Cleanses

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Personally, I believe that if you eat healthy things, and stay fit, your body is designed to do an admirable job of ridding itself of waste materials and toxins. Isn't that what our bowels, liver, and kidneys, etc, are for? In my mind, harsh laxative/colonic treatments are no better than douches and vomiting ....unnatural attempts at "purifying" our bodies. Something vaguely disturbing and self punishing about it. Just my opinion.

[velogirl]

unfortunately, unless you eat "raw" you're putting all sorts of chemicals and preservatives and artificial substances into your body with every bite at every meal. just look at the contents of a typical sports bar. how many of those ingredients are not naturally occurring substances? many of us also over-ingest certain vitamins and minerals which simply accumulate in our body.

completely anecdotally and from my own experience, after a cleanse my metabolism seems to behave "normally," I experience less fatigue and stress, I don't bloat or get gassy, I have regular bowel movements, and I can sleep without taking sleeping pills. for me, it works (even if it's only a psychological effect).

[Pedal Wench]

I asked because I do fast once a year for religious purposes, and I always get a low-blood sugar headache, and come close to passing out. However, that fast restricts water too, so it's probably dehydration-related. I feel my metabolism slowing throughout the day, and can't imagine continuing past the 24-hour mark.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

oooh...dehydration is bad for you!

[Mr. Bloom]

Personally, I believe that if you eat healthy things, and stay fit, your body is designed to do an admirable job of ridding itself of waste materials and toxins.

I tend to agree with Lisa...but, I openly admit that Silver and I over indulge in Diet Coke. While the reviews are mixed, there's a clear school of thought that these are toxic and mineral depleting... does anyone have any insight on this?

Just steer clear of the three day beer and whiskey diet. This one I definitely know about.

Yeah Zen, we saw your Halloween costume

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I tend to agree with Lisa...but, I openly admit that Silver and I over indulge in Diet Coke. While the reviews are mixed, there's a clear school of thought that these are toxic and mineral depleting... does anyone have any insight on this?

Mixed reviews?....is there any evidence that drinking lots of Diet Coke is GOOD for you??
I must say that the negative findings seem so plain and plentiful to me that insight is not needed. Drink water! Drink natural juices! Drink teas!

[Geonz]

I'm not sure that a few days' 'cleansing' would take out the kinds of toxins eating processed, additive-laden foods for months would deposit.

[TsPoet]

I'm not sure that a few days' 'cleansing' would take out the kinds of toxins eating processed, additive-laden foods for months would deposit.

It won't

(My credentials: BA - Molecular Biology. MS -Toxicology. PhD- Pharmacology/Toxicology. I specialize in physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling and metabolism, primarily of industrial chemicals and pesticides.)
((While I'm clearly overeducated, I'd like to point out that it is not piled higher and deaper, as my first degree is a BA, not a BS ))

[SadieKate]

unfortunately, unless you eat "raw" you're putting all sorts of chemicals and preservatives and artificial substances into your body with every bite at every meal. just look at the contents of a typical sports bar. how many of those ingredients are not naturally occurring substances? many of us also over-ingest certain vitamins and minerals which simply accumulate in our body.

completely anecdotally and from my own experience, after a cleanse my metabolism seems to behave "normally," I experience less fatigue and stress, I don't bloat or get gassy, I have regular bowel movements, and I can sleep without taking sleeping pills. for me, it works (even if it's only a psychological effect).

Um, you don't have to eat "raw" to not ingest preservatives, etc.. You just need to stay away from processed foods with additives by reading the label and buying organic as much as possible. Even a Nectar Bar would be safe.

It is incredibly hard to absorb all the nutrients in foods by not cooking some of them. My system perks along fine if I just eat plenty of high fiber fresh fruits and veggies, cooked when necessary for palatability, and an overall low fat menu.

[kelownagirl]

I found that I was able to feel many of the positive 'effects' of a cleanse by cutting out most of the processed foods, and eating more veg and fruit and whole grains and water. Personally, and in my fairly uneducated opinion, I think the biggest 'toxic' issue is the toxic effects of constipation. If you do a cleanse, or if you change to a more fresh-food-based, higher fibre diet, you get things moving and feel better over all.

[OakLeaf]

From an evolutionary standpoint (addressing what our kidneys and liver are "for"), our hominid ancestors didn't evolve to eat every single day. That just wasn't an option, and still isn't for wild things. Traditions of fasting arose in primitive religions long before we started eating highly processed foods.

Even if you eat reasonably clean, you're still inhaling toxins, ingesting them in your water (via additives, pollutants, naturally occurring contaminants and leaching from containers), and absorbing them through your skin. Reducing the load on your kidneys and liver for a day, or a few days, on a regular basis, might not be enough to eliminate everything that's built up in your body, but it's got to help.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I found that I was able to feel many of the positive 'effects' of a cleanse by cutting out most of the processed foods, and eating more veg and fruit and whole grains and water. Personally, and in my fairly uneducated opinion, I think the biggest 'toxic' issue is the toxic effects of constipation. If you do a cleanse, or if you change to a more fresh-food-based, higher fibre diet, you get things moving and feel better over all.

