Last night I had the opportunity to attend a “detox” seminar at our local health food store that was led by one of our local naturopaths.
I was the one who they probably thought looked bored as I was sitting there ‘playing’ on my phone. Little did he know I was doing some social media outreach for him!
It was an interesting one hour talk on how to cleanse the body and I left with some new knowledge as well as verification that some of the conclusions I’d come to are right. I mean….it’s easy to “think” you’re right after lots of reading and researching, but it’s wonderful to hear the same words come out of a health practitioners mouth. I took a few pages of notes and I’ll list some of my favorite quotes and remedies that Dr. Tamminga mentioned for you and try to make most of them full thoughts for ease in reading.
I tend to take sloppy notes.
Toxin: something that disrupts your bodies natural ability to heal.
♥ Cleansing is over rated ♥
Build the body and it will cleanse itself
It’s so important for us to know that our body cleanses it’s self each and every day. When you go to the bathroom, sweat, and even when you breathe. The problems begin when we don’t give it the nourishment it needs to keep it’s natural detoxification system going strong.
He talked mainly on the gentle forms of cleansing that we can do at home – not heavy metals cleansing which he recommends doing with a practitioner (very important!). While still a gentle form he also discussed that pregnant and nursing women should not actively cleanse the body of toxins. In such cases, it’s better to eat a clean and nourishing diet so that the body can keep up it’s natural cleansing state, not speed it along.
Do not cleanse when you are in a weak state.
When the body is suffering from illness, disease, or certain organs are weak, you need to begin to build the body first. Build the minerals and overall nourishment, then cleanse small amounts at a time.
- Fasting can be an effective cleanse as your body normally spends about 60% of it’s energy on digestion. Without having foods to digest it can send the energy to clean out toxins.
- Your body can’t cleanse when it’s digesting – don’t eat after 7pmish to allow the body that rest while you sleep.
- The master cleanse can be effective for some people. (note- I think if a person goes this route it needs to be done well before trying to conceive so that you have plenty of time to build nutrient stores)
He talked quite a bit about fasting and basically mentioned that even fasting during just one meal a week can be beneficial in allowing the body a break from digestion.
Herbs for cleansing the colon:
Cascara and Senna, but both must be balanced with psyllium hulls as they are quite powerful and you may spend lots of time int he bathroom without the extra fiber to slow things down.
Herbs for Stress:
Since stress around the colon affects digestion and therefore natural detoxification, he mentioned some herbs that are good for lowering that stress.
Passionflower, Chamomile, and Valerian as well as St. John’s Wort.
For Cleansing the Cells:
It was interesting to hear how our cells work. He put it a bit like this: they are basically like a factory; taking in raw materials (minerals, oxygen, etc.) at one end from the loading docks (the receptors) , process them, and then ship out the product (energy) at the other end. The problem comes when the receptors get “gunked up” and can’t receive those raw materials.
**huge sidenote here – he also mentioned that processed wheat (a.k.a. bread), takes on the same shape as the insulin receptors. So if wheat is “gunking up your insulin receptors, you aren’t able to efficiently use the insulin your body is producing.**
Essential oils can be used to help cleanse the cells.
- week one – use 2 drops of a clove or cinnamon essential oil on the bottom of the foot each morning.
- week two – use 2 drops of a hyssop, frankincense, or patchouli essential oil in the same way.
- week three – use a citrus essential oil on the feet
- week four – take a break.
Every factory has waste product – your lymphatic system helps to clear this waste from the body. It’s slow moving though and could use help. Massage the body toward the heart – massage from your ankles up, your wrists up, up your sides, and toward your heart.
Blood Cleansers:
Chloryphyll, Burdock root, Vitamins A, C, and E, and the herbs pau D Arco, red clover, and sarsaparilla.
Parasite Cleansers:
Black Walnut (also mentioned it helps build tooth enamel), Green pumpkin seeds, clove essential oil, and the herb artemisia.
Overall the message was
“Take the bad out and put the good in.”
Donielle Baker
Homemade Peppermint Patties
Thank you for sharing these notes! It is refreshing to get confirmation of our research from a health practitioner. Since becoming pregnant, I have been REALLY struggling with sugar and am trying very hard to get back to eating more nourishing foods. I figure even if it is a fruit, sweetened yogurt, etc. to give me that sugar “fix,” it is better than what I’m really craving (pies, cookies, pastries). I appreciate the reminder about the body detoxing daily too – taking it slow.
Donielle, thanks for sharing your notes. I’ve been using essential oils for about a year now. In addition to putting on the bottom of my feet – I love them in a room diffuser.
I’ve recently had my mercury (silver) fillings removed (safely) and am looking for a detox program. Do you have one you recommend? Thanks in advance!
I’m very interested in the EO foot massage cleanse…do you have any other info on this? Specifically, can/should you do this in combination with another cleanse, like fasting a meal a day or taking herbs?
Also, can you give me a better idea about slowing cleansing while rebuilding your body…what does that look like? I lost 20% of my blood a couple weeks ago from ectopic pregnancy and want to rebuild/cleanse/everything quickly.
Thank you!
@Mallory, I’m sorry, I don’t have any other info on the EO cleanse, my notes cover basically what he covered.
For a food based cleanse, I did a few part series on cleansing that you can see here – http://www.naturallyknockedup.com/table-of-contents/
Donielle, do you have any ideas about how to cleanse your body from having used the pill? I am wondering if I have excess estrogen in my body – both pregnancies were terribly difficult after having taken the pill and I”d like to get that stuff out before getting pregnant again. Any ideas or is just general cleansing (i.e.liver) the best way to go? I’d like to go as natural as possible. Thanks! I can’t seem to find a whole lot of info online that makes sense to me.
@Elisa Berry, Yes _ I would work on cleansing the liver as it’s the organ that has to eliminate hormones. Making sure you’re getting enough vitamin B will also be helpful as the pills robs the body of it.
@donielle, Thank you Donielle! that is helpful.
Thanks for the info!! You mentioned above that for a master cleanse it’s best to wait before trying to conceive. How long is this wait? And does a waiting time apply to other more gentler cleanses?
@Danielle, I think it depends on your reactions to cleansing. Many people have “detox” symptoms (headache, acne, etc). And you have to remember that both the egg and sperm take 3 months to mature, and you don’t necessarily want to use those from when you’re detoxing…you know? But anything other than a gentle cleanse with food and herbs, you should work with a holistic practitioner.