Detox Tips Part Deux

Note from Joy: Hopefully you had the chance to read Elaine’s part 1 of detoxing. Detoxing is not a buzzword or a trend that going to fizzle out like jelly shoes. These habits are essential for a healthy mind and body. Read on to learn about her tips 5 through 10 for detoxing. And don’t forget to check out my July Monthly Special. Why wait till September to become your most joyous self, when you can start today!

5) Keep your centre clear. When your centre is clear you can’t help but feel light, energized and joyful! By contrast if you’re feeling bloated and have an impacted colon you’re going to feel tired, sluggish and just plain miserable. What we really need is simple, digestible food that exits our bodies efficiently and effortlessly.

The longer a food is sitting around dehydrating in our 98.6 degree intestine the greater the opportunity for impaction, which will only contribute to more waste matter and proliferation of bacteria and yeast. This is why it’s important to pair your denser food (i.e. nuts, grain, beans and animal products) with lots of water-containing vegetables which will facilitate the exit.

Notice the difference in how you feel when you eat a large salad sprinkled with some nuts and seeds compared to eating a burger made from a pound of macadamia nuts!

6) Properly combine your food. This ensures that the assembly line in your intestinal tract moves quickly and efficiently without encountering any pileups along the way. The less energy your body uses for digestion the more it will have for other important processes like detoxification and cellular renewal.

For those of you not familiar with food combining I’ve listed the main principles below, although there are exceptions to the rules. If you suffer from any type of digestive issue food combining can help you significantly.

It’s also one of the best weight-loss tools!

• Fruit is best eaten alone on an empty stomach (approx. 30 minutes before other food).
• Starches (i.e. grains, yams, beans & legumes) combine with other starches and ALL vegetables (raw and cooked). Note: avocados although technically a fruit can combine with starches.
• Protein combines best with all RAW vegetables and all low-starch cooked veggies (i.e. NO sweet potatoes or winter squashes), although it’s best NOT to combine Fat-Proteins (i.e. nuts & seeds) with animal proteins.

7) Get Creative – Do you love and look forward to your meals? If not then you’re doing something wrong! You have to love what you’re eating in order to feel satisfied physically and emotionally.

Get creative with the vast array of ingredients at your disposal to re-invent any of your favourite dishes (i.e. pasta, pizza, wraps, curry, etc.) using well-combined and high-quality ingredients. This lifestyle is about abundance – not restriction!

8) Pay attention to the release. By flooding your body with alkalinity through your fresh juices, veggies and fruits (if yeast isn’t an issue) you’ll be awakening a lot of acidic waste matter. Now for the second part of the equation – the release!

This is where the waste actually leaves your body. Yay!! This critical step must occur to experience true detoxification. If you start to notice unpleasant symptoms such as skin breakouts, headaches and/or constipation it’s likely that you’re awakening more waste than your body can keep up with.

This is where integrating bowel cleansing in the form of professionally administered gravity colonics or at-home enemas can be helpful in moving things out “the door”. In fact, the more cleansing your diet becomes, the more waste that will be drawn up for removal and the greater the need for these tools.

Colonics are more effective than enemas in this regard and the results after a few good colonic sessions speak for themselves! If the idea of getting a colonic doesn’t appeal to you right now you can always slow down the cleanse by adding more density to your meals in the form of baked roots, goat’s cheese, a piece of wild fish, nuts/seeds, or more cooked veggie-dishes.

9) Employ your tools. In addition to bowel cleansing there are a number of other tools you can implement to support all of the body’s channels of eliminations.

Dry skin brushing, Epsom salt baths, deep sweating, deep tissue massage, rebounding on a mini-trampoline, deep breathing and inversions are all excellent.

It’s also important to move your body each and every single day. Not for the sake of burning calories or fat but to oxygenate your blood and maximize energy flow throughout your body. Do what you love and feels good to you – whether it is walking, swimming, biking, hiking, yoga or light jogging. Plenty of sunshine, fresh air and deep regenerative sleep are all imperative too!

10) Know when to step up the ante. Is there something that’s holding you back from taking your health to the next level? Are you still letting your food addictions and old programming get in the way of making choices that are for your highest good? Do you feel pressured into eating a certain way when you are with a certain group of people?

Recognize any deeply ingrained beliefs or programming that might be standing in the way of your personal freedom and power. Sometimes just becoming conscious of negative patterns can be a great first step towards transmuting them. With that said you never want to step it up before you are physically or emotionally ready to do so. If something doesn’t feel natural to you yet (i.e. juicing until lunch) don’t force it before you’re ready.

In closing, remember it’s about progress and not perfection. If you stick to the main tenets of detoxification (awakening and eliminating/releasing) you will continue to make great strides. The path isn’t always linear; in fact it usually isn’t, so if you suddenly notice some unpleasant symptoms arise after weeks of feeling blissful and “on your game” it could be that you’ve hit another layer of waste that needs some extra attention. Implement all of your tools but always keep in mind that emotional, mental, and spiritual considerations are just as important as physical ones.

Here’s to radiant health!

Elaine

Elaine Brisebois is a Certified Nutritionist and Detox Specialist located in downtown Toronto. Checkout her website/blog at www.ilikerealfood.com.