Detoxify for Optimum Health

The sweet arrival of summer finds me hiking in the majestic Rocky Mountains, walking the shores of Western Canada's emerald green lakes, and sipping fresh lemonade while loafing on a lounge chair on my deck. Aaah, beautiful, blissful summer. Is there any time as wonderful? The changing of spring to summer also brings another benefit - a great time of year to detoxify your body. Plus, what time of year could make detoxifying easier. You can almost taste the brilliant-coloured watermelon, blueberries, and strawberries. There are so many fresh, nutrition-packed vegetables in the gardens or at the markets across Canada. If you missed spring-cleaning your body, don't fret. It is not too late to start a cleansing program.

Detoxification is analogous to cleaning your home. Imagine the condition of your bathtub if it was not cleaned for twenty, forty or even eighty years. Most people allow similar conditions to fester in their bodies as toxins accumulate and wreak havoc.

Toxins disrupt the normal healthy flow within your body, leaving you feeling fatigued, sore and depressed. They can also lead to serious illnesses, such as cancer, arthritis, diabetes and allergies. There are literally thousands of toxins and harmful synthetic chemicals in your food, air, water, homes, and workplaces. In the course of a day, you are exposed to toxic pesticides, herbicides, beauty and hygiene products, food additives, negative emotions and a host of other factors that compromise your health.

Detoxification cleanses the body of harmful substances and restores its natural healing ability. While your body is equipped to deal with toxicity, it can be overburdened by the volume and type of toxins found in our modern world. Detoxification therapy helps eliminate toxins from your respiratory system, liver, gall bladder, kidneys and urinary tract, skin, fatty deposits (including cellulite), lymph and other parts of your body. Healthy foods, juices and herbs, increased oxygen intake and movement, natural healing therapies and minimizing exposure to additional toxins support natural, safe detoxification by giving your body a short break from potentially damaging dietary and lifestyle habits.

Toxins primarily affect the body at the cellular level where symptoms are not evident. But lack of symptoms is not synonymous with perfect health. They are signals from the body that something is wrong and ignoring them can be risky. Few people experience the symptoms of clogged arteries prior to having a stroke or heart attack. Some people experience pain, fatigue or some other negative symptom prior to the diagnosis of serious afflictions like diabetes, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome.

The human body has its own innate healing intelligence. It can overcome even the most serious afflictions when given the opportunity. Trillions of cells work at lightning speeds to overcome infection, inflammation and heal whatever is damaging your body. Health problems arise when we ingest harmful substances through food or drink, inhale them in our air, or absorb them through our skin. Considering your skin is totally renewed in only twenty-eight days, you have an entirely new heart in thirty days and your lungs take seventy days to completely regenerate, the most serious affliction should be gone in the time it takes to regenerate an organ. But this can only happen when your body's specific needs are met. These needs include enzymes, oxygen, clean water, vitamins and minerals, a proper pH balance, a healthy system of digestion and elimination, electrically-charged tissues and cells, healthy emotions, love and a sense of purpose and fulfillment, among other things.

A body burdened by chemicals, sugars, rancid oils, and other toxins cannot function properly. If you use chemical-laden skin- and hair-care products, your body cannot rely on its largest detoxification organ (the skin) to eliminate toxins. Instead, your skin is working in reverse, absorbing more poisons into your cells. If you breathe the harmful vapours of chlorine bleach and other chemical "cleaning" products, you are exposing your lungs to poisons they were never designed to eliminate.

There are countless benefits of detoxifying your body, mind, emotions, and spirit: improved digestion, increased energy, cleared sinuses, normalized blood pressure, fewer allergy symptoms and hormonal imbalances. Your immune system will strengthen, your mental abilities will sharpen, you will sleep better, have fewer mood swings, healthier skin and you will feel more capable of living life to its fullest. The approach I use to healing through detoxification is threefold:

1. Cleanse the body of toxins that have built up in the cells, tissues, organs and organ systems

2. Lessen further exposure to toxins

3. Help the body to rebuild through proper nutrition and healing therapies, with particular emphasis on weakened or damaged areas.

Michelle Cook's 7-Day Detox Plan:

While there are lots of ways to detoxify your body, this is a simple, safe and effective one that anyone can use. Start by getting a juicer and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid the foods listed below. Eat as many of the "Foods to Eat While Detoxifying" as you wish. Upon rising, drink a mixture of pure, unsweetened juice with 1 teaspoon of psyllium mixed into it. Immediately afterward, drink a large glass of water with the juice of 1 lemon squeezed into it. Wait at least 15 minutes before eating or drinking anything else. Then, eat fruit all morning (as much as you'd like) but just fruit. From noon onward, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and whole grains and legumes. Eat when you are hungry but only until you are full. Don't eat if you're not hungry. Continue for seven days or longer depending on the results you are trying to achieve.

