For those who didn’t attend my workshop last Saturday, have no fear, you can still join in the detox program. Below is some info on detoxing, the benefits of detoxing and fasting and what the program entails. It’s basically a food elimination group detox that accumulates and this week its alcohol that is being eliminated.
6 Week Detox Program finishing with a 2/3 day juice fast – This is a gentle program that will
change your lifestyle and make you glow from the inside out.
If your body is getting everything it needs, i.e. nutrients & minerals, your body can work properly. I work on the encouragement of self-healing and in my practice my emphasis is on ‘treating the cause not the symptoms’ and ‘treating the patient as a whole’. I have mixed views on fasting, these fad diets of fasting for 2 days a week and then eating and drinking as ‘normal’ for the rest give out the wrong impression for a balanced lifestyle. I do praise the benefits of fasting though if it is done properly. It gives your body a break from dealing with everything it has to break down and gives it time to regenerate and heal itself. You can eat during this fast, but only portions of raw vegetables or fruit. Fasting is an integral part of many cultures and done quite naturally in countries around the world. Join me on this 6 week detox programme followed by a 2/3 day juice fast – this will leave you feeling
amazing both inside & out.
The 6 week detox plan is to prepare your body for the fast, it just makes the whole process a lot smoother and it’s an easier transition for the body so it’s not such a drastic change all of a sudden. We all have toxins in our body; they come in in many forms. Toxins are proteins produces by certain bacteria, animals or plants. The main toxins that we are vulnerable to are:
· Exogenous Toxins – Alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, recreational & prescription drugs, additives preservatives, hair bleach & skin creams etc…
· Environmental Toxins – Pesticides, herbicides, solvents, petrochemicals, exhaust gases, carbon monoxide, fluoride, heavy metals etc…
And the list goes on…
The three basic ways to avoid Toxicity are to avoid heavy metals, eat organic food and live in an eco-friendly environment. There are simple ways that we can change our lifestyle that I will go over during the course of this programme.
6 Week Detox program – pre-fasting
· Week 1 – No Alcohol
· Week 2 – No Caffeine
· Week 3 – No Meat
· Week 4 – No Dairy
· Week 5 – No Wheat
· Week 6 – No Sugar
That’s accumulative so you start the 2/3 day fast with none of these in your system, and depending on your diet at the moment it could be shorter than 6 weeks eg. If you’re a vegetarian it would only be 5 weeks.
It looks simple, but it gets tough…
Keep an eye out for my blog posts, I will be giving you encouragement and helpful tips along the way. I will also give you the recipe’s for the juices well in advance and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need some advice in regard to the program.
The 2/3 day Juice Fast starts at the end of the 6th week
2/3 day Juice fasts are a great thing to do once or twice a year. Spring and Summer are best as in Winter the Qi (vital force/energy) retreats and you need building up.The juices can be a mix of Veg or Fruit juices, and you can eat raw Organic fruit and vegetables throughout the fast just limit yourself to either fruit or vegetables in one day.
Vegetables are the builders and fruit are the cleansers & vegetable juices are best in the morning time.
Here are some examples of some juices but I will send more ideas and recipes in the coming weeks.
· Veg Juices: Carrot, Kale, Celery, Parsley, Beetroot & Cucumber
· Fruit Juices: Apple, Pear, Grape, Pineapple & Watermelon
Here is some Fasting info:
The body uses up 50% of its energy in digestion. By fasting, that energy can be utilised in other processes such as self-healing, tissue repair and enhancement of cell-mediated immunity. Fasting encourages toxins stored in fat cells and elsewhere to be mobilised into the blood stream to be dealt with by the Liver.
It is important prior to fasting that the main organs of elimination (Liver, Colon & Kidneys) be in an optimally efficient state – this is why the 6 week detox is required.
To prevent your body from going into a toxic overload due to inadequate levels of essential nutrients, the organic fruit and/or vegetables will prevent this. This is the reason that juice fasts are favored over water fasts.
The Important Stuff…
· Long fasts (more than 2 days) should be supervised by a Naturopath
· During a ‘fast’, pollutants are mobilised into the bloodstream as fat stores are used up. A body overloaded with toxins can produce reactions which are unpredictable as the ‘cocktail’ of chemicals hits the bloodstream. Watch out for the side effects.
· Common side effects of short term fasting include: headaches, nausea, coated tongue, dizziness, skin rashes, acne, aching limbs & muscles, feeling colder than usual, insomnia, urine may be cloudy or darker than usual and your bowels may stop functioning during the fast. These symptoms will pass as soon as the waste materials are through your Kidneys.
· Benefits of fasting: Clearer skin and eyes, more energy, increased elimination, decreased pain and inflammation, increased concentration and a feeling of well-being.
· Contraindications to extend fasting (beyond 48 hours) without provisional supervision – pregnancy & breast feeding, severe liver disease or anemia, kidney disease, if you suffer from an eating disorder, mental illness or a chronic condition which needs medication. If you are trying to conceive please contact me to discuss.
· Ensure that 2 litres of pure, filtered water is consumed on fasting days.
So who is with me to start this week? It’s only 6 ½ weeks of your life, you will be completed well before Easter.
Remember if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Good Luck!
Helena x
Helena Barker ~ Acupuncture & Naturopathy 