The detoxification (detox) process is the beginning of a lifelong journey that, with your power of intention or willfulness, will begin a healing rejuvenation so powerful, that you may not recognize who or what you used to be. The process described here will support you to find better food alternatives in order to support your health.
Most people are not able to go 100 percent raw at the beginning of the detox process (your digestive system is not currently strong enough if unaccustomed to a diet of all whole foods), so we will give you the tools and skills necessary to prepare more nutritious meals and slowly increase the amount of whole and raw foods.
The foods and recipes chosen are designed to avoid using common allergy causing foods like red meat, chicken, eggs, refined sugar, dairy products, wheat, gluten and shellfish. Instead, there is a vast abundance of grains, nuts, seeds, beans and fresh produce that are filling, nutritious and support the detox process.
My goal as your mentor is to make this process pleasurable, experiential and fulfilling on every level. You will find tastes, textures, colors, and fragrances to satisfy all of your senses. In addition, and this is what makes this process so unique, you will discover the specific health properties of the foods used and their effect on the body as a whole. So relax and enjoy your exploration of this exciting new world of delightful, health-giving, cuisine and along the way think of how you can incorporate these foods into your own diet.
Throughout time, many religious practices have advised people to fast from food for different periods of time. While practiced for different reasons, fasting allows the body to cleanse and rest. In much the same way that you need a vacation from work, your body needs a food vacation from time to time. Even if your diet is “good” and you live a healthy lifestyle, a cleanse can restore your immune system and protect you from environmental toxins that pave the way for disease bearing bacteria, viruses and parasites.
Just think how many showers you take in a year to clean the outside of your body and then how many cleanses you do in a year to clean the inside of your body. Detoxification is a normal process within the body, as it neutralizes and eliminates toxins through the major organs such as our colon, liver, kidney, lungs, lymph and skin. Our bodies do it naturally every day, in fact it is one of our most basic automatic functions.
But, what if our self-cleaning system is overloaded by our unhealthy lifestyle and the exposure to environmental toxins? Cleansing is especially important when you are feeling tired, sick, heavy or just plain run down.
There are many different ways to detox.
There are commercial cleanses that you buy from the health food store or from a MLM program which promises that you will “lose weight” and “improvedetoxification health conditions”, while the truth is that many people report they feel flu-like symptoms or that they have no energy. If you choose this way to detox, do you then go back to your old lifestyle once you finish the program (or quit it)?
Detoxification programs that instead support us to change our lifestyle and habitual, unconscious patterns are the real answer to disease prevention. This is especially true for immune-deficiency diseases like cancer, arthritis, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome and candida. Our toxic diets, with an over-abundance of animal protein, too much saturated fat and too much caffeine and alcohol radically alters our internal ecosystem.
To create long lasting results we must eliminate toxic mineral-deficient foods from the diet and add whole, raw and living foods and herbs to our diet. We must learn to tune into our bodies, not cleanse too quickly and thus allow our bodies to handle the metabolic changes that occur during detoxification. Success comes when we transition at our own pace and budget, beginning with a realization of where we are and then gradually increasing the pace as we gain new skills and we adjust physically, mentally and spiritually.
Do You Need to Detox?
Here is a little checklist we like to use to see if you’re in need of a detox:
- Do you feel bloated, constipated and congested?
- Have you gained unwanted pounds even though you are not eating more food?
- Do you feel tired and low in energy? (signs of an acidic diet)
- Has your digestion worsened? (a sign your body isn’t using its nutrients well)
- Is your hair and skin looking less healthy than normal?
- Do you frequently get mouth sores, yeast infections, urinary tract infections, and any unusual allergies?
- Do you feel foggy and out of sorts?
- Do you feel like you need to clear the cobwebs from your brain?
If you have ticked yes to three or more of the above then a detox might be just what your body needs to regain balance.