RENEW

I had to go to the library to check out a whole bunch of books using the subject keyword "detox diet" to find out more about detoxing. I've learned we're all toxic, its deep in our tissues and especially our fat, and I wanted to know how to get rid of it; particularly heavy metals. The book "The Detox Strategy: Vibrant Health in 5 Easy Steps" by Brenda Watson, C.N.C., with Leonard Smith, M.D., gives the most specific advise, and I felt like she knew what she was talking about.

Her five step plan to RENEW is to:
1. Reduce exposure to toxins in your environment. She explains a few ways we get toxins in our systems, from water systems, chemicals we clean with, and chemicals in our clothes and bedding. Once educated, we can try our best to avoid them.

2. Eliminate Toxins in your body. The body has natural toxin elimination processes, mainly through the liver, but also in six other channels of elimination: the lungs, the liver, the colon, kidneys, skin, blood, and lymph.

3. Nourish your cells and systems. She tells what to eat and drink.*

4. Energize your body, mind, and spirit. (Exercise)

5. Wellness-putting it all together.

On page 100 she tells of four specific cleanses that are recommended, using supplements found in health food stores.

Step One: Total-body basic cleanse (duration: two weeks) (always start with this, then move on to advanced if you want)

Step Two: Total-body advanced cleanse (duration: thirty days)

Step Three: Targeted liver cleanse (30 days, optional)

Step Four: Targeted heavy metal cleanse (30 days, optional)

To aid in the cleansing process she recommends other helps such as digestive enzymes, supplements, dry brushing, saunas, whatever you can do. Too bad I can't do any cleanses while I'm pregnant or breastfeeding. Can't wait. See also the candida yeast cleanse.

These cleanses, she claims, are now widely available. Look for these ingredients on your cleanse:

Total-body basic cleanse
morning formula ingredients:
artichoke
blessed thistle
burdock root
dandelion
echinacea
feugreek
garlic
green tea
hawthorn berry
horsetail
kelp
milk thistle
mullein
nettle
oatstraw
oregano
parsley
red clover
turmeric
wormwood
yarrow
yellow dock
Total-body basic cleanse evening formula ingredients:
buckthorn
flaxseed
marshmallow (Althaea officinalis)
rhubarb
slippery elm
triphala (An ayurvedic formula)

Total-body advanced cleanse
Morning formula:
artichoke
ashwagandha
beet
burdock root
bupleurum
celandine
chlorella
cornsilk
dandelion
hawthorn berry
larch
mullein
milk thistle
red clover
turmeric
Evening formula:
cape aloe
fennel
ginger
magnesium hydroxide
marshmallow
rhubarb
slippery elm
triphala

Liver Cleanse
Morning formula:
alpha-lipoic acid
artichoke
dandelion
green tea
methionine
taurine
milk thistle
N-acetylcycsteine
phosphatidylcholine
selenium
turmeric
Evening formula:
Andographis paniculata
Belleric myrobalan
Boerhavia diffusa
Eclipta alba
Picrorhiza kurroa
Tinospora cordifolia

Heavy metal cleanse ingredients:
Morning
biotin
boron
calcium
chromium
copper
folic acid
magnesium
manganese
molybdenum
selenium
vanadium
vitamin C
vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12
zinc
Evening:
alpha-lipoic acid
bladderwrack
chlorella
cilantro
garlic
kelp
ceucine
N-acetylcysteine
sodium alginate

*antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids (EFAs), probiotics, enzymes, fiber supplements, lots of water, raw superfoods, green juicing, fruits and nonstarchy vegetables, whole foods vs. processed, wild fish, avoid dairy, avoid salt, limit coffee and tea, and eat 80 percent alkaline and 20 percent acid-forming foods.