Spring Is Here!
Some of us feel the need to rearrange furniture, power wash the deck, and spruce up the garden beds in springtime, but our bodies need a little spring cleaning too!
You don’t have to go on a crazy juice diet or deprive yourself of food for days on end to give yourself a “cleanse” either.
Detoxing or cleansing mean different things to different people. I simply believe that if we can give our bodies a little rest from the toxic burden we assault on it every day, our health will improve.
To properly cleanse your body, you need to start with cleaning up your diet. A diet heavy in processed foods, red meat, alcohol, caffeine, sugar and sweets is overburdened and probably not functioning properly. But, even those with squeaky clean diets need a little reboot once in a while.
Every day we are assaulted with chemicals in the air, our water, our food and the environment as a whole. Cleansing your body can assist your natural detoxification pathways and you’ll feel better as a result.
I like cleansing in the spring because it feels natural and we’ve just come out of a long winter with heavy foods, like stews, casseroles, hearty pies and baked goods. Those foods were nourishing in the winter and kept us warm, but now it’s time to release the excess and clean the pipes – so to speak!
Step 1: Clean Up Your Diet
For one week, cut down on red meat, gluten, sugar, treats, soda, caffeine, alcohol, nuts, seeds and any processed or fast food. This doesn’t mean complete avoidance, but try to cut back as much as possible to assist your digestive tract.
Increase leafy greens, load up on veggies, fish, whole grains like quinoa and lots of water. The more you cut back, the greater success you’ll have. Plus, you may even lose some weight.
Step 2: Let’s Clean Those Pipes!
The first detox pathway is cleansing the colon because you can’t do a liver cleanse or gallbladder cleanse if you’re not moving waste out properly.
Start with daily lemon water in the morning, add in lots of filtered water, and herbal teas. You could try colon hydrotherapy, coffee enemas and drinking pure green juice if things aren’t “moving along.” Herbs like slippery elm and buckthorn can help.
Step 3: Cleansing The Urinary Tract
Again, lots of water throughout the day is helpful, as is eating parsley, asparagus and pure cranberry juice. Make sure the juice is pure and has no added sugar.
Step 4: Cleansing The Liver
Add in beets, ginger and citrus fruits. You can also add turmeric to everything you eat (I add it to eggs, soups, ground meats, stews, pretty much everything.) Milk Thistle is a supplement you can take to aid in liver cleansing.
Increase carrots, beets, dark leafy greens and green juice to aid in cleansing the liver. Also beneficial is adding in fiber to your diet to assist the body in removing toxins that the liver has filtered out. I like flax and chia seeds for this.
Step 5: Cleansing The Lymphatic System
Two of my favorite lymph exercises are daily dry skin brushing and rebounding. Before every shower, grab a natural bristle brush and brush towards your heart. Start at your feet and move up (avoiding the face and chest).
Rebounding is great for moving lymphatic fluid, as is massage. Go get one! I also like Pau d’arco tea , burdock root and cats claw for herbal therapies.
Step 6: Chemical And Heavy Metal Detoxification
If you take prescription medicine, antibiotics, get vaccinations, have dental amalgams, or you are exposed to toxins via your environment, then you also need to do a heavy metal cleanse. This can be a little more intensive than your run-of-the-mill spring cleanse, but stick with me.
Adding in chlorella, spirulina and blue-green algae can draw the metals out of your system. You can add these powders to your smoothie to disguise the flavor.
Heavy Metal Detox Juice
- Juice the following: 3 celery stalks, 1 cucumber, 1 handful parsley, 1 handful cilantro, 1 green apple, 1/2 fennel bulb, 1 lemon.
Step 7: Systemic Detoxification
The last step can be up to you. Do you need an emotional detox, a spiritual cleanse, or perhaps just a simple cleansing of your personal care or cleaning products?
Remember to breathe (slowly and deeply), practice daily meditation and gratitude and journal during your cleanse.
Remember to give each steps several days to really work, then move on to the next step. Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions during your spring cleanse!
Good luck!
