Cleanse correctly for Optimum Health and Weight Loss
Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash
It’s that time of year! The time when I am inundated with people ready to make changes to improve their health and to hopefully lose weight in the process. Some people want to take a pill without making other changes. If you are one of these people, this article isn’t for you. But if you are more serious and are willing to change your health from the inside out, which just happen to cause weight loss typically, read on. This process ends up improving overall health, digestion, and how well the body absorbs and utilizes nutrients — which all lead to better health.
Any life changes begin with getting rid of the old to make room for the new, and cleansing your body can be a great way to start this process. It is essential to know some things before purchasing any cleanse on the market. There are many cleansing products, some of which are very harsh, some are gentle, and some are more effective than others, depending on the person and their specific body issues. Before choosing a cleansing product, it is vital to know a few things and ask questions.
1- How often are your bowels now? This is very important. If you have 3 productive bowel movements a day, and the product being recommended is strong, it will increase your bowels and cause diarrhea, which isn’t cleansing. It is just making your colon spasm. If your colon spasms, then its walls are not letting go of toxins or being scrubbed out. If you are going once a week and the product isn’t strong enough or suitable for you, it may just clog you up more instead of helping to cleanse waste.
Many clients come to me saying they want to do a parasite or fungus cleanse. Your colon must be moving a minimum of twice a day before one of these additional cleanses are started; otherwise, you are just killing organisms so that they can lay dead in your colon. Your colon must be moving so that these organisms can be eliminated instead of causing more colon problems.
In addition, if you are not in optimal health and you go to war with organisms, you will most likely have a fight on your hands, and it can make you very sick. It is best to make sure your body is strong enough to win the battle. Taking a strong cleanse only makes you ill, and organisms may then hide in other organs, which doesn’t solve the issue. These organisms have been around for millions of years and are very smart at staying alive.
2- What health issues do you have that may be affected by a cleanse? Colon issues (like irritable bowel syndrome), high blood pressure, diabetes, or lung issues are just some health issues that benefit from cleanses. If you have any severe issues, cleansing can help considerably if done correctly and with support from your health professional. Having an experienced person help you is crucial as problems may arise that you may not understand or can turn around to your advantage promptly. When you have the help and guidance of a professional, you should get good results with your cleanse and get all your questions answered while seeing an improvement in your overall health.
Fasting while cleansing
The most beneficial cleanses, require you to fast. Fasting can be difficult for some people and definitely not recommended for everyone. Sometimes it may be needed if someone is very ill.
Fasting is good for so many reasons. It gives your digestive system a rest and helps pull toxins out of your body, and many people find they have a ton of energy when they fast.
It is also vital to protect your heart and make sure that your blood sugar levels stay up, so you have something to pull from during the fast. The supplements you take should have nutrients or herbs to help with this support.
Fasting means no solid food whatsoever. You can drink liquids like organic raw juices and organic bone broths during the fast. It is important only to use organic liquids; otherwise, you are just putting more toxins in your body, defeating the whole purpose. Juice can help with blood sugar levels if that is an issue.
A fast allows your body to let go of the toxins, plaque, and dead cells within you. When you eat, the cleansing supplements you take attach themselves to the food instead of the waste you are wanting to remove. When you fast, the supplements attach themselves to the waste you are trying to eliminate.
It is also very important that you keep drinking lots of water during the fast as well to prevent constipation and dehydration. Adding minerals to your water also is important. If you don’t drink enough water, you will just end up with a bunch of waste in your colon that won’t come out.
You can purchase packaged cleanses at health food stores that outline this in detail for you. The fasts are typically done for 5–10 days, depending on the product and how long the person actually does the fast.
Mucoid Plaque
After years of eating food, especially toxic food, it is common to build up a layer of ‘mucoid plaque’ on the inside walls of the intestines. This plaque greatly reduces our ability to absorb nutrition and leads to countless health problems. Doing cleanses properly can help absorb and pull this plaque from your intestinal walls and carry it out of your system. After the cleanse, most people notice their food tastes better; their sense of smell is improved, and they have a ton of energy after removing this plaque from their bodies.
The mucoid plaque is best removed with a fasting cleanse but can also be removed with other cleanses; it may just take longer. Once your mucoid plaque is removed, you may find that your body will crave only healthy foods, and junk/packaged food doesn’t sound as appealing.
