Cleansing Part I

(Cleansing the body is like a balancing act.)

Where to begin . . .

I believe cleansing is one of the most misunderstood aspects in health. It is a subject I have pondered on many times and experimented with many times. There are many things to learn within this one subject that I know I will not touch upon. I myself feel there is more for me to learn about cleansing my own body before I can give others a good explanation on it. So take this post and future posts for what they are worth. If anything in the end, I hope it will inspire you to make an honest effort to get your body to a healthy happy state.

Let me share with you my first encounter with cleansing. Two weeks before returning home from a proselytizing mission for my church I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. After two runs of strong antibiotics taken at a months time I called it quits with what the medical world was offering me for treatment and made a prayerful decision to try alternate means for my health.

This began with a change in my diet, in my way of receiving vitamins/minerals, and along with that cleansing my body of toxins. With the little information I had at the time I started a 10 day cleanse. The cleanse consisted of liquefying my food which consisted of raw vegetables.

The first two days were fairly easy, minus the fact that my food was less than appetizing - being liquid sludge and all. When I awoke on the third day though, I was hit with nausea to the point of vomiting. For the next five days I could only get down water with a little greens in it, but even then the vomiting didn't end till the fifth day. After that, I was able to finish my cleanse by gradually adding the liquefied raw veggies back to my diet.

If my experience has made you cringe or given you a queasy feeling inside and turns you off to the whole cleansing thing then you are completely right in feeling that way! I may have lost nearly 15 pounds of weight and threw up all of the toxins in my body but I also gave myself gastritis, which is inflammation of the stomach lining (if your not extremely careful with the way you eat, can cause severe pain), from all the vomiting I did. If any of you know me really well you would know that my least favorite thing in the world to do is vomit. That was not an experience that I wanted to repeat over.

After that, cleansing (in more than one way), left a bad taste in my mouth. It took some time for me to warm up to the idea of ever trying it again. I felt like either cleansing was something that was not good for me or that the program that I followed was flawed somehow. I concluded the later and began my own research of the topic. In studying, I realized some flaws in my first approach to cleansing my body.

First and for most, I learned that every person is unique and different and there really is know standardized method of cleansing that is perfect for all. For a person that has been eating highly processed foods and very little nutrient filling foods, cleansing would need to be approached differently than compared to a person who has been eating completely raw.

This leads me to my second realization or flaw to my first approach of cleansing. It probably was not the best idea to put myself on that extreme of a cleanse after being fed for 18 months by other people and trying to overcome the Lyme disease. My body was on toxic overload and I put it through the exact opposite (cleansing overload), without realizing the consequences until it was too late. Believe you me - lesson learned!

So before any of you jump on to the cleansing train there are a few steps that you should probably take before you leap.

Steps before you cleanse:

1. Take an honest look at how healthy your body is. Are you sick in any way? What foods are you taking in on a daily basis? Are you nutrient deficient (most everyone is because our food is, so don't count yourself out!)? What's your toxic load looking like? What toxins are you exposed to on a daily basis? I'm sure you could add to this list of 'how healthy your body is' questions.

2. Do some research on some cleanses (I will list a few at the bottom, that does not mean I endorse any of them, they will be listed for you to come to your own conclusion, remember this is a few there are numerous ways of cleansing), and ask yourself some of these questions about each cleanse you research. Does the cleanse offer your body a high nutrient diet during the cleanse? Do you feel it offers enough liquid including water to flush your body of toxins? How 'extreme' is it to you? Does it offer any prep work for your body before the cleanse? Does it offer any help in what to eat after your cleanse?

I'm not sure how many cleansing posts I will end up doing but I wanted to try to make the process simple to understand. Questions are welcome and may be answered either in the comment section or in a future post. Remember, I do not claim any authority on this subject. Being healthy and eating healthy is something I am passionate about but I do not have a degree or certificate. Before starting a cleanse it is good to chat with your doctor to get all points of view and know your options.

The Master Cleanse
The pH Miracle Cleanse
Dr. Christopher's 3 day Cleanse