisecond by minute by hour by day.
Let's assume that in order for the body to do that it needs to do two things all the time - it needs to 'Purify' and then 'Nutrify' your system.
Step 1
Purify means the body needs to dump all the gunk that collects in your body from eating, breathing polluted air, wearing chemicals etc. HOW - the body rehydrates itself using water and uses it to eliminate waste from your intestine, your lymph, your liver, everywhere.
Step 2
Nutrify means the body replenishes all the nutrients that the body uses to fuel its natural processes like eating, working, sleeping. The harder you move, the more nutrients you need. Your body uses them to Heal and Rejuvenate.
Now, this is where it gets tricky............ step 2 is only as efficient as step 1 allows it to be. If you are constipated, or because you didn't eat food with enough living nutrients in it, or you didn't get to exercise today so your lymph is stagnant or......whatever - your body cannot Purify itself much at all.
For example, if we eat 3 times a day at a minimum, and yet only have a bowel movement once a day or (even worse) once every few days you are putting in much more than you are taking out. Build up is inevitable.
So, that's where detoxing comes in. Detox means..................
- 'give your body a rest from working hard at breaking down food and digesting all the time'
- 'let your intestine clear out accumulated gunk from your system so it can function more effectively'
- 'let your mouth reset itself to normal taste buds again so you don't crave excess sugar or salt'
- 'reduce bloating'
- 'create a healthier, more alkaline, environment in your body'
- 'rehydrate the body with an excess of natural fibre, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, nutrients daily'
When you look at it like that you think, 'Well, what's the biggie?' - which one of those statements is dangerous, difficult, or downright duplicitous? Personally, I think none of them, and I hope you can agree.
COMMON SIDE EFFECTS OF A DETOX Negative
'I was hungry therefore I was mean' Beyonce;
By day 3 you want to throw your toys out of the pram; Who knew not eating was this hard? There's someone playing the drums in my head.......
Positive
'After day 3 and the initial getting into a routine and getting used to not eating solids the feeling of cleanliness is brilliant' - Abi Clarke
'Losing almost 8lbs in 6 days! Amazing! I also love the fact that my stomach expected smaller portions and I got fuller much quicker when eating after the detox finished.' Elsa Howay
'The end result - I lost all the weight I put on over Christmas.' Emma Stead
'I feel alert, calm, thin (9 pounds lighter already - skinny jeans are comfortable again!) and closed two business deals last night. Can't wait to see how much more brilliant I'm going to feel after 6 days. Everyone has been saying how great I'm looking. Your daily emails have been great as well, yesterday was indeed all about emotional stuff, by the end of day I felt like I'd had a mini breakthrough with something and ended the day laughing a lot. And today things are definitely in alignment with the universe.' Harriet M.
There are many ways in which to detox and here are a few we use in differing order of difficulty. Try it for yourself and decide your entry level:
1. A juice cleanse
2. A juice and soup cleanse [a bit easier]
3. A juice, salad and food cleanse [very easy]
A Last Word
Learning to detox in a way that suits my body is one of the most amazing experiences that has occurred in my personal life. In my professional life, it has been a source of joy as well, since we've used it to help people with all kinds of problems from infertility, chronic fatigue, high blood pressure, migraines, IBS, and many many more.
