Do you know why people do detox?
Do you remember in the past your mum or grand-ma doing something at this time of the year?
In France, and lots of countries in Europe, it is very common to cleans the body at the intermediate seasons, particularly spring: I remember people telling me that their mum or grand ma used to put the kids in bed for 3 days at Easter, giving them light soup as much as they wanted and herbal tea; they said that they enjoyed it as it was they could read their comic books; and they had no duty or homework to do at all. They also had to take some cod liver oil or olive oil, accordingly to my records.
Have you done a detox or something to help your liver function?
We most often recommend the spring detox to respond to the excess cumulated during the winter, season where more calories are supplied in form of sweet and fat food, but not always used by the body. Moreover, sedentary lifestyle which is generally associated to winter is also favorable to storing of metabolic waist.
How do we produce toxins?
We know that the body absorbs substances through nutrition and converts them into energy by combustion, producing waste that must be eliminated. For elimination, the body is equipped with organs of elimination, ‘emunctories’’, which convert, filter and drain the waste matter.
The two principal and priority pathways are via the liver and kidneys. Other organs too are a means of elimination. These are lungs for waste gases and the skin for perspiration.
When the immune system and the organs of filtration: liver and kidneys, can no longer meet demand, either because they are not functioning correctly or are diseased, or because they are overloaded with work by quantitative and qualitative excesses of food. They become exhausted, and their filtration capacity diminishes. Toxins disturb out metabolism like grains of sand in the body’s mechanism and block the proper functioning of the immune system,
Also, the energetic medicine tells us that spring correspond to the revival of the activity of the liver, essential organ of detoxification. The concept of seasonal cure is old as the world, more precisely old as our historic roots in natural medicine, since the Sumerians (6000 years ago).
Spring is the best time for the purification of the body and fortifies it as it regenerates and reinforces the body.
However, no one has the same needs in term of detox: the length of the detox and which organ is overcrowded or underperforming is to be determined. We should never exacerbate the elimination organs, we can not force a griped mechanism; the consequences are too huge.
A successful detox is gentle and based on a combination of natural methods: nutrition, herbal therapy, oligotherapy (element traces) and exercises.
Nutrition: Diet: it is logical to start by stopping to overload the body. We do this by eating a lighter diet which is appropriate in quantity and quality, and by distributing the nutrients more proportionally: glucids-proteins, lipids and acidifying and alkalinizing nutrients.
Food to avoid during the detox: saturated fats (but a bit of fresh butter is digestible if non cooked), frying, whole milk (semi-skimmed of vegetable milk is best), any cream and double cream, offal, sauces, hot spices (the liver doesn’t like that at all), stimulants such as coffee, strong tea, chocolate and of course alcohol.
Avoid refined sugars, flours, pastas, and white rice. Chose unrefined organic brown cane sugar, organic honey and wholegrain cereals/pastas and rice.
Fruits and vegetables: with hepatic capacity which increase the gall at the liver level, and /or increase the contractibility of the gall-bladder, so more gall goes in the digestive track.
The best Fruits are apple & grapes but also sweet cherries, lemon, orange, plum and prune and tomato
The best vegetables: Artichoke, celery, parsley, lettuce, dandelion, black radish, carrots, Red beetroots, Cabbages, cucumber, watercress and onion.
Eat fruits and veg raw as much as possible. Did you know that enzymes disappear with a cooking above 40 to 50 degres and particularly with long or too hot cooking.
Champion all categories for liver detox: Cold pressed olive oil.
The best treatment with olive oil is a tablespoon in a morning on an empty stomach with few drops of lemon juice. It detox and invigorate the liver vital functions. That is a very old recipe but very efficient!
Combine the nutritional changes with the appropriate Herbal therapy or/and oligotherapy, monodiet and drinking water:
You can possibly combine some herbal therapy together but no more than 2 or 3 different plants in a form of tincture, capsules or extracts.
Best plants (*) are: Milk thistle and Dandelion: and for both the tincture form is more active.
But also: Boldo, fumitory, black radish, artichoke, rosemary, basdow (or lime blossom) and nettle.
Oligotherapy: which is the element trace therapy is excellent to stimulate the liver, bladder and pancreas by the use of the natural catalyst of the functioning organs. This is extremely efficient and for a long term action, as it is re-educating your organs to retrieve gradually their normal capacity. The best formula will be recommended when consulting.
Monodiet: a Fruit monodiet is something you can do at anytime, during a weekend for ex. It is an excellent detox booster! A monodiet is about eating one type of fruit only during the day. But if you are diabetic you will chose to eat vegetable soup.
The best fruits are with apple or grapes
Apple drains liver and kidneys and cleans the blood. You can eat apples raw or cooked with a bit a cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg; but eat essentially raw.
Grapes are an intestinal broom and good for the skin as well.
It is preferable and more efficient to have a vegetarian diet the day before and the evening diner: just have vegetable in a form of soup, large salad of raw vegetable or vegetable stew.
In the morning of the monodiet start with the juice of 1 orange and ½ lemon
Anticipate 2.5 kg of fruits per person or more, organic preferably.
During the monodiet, drink lots of water and herb tea.
Resume a normal nutrition the next day, but progressively and light in fat.
Fruit monodiets can be done at any time as they are rich enough in vitamins and minerals to have a normal activity. However, avoid sport and any intensive activity during the monodiet. Of course if you suffer of IBS, diabetes or other specific health condition, you must seek advice.
Water: Do you know the proportion of water in our body: up 80-90% of the body, depending on age. To facilitate drainage, it is important to drink copiously: 1.5 liters of water per day. But not any water; chose water which is slightly mineralized. Spring water is better than mineral water. To drain your body and support your kidney, the water should not be overloaded itself, so that it remains capable of taking up the load of waste substances to be eliminated. Fizzy water is heavy in sodium so not appropriate at all, and bad if blood pressure problem. The idea is to help your kidney, which are crucial for you health in general
In any cases, do things smoothly. It is necessary to prepare the body before starting a detox; and to come back to a normal food progressively.
What to expect: Occasional in the beginning: a bit of headache (particularly with the fruit monodiet), few spots (the toxins will be eliminated through the emunctories, including the skin), a bit of dizziness in the beginning or funny sensation but very light or almost unperceivable.
Benefits are a glowing, clear and younger skin and complexion.
Better energy and more combative when viruses and bacteria are around and passing the body.
The body will eliminate the fats which are unnecessary stored.
Sensation of lightness and well-being in general. It is worth doing it!
In my approach in Naturopathy is to help you find the path of rebalancing. Together we will plan your personalised detox plan corresponding to your needs, to promote optimum health, harmony and well-being.
Call me now: 01428 641560
(*)The appropriate supplement and herbal therapy should always been recommended by a qualified therapist or practitioner; never take it off the shelve. Your actual medication need to be taken in consideration when you take herbal therapy to avoid any interaction.
copyright © 2011 Florence McVeigh
