Preparing Your Body for a Cleansing Fast
Doing a cleansing fast in the 21st century is something everyone should consider. It is a startling reality to understand that everyone in today’s world is toxic. We have over 80,000 dangerous chemicals in our skin care, air, water, food and household products. Our body cannot process and eliminate all the oncoming contaminants.
Regular cleansing and fasting cycles are necessary for optimal health in this day and age. It is critical to prepare your body properly for a cleansing fast. Most people want to do some sort of detoxification program but have no idea how to carry it out correctly. Here are the best practices for preparing and going through a cleansing fast.
Get Your Mind Right:
Going through a cleansing fast is challenging on your mind and emotions. We often eat for emotional comfort and when we are no longer able to do that, we can breakdown. Preparing yourself mentally and emotionally for this is the best thing you can do going into the cleansing period.
Take time to journal about any self-sabotaging behaviors or limiting beliefs that have plagued you throughout your life. Write specific affirmations and prayers you can say over yourself daily to help speak life into these weak areas.
Put this list in a specific area that you will see several times a day and say the affirmation/prayers with passion every time you see them throughout the day.
Keep off the Carbs:
Cleansing is much easier when you have stabilized your appetite and stress hormones. Eating simple and complex carbs causes instability in your appetite and stress hormones. Go low-carb for at least 3 days before you begin your fast for an optimal detoxifying experience.
When you go low-carb your body begins to go into a state of nutritional ketosis. This is when your body uses ketones as an energy source instead of just glucose. The ketones help to create energy stability in your system and reduce hunger and cravings. Learn more about the ketogenic diet here
Eat Healthy Protein/Fat:
Before cleansing it is important to eat healthy protein and fat. This would include grass-fed beef, organic eggs, organic poultry with avocado, etc. Combine these foods with phytonutrient rich vegetables and herbs.
The protein/fat helps stabilize blood sugar, so stress hormones are not elevated during the cleansing period. This will allow the fasting period to be tolerated much better. You will feel more mentally alert and have less cravings. For specific meal planning to help you before you fast read this article here.
Set Aside Extra Time to Sleep:
The first day or two of a cleanse many individuals will feel tired and sleepy. This is perfectly normal and a sign the body wants to focus on immune energy and healing. Set aside time to get some extra sleep and perhaps an midday nap.
Overtime, many individuals feel too energized to sleep more than 5 or 6 hours while on the cleanse. For some helpful tips on how to sleep deeper and better you can check out this article here.
Use Fermented Beverages:
Many people choose to water fast but this is typically not the ideal way to go. Using fermented beverages such as coconut water kefir, kombucha, apple cider vinegar drinks, water kefir or fermented whey which all provide tons of potassium, organic acids, enzymes and probiotics.
Potassium helps flush toxins out of the cells and through the eliminatory channels. Enzymes assist the body in healing while probiotics and organic acids help balance the intestinal micro flora.
Drink Plenty of Water:
Hydration is key during a cleanse. You should look to drink a minimum of half your body weight in ounces. It is a good idea to strive to get a gallon of clean water into your system especially during the summer months.
Use reverse osmosis with added minerals if your water system allows or add ¼ teaspoon of pink salts per gallon. High quality filtration is critical to remove chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals and pharmaceutical drug debris from your drinking water.
Utilize Organic Herbal Teas:
Herbal teas provide immune stimulating superfood herbs that contain unique antioxidants and phytonutrients. This is clean energy that facilitates deeper cleansing and detoxifying properties.
In particular, it is important to use a laxative tea such as “Smooth Move” by Traditional Medicinals to initiate deeper bowel cleansing.
Dry Brush Before You Shower:
Brush in a circular manner starting in your extremities and moving towards your torso and heart region. The dry brushing gets rid of old dead skin and enhances detoxification through the skin’s eliminatory channel.
You could also do an Epsom salt bath after dry brushing to help the body eliminate toxins and add valuable magnesium and sulfates.
Use A Shower Filter:
This is a best practice for living a healthy lifestyle. If you do not already have a shower filter, be sure to get a quality one to filter the chlorine and environmental contaminants out of the water before you shower.
Showering in tap water is one of the most toxic things that people are doing every day. In order to effectively detoxify you want to get a high-quality shower filter like this here
Do Not Exercise Intensely:
During a cleanse you want to avoid high-intensity exercise as it will stimulate stress hormones and the cleansing process does not bring in the necessary fuel to recover effectively from this form of exercise.
Look to get small bouts of low-intensity exercise such as 20-30 minutes of yoga, walking on a treadmill or light work on an elliptical machine.
Spend Time in the Sun and or Sauna:
When the weather is nice it is great to sunbathe during a cleanse. This will enhance immunity and stimulate deeper cellular cleansing. It will also help you boost up vitamin D levels and charge your system with biophotons.
If the weather is not cooperating, go to the sauna and get time sweating out toxins in the steam room or even better an infrared sauna. Infrared saunas stimulate a greater toxin release than any other form of sweat room or sauna. Many people do not have access to a sauna and especially an infrared sauna but if you can get in one it will accelerate your results on your cleansing fast.
If You Are Up to It – Do a Series of Enemas:
Most people are freaked out about enemas, but they are extremely effective at ridding the body of putrefied wastes that is encased on the colon walls. You can do a water enema, a probiotic enema, a wheatgrass juice enema or an organic coffee enema. All are highly effective.
Coffee enemas give an added benefit over typical water based colonic therapies by stimulating the liver to produce greater amounts of glutathione. Glutathione is the bodies master antioxidant and helps protect the intracellular DNA and eliminate toxins from within the cells. This isn’t necessary but will accelerate your results on the cleansing fast.
