Throughout this rejuvenating body cleanse, all food should be fresh and organically grown, if possible. During this program, we are off caffeine (coffee, tea, cola and chocolate), alcohol, refined sugar and flour products, margarine and other hydrogenated oils, preservatives and food additives.
For those who have not been tested for food sensitivities, we are also eliminating the most common food sensitivities, which are: milk, cheese, eggs, wheat, corn, yeasts, tomato, peanuts, bananas, and citrus (except lemon and lime).
Please refer to my article, Are Your Favorite Foods Draining Your Vitality? to read about all the health problems that can be caused by hidden food sensitivities. If any of your symptoms are caused by some of the common foods or addictive stimulants you eat or drink, once you eliminate those offenders, your symptoms may intensify for the first 3 – 5 days, and then you will begin to feel much better.
If not treated in some way for the food sensitivities you may have (such as with NAET allergy elimination technique), and if you have not had even one molecule of that food for a week, you will have a more noticeable and immediate reaction to it once you eat it again. Some food sensitivities may clear up after 4 to 6 weeks of completely abstaining from them. Once added back in, it’s best to eat those particular foods no more than every 4 days, so as not to re-sensitize yourself to them.
The supplements that we take regularly may have become possible irritants to our systems. Unless tested, it’s best to take a rest from all supplements during this time, with the possible exception of enzymes and probiotics (beneficial intestinal flora).
SUMMER IS THE SEASON TO CLEANSE THE BODY WITH FRUITS THAT ARE GROWN LOCALLY, AND ARE IN SEASON. For this cleansing effect to occur, the fruit should always be eaten by itself.
For fast oxidizer metabolisms who need more protein and fat in their diet, or those with blood sugar problems, you may only be able to wait 15 to 30 minutes before needing to eat more solid food. You may also find that you can handle fruit by itself only at certain times of the day – first thing in the morning, or mid-afternoon, or before bed.
For slow oxidizer metabolisms who do well on diets high in unrefined carbohydrates, you may find that you can start the day eating fruit that’s in season and continue having some fruit when hungry until supper, or even have the whole day be just fruit. One of the best body cleanses is 1 to 3 days of eating just one type of fruit that is in season, along with drinking purified water.
You can also drink raw, freshly juiced vegetable juice at a separate time from fruit. A masticating juicer is best (rather than the spin type). I use an Omega juicer. Vegetables can also be eaten raw, lightly steamed (still slightly crunchy) or lightly sautéed.
WATER: Drink purified water (avoid distilled) stored in glass containers. (Plastic containers leach plastic into the water – the softer plastics are the worst.) The book, Your Body’s Many Cries for Water reveals how many illnesses may be resolved just by drinking enough pure water. Keep water with you and sip it throughout the day.
OTHER BEVERAGES: Organically grown herb teas, grain coffees (especially those with roasted dandelion root, chicory root or burdock root), nut and seed milks, all raw vegetable juices except tomato, any freshly juiced fruit in season. Nut and seed milks can be made fresh by throwing the nuts or seeds in the blender, covering with water, blending and straining.
GRAINS: Have whole grains only. To cook whole grains:
Use 2 1/2 cups boiling water to each cup grain. Millet is the best grain on a summer cleanse. Millet tastes even better if dry-toasted in a pan till golden brown, then add the boiling water. Also excellent are brown rice, wild rice, buckwheat (try buckwheat pasta), amaranth, quinoa and teff.
Yeast, wheat-free breads, crackers and pasta are available at health food stores and many supermarkets. Read labels.
LEGUMES: All bean products are fine, which include all bean soups and stews, lentils, split peas and tofu. Bean products are good to have along with grains, as the combination makes a complete protein. To make gasless beans: soak them overnight, drain, cover with water and break up the seaweed Kombu into the cooking water (about 1” Kombu per cup beans. The Kombu can be skimmed off the top after cooking if desired.)
The best dressing for salads on this cleanse is organic cold-pressed oil, lemon or lime, and salt (or just oil and salt). I prefer Celtic salt for its healing properties.
FATS: No margarine or food products with partially hydrogenated oils! (Refer to the book Good Fats and Oils by Udo Erasmus, and Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon) Oils should be organic and cold pressed. These are available at health food stores, and include: olive, safflower, sunflower, sesame, almond, coconut, walnut and hazelnut oils. Oils should not have a bitter aftertaste (a sign that they are rancid.) Except for coconut and small quantities of olive oil, keep all other oils refrigerated. To sauté vegetables, use olive oil, sesame oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, high-oleic safflower oil or real butter.
The lignans in flax seed are cleansing and healing to the intestines, and flax contains lots of an essential fatty acid that helps increase sluggish metabolism. Golden flax seed is best ground fresh in a coffee/nut/seed mill, then kept in the freezer.
Each day, you can also have up to 1/2 cup of other nuts and seeds. Excellent choices are pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pine nuts, walnuts, almonds and filberts (hazelnuts). Ideally, soak the nuts/seeds overnight in water, then drain and put in the oven on a baking sheet at 150 for several hours.
SPICES: Avoid MSG, black pepper (use cayenne pepper instead), and ordinary table salt. Use Celtic salt if possible. Second best is Real Salt, third best is sea salt. To support thyroid function, use dulse as a seasoning: the condiment Gomasio is dulse, toasted sesame seeds and sea salt ground together.
On this diet, the body may want to heal itself by going into a fasting mode, and you may lose your hunger for a period of time. Not to worry – the appetite will return after the body has eliminated toxic residue.
