Spring Cleanse/Detox Diet
Cleansing and
detoxification are neither appropriate nor recommended for pregnant
and lactating women; those with serious physical and mental
degenerations; or those who are deficient, frail, weak, or
underweight.
This cleanse is
geared for the Spring Season. You’ll receive the most
benefit if you follow this for 3-10 days some time between March 10
and mid-April. If the weather is still really cold in March, I’d
wait until the end of March of early April. If you can't
maintain this for more than one day, then do this cleanse one day a
week for 4-6 weeks throughout the above time period.
Before you Begin
Set your intention at the start of the cleanse.
Identify your personal reasons for doing this, whether it be to rid
your body of excess fats and toxins, to restore and improve the
health of your organs, for spiritual reasons, more mental clarity
and focus, and/or to initiate better habits. You may have more
reasons. Once they are identified and intended, you give much more
power to the effects of the cleanse.
Create a plan
for the cleansing diet. For a 2-5 days before the cleanse,
eliminate coffee, all caffeine, alcohol, intoxicants, processed and
chemical foods, and sugar. If you have trouble with the caffeine,
avoid coffee, but use black tea which has less caffeine than
coffee. For 2 days before the cleanse, eliminate animal products,
eggs, and all milk products, including cheese and yogurt.
First thing in morning:
Have at least an 8 ounce glass of
water with 2 TB. of fresh squeezed lemon or lime. You may also have
a cup of herbal tea.
Breakfast:
A bowl of vegetable/miso soup.
Include lots of greens like kale, collard greens, bok choy, etc.,
dried shiitake mushrooms, leeks, and carrots. Add mung bean sprouts
after you turn off the heat. Add a little miso at the end of
cooking and simmer a few minutes. Use ½ tsp. miso per cup of liquid
in the soup. Drink the broth from the soup. Buy unpasteurized
miso. South River is my favorite brand. Make miso soup
fresh. Do not use dehydrated miso soups.
Mid-morning: a piece of fruit, if desired—apple,
pear, berries, or grapefruit (or a small serving of vegetables).
Have a glass of the lemon or lime water.
Lunch:
2-3 cups vegetables, some lightly
steamed and some raw (salads are fine—no dressing except for flax
oil, lemon or lime, organic apple cider vinegar, Umeboshi vinegar,
or sauerkraut). Emphasize dark leafy greens like kale, collard
greens, dandelion greens, watercress, and other greens, as well as
radishes and/or daikon. Include sprouts. You can buy fresh alfalfa
sprouts and add them raw to the cooked veggies. Drink the broth from
the steamed veggies. You can also toss the vegetables with some
good quality sauerkraut, or drizzle cold-pressed flax oil over the
veggies. Do not heat flax oil. Barlean’s is one of the better
brands of flax oil.
Dinner:
Same as lunch.
D rink
4-6 eight ounce glasses of spring water with fresh lemon or lime.
Beverages:
spring or filtered water and herbal
teas, such as astra diet tea, peppermint, spearmint, ginger,
dandelion, burdock, chamomile, pau d’arco, green
tea, kukicha or bancha tea.
NOTE:
If you’re trying to do this for 5 or
more days and it’s too difficult, then add a bowl of grains at
breakfast, or lunch, or mid day. Hato Mugi (Job's Tears) and barley
are excellent grains for spring. Barley contains gluten; hato mugi
does not. Brown rice and millet are acceptable and are
gluten-free. Cook grains with unrefined sea salt or kombu.
Click here to order Hato Mugi (Job's Tears) grain.
High Chlorophyll
products are very helpful during a cleanse and throughout the spring
season, and
Vitamineral Greens
powder is
one of my favorites. It combines many of the green products with
added enzymes, alfalfa and sea vegetables. It is organic,
nourishing, rebuilding, cleansing, detoxifying, enhances regularity,
supports liver, kidneys, blood, bones, circulation and immune
function. Use 2-4 TB. in a glass of water.
Click here
to order Vitamineral Greens.
Do not drink with meals, but after
eating and between meals.
Do not eat
anything after dinner.
Get outdoors
daily.
Take a walk and practice deep breathing.
Go to bed by
11 p.m. or earlier.
Get enough sleep. You may need
more during the cleanse.
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