Cleansing Season

As spring emerges and the snow melts, many of us begin to feel the importance of spring cleaning. We throw out a bunch of old furniture, give away old clothes, deep clean our spaces, cars and our yards. But, what about our bodies?

March and April are liver cleansing months. Our bodies should be our TOP priority for cleansing, although cleansing of our spaces is so important too!

My favorite cleanses involve juice fasting. By eliminating solid foods, our body is able to focus on cleansing and building instead of digestion and elimination. The cleansing program I outline below is a general guideline and can be personalized for each individual. It is a program that will purify the body so it can heal more easily. If you are overweight, this program will help to normalize you to a healthier weight. If you are underweight, it will bring you back up to a normal weight. This cleansing program will also help to eliminate the disease-causing mucus from your body. The food in this program also supports your body and provides nourishment so your body can rebuild itself where necessary.

The Cleansing Program:

You should start your cleanse with a three to four day juice fast (and even longer if you can stand it). If you are a beginner, then start with a three day juice fast. During these days, you will not eat any solid food, but instead will drink different juices like: carrot, citrus, grape, apple, beet, celery, etc. You will need to purchase a juicer for this (and should have one for everyday living). I prefer the champion juicer, which runs around $300 USD, however, you can purchase an inexpensive juicer if you are not able to afford the champion juicer. Many department stores sell these juicers.

You should also seriously consider doing enemas the days you are fasting. Enemas are a great way to cleanse your digestive system! You can do many different kinds, including: coffee enemas, wheatgrass enemas, water enemas, herbal enemas and many more. Most people say, "You want me to stick that...where?!" But, once you start doing enemas during fasting and cleansing, you will love them! They release a lot of blockages and bring abundant energy! They also relieve headaches, constipation, nausea, weight gain, and more. Enemas bags can be purchased from many pharmacies and super markets.


Day 1, 2, & 3:

Morning- Upon rising, drink one cup of warm water and the juice of half a lemon. This will help to 'wake-up' your stomach for digestion for the day. This will also help to cleanse your liver and bowels. 

When you begin feeling hungry, make your first glass of fresh juice. You can experiment to see what you like. Drinking fresh juice should be a good and fun experience. Juice can taste very good (and SHOULD taste amazing)! My favorite blend is:

One apple, 1/2 red beet, 2 stalks of celery, and 3 carrots. Juice these and mix with 1/4 glass of water. 

This is just one recipe out of 100's of recipes. You can use other fruits and vegetables, always making sure they are fresh and raw. 

Drink as much juice as you need to throughout the day. This will be different for everyone. For me I notice that I need juice every 2-3 hours. You should drink juice every time you are hungry. Fruit juices taste good in juice, however, you should make sure that you are using more vegetables than fruits. 

MAKE SURE YOU ARE CHEWING YOUR JUICES. WE TEND TO JUST SWALLOW LIQUIDS, HOWEVER, IF YOU CHEW YOUR JUICE, YOUR SALIVA WILL BEGIN TO DIGEST IT EVEN BEFORE IT GETS TO YOUR STOMACH. THIS WILL ALSO HELP WITH BLOOD SUGAR REGULATION. THIS IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT!

Also, drink adequate water throughout the day. Each person is different for their water requirements, however, could follow this general guideline: drink 1/2 of your body weight in ounces of quality water per day. So, if you weigh 140 pounds, you should be drinking 70 ounces of water per day. 

Day 4, 5, 6, and so on...

Break your juices fast with ONLY raw fruits and vegetables. Here is an example of what your day looks like: For breakfast eat three or four fruits in season, possibly sprinkled with raw almonds and a teaspoon of raw honey for sweetening. Also, continue to drink raw juices. For lunch, eat a nice salad with all raw vegetables. Drizzle organic cold pressed olive oil over your salad. For dinner you can have another salad, fresh raw juice, and fresh raw fruits and vegetables.

You may feel weak during this cleanse. During this time it is very important to rest and sleep as needed. Be assured that your body is working very hard at detoxification. You may feel weird aches and pains in certain areas of your body, you might get a 'cold', or experience other symptoms. These are all a part of cleansing and eliminating toxic material from your body. Remember, when the cleansing is over you will feel abundant energy and a higher level of health.

Continue with the cleansing diet for as long as you feel necessary. If you want to promote health to a greater degree in your life, you can eliminate these foods from your 'normal' diet:

Processed salt
Eggs
Meat
Milk & Milk products
Flour & Flour Products

Since March and April are liver cleansing months, you should consider using some liver cleansing and supporting supplements. These are a few amazing liver herbs:

Yellow Dock
Milk Thistle
Stinging Nettle
Burdock
Chelidonium Root
Dandelion Root

There are many more, however, this is a good place to start.

Good luck on your spring cleansing! Throw out all that 'old' and toxic stuff and allow your body to build new and healthy tissues!

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Svea is a traditional Naturopath, classical homeopath and holistic doula. Her private doula practice can be found here. Her Montreal Natural Fertility site can be found here.