Body Cleanse Hub

Body cleansing is the process of removing toxins from your body.  Simple concept, right?  In modern society, we consume more toxins than we know.  That Whopper from Burger King, the Grilled Stuft Burrito from Taco Bell, the Big Mac and fries….all of these things contain substances that the human body cannot digest.  Over a lifetime of consuming these substances, our body gets backed up with toxins it cannot digest and needs a little help.  That’s where a body cleanse comes in.

A body cleanse can be done in a multitude of ways.  Contrast showers, detoxification foot pads, oil pulling, Scientology’s Purification Rundown, the Master Cleanse and the Fruit Flush are just a few.  There are mild and easy methods like the contrast shower and there are harder and longer methods like the Master Cleanse.  Most health and vitamin stores carry some sort of body cleanse formula; generally these are taken in pill form over the course of a week.

There are many different reasons to do a body cleanse or detox.  One reason for the huge fad in detox diets is weight loss.  The human body retains a lot of water so in the first few days of a detox, your body sheds this water and you quickly lose pounds and inches in water weight.  What most people DON’T know is that this weight is the easiest and quickest to gain back.

Another reason to detox is for general wellbeing.  The toxins that dwell in the body can affect many things.  That craving for caffeine?  The need to smoke?  Cravings and addictions are caused by a build-up of toxins.  By body cleansing, you get rid of the toxins causing these cravings and can ultimately get rid of the cravings themselves.  Ever spoken to the smoker who quit and now can’t even be in the same room as cigarette smoke without gagging?  Same thing.  Their body got rid of the toxins that made cigarettes attractive to them and now the body is rejecting those toxins, remembering what it did to the body.

Body cleansing and detox diets have been referred to as elaborate hoaxes by the scientific community.   While there may not be any scientific data that truly explains the inner workings of toxins in the body and body cleansing methods, there are thousands of people who have tried the methods and experienced great results.

You feel better.  Feel refreshed.  Most people report an increase in energy and an improvement in mood.  Could this be all in the head?  Perhaps.  But there is not enough quantitative data to prove one way or the other.  So be safe.  Read your directions.  Follow them.  Judge for yourself.

The Master Cleanse is a serious, long term body cleanse created by Stanley Burroughs in 1941.  Burroughs considered it a detoxification program that removes harmful toxins, promotes weight loss, and cures ulcers.

The cleanse is done in 3 different parts; the Ease-in, the Lemonade Diet and the Ease-out.  The first part, the Ease In, is a three day body prep.  The amount and types of food that most people consume on a daily basis are not conducive to this cleanse, so the first 3 days will slowly wean you off of foods and onto a juice diet.

The cleanse itself can be done for any amount of time.  3 days is the shortest time frame, but some people do it one day a week.  5-7 days is a good first try and 10 days will give you the best results.  Each day, you prepare your daily allotment of “lemonade”.  The lemonade you will be consuming is not your standard lemonade.  You will be making it with fresh squeezed lemon (or lime) juice, organic maple syrup and cayenne pepper.  This will be your diet for the next 10 days.  Anytime you feel hunger, you drink the lemonade.

The other big part of this body cleanse is the Salt Water Flush.  Each day (you can do this in the morning or the evening to fit your schedule) you will mix Organic Sea Salt into a glass of water and drink it.  You do not have to drink it in one go, but if you take a break, you may not be able to continue drinking.  This will cause a bowel movement.  It can take 5 minutes or it can take 60 minutes.  You should make sure that when you do the Salt Water flush that you are in close proximity to a bathroom.  You will most likely have 3-7 movements.  During the first few days, you will be moving all the solid matter out of your body.  In the following days, you will expel the toxins that are the reason you’re doing this body cleanse in the first place.

During the cleanse, you can drink as much water as you want.  Water will help keep you full and will chase the taste of both the Salt Water portion and the Lemonade out of your mouth.
The Ease-out is the same thing as the Ease-in.  Because your body has not been used to solid foods, reintroducing them slowly is a good idea.  Running out to McDonald’s for a cheeseburger would most likely make you very sick very quickly.  You should start slowly, with juices and then work yourself back up to where you are eating solid foods.