I strongly agree with this. People don't get nearly enough natural fiber in general, and fiber I think is the greatest natural health "cleanser" of all.

Even if you eat reasonably clean, you're still inhaling toxins, ingesting them in your water (via additives, pollutants, naturally occurring contaminants and leaching from containers), and absorbing them through your skin. Reducing the load on your kidneys and liver for a day, or a few days, on a regular basis, might not be enough to eliminate everything that's built up in your body, but it's got to help.

The only way we won't ingest toxins is by being dead. Even cavemen ingested toxins- smoke, volcanic ash and fumes, sulpher, rotting meat or rotting fruit, heavy metals, insect borne diseases and parasites, poison fungi and other toxic plants, contaminated water and bacteria....
My own opinion: The toxins that are easily eliminated enough to get eliminated during 3 days of fasting would probably be eliminated anyway during those 3 days whether we ate or not. Nastier stuff like lead, dioxins, DDT, or mercury is not going to budge even if we starve ourselves to death.
I'm not saying it's bad to just drink juice or tea for a day- most of us ingest way too much fat and calories anyway, and a day long juice or water fast would likely make anyone feel better! I just don't believe it accelerates the natural toxin elimination functions our healthy bodies have already.

[Tuckervill]

I tend to agree with Lisa...but, I openly admit that Silver and I over indulge in Diet Coke. While the reviews are mixed, there's a clear school of thought that these are toxic and mineral depleting... does anyone have any insight on this?

I was a serious Diet Coke addict, for about 20 years. First thing down the hatch every morning, and several or many throughout the day. Bought it in cans by the case. I drank so much DC (no coffee, no tea) that I had heart palpitations from the caffeine. There's not that much caffeine in Diet Coke, so that tells you something.

I slowly replaced it with water and unsweetened iced tea (and hot black tea in the morning with sugar--a girl's gotta have one vice). It took me a year to cut Diet Coke out completely. I haven't had a whole one in several years. Occasionally I'm in a situation where there's nothing else to drink, and I start one, but I can't finish it. AND, my joints always, always hurt after I've had about half of one, starting specifically with my elbows and knees. I don't remember that symptom from when I was a heavy DC drinker, but it is definitely related to the Diet Coke.

I don't know why and it's anecdotal, but because of that I will never advocate for or discount the possible effects of Diet Coke ever again. I don't miss it at all--I get by just fine on the caffeine in a cup of hot tea, and water and iced tea are lovely for everything else!

Karen

[shootingstar]

Personally, I believe that if you eat healthy things, and stay fit, your body is designed to do an admirable job of ridding itself of waste materials and toxins. Isn't that what our bowels, liver, and kidneys, etc, are for? In my mind, harsh laxative/colonic treatments are no better than douches and vomiting ....unnatural attempts at "purifying" our bodies. Something vaguely disturbing and self punishing about it. Just my opinion.

I find that if I have not exercised at all for a few consecutive days, most definitely my bowel movement is not regular.

I can't claim I'm totally processed-food free but no we don't buy tv/frozen dinners at all. Maybe onc/twice e a month I buy something from a deli or Chinese preprepared dinners (ie. barbecued pork, steamed dim sum, etc.) I guess buying frozen phyllo dough..is processed...for us to make our mushroom/escargots strudels.

And I've never enjoyed carbonated soft drinks....at all. My mother actually rationed our soft drink intake. AMong 6 cans, she divided 1 can per 2 kids. Poverty in family was a fantastic excuse (and real) for my parents to limit junk food purchases for home.

No, I don't use laxatives. I just try to have more fruit, tea and get back into exercise, not to be constipated.

Actually alot of CHinese food dishes just taste crappy / flat precooked and frozen for a few days because I do stir-fry or steam many of my savoury dishes.

[Mr. Bloom]

It took me a year to cut Diet Coke out completely. I haven't had a whole one in several years. Occasionally I'm in a situation where there's nothing else to drink, and I start one, but I can't finish it. AND, my joints always, always hurt after I've had about half of one, starting specifically with my elbows and knees. I don't remember that symptom from when I was a heavy DC drinker, but it is definitely related to the Diet Coke.

Silver are you reading this? (She's been in denial...I'm convinced her bone density issues are related to Diet Coke...)

Karen, I'm like you were...there's no caffeine like cold caffeine - morning, noon, and night...probably 8/day. Unfortunately, I detest coffee and am allergic to tea. Diet Coke replaced an 8 Real Cokes/day habit (that's right - 960 calories of high fructose corn syrup each day for years)