Detoxification Is a Matter of Health-Part One
November 29th, 2006 by Cindy Hebbard
There are hundreds of detoxification programs and thousands of products on the market that are made to assist our bodies in better eliminating the tens of thousands of toxins that we are exposed to in our lifetimes. It is essential that we choose to use the very best herbs and supplements, and eat the purest, most nourishing foods during any detoxification program to achieve optimal results. A cleanse may be customized to address our bodies’ specific needs or of a general nature.
Many of the toxins that we’re exposed to daily are well-known to accumulate within our liver, blood, organs, tissues and cells. It is important to free the body of these and other toxic accumulations to provide the body the greatest opportunity to prevent illness, disease, pain and discomfort.
Detoxification has been a regular part of every healthy culture of people on Earth for all of recorded history. Once, twice or even several times each year, people would use roots, herbs, berries, exercise and meditation or prayer to help clear the body of the accumulation of toxins from the preceding months. In some regions, even children would participate. In our American culture, we produce and are exposed to thousands of chemical compounds (with 700 or more new chemical compounds receive approval from the FDA each year,) and we almost never detoxify our bodies.
When we eat foods denatured by decades of poor farming practices, enriched with questionable forms of chemically purified isolated nutrients and loaded with artificial colors, flavors, fillers, preservatives and rancid oils, it’s just a matter of time before the body (and/or mind) begins to break down. Add to this the excess stress and the fast paced lives that most of us live these days, the lack of daily exercise and the worry and fear that is so prevalent in the media and in our thoughts, it is easy to see why detoxification on a regular basis is so essential to good health.
Sometimes, with the best of intentions, we attempt to detoxify our bodies, but instead we stir things up and release those potentially carcinogenic toxic materials from the regions where they were more safely stored. When we’re not able to actually rid them completely from the body, these toxins can become even more harmful to our health and well-being. Not the intentions we had when we decided that a cleanse would be a good idea!
Ideally, a good detoxification program should happen on all levels, to cleanse not only the body, but the mind and soul as well. It seems it is not enough to detoxify only the body from some of the well-known carcinogenic toxins that may be accumulating within us. If we cleanse our bodies, but continue to think toxic thoughts, we are still likely to live with sickness and imbalances of the mind, and likely the body, too.
Cleanses usually last for one, three, five, seven or ten days. Longer detoxification programs should only be practiced with the guidance of a qualified practitioner by those who require more advanced detoxification. Detoxification programs may take place annually in the spring or fall; bi-annually, usually in the spring and the fall; and more rarely, three or four times a year, usually with the change of seasons.
It is important to enter into a cleanse gradually, usually over the course of three days. After a cleanse, we would ease back into regular eating over two or three days, as well. Cleansing the body can feel challenging for the first three days for some, but others begin to feel energized right away. By the fourth day, most people find that they experience more lightness, freedom from pain, increased energy and vitality, at least for awhile.
When choosing to begin a cleanse, it is ideal to determine a period of time that will work best for you for relaxing and doing all that is necessary for the complete release of toxins. By this I am suggesting that you would plan the first three days (for a cleanse that shall last for three or more days) fall when you don’t have to work, or you have a reduced work load. If you have children living at home, you may want to send them off to their favorite aunt or friend’s house, if possible, for as much of these first three days as you can. Be sure those around you know that you are detoxifying, because some of the symptoms of the release of toxic overload from the cells, organs and entire body can be irritability, blotchy red skin, acne, slight nausea, flu-like symptoms, etc.
Many holistic healthcare providers have claimed that these and many more uncomfortable symptoms are a necessary part of the detoxification process, but over the years, I have grown to disagree with this idea fairly wholeheartedly. My most effective cleanses have been relatively symptom free. The cleanses where I experienced the most uncomfortable symptoms, I believe that I was just redistributing those previously stored toxins because I did not eliminate fully as I cleansed, and therefore, I got far less long-term benefits from the detox.
To learn more about detoxification, I suggest you read The Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates and Renew Your Life by Brenda Watson.
Please stay tuned. I’ll be addressing the details of effective detoxification, and the whole foods, herbs and nutritional products to support a pure, strong, vibrant, healthy body, mind and spirit.