The Master Cleanse is not for the faint of heart!  It’s one of the most extreme detox methods available and can be one of the harshest of the body cleanse choices.  Jared Leto and Beyonce have both tried this diet with great results.  Beyonce, however, denounced the diet, saying that there are other ways to lose weight and she would not recommend it if someone wasn’t doing a movie.  It is a fairly large time commitment and can be more hassle than it’s worth.

Pop star opinions aside, The Master Cleanse is NOT for everyone and you should make sure you prepare yourself adequately for such an extreme body detox method.

Most people I talk to are very intimidated by the prospect of a drastic change to their lifestyle and the difficulty of maintaining the strict regiment most detox diets and body cleanses require for success. In truth, many of the more extreme forms of body detox can be a huge burden on your body and, more noticeably, your lifestyle. Which is why I have a personal favorite detox method that does the trick while allowing you one of the most healthy and essential foods in the human diet: Fruit.

It should seem obvious that human beings are warm-weather creatures. No matter what climate we migrate to, no matter what temperature or weather exists outside our doors, we always adjust to the preferred 72 degrees. That’s the optimal temperature for most people and the body is at its healthiest in this environment. We’re tropical creatures at our core, even if some crazy people choose to live in the northern cold climates! The most tropical foods you can eat are, of course, fruits.

Fruit is one of the best and most important food groups you can dive into. They’re high in fiber, Vitamin C, and natural sugars. They also tend to have high amounts of water, making them juicy and easy to digest. Fruit is a diet staple in most tropical cultures and rightly so. It’s probably the first food our earliest ancestors gathered. Regular consumption of fruit is associated with reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, Alzheimer disease, cataracts, and some of the functional declines associated with aging, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Being that fruit is such an important and natural source of nutrition and health, it makes an excellent catalyst for a body cleanse. When toxins build up in your body, they remain for as long as the body is concentrating on the main areas of digestion. When you allow the body a break from normal digestion (especially that of toxic and complex foods), it gets the opportunity to focus on clearing out all that left over junk that clogs up your digestive tract and blood stream. The fruit detox method basically requires you to consume fruits alone, which give the body the proper nutrition while focusing on detoxifying.

A fruit cleanse is fairly simple. This is why it’s so popular. The time span varies, depending on the program. You can do it anywhere from a single day, which is the least effective amount of time, to a week or more. Most nutritionists agree that it isn’t really productive beyond a week but I’ve heard of people doing a “fruit fast” for almost a month. Technically, you could switch your diet completely to fruits alone but you’d need to supplement with protein and necessary fats.

The most basic fruit detox is as follows:

DAY ONE: Jolt your body to let it know it’s about to do something different. Spend the first day drinking only protein shakes and water. Juice is alright too but only 100% juice. Avoid additives and concentrate if possible. Have something light in the evening like a salad or a serving of fruit. (Yes, a fruit cleanse is still effective if you end your day with a veggie-based meal. Your body is still doing the work all day.)

DAYS TO FOLLOW: For each day beyond the first that you cleanse with a fruit diet, limit yourself to a moderate serving of fruit every couple hours. Eating often is one of the best ways to lose weight because it kicks your metabolism into overdrive. Continue to have a salad for dinner (light on the dressing, please!).

The fruit method is an easy body cleanse to do and one of my favorites because you don’t even realize you’re “dieting” or “detoxing” because you still get to eat yummy, succulent fruits! As with any kind of diet restriction, use common sense and moderation. Your body still needs optimal nutrition from a variety of sources. When you finish your cleanse, ease your way back into a more rich diet. Don’t run out and grab a big raw steak — trust me, you’ll feel it and it ain’t pretty!

There are plenty of fruit methods out there so it doesn’t hurt to check around to see what the differing opinions and programs are. My favorite resource for the fruit method is nutritionist and health coach Jay Robb’s plan called The Fruit Flush. It’s very comprehensive and helpful.