Foods to Avoid While Detoxifying:

-All processed, packaged, or fast foods (they aggravate pain, inflammation and injuries);
-All hydrogenated fats (margarine, shortening, lard or products made with them such as cookies, pies, packaged foods, buns, etc.);
-All fried foods (French fries, onion rings, potato chips, nachos, hamburgers, etc.);
-All white sugar (and foods made from this sweet;
-All synthetic sweeteners (Nutrasweet, saccharin, aspartame, etc.);
-Salt (use Celtic sea salt instead);
-All food additives: colours, flavour enhancers, stabilizers, preservatives, etc.
-Avoid meat and poultry.

Foods to Eat While Detoxifying:
-Plenty of raw fruits and vegetables;
-Flax oil;
-Vibrant-coloured berries like blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries;
-Spices like turmeric, garlic, onions, ginger, celery seeds;
-Plenty of fresh, raw vegetable and fruit juices (made at home in a juicer);
-Lots of Apples;
-Fresh raw nuts;
-Leafy greens like spinach, dandelion greens and kale; and
-Drink at least eight to ten cups of pure water daily to flush out toxins.
Here are some fabulous cleansing recipes to get you started:

Blueberry Cleansing Salad Dressing
½ cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
¾ cup cold-pressed flax seed oil (make sure it is refrigerated)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (with sediment in the bottom-purchase at a health food store)
dash of Celtic sea salt
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
Blend with a hand mixer or whisk together. If whisking ingredients together, mash the blueberries with a fork. Pour over mixed baby greens since they have the greatest healing properties of various types of lettuce.

Herb Cleansing Salad Dressing
¾ cup cold-pressed flax seed oil (make sure it is refrigerated)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (with sediment in the bottom-purchase at a health food store)
½ teaspoon Celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon oregano
dash of cayenne pepper
Whisk all ingredients together. Or, place in a jar and shake together. Pour over fresh mesclun salad greens (mixed baby greens).

Carrot Cleansing Juice
6 large carrots (remove tops)
1 apple
1 inch piece of ginger
Pass all ingredients through a juicer. Drink immediately.

Blood, Liver & Kidney Cleansing Juice
Dandelion is useful for cleansing the blood (which removes toxins from the tissues and joints thereby speeding healing and lessening pain and inflammation.) Be aware that if you drink a fair amount of this juice over a short period of time it can speed a cleansing reaction which initially might produce symptoms like fatigue or headaches. These symptoms will pass as your body becomes "cleaner."
3 apples
handful of fresh dandelion (if you are digging it yourself, be sure to obtain organic dandelion where the land has not been sprayed for several years and is far removed from traffic areas.)
Pass all ingredients through a juicer. Drink immediately.

Skin Cleansing Juice
1 cucumber
4 stalks celery
1-2 apples (depending on preferred sweetness)
Pass all ingredients through a juicer. Drink immediately.

Healing 5-Bean Salad
1 can cooked mixed beans (such as kidney, garbanzo, pinto, etc.) rinsed
2 stalks celery finely chopped
1/4 purple onion finely chopped
1/2 green pepper finely chopped
1/2 red pepper finely chopped
1 green onion finely chopped

3/4 cup cold-pressed flax seed oil (make sure it is refrigerated)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (with sediment in the bottom-purchase at a health food store)
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
dash of cayenne pepper
Mix the cooked beans and chopped vegetables together in a bowl. In a jar whisk together the flax seed oil, apple cider vinegar, Celtic sea salt, maple syrup, basil, thyme oregano and cayenne pepper. Pour half of the dressing over the bean and vegetable mixture. For best taste, let marinate overnight or a couple hours. Store the remaining dressing in a covered jar in the refrigerator for later use.

Restore your body's natural healing instincts by eliminating toxins and you will experience improved health. Henry David Thoreau wrote about the healing effects of nature: "Nature is doing her best each moment to make us well. She exists for no other end. Do not resist. With the least inclination to be well, we should not be sick."

Adapted from the book by Michelle Schoffro Cook, The 4 Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan (Toronto, ON: John Wiley & Sons Canada, 2004). ISBN: 0-470-83509-5.