Do you know that most digestive specialists say that you should cleanse your body twice a year? Cleansing is the ancient practice of taking herbs, fiber and other nutritional supplements to clean out the channels of elimination in your body: your colon, kidneys, liver, blood, skin and lymphatic system.

The single greatest challenge your body faces is the effective management of toxins. Cleansing helps your body get rid of the toxins it accumulates when your organs get overworked by stress, pesticides and other harmful chemicals that accumulate in the tissues of your body. The average American consumes about 14 pounds of unwanted chemicals per year. Chemicals such as hormones and antibiotics fed to animals, pesticides used on plants and crops, molecules from plastic wrap and plastic storage containers overwhelm your body. Cleansing helps your body flush these toxins and regain optimal health.

The following list of symptoms indicates a need for cleansing:

• Allergy or intolerance to certain foods
• Bad breath and foul-smelling gas and stools
• Constipation, sluggish elimination, irregular bowel movements, diarrhea
• Frequent colds, congestion, viruses
• Frequent headaches for no apparent reason
• Intolerance to fatty foods
• Low energy; loss of vitality for no apparent reason
• Lowered resistance to infections
• Needing to sleep excessively
• Pain in your liver or gall bladder
• Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), breast soreness, vaginal infections
• Skin problems, rashes, acne

If you are among the millions of people who suffer from these and other health problems and you want to heal your body and also prevent serious diseases, such as cancer, you will benefit from starting a cleansing program today.

Any cleansing program should begin by clearing the colon of old feces that might be getting in the way of effective elimination. Americans spend $700 million on laxatives every year, so it is no surprise that constipation is the most frequently reported digestive disorder. When you eat, food can become backed up in your intestines for much longer than it should. If food moves slowly through the colon, it will decay and release toxins into the bloodstream through the very thin walls of the intestines. If you try to clean your blood, your liver, your lymph without first addressing a stopped up large intestine, the released toxins will get back into your body and make you sicker than before you started cleansing.

Fibers, such as ground flax seed, acacia gum and psyllium husks, are an essential part to any cleansing program. Research indicates that at least 60 grams of fiber are needed to sweep toxins out of the intestines and act like sponges that absorb the toxins you are trying to get rid of and pull them out of your body through fecal elimination. Fiber also increases the number of bowel movements you have per day – very effective for preventing these toxins from getting back into the bloodstream. Fiber also feeds the acidophilus and other good bacteria in your intestines that are necessary for good colon health. Taking good bacteria, or probiotics, during a cleanse helps you establish optimal digestion.

After you cleanse your colon, you should complete an all-over-body cleanse that simultaneously cleans all of your organs of elimination: the kidneys, skin, liver, blood and lymphatic system. Cleanses of this type last from one week to one month or longer, depending on the strength of the cleansing program and how deeply you want to cleanse your body.

You can choose from cleanses that are designed for particular areas of your body. For instance, if you have had kidney stones in the past, you should consider completing a kidney cleanse.

If you have metal fillings in your teeth that often contain mercury, you would benefit from a heavy metal cleanse. Fillings slowly release mercury and other metals into your bloodstream and this toxic load can cause a variety of health problems, including anxiety, depression and memory loss.

Liver, blood and lymphatic system cleanses are available. Also, detrimental yeast (Candida Albicans) and parasite cleansing programs target these harmful organisms.

As you can see, there are a lot of different cleansing options available for you to choose from. At Evergreen Nutrition, our knowledgeable staff can help you evaluate your body’s needs and choose a cleansing program that is right for you.

From Evergreen’s Archives: April 2007

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