By Maureen Lamerdin O.M.D.
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food“ Hippocrates.
Spring is in the air… Hopefully! Most people get the tickle this time of year to clean out the old and freshen up their space. We bring our cars in for an oil change every 3-5000 miles, get the filters changed and get a tuneup, but how often do we maintain our human machine? How often do we think about cleaning out our bodies? It turns out most Americans take better care of their cars and homes than themselves, leading stressful lives with the pressures of work, school and family. If people ‘changed their oil’ every couple months, they would sleep better, have increased energy, decreased pain and their ‘machine’ would run a whole lot cleaner.
I see countless patients who come in seeking relief from pain, fatigue, insomnia, allergies, and much more. In my experience, if one is motivated enough to totally change their ‘diet’ and detoxify their bodies by cleansing, patients could have 50-100% relief of their symptoms. Changing one’s way of eating is difficult for most due to it being such a social event and the addictions to sweet and salty foods. How, if people knew the transformation, their body could undergo they wouldn’t look back. I have seen such dramatic changes in people that don’t require certain medication anymore, simply by ridding their systems of toxins that are making them sick.
So, how does one do this? Simple, start by cleaning out your cupboards of any process, packaged foods. Imagine you live hundreds of years ago with no grocery stores, only fresh foods grown from your garden. Avoid all sugars dairy, flours, and grains (except rice), caffeine, alcohol, and meat.
This is the first phase and a simple enough for most people that wish to start with a light cleanse. If one is experienced in cleansing, they may continue on to a master cleanse or a juice fast for the spring season.
The master cleanse last up to 10 days drinking only fluids that consist of filtered, water, lemon, cayenne, and maple syrup.
A juice may last several weeks and is mostly comprised of vegetables, green plant-based foods and some fruits.
When undergoing a cleanse, possible detoxification effects can include headache, nausea, fatigue, rash, constipation, and being more emotional temporarily. One can decrease these effects and better their results by increasing filtered water intake, using a far infrared sauna, herbs, acupuncture, meditation, Epsom, salt baths, enemas, or colonics and decreasing their stress load while cleansing.
Upon going off of a cleanse, it is important to resume a healthy diet, (no processed, packaged foods) for a period of time so your body is not shocked by the toxic load that many of these foods hold.
For anyone who has not cleaned before seek help from a licensed O.M.D. or a professional who specializes in detoxification so they may tailor a plan for your specific health needs.
Comentarios