Internal Body Cleansing: It's all in the details:) Part IV

What else can you do to enhance your cleanse?

Drink detoxifying herbal teas.  Green tea, black tea and white tea are not herbal they all contain some or alot of caffeine. Go to a natural food store and ask for some assistance. The people in there usually are so helpful. If you encounter someone who's a Grumpy-Gus or doesn't seem knowledgeable- try some one else! Detoxifying Tea is best when it's strong. Use 2 tea bags and drink it every day at least once. These are NOT laxative teas (although I do recommend those too) but I just want to be clear. Detox herbal teas will not make you go poo more. They prompt the blood, organs, lymph, skin etc to detoxify very gently. They are often mineral rich and very nutritious as well;) If your taking vitamins- you can continue to take them (unless you are fasting) but we'll get into that later.  Here's a really popular Detox Tea we used to sell at Whole Foods.

Juicing! Yes DO IT! If you have a juicer you are a lucky duck so make use of that baby! Please keep the focus on vegetables. Only 1/10 or less should be fruits because of the sugar in them. Keeping the focus on vegetables instead of fruit will insure that your not spiking blood sugar levels and over working the pancreas. If vegetables and a small amount of fruit don't taste good right away, give it time- your taste buds need to adjust. Great juicing veggies include;

• Carrots
• Beets (start small)
• Cucumber
• Celery

Get creative! if you don't like the taste add apple - that improves the taste of everything! Apple and grapes in small amounts for flavor do the job:) If you have a blender make yourself a green drink daily. Take a bunch of romaine, kelp & broccoli and blend with water. Strain out the pulp and presto- green drink. Be sure and use only a small amount of broccoli. This is a great detoxifying drink! Here's my Facebook photo album for making green drinks. 

Fiber from ground flax seed. Fiber will help pull toxins and other stuff that is clogging up your body OUT! No Metamucil please- we want real food fibers only.  Mix it with a juice/water mix for taste, drink it quickly and chase with more water. 

If you have healthy fats accessible to you do it! Hemp Oil, Flax Oil or Fish Oil; as long as they are high quality are fantastic! Buy them at a health food store- not Walmart! If you have to buy online- I'm happy to make recommendations.   

Which reminds me; nuts and seeds are great but only if they are raw. If you have never heard of raw nuts; go to a health food store and scope it out.  This is truly the only healthy way to consume nuts as the roasted are acid forming. And don't get me started on roasted, salted, sugary nuts- they don't count. I've been getting my raw almonds from this organic farm in California~ great company, great product.  Remember; salt (even sea salt) makes you retain fluid and does nothing for your body. Rely on naturally occurring sodium from fruits and veggies for you sodium intake.  That is truly was your body requires.

Drink lot's and lot's of High Quality H2O as Adam Sandler would say; Get a Britta if you don't have one and drink water every chance you get. It will help you to feel fuller between food, it will encourage better BM's (bowel movements), and it will help to flush those toxins your stirring up! Other ok beverages are coconut water ("Brian and Amy's" brand is my personal fav). 

Wheat grass shots- EXCELLENT detoxifying drink;) Kinda pricey- but so good for you and energizing! So if you're missing out on your 3 dollar latte: look for a place that has $3 wheat grass shots instead. It's an acquired taste so try it at least 3 times. This way you give your taste buds a real chance to adjust.

With foods you don't like always think of it this way; Your brain is the "Mayor" in the town of " Your Body". It is responsible to give the town what it needs to run properly. Sometimes you NEED to take one for the team and give the body what it needs to work right, be healthier, detox and thrive; EVEN if it means ingesting something that you don't like. You wouldn't deprive your car of gas and expect it to still run forever, would you?

Ok, let's talk about laxatives. I am NOT talking about over the counter stuff. This stuff is BAD news. Your body can actually become dependent on them and you don't want that. I'm talking about herbs and dietary supplements that help the bowels to naturally move and help the body developed your existing peristalsis movement. These are your bowel muscles own wave-like movements. If you're fasting, they are a must but not necessarily when your just eating mostly raw vegetables and fruits. Theoretically if your gradually switching over from your regular diet to one mostly veggies and fruits, your ingesting a ton of fiber and getting all the enzymes from food needed for assimilation. However if your eating like 75% raw fruits and veggies and your still not pooing at least twice a day you may want to try several options. You can try Aloe Juice for a few days 1 to 3 ounces a day. (brands are important so ask me). You can buy it online or in any health food store.

Another herb with laxitive ability is Cascara Sagrada. This can be taken in a tea or capsule. As a tea start small. Drink only 1 cup and see how you fair then increase up to 3 cups) For capsules start with one and increase daily until you take 3 to 5 per day. Listen to you body; you don't want to be in pain here! If your in pain; this herb is probably not for you. Pay attention to your poo's- they are a great indicator of health (or lack there of). For the most part you are looking for solid, floating poos.  Take your thumb and touch it to your index finger, this is ideally how big your poos should be around.  Again at least once daily to 3 times daily. My professor at school always says that you should move your bowels every time you eat. This takes time and I'm not there yet either-TMI! If you can get closer to that you ARE making progress. 

Senna which is an herb. Again, taken in tea or capsule. Just as with Cascara Sagrada -Start small. These are best if consumed at night unless you have to be to work earlier than 7:00am. In that case drink in the mid afternoon when your home and not going any where for at least 3 to 6 hours. This goes for the Cascara Sagrada. Aloe juice is much more gentle so don't worry so much on this. The Key here AND always is start small - listen to your body:)

If you can take a probiotic, do it! This will help your digestion and immune health as well.  If you have questions - ask;) With this cleanse you CAN do a detox kit if you like (only if your NOT fasting) Remember the definition of Fasting is NOT EATING, ONLY DRINKING YOUR NUTRITION.  I have recommendations on "Boxed Kit Cleanses" too so just ask if your interested.  Cleanses that come in kits are very straight forward and usually in capsule or powder form. These are usually multiple herbs for cleansing and if your fasting - this is not the time to use them.  

One last thing; if you can: Begin the cleansing process on a full moon closest to the spring or fall equinox. Sounds a little strange but our bodies ARE in tune with nature and the world. Plants grow better when they are planted and are chemically stronger and nutritionally more dense when grown with the cycle of the moon. This is called biodynamic farming and it's used all over the world and has been for centuries. Have you ever heard that baby delivery rooms blow up on the full moon? It's true! The moon does affect our cycles (especially as women) so starting a cleanse on a full moon will help you to mentally be prepared and physically. 

Thats all for now~ One last segment (part V) to go!