Kimberly Hayes Taylor / The Detroit News
How to cleanse your body by pumping it full of nutrition
You hit the snooze button once or twice before rising. You feel like you need a nap in the middle of your work day, and you’re too tired to work out.
It’s probably time to detoxify your body. You can begin this weekend with a two-day detox, says Roni DeLuz, founder and director of the Martha’s Vineyard Holistic Retreat in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
DeLuz says it’s simple to tell if your body needs a detox: You have darkness or puffiness under your eyes, your belly protrudes, you’re bloated and gassy, and always burping.
“I always tell people you can cleanse even if it’s for one day,” says DeLuz, author of “21 Pounds in 21 Days: The Martha’s Vineyard Diet Detox,” (Collins, $24.95). “Anytime you put maximum nutrition in your body, it does a lot of good.”
The detox requires drinking distilled water, herbal tea and other drinks every two hours. You’ll chew nothing for two days, and DeLuz, also a naturopathic doctor, registered nurse and colon therapist, promises you won’t get hungry. During the weekend, she also suggests scheduling a colonic.
Here’s how to get going ( the glossary, at right, will explain what these supplements are and where you can get them):
Breakfast:1. Start with an antioxidant berry drink that can be purchased at a health food store. Don’t add sugar, salt or preservatives.2. Follow with an herbal cleansing formula to flush the liver, kidney and colon. Shop for a formula with herbs such as cayenne pepper, dandelion root, burdock root and cascara sagrada.3. Drink a cup of hot herbal tea, sans caffeine, and 8 ounces of water.
Midmorning: Drink a “green drink,” a dried formula of several green vegetables (see glossary), with 8 ounces of distilled water.
Lunch: Take one digestive enzyme capsule, then drink one cup of fresh vegetable juice (choose mostly green vegetables) and herbal cleansing formula with 8 ounces of distilled water.
Midafternoon: Drink 8 ounces of water, a green drink, 8 ounces of herbal tea (lemon and stevia optional). Drink another berry drink.
Evening: Take an enzyme capsule, drink one cup of cleansing soup, one cup of broth from cleansing soup mix, a cup of herbal tea, herbal cleansing formula and 8 ounces of water.
Later: Another herbal tea or water.
Bedtime: Aloe vera, a nutritional supplement.”You’re going to find out very quickly when you drink that amount of nutrition, you are going to feel energetic, get more clarity, and you are going to want to do this longer than a weekend,” says the once-sickly DeLuz,who swears her detox program saved her life and helped her shed 50 pounds.But at the end of the fast, she says, don’t return to processed, unhealthy foods. Continue drinking the nutritious drinks, eating whole foods and drinking lots of water.Co-author James Hester says he uses the weekend cleanse when his pants get a little snug. Besides the two-day fast, DeLuz also offers seven-day and 21-day cleanse programs.
“Do this with friends,” Hester says. “It feels like a game, a competition. The first two or three days are the hardest, but once you pass the two-day hump, you’ll want to keep going.”
Kimberly Hayes Taylor / The Detroit News
Glossary
Antioxidant berry drink: A dried blend of berries that is equivalent to 1 1/2 pounds of berries. Purchase at any health food store or online at mvdiet detox.com.
Green drink: These dried green powders, mixed with distilled water, provide the same amount of nutrition as eating eight to 10 servings of green vegetables. Purchase at health food stores or order DeLuz’s preferred brand at mvdietdetox.com.
Cleansing soup: Cook a variety of your choice of fresh, organic vegetables such as greens, carrots, broccoli, cabbage. Puree the soup in a blender and drink it.
Herbal cleaning formula: Buy pills that contain herbs such as cascara sagrada, black cohosh, burdock powder, psyllium seed husk, beet fiber from a health food store.
Broth: The juice from the cleansing soup.
Digestive enzymes: These are like “Pac-Man,” going through the body eating up foreign substances. Purchased them at a health food store. Digestive enzymes should contain protease, amylase, lipase, cellulose. They help reduce bloating and effects of food allergies. Take these before drinking your vegetable juice and soup.
Colonic: Colon hydrotherapy is a way of cleansing the colon. It softens the stool, cleans the colon walls and flushes out toxins.
The day after your fast: It’s important to continue drinking fresh juice, cleansing soups, broth and supplements for at least one or two more days. Eat only healthy foods without chemicals and toxins. Chew well, stay hydrated by drinking 48 to 64 ounces of water daily.
To learn more: “21 Pounds in 21 Days: The Martha’s Vineyard Diet Detox ” gives for full details on detoxing. Also visit mvdietdetox.com.
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