To Cleanse or Not to Cleanse

Just eating fresh foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, low fat dairy) and drinking plenty of water will "cleanse" your system. You don't special products, just a change in diet. Besides, a cleanse won't do any long term good if you just go back to eating processed foods.

Just eat food that is under your daily calorie allotment. Vegetables, fruit, whole grains, lean protein, drink lots of water, work out and you will lose weight. A cleanse is just going to mess you up in my opinion if it's one of those that restricts what food you should and shouldn't eat.

Just got this article in my email from Nutrition Research Center.org
5 essential ways to detoxing safley
by Vic Shayne, PhD

It's common for writers to use the closet analogy to describe a detox diet.

It goes like this:

you have a lot of stuff in your closet because it's piled up over the years. You didn't get rid of the junk but just stored it. Now you want to clean it out.

All at once you take all the junk out of the closet and now you have to deal with processing it and trying to get it taken away by the trash collector.

Not a bad analogy. Detoxing means cleaning out your body and getting rid of the toxins you've stored over time.

What can be unsafe about detoxifying?
A body that detoxifies quickly suddenly has to handle a load of toxins entering the bloodstream after they've been released from the cells.

This can overwhelm you and make you feel sick before you feel better.

If you're really toxic you can get very sick.

Detoxifying safely
There are all sorts of detox diets and strategies. Some are good, many are bad.

Some require powerful herbs, while others suggest supplements that hardly help at all.

FIVE WAYS TO BE SAFE IF YOU WANT TO DETOXIFY:
Never follow the advice of a friend or stranger online. You need proper supervision to make sure the method is safe FOR YOU.

Beware that herbs are natural but not always safe. Do some serious research before you take an herb for anything.

Make sure you can rest while detoxifying. Your body must have time to rest so it can regenerate energy. So don't detoxify while working, playing sports or under a lot of stress.

Don't detoxify if you have a serious health issue (such as heart condition, kidney or liver problems, diabetes or hypoglycemia, for example.)

Drink plenty of pure water. Many detox diets are used in conjunction with enemas and diuretics. Both remove water from your body, so make sure you replenish the water loss.
photo © 2010 Ollie Crafoord



by Vic Shayne, PhD

It's common for writers to use the closet analogy to describe a detox diet.

It goes like this:

you have a lot of stuff in your closet because it's piled up over the years. You didn't get rid of the junk but just stored it. Now you want to clean it out.

All at once you take all the junk out of the closet and now you have to deal with processing it and trying to get it taken away by the trash collector.

Not a bad analogy. Detoxing means cleaning out your body and getting rid of the toxins you've stored over time.

What can be unsafe about detoxifying?
A body that detoxifies quickly suddenly has to handle a load of toxins entering the bloodstream after they've been released from the cells.

This can overwhelm you and make you feel sick before you feel better.

If you're really toxic you can get very sick.

Detoxifying safely
There are all sorts of detox diets and strategies. Some are good, many are bad.

Some require powerful herbs, while others suggest supplements that hardly help at all.

FIVE WAYS TO BE SAFE IF YOU WANT TO DETOXIFY:
Never follow the advice of a friend or stranger online. You need proper supervision to make sure the method is safe FOR YOU.

Beware that herbs are natural but not always safe. Do some serious research before you take an herb for anything.

Make sure you can rest while detoxifying. Your body must have time to rest so it can regenerate energy. So don't detoxify while working, playing sports or under a lot of stress.

Don't detoxify if you have a serious health issue (such as heart condition, kidney or liver problems, diabetes or hypoglycemia, for example.)

Drink plenty of pure water. Many detox diets are used in conjunction with enemas and diuretics. Both remove water from your body, so make sure you replenish the water loss.
photo © 2010 Ollie Crafoord