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As today (May 7) was day 1 of the Making Love in the Kitchen group Green Smoothie Cleanse, I wanted to share some information about cleanses that I’ve researched for you. This is just a brief explanation, cobbled together from various sources. I encourage you to seek out more information. With all the environmental toxins we can all use a little help.
Cleanse…detox… whatever you want to call it. Some distinguish between the two. We encounter so many toxins in our life. For example: Chemicals via food additives, pesticides, environmental pollution, cleaning products including household cleaners, laundry detergent & fabric softeners, toxins in cosmetics and hygiene products including shampoo, toxins in the water you drink and shower in, toxins that other people’s bodies give off (think second hand smoke, perfume, whatever else they’re carrying around that’s airborne, plus their own viruses ‘n’ such). No one can, or would want to, live in a hermetic space. We work, we play.
Good thing is, our bodies are complex machines. We have organs to keep the good and rid the bad.
The lymphatic system carries a clear fluid, lymph, which contains excess proteins, wastes, and other elements. Lymph surrounds the cells of our body to bring them nourishment and carry wastes out of the body. Unlike the blood, the lymph does not have the heart to pump it through the body. It must rely on the movement of the body and stimulation. Lymph is the clear stuff that you see with blood when we have wounds.
The liver, the 2nd largest organ after the skin, filters through the toxins you ingest and sends the toxins to the correct organ for elimination. It is the most important metabolic organ for carbohydrate, protein, fats and hormones. Aside from synthesis and excretion of bile, it also stores vitamins.
The kidneys help the body in detoxing liquids that pass through your body. That is why it’s extremely important you drink a sufficient amount of water. Your kidneys work to sort through good toxins and dissolved waste from acid.
Your lungs are responsible for helping your body get the required oxygen it needs by processing the air we breathe. The lungs are one of the first organs to intake toxins. A cold is usually a sign that your body is trying to rid itself of toxins and waste matter that has built up to the point of overwhelming your immune system. The lungs help in pushing clean air through your body which cleanses the bad chemicals you might inhale. Your lungs also help in eliminating toxic gases that can be found within cells. You will aid your lungs with their job by practicing deep breathing in fresh air environments.
The colon is the part of the digestive system where the waste material is stored. A healthy colon detoxifies the body by extracting water and salt from solid wastes and effectively expelling these waste material and toxins from the body. The colon can hold onto a lot of old waste.
80% of our immune system lives in our intestines, and because of the damage caused by modern toxicity, it is constantly in a state of alert and in attack mode.
So, keeping our insides clean, eating well to begin with, giving it a good spring cleaning, getting enough rest, and nourishing ourselves from the inside out helps keep us disease free. An older woman at my yoga studio has been telling a few of us about a liver cleanse that she does a couple of times a year, how great she feels after, that she looks forward to the next one, and that some of her chronic ailments disappeared when she started. I’ll be doing that one in the near future.
Reported benefits of a juice or smoothie cleanse are that such a cleanse gives the digestive system a rest and the nutrients are more easily absorbed. Add detoxifying herbs to that for a more powerful cleaning. A subsequent blog post will cover herbs.
I suspect that the people who do cleanses/detox are the people who need them less, but we could all use a little boost.
How did I do on day 1? Not so well. A friend was in town unexpectedly which resulted in a meal (a second lunch, after blended soup), then later I had a sugary snack at a play (kicked myself later) despite turning down all food offers in the morning. I did drink 3 smoothies and there’s always tomorrow.
I bought sunflower sprouts, spinach and dandelion greens at the farmer’s market today. Those are all going into smoothies over the next few days. Dandelion might be a bitter weed but it’s supposedly great for the liver, blood and kidneys. I notice myself going to the bathroom more when I consume more dandelion greens. I also bought wild leeks, aka ramps, which I share only because it means that spring has arrived (or, it’s “ramping up”, as I said earlier). They could be used in soup.
A few resources:
You might not believe in cleansing, and that’s your prerogative, but I figure that it can’t hurt. At the very least, something like a green smoothie cleanse helps get the nutrients into my life and the potentially toxic stuff out – even if just short term. Necessary? Maybe, maybe not. Beneficial? Definitely.
Eat well, be well.
