Why Its So Important To Detox

By now you must be seeing the trend in my story. Its about toxins found in our environment and in the products we consume. These toxins build up in our body. They have a cumulative effect on our entire organic system. We all walk around with a "toxic burden" of synthetic chemicals, heavy metals and carcinogens that we have ingested either by eating, drinking, inhaling or absorbing. Its virtually impossible in the modern world to isolate ourselves from toxins but we can take steps to minimize our intake going forward. Our liver, that wonderful organ that some of us have abused without knowing its true importance, does the job of filtering out these toxins so that we can regenerate new and healthy cells in our body. As great as it is, the liver can't do it all. Many of the toxins that the liver misses are layered deep in our cells. The most common way to rid ourselves of our toxic burden is to cleanse. There are MANY ways of cleansing out there, from a simple antioxidant drink to an all out 2 week fast. I will highlight some of the drinks and cleanses that I know of and 3 of them that I have actually done.

First and foremost, there is nothing better than wheatgrass. Since we don't have rumens, its not possible for humans to digest grass but the antioxidant properties in wheatgreass are immeasurable. That is why we juice it! At first it tastes nasty but then the taste grows on you and can actually seem sweet. I take a 2oz shot of wheatgrass as often as I can. I also plan to purchase a wheatgrass juicer and grow my own to save money because the shots are pricey. Growing your own wheatgrass is simple and worth it. I will dedicate a future post to my experience with growing wheatgrass so stay tuned. Another potent antioxidant drink is NingXia Red. This is a proprietary drink formulated by Young Living. You can try to compare it to some of the Acai berry drinks out on the market but there really is no comparison. NingXia Red contains the gogi berry (wolfberry) grown in the NingXia provence in China. It also contains essential oils from the orange and lemon. Orange essential oil contains something called D limonene. This compound has proven cancer fighting and prevention properties. Drinking 1oz of NingXia Red per day can help detox your body as well as prevent illness. I have experinced anti inflammatory results from drinking NingXia Red and whenever I feel run down or sick, I drink more than 1oz (up to 6oz) per day and I am completely rejuvinated. The stuff is just amazing. You can find it on www.youngliving.com. I have also recently completed a 5 day nutritive cleanse also created by the Young Living company. This is a fibre cleanse designed to flush out your system without feeling starved for a week. I drank the fibre shake (Balance Complete) three times a day (in replacement of all meals) and followed that up with 2oz of NingXia Red three times daily. By the end of the 5 days I had increased energy, clearer skin and less irritability. In fact, I had no cravings for "real" food even when the cleanse was over. I still replace my least nutritious meal with this shake every now and then because it tastes so good. The best part is that I am detoxing while I drink it!

The most intensive cleanse that I have heard of is called the Master Cleanse. I have not personally embarked on this type of cleansing and to be honest, I dont' know if I have the willpower to complete it. Its a 2 week cleanse where essentially all food is removed from your diet. There is a special drink that one uses to replace all meals and to keep hydrated. The idea is to shock your cells from lack of nourishment into releasing the toxins that they have stored up. I have heard incredible stories of the matter that comes out of the human body when taking this cleanse. Its pretty gross to think about all the garbage that our body is holding on to. I aspire to one day complete a master cleanse but for now fasting for 24 hours once a month if you can is another good way to detox on a small scale. It also frees your mind to do other things besides waiting and thinking about the next meal. Its a very liberating experience. The last cleanse I will mention is also something I would LOVE to do. Its actually way more than just a cleanse, its a complete change in lifesyle. I have spoken about it with my friend and we have made a pact to save up the $10K that it costs and once we are all done having kids go down to FL and detox! The place is called the Hippocrates Health Institute www.hippocratesinst.org. For about $10K or so they offer The Life Change Program. You can go for as little as one week but the full program is 3 weeks. They put you on an enzyme rich diet of living foods which includes daily wheatgrass and teach you lessons on how to live a health filled life. There are stories of people struggling with cancer who have done this program and have eradicated the disease from their body. I do not know any of these people but ther testimonials are on the website. Just reading it now makes me want to go today! Willpower is half the battle with detoxing, a lifestyle change is also necessary and place like Hippocrates can give you the tools as well as the motivation to do so.