Cleansing while eating normally
So, you want to cleanse, but you want to eat “normally.” Well, that is like trying to clean out your garbage can while someone else keeps trying to put garbage in it. So, first you should change your overall diet. Make sure that you are eating foods that feed you: organic fruits and vegetables, organic fats (avocados, nuts/seeds, olive/coconut oils), and organic meats. No packaged foods. You can also start eating more raw food, which is any food that isn’t cooked. Eating this way will also have a cleansing effect on your body. Then you can do a cleansing product that will supplement you with this new healthy diet. It won’t be as effective as fasting cleanses, but you will see beneficial changes. Several of my clients have passed their mucoid plaque while eating normally and taking cleansing supplements.
Healing Response
Sometimes when people cleanse, they have what is often referred to as a “healing crisis.” It is also technically called “The Herxheimer Reaction.” The phenomenon was first described by dermatologist Jarisch Adolf Herxheimer (1860–1902) working in Vienna, Austria, and a few years later by his brother Karl Herxheimer (1861–1942), also a Dermatologist, working in Frankfort, Germany.
This transient, short-term immunologic reaction is commonly seen following taking quality supplements. It can include fever, chills, headaches, and rashes. The reaction has been attributed to the liberation of endotoxin-like substances or antigens from the killed or dying microorganisms.
Simply stated, it is a reaction that occurs when the body is detoxifying. The released toxins either exacerbate the symptoms being treated or create symptoms such as headaches, body ache, joint discomfort, sweating, general malaise, sore throat, nausea, and/or flu-like symptoms.
The reaction is caused by an immune system reaction to the toxins (endotoxins) released when large amounts of pathogens are being killed off, and the body does not eliminate the toxins quickly enough. People often experience this when cleaning up their diet — it is very common when switching to a Keto/low carb diet.
Drinking LOTS of water can help eliminate or at least reduce many of these issues by moving the toxins out of the body faster. Taking minerals and bone broth helps immensely.
The Herxheimer brothers (who were mainly treating syphilitic lesions of the skin), noticed that in response to treatment, many patients developed not only fever, perspiration, night sweats, nausea, and vomiting. And their clients’ skin lesions became larger and more inflamed before settling down and healing. Interestingly, they found that those with the most extreme reactions healed the best and fastest. The patient might be ill for 2–3 days, but their lesions resolved. Although the experience may not feel particularly good, the Herxheimer Reaction or healing crisis is actually a sign that healing is taking place.
Some people re-experience issues that they had many years ago when cleansing. An example is one woman who I worked with many years ago. She had a small tumor in her ear that the doctors said was inoperable. Unfortunately, she couldn’t hear out of that ear. She was taking medication that she was going to be on for the rest of her life because of a replaced heart valve. She believed that the medication was causing the tumor. So, we recommended a few items that she slowly started on to help her body eliminate toxins caused by the drug and prevent the build-up causing the tumor, but not affect how the drug was working so her heart would remain healthy. After 2 weeks, she called and said that she was hearing crackling in her ear, similar to the one she had when it started to get clogged up in the first place. After a month, she called to say she could normally hear out of that ear.
Emotional Healing
Emotional releases also happen when fasting or cleansing. Many people will be angry or sad or cry for no apparent reason. And afterward, they feel great. This happens because we hold onto emotions in our tissues and cells. Our cells remember and help us to bury and hold onto feelings that we haven’t addressed. Cleansing can release these emotions along with dead cells and toxins. For more assistance on emotional healing, this article may be useful.
If you aren’t up for cleansing your whole body right away, you might start by cleansing your car, your home, or your selection of friends. Making small changes around you affects your health as well.
Regardless of your cleansing method or reason for cleansing, know that you won’t be just cleaning your organs but that your whole body will benefit.
Here’s to a new year and a new healthy body for you!
About the Author
Kasara is educated as a Mental Health Therapist, Master Herbalist, Traditional Naturopath and Energy Worker with over 35 years of helping thousands of clients find alternative health options that work. She writes articles on Medium, and on her website http://truhealth.com/. You may subscribe to her Medium account or her newsletter to stay connected.