Congratulations this is the start of cleansing our body of toxins and recharging our digestive environment for a better future and smiling body.
Prepare with a low Inflammatory Diet
A few days before cleansing prepare to get the most out of your cleanse detox with a low anti-inflammatory, clean diet. If you can, start to eat clean two to five days in advance of your cleanse to prepare your body. If you don’t have the time, you will still benefit so don’t stress!
Anti Inflammation Resources:
Be Intentional
Set an intention for your cleanse, a commitment to changing something in your life. Why are you cleansing? What do you want to create? Heal? What will make your cleanse successful? Think about these questions, or even write them down. Setting an intention is an important part of cleansing both mind and body.
Include Organic Foods
- Include all vegetables, especially those with dark vibrant colors, go for lots of dark green, purple, red, and yellow ingredients
- In fact you can go for all fruits (except bananas, mango)
- Sea vegetables are excellent organic wholesome food
- Grains like brown rice, millet, quinoa, and amaranth
- Any beans, legumes and lentils
- Nuts and seeds (soaked is best)
- Chicken, fish, eggs (free range)
- Unfiltered cold-pressed flax, olive, sesame, sunflower, almond, coconut, hemp, macadamia nut oils; try not to heat oils, except for coconut which has a high smoke point.
- Fermented foods like miso, sauerkraut and kimchi
- Probiotic drinks like coconut kefir and kombucha
Hydrate Your Body
Drink 8 to 12 glasses filtered water daily (add things like liquid chlorophyll, minerals, or lemon juice, too). Have a taste of these delicious drinks.
Avoid These Anti Nutrients
- Alcohol
- Caffeine drinks and coffee (switch to green tea if you get caffeine headaches)
- Soft drinks
- Red meat
- Cured or processed meat (bacon, sausages, and the like)
- Nonorganic animal flesh
- White flour products (pasta, bread, cookies, crackers)
- Foods that contain hydrogenated fats and preservatives
- Refined sugars and all products containing them
- Artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, NutraSweet
- Dairy (milk, cheese)
- Fried foods
- All genetically modified foods
- Canned foods
- Cigarettes
- “Leave out the Ice“.
While you’re cleansing
What to do:
- Begin each morning with a glass of warm water with lemon.
- Sip on a juice every 2 hours throughout the day.
- Take advantage of this time and start journaling.
- If you have the ability/time, incorporate infra-red sauna, steams, colonics and/or acupuncture.
- Nightly baths are a wonderful way to relax. Add Epsom salts, lavender essential oil, or use a detoxifying bath.
- Make and drink Turmeric Cleansing Tea (visit here)
If you feel hungry…………
While cleansing gives your body the ultimate detox, we understand the need to incorporate food. Stick to organic fruits and vegetables (think avocado, blueberries, strawberries, leafy greens), soaked nuts.
Limit Your Exercise
Limit yourself to light exercise like walks, yoga, and stretching. Your energy levels tend to change during a cleanse, so pay attention to what your body wants.
Your Free Time
You can benefit even more from your cleanse with introspective activities like writing, meditation, nature walks, and soft music. Make sure you have the free time to take care of yourself and your body. I especially recommend meditation:
Post-cleanse diet
Ease Back into Normality
Ease into solid foods post-cleanse. Now is a time you can stick to your new eating habits. Take this opportunity to incorporate healthier dietary choices and lifestyle choices to be the best you.
Day 1
Incorporate fruits, vegetables, herbs, green juices, green smoothies and soaked nuts/seeds the first day.
Day 2
Add in heartier foods like protein smoothies, salads, and soups. E.g.
- Nourish The Brain Soup (visit here).
- Chicken Bone Broth (visit here).
- Eating according to the Seasons (visit here).
- Ginger Chicken (visit here).
- Cleansing Nettle Soup.
DAY 3
You can start eating proteins (organic pastured meat and fish) and gluten-free grains.
- Common Sense Meal Plan (Visit here), Have a look at the common sense meal plan.
- Gazpacho Frio Soup
- Wild Garlic Soup
- Sweet Potato Detox Soup
- Beetroot Detox Soup
Foods you can eat without Restrictions.
- Fruits and vegetables, especially those with dark pigments like kale and other dark leafy greens, tomatoes, red bell peppers, purple cabbage, blueberries, and cranberries.
- Soaked nuts and seeds in small quantities.
- Unfiltered cold-pressed flaxseed, olive, sesame, sunflower, almond, coconut, hemp, macadamia nut.
- All green juices, vegetable juices.
- Antioxidant-rich superfoods, such as acai, cacao, goji berries, spirulina, blueberries, maca, wheatgrass, hemp.
- Fermented foods like raw sauerkraut, kefir, and miso to support a healthy gut and immune system.
Exercise
Listen to your body. Continue to take the time to relax and ease into strenuous, sweat-inducing workouts. Remember your cleanse experience and try to incorporate some of it into your new daily regimen.
Organic Food or Not?
Wondering if Organics is a better choice (Find out here)
James O'Sullivan - that's me, a people friendly practitioner and lecturer of Integrated Medicine, serving my patients, my students and the public with the positive benefits of both Conventional Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's a wonderful life
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to diagnose or assess. The information provided is not to be considered a substitute for consultation with a qualified health care practitioner.