Note: Coming June 2017 The Fit&Fab 7-Day Online Cleanse by yours truly and the Gut Girl, MarliesVenier.com. We make cleansing fun (and easy)! Email me for info on how to get your Detox Box and join the Cleanse Club!
I’ve established we all need to cleanse. We’re all subjected to a barrage of foreign chemicals and toxins in our food, air and water that need to be eliminated somehow. We must clear out the toxins and waste, in order to reset proper digestion and assimilation of nutrients. If not, these toxins show up as aches, pains, allergies, ailments and sickness, chronic disease. It looks different in everyone. For me? I have back pain. I also get bags under my eyes, I can be irritable and I get a lovely fungal skin rash when I overdo the sweets or wine for a long period of time. Unpleasant, doesn’t hurt but it looks ridiculous—like a spotted leopard and not a cool one. And lately, I’m getting carpel tunnel in my wrist, usually brought on by too much yoga or pole planting too hard while skiing off a ridge—see I have my stuff! The problem is it doesn’t go away, unless I cleanse.
So, when I start to feel down or slow or sluggish, and all those things just mentioned, and can’t seem to get on top of my health, I do a cleanse, a two week good solid liver/kidney cleanse. I aim to do one every Fall, then again in the new year, which sometimes gets pushed to early Spring. I began this with regularity after having babies. I believe, it’s saved me. And it’s not one of those things that you do/complete and say “pfew, got that over with, never have to do that again.” Wrong. Think of it as an oil change—it needs to be a regular thing. Fasting and cleansing has gone on throughout the millennia in almost all cultures. Every religion has a stance on food because food has everything to do with our emotional and physical stability and balance: body, mind and spirit.
The reward? Well, after the cleanse, my body feels light and agile—like a cat, strong and flexible, not a cow, strong but rigid—that’s my goal. I can’t tell you how you will feel but you should feel energized and overall better, cleaner, more clear. You will likely drop pounds—I usually drop about 5. The first time I did it I think I lost 10 pounds. Granted, a lot of that is bloat, water weight, but if you keep eating cleanse friendly food after you’ve finished the herbs, the pounds will continue to drop off.
So my go-to cleanse is the Wild Rose Herbal D-tox. It’s been around 35 years, created by an Alberta-based Naturopath named Terry Willard. It’s a 4-part detox system designed to cleanse the liver, colon, kidneys and lymphatic system—provided you follow the diet that accompanies it. The diet allows you to eat, a lot if you choose—but try not to eat to satiety, 80% full is good. Then the body can use its resources to heal you. No junk food, no refined anything. Raw foods and cooked meals from scratch. Here’s why I choose Wild Rose?
1) Easy to follow and the directions are clear.
2) It’s a liver cleanse and supports this one organ that works so hard for you.
3) You can eat a huge variety of foods on this cleanse: almost every vegetable, Northern fruits like apples and berries, whole grains (please soak for 6-8 hours prior to cooking), nuts/seeds galore, onions, garlic, lemons, hummus, flax oil dressings, olive oil. This is how people around the world used to eat prior to the industrialization of food.
4) You reset your body. You learn a new way to eat. And you will heal. It’s a great way to quash bad habits—like dessert (wa!) and cafe lattes (though I will have an almond milk matcha latte during the cleanse), salty chip cravers—eat popcorn instead!
Next, how it works: The kit comes with 3 jars of herbs, a tincture, a food list and instructions. Take your six pills in the morning with a dropper full of tincture in your water, then do the same before dinner. Easy. Go off your usual supplements during this time unless doctor ordered. Hardest part of this cleanse? Ditching processed food. But it’s also the most important thing we need to do to get healthy. No flour, pastas, refined anything, whole grains only, no dairy (cheese, milk, yogurt), no sugar, no alcohol, no sweeteners, except Stevia, maybe xylitol or maybe monk fruit. Don’t panic, these are all easily replaced with healthful whole food. The other hardest part of the cleanse? The actual detox symptoms!
If you have never done a cleanse before, prepare to feel lousy and maybe look lousy the first few days. Me? Bags under my eyes and pale skin. Prepare for loose stool—again, usually just the first couple of days. Each time you cleanse gets better and easier. A note on that: the Laxaherb pills in the kit are what causes the diarrhea or loose stool, part of the cleansing. I might advise you take only one of the Laxaherbs (where they say two), especially if you feel cramping in the bowels that’s uncomfortable. Finally, depending on how badly your body needs this cleanse, you may get a skin rash. All of this is normal, your body is unloading toxins—they come out via sweat, urine, feces, and topically on the skin. It simply means there’s a lot of gunk in your bucket. Toxic load. Stick with it, you need it. We all do.
Prepare to have strong cravings. That is simply those hungry bad gut bacteria screaming to be fed refined carbs and sugar. Replace that sugar with carrots or apples dipped in almond butter, a blueberry smoothie or a puffed rice cake with hummus and naturally fermented cabbage. So many options! Continue eating this way after you’re through the herbs, and the cleanse, and watch your body transform. It can be life changing. Someday I will eat this way for months in a row, and maybe never turn back—but let’s just begin with what’s doable. Speaking of which, it’s only 12 days. Everyone can manage 12 measly days!!
Finally, be sure to pamper yourself with hot salt baths, infrared sauna, meditation and lots of rest—don’t take on too much stress, take it easy for 2 weeks. Be sure to do light exercise, yoga, walk, meditate and get out in nature.
Consult a Naturopath and or a doctor prior to starting if you have any deep health issues or concerns whatsoever. Also, share and write in the comments below to let us know how your cleanse is going! People love to hear personal experiences. Love your liver, love yourself and do an annual or bi-annual cleanse!
xx Shannon