Cleanse June 2009
So I've decided to do a cleanse. I've done maybe 4 cleanses in the past 5 years, liver and intestinal cleanses. I know they are good for me, just to clean out my body, and give my body a break, a chance to reset. When I find myself becoming ‘addicted' to certain foods like coffee, carbs or whatever, I know I should probably go on a cleanse. I played with the idea of just making up my own cleanse this year, I know what my body needs for the most part, and I know what things it doesn't like. I then had a feeling I was just thinking that to make the process easy on myself, so instead I decided to book a consult with my Naturopath, Dr. Denise Grobe from the Center for True Harmony Wellness & Medicine, and have her help direct my cleanse.
I've got some ‘history' that makes cleanses difficult for me. This blogging must be good for me to be able to admit this publicly, though it is hard. I'm a 31 year old professional women, engaged, no children. I'm pretty healthy, exercise almost every day, eat pretty healthy. I have had a history of an eating disorder, bulimia, and it has made the past ten years a challenge when it comes to food choices and diet in general. The worst of the disorder was ten years ago, it lasted three years, from 17-20yrs of age. I'm 31 now. I've healed from it, but relapses are only one ‘episode' away, and that is a constant struggle. And cleanses can be hard because of creating cravings, taking me out of my established balance with food/diet and eating a lot of bulk.
So, at any rate, I had my appointment with Dr. Grobe and I presented my history and the challenges it causes. She took everything into account, my goals, my challenges and my habits and created a great plan. Now let's see if I can stick to it!
I've decided to blog about this experience for several reasons: 1. To keep me accountable for my actions, keep me on target with this cleanse 2. To let others see what going through a cleanse is like, especially if you haven't done one 3. To show those that have specific challenges, like bulimia or any type of eating disorder, that it is possible to do a cleanse and help heal your body while not pushing you into a relapse 4. To show the public that everyone's cleanse can be slightly different, because we are all different! So it's so important to have a health professional that is accustomed to the complexities of cleanses direct your care.
At my appointment Dr. Grobe told me that it is good to do a liver cleanse because of the hormones and toxins that our livers filtrate. I have dysmenorrhea issues (painful periods thus hormone issues) and general fatigue and stress, so she suggested a liver cleanse for me. Dr. Grobe also instructed that when you do a liver cleanse its imperative to do an intestinal cleanse. I didn't know this! She said that when you cleanse the liver, you dump the toxins into the gut - the intestines. If you don't cleanse the intestines, you'll just reabsorb everything you just detoxed out of your liver. That totally makes sense and I would never have thought of it. She also suggested that it is best to do two cleanses ever year! Well, I'm just going to commit to one a year for now J
The basics for my specially formulated liver cleanse and intestinal cleanse:
-Give up sugar - even fruit sugars, so no juices and only one piece of fruit a day! (Darn, I eat a lot of fruit everyday, and usually have a tiny bit of dark chocolate to balance and end my lunch and dinner)
-Give up meats, all meat including fish, chicken and beef (no prob! My blood type is A+ so I can easily move to a vegetarian diet)
-Give up milk - I can have a bit of almond milk since it's not actually a dairy product
-Give up caffeine and alcohol - Because of my specific health history as stated previously, Dr. Grobe said that a small latte with almond milk in the morning is fine and a half glass of red wine with dinner is fine. This helps me with my cravings and balance in my body and Dr. Grobe stated that the small amount of red wine actually aids digestion and that little bit of espresso won't hurt the goal of the cleanse.
-Keep all my supplements and use Rejuve powder for the intestinal cleanse. Make sure to have the whole food vitamins and fish oils continue.
-To stimulate the liver detox aspect of the cleanse, use lots of fresh lemon juice, olive oil and garlic
-Spices are okay (thank goodness!!!!) especially turmeric (good to aid in inflammation) and rosemary. Oregano and coriander are fine, as is cumin. (I like to make Indian inspired dishes, especially dhal, mmm yummy)
-Stay completely away from: breads, processed foods, wheat and dairy, soy sugar, meats, eggs, white rice, nightshades, yams.
-Eat whole fruits, beans, lentils, amaranth, quinoa, peanut butter (though more preferably is almond butter 1Tb a day), red tea, white tea, bitters, sweet potato, avocado, jicama, stevia, cinnamon, 80 oz of water a day
So that's my revised liver and intestinal cleanse, to start tomorrow! Wish me luck! I'm going to enjoy some chicken and bread today while I canJ