Detox? Cleanse? Why do one?

I’m bring back up to the front of the blog an oldie from February 2013. I picked this one because, yes, I’ll be offering a 14 Day Clean Eating Program January 23. Read up on the why and the how of a short whole foods cleanse and consider joining us! More details here!

There are lots of different kinds of cleanses out there ranging from extreme with nothing but lemonade and psyllium husk to juice cleanses to whole foods cleanses. With so many options, you may be wondering which one to pick or maybe why do one at all?

To answer those questions we first need to talk about toxins. Toxins are everywhere in our modern life these days. There are toxins in the air we breathe, the water we drink and in the pesticides on the food we eat. Not only that but toxins are in the soap we wash our hair, bodies and clothes with, emitting from the carpets we walk on, and from the upholstery and plastic in our car. They are in the plastics we wrap our food in, drink our bottled water from, and in the plastic utensils we eat with.

Not to freak you out, but your body is literally bombarded with toxins all day long. In fact, we are so overloaded with toxins that a recent study shows that the number of toxic chemicals we face now threatens the reproductive ability of the human race. It’s also causing metabolic and thyroid issues as well as a large part of the cancer issue.

The fact that we have not all keeled over is a testament to the hard work of the lovely liver organ and its amazing ability to take out the trash. Your liver has the enormous task of filtering out all of the toxins that get absorbed through our skin or digested into our blood and pumping out clean blood with which our bodies can build new cells. What happens if the task is too much for our poor liver? Well, the toxins are then stored in our fat cells. And in the case of toxic overload, this includes increasing the number of fat cells in which to stuff the excess toxins. Adding fat cells? You can see why this makes it easy to gain weight and hard to lose it because your body does not easily give up the toxic fat it has stored.

So the reason to do a cleanse is to get rid of those toxins that are stored in your body that can cause you to hang onto excess weight, and have you feel sluggish, bloated, tired, depressed, annoyed, and heavy. By eating naturally detoxifying foods and drinks, and eliminating from your diet the foods that cause your body trouble, you can help your liver do its job. What happens when you clean out your body is potentially nothing short of life changing.

When people do cleanses they can experience amazing results. After just a week of cleansing you can have:

•  Shiny hair and glowing skin

•  Reduced cravings

•  More energy

•  No mood swings

•  Cleansed all the unwanted toxins

•  Reset your metabolism

•  Lost unwanted weight

Who wouldn’t want those results? I recommend whole foods seasonal cleanses because they are easy on the body and gentle to the liver, not to mention delicious with all the seasonal vegetables. I highly recommend cleansing with each new season to set your body up for success as you transition to different weather and different foods. Look for one like my 14-Day Clean Eating Program that includes lots of recipes to help you make easy and delicious detoxifying meals as you give your liver a loving break. And last but definitely not least, I recommend reducing your exposure to toxins by eating organic, using glass instead of plastic, and using toxin free cleaning products.