You say detox, I say cleanse
Last week I joined some of my yoga teacher training sisters and went through a three day juice cleanse/detox/liquid diet.
Sounds like a punish but it was actually fun! Maybe misery loves company but in all honesty I didn’t suffer, I was just mildly uncomfortable a few times.
I hadn’t done a cleanse for a while, in fact probably since my last yoga retreat which was in 2019, so I was excited for the challenge and interested to see how I would handle it.
Is detoxing really a thing?
Over the past few years there’s been ongoing debate about whether our bodies actually need to detox. The argument against detoxing is that we already have a brilliant inbuilt system with our liver and kidneys designed to get rid of toxins.
Some of the anti-detoxing debate also centres around whether you need to shell out the dosh for fancy juices or supplements or a special range of products.
There’s also concern that people use the term detox when they really mean diet. They hide behind the healthy sounding word instead of admitting they just really want to drop some weight, which these days is less acceptable to say given how dangerous and prolific eating disorders are.
From a health perspective, for me ‘clean’ eating is a more palatable (haha, see what I did there?) way to reference it. I have no idea if I have a vitamin deficiency, or if I’m being overrun by free radicals, or how much I’m being harmed by chemicals or pesticides, and maybe I have too much acid in my body.
I just know that giving my guts a bit of a rest by changing things up definitely helped me recalibrate and reinvigorate my food choices.
I agree that there are problems around profiting from ‘wellness’ products. There are lots of promos for detoxing that make it sound like an exclusive, affluent-only exercise available only to the privileged few who can afford it. Having said that, I totally understand and next time I might investigate paying for a clean eating regime that is pre-packaged and delivered.
If you’re time poor and cashed up it’s definitely an easier way to get the good stuff into you. It’s quite an effort - shopping for produce and then managing three days of reorganising the fridge to chill and keep the food fresh, pondering the flavour combos, then chopping, wazzing and pushing and straining through the juicer, then storing and constantly CONSTANTLY cleaning the equipment and benchtops. By the end I was a bit over it. Next time I may pay up!
Turns out though, the effort is worth it. I feel great. Refreshed. Clear. Lighter (physically and emotionally). Maybe it’s all in my head, and perhaps that’s all that matters.
What’s the story with acid and alkaline?
There’s a theory that some foods or drinks cause your body to produce acid, and studies have shown that cancer cells love acidic environments. The question is, can food and drink change your blood, as well as your saliva or urine? From what I’ve read, the answer is probably no, or at least it’s complicated.
There’s no doubt that a balanced diet that’s plant-based and full of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans/lentils, nuts and seeds is awesome. And cutting back on meat, processed food and alcohol is the right thing to do. But can particular foods help create a more alkaline environment in our body? There are certain fruits and vegetables at the alkaline-end of the spectrum…on the other hand, we’re told that a plant-based diet is best more because those types of foods are rich in vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fibre.
Either way, I’m going to continue to stick with Michael Pollan’s advice:
“Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”
My goals for the three day cleanse
Flush out any last remnants of anaesthetics and analgesics swirling around my body after recent surgery (the drugs really knocked me around). I wanted to give my body time to really heal. I had an icky feeling imagining these one-off, super powerful drugs were somehow still hanging around in the crevices of my system.
Give my liver a break by only ingesting healthy food. Maybe it didn’t really need a break. But again, I was imagining that it was a little burned out.
Reset my taste buds and cravings by laying off the black tea and chocolate and alcohol.
Recommit to my existing eating plan of no meat, no dairy (because lately I’ve been a bit relaxed and sneaking the odd piece of cheese or on occasion a butter-laden croissant).
Cleansing tips
Do it with a buddy or two
We built up a really strong comradery via our group chat. Every day we would connect about our experience and we gained so much encouragement and comfort from each other. It became a no-holds-barred conversation, ranging from recipes to body sensations to poo talk! It also gave me a distraction – every time I wanted to reach for a snack I’d pop into the chat to see how everyone else was going, and I always came away feeling motivated to stay the course.
There’s a difference between a smoothie and a juice
In the past I’ve always done a cleanse with smoothies. I’d whack the fruit, veg and liquid (like nut milk or apple juice) into a high-powered blender and let it rip, then chug down the thick sludge.
This time around I borrowed my friend’s old school cold press juicer. It takes waaaay longer than a blender but the result is a really refined liquid. You put the fruit and veg down a funnel and the poor little bits get totally smashed through rotating magnetic mastication gears. Brutal! The dried out pulp goes into a separate bowl (perfect for the compost) and the liquid lands in a container with magnets on the bottom. The magnets are meant to enhance the alkaline properties of the minerals and reduce oxidation…okay then?!
Most of what I had during the three days were juices, but I did have a few blended options. At night I made a blended pumpkin soup for the evening meal to have something hot with a thick consistency, and a few times I blended banana with almond or cashew milk with extras like cacao powder and nibs for a lovely sweet chocolate hit.
There’s no such thing as cheating
It’s Ok to take care of yourself and do what your body is telling you. I found that each day at around 3pm I would get hangry/crazy cravings. My head would get foggy and I’d become tired and just feel off, so I’d start fantasising about what I wanted to eat (usually something crunchy, salty or sweet). When I knew I couldn’t tough it out, I ended up mashing a banana and sprinkling it with a little cacao and cinnamon. It always did the trick.
Do nice things for yourself
Over the three days I found ways to avoid stress and added in a few nurturing practices, including
Dry body scrub, warm shower followed by lots of body oil combined with thick moisturiser
Gentle face scrub followed by a soothing face mask
Neti pot nose cleanse – I finally found the right combo of salt with the right water temperate so that my nose and brain didn’t feel like there was fire running through my temples!
Copper tongue scraper every morning – this is an ayurvedic practice which is meant to improve oral hygiene. Not too sure if it has helped yet, but my tongue does feel smoother and I have a more neutral taste in my mouth
Sleep when you need to – during lockdown I’ve been going to bed early (around 9:30-10pm), but over the three day cleanse I was in bed even earlier. Even though I had to get up and wee each night, I was able to go straight back to sleep.
All up it was a great experience. I’ll probably do it again each time the seasons change. Right now my body seems to be thanking me - my skin, hair and eyes look brighter and I feel relaxed and rejuvenated.
And the bonding with my yoga friends? Priceless.