Peeps have been asking about the process of the cleanse I am on. *Yes, I am still on it. So, I thought I’d write it out for you all. I will link to the specific herbs and tonics through Blessed Herbs, but will give you the breakdown of events as they occur.
I started out with the Colon Cleanse. Eight Days. Three days of decreasing eating. Five Fasting. Once you are fasting you take the Toxin Absorber five times a day with apple cider. It is vital that you drink a lot of water so you don’t get toxin absorber stuck in your system. The Toxin Absorber is an herbal supplement of Psyllium seed husks, Apple pectin, Ginger root OR Peppermint leaf, and Bentonite clay and goes throughout your intestines gathering up crap, bad bacteria coming out as mucoid plaque. It comes out, ummm, interestingly. You are supported in this by a digestive stimulator which acts much like insoluble fiber and moves it all along.
After that I waited about a week just eating well so not to build up new crap in my newly cleaned out colon and got ready to address the rest of my system. I was taking the toxin absorber daily and making sure the body was maintaining stasis.
The Internal Cleanse lasts 21 days and acts a follow up to a clean colon by cleansing the liver, lungs, kidneys, skin and lymph. While on the IC you continue to take the toxin absorber and digestive stimulator adding in herbs and a liquid formula.
The first week concentrates on removing parasites in your small intestine and cleansing the gallbladder and liver. The liquid formula is vile. I had a major reaction this week (vertigo). No parasites though. (ya!) The second week was bladder, lung and kidney. The third week is lymph, blood and skin.
It is vital that your continue to take the toxin absorber and digestive stimulator so you can continue to push out the toxins. It is also important to eat as clean as possible for you so that you don’t build up toxins in the process. They recommend you eat one “level” above how you regularly eat. For example, if you eat animal protein and processed foods then you could continue to eat animal protein, but take out the processed foods. They recommend eating organic, non-processed foods, but try to make it accessible to as many people as possible.
The Internal Cleanse is definitely more mellow of a process. Sometimes I forget I am doing it, but do feel that it is making a difference. Not only is it reinforcing a better eating style I am cleaning out the bad bacteria and nightly replacing it with good bacteria so that my body can work more efficiently.
My whole system will be all cleansed out on Friday. In all a five week process. Pretty intense, but definitely something I would do again.
How did you find out about Blessed Herbs? Did someone recommend it to you?
ReplyDeleteA friend recommended it to me. I have done a few cleanses in my life and this one (while seeming really weird at first) seems to be reasonable and healthier than other options.
ReplyDeleteHey Brooke,
ReplyDeleteAs a follower of your blog and as someone who has always been intrigued by the concept of the cleanse, I have been wondering about the validity of it all. I found an interesting response to cleansing (http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4083) and wondered, as an erudite health expert, about your thoughts on this man's perspective.
In other news, glad you are feeling great at 35! I am really enjoying 31. :)
Best,
Jaimie
Really tempting to launch an ad hominem attack on this guy. Reading his website got me all up in arms. Mostly though, I want to answer your question :)
ReplyDeleteI find cleanses a useful way to restart and take stock of my body. If you remove many of the toxins you are taking in on a daily basis and consume a very sparse liquid diet you are going to find out what is going on and from there hopefully make changes that improve your daily experience. Are there studies proving the validity of these cleanses? I don't know, but I know what works for me. That being said I wouldn't recommend cleanses for everyone.
I have been to acupuncturists, reflexologists, naturopaths and regular medical doctors (the ones this guy firmly believes in). The care I have received from these people have led me down the path I am on. The path of listening to people and doing my best to help them live a life of vibrancy. The problem with waiting for hard science to produce a study and give us their findings is that the results can be interpreted differently by different people. I have seen it so frequently when researching nutrition.
I believe in neurosurgeons and their knowledge/skill in removing brain tumors. I believe in eastern sciences (Aruveda, Chinese Medicine) and their ability to heal the body through looking at meridians, blood lines and whole body awareness. They each have their place. Although I love it when they are placed side by side.
So, does mucoid plague (be it made up or not), created by the combination of the toxin absorber ingredients, clean out my system? I can tell you I am more clean now then I was. And that feels good. Does it make sense to be a bit skeptical about all this? Hell yes. But it comes down to what works for each person. Each hugely variable, unique human system. And that is something science can't prove.
I found Mr. Dunning's blog post to be fairly insulting to a large number of people who believe they know their body better than any doctor can. Transferring responsibility for one’s health to a western doctor will lead you down a predictable path of treating symptoms. In some cases these treatments may uncover the root cause of the problem, but in many cases they only provide the patient with the hope that their medical problems can be addressed without making difficult changes to their lifestyle (e.g. diet, exercise).
ReplyDeleteFasting and cleansing have been a part of the human experience since the beginning of man. Purity of mind and body is recognized as a key component of health and enlightenment by most if not all religions. Cleansing “products” make purification more accessible to the western world. I’m sure there are big differences in the quality and effectiveness of these products, but what’s really import is whether the individual who is fasting (or cleansing) finds the process and result to be effective and rewarding. I doubt Mr. Dunning has ever completed a fast and this makes him unqualified to speak on the subject.
Fasting is an excellent way to reestablish (self) control over my body and mind. That is why I do it. I could care less about the mucoid plaque.
Thanks, both of you. I don't know that I am at a place in my life that I could alter anything I'm doing but perhaps one day I'll gather my own data and see for myself!
ReplyDelete