Question:
I was just reading a thread form the "support stop smoking " group about
detoxing the body. Basically, I understand that it involves sort of flushing
out the body with a lot of liquids. Steam distilled water and "not from
concentrates" fruit and veggie juices and salads. Not really a fast, but
really I guess just displacing all the garbage from your body with something
healthy.
Does anyone here do that? My doctor swears by it, and I have a small book
about it it. I thought it was pretty cheesy, but I understand that in certain
places, all sorts of unsettling things like colonics and stuff are the rage.
And again, my doctor swears by it, maybe a few days every couple months.
I was just wondering, as people in my family tend to get REALLY painful kidney
stones, and I think the trick is to just drink a lot of liquids (yeah, HEALTHY
liquids!) and sort of pee them out before they get out of hand. Laying off
fatty and greasy foods is important too.
I was considering doing it myself, maybe over a long weekend, where the
frequent "expulsion" wasn't going to be a problem. Also, I understand that
adding citrus to your water helps you retain more of it (my sister said
something about it, she's a pharmacist)?.
I have a lot to learn about health and nutrition. My first ALCOHOL detox was
pretty much fueled with Big Macs and ENORMOUS amounts of coffee and cigarettes.
Lesser of 2 evils I guess.
Well, I gave up coffee since then, and SERIOUSLY cut down on the fast food,
prefering to raid my garden and get the organic stuff instead. I just get the
feeling that there is a lot of crap still sitting around in my body. I mean 10
years of reckless alcohol and drug abuse and I'm trying to clean that out
double quick. (I quit the pot and crap about 4 years before booze). Now, with
a sober mind, I can really begin to see the impact that that crap had on me.
And I'm sick of it! I think it was Blue who responded to a previous post, that
quitting alcohol was just really the beginning. He's right. That wasn't TOO
bad (after the initial shakes and sweats wore off). But now there is a whole
new mindset of nutrition and exerscise that needs to go into gear. And that is
what i'm having trouble with.
Answer:
I have done a couple of detox weekends.......they are good. The first time
I got a terrible headache but that was due to caffeine withdrawal I think.
I followed the last one with a couple of weeks of no wheat or dairy produce
and got so much benefit that I now do without those altogether......I use
soya instead.
I also gave up coffee and most tea (except my first cup of the day) I try
to drink at least 2 litres of filtered water a day.
The health benefits are great and if you only stick to a weekend its not
much out of your life. When I was drinking I was following binges with a
diet of junk food, like most people I think. Big macs and pot noodles were
my staples. I have changed most of my lifestyle since stopping drinking
simply because I am more aware of what I am doing to myself and have time to
prepare good food.
Whenever I have put myself on a short detox programme, I have felt much better for it. There are
many books on the subject of detoxing and my acupuncturist recommends "Natural Detox" by Marie
Farquharson as an introduction to it. This book covers both diet and lifestyle. It's a paperback.
If you're interested and find your local library can't get you a copy, you can buy it on-line from
amazon.com.
