It’s that time of year… where we dig a little deeper, scrub a little harder, and delve into cabinets, nooks, and crannies that we’ve avoided all winter. Yep… it’s called spring cleaning.
The origins of spring cleaning have been linked to Iran, China, and Hebrew cultures with religious significance. The truth of the matter is our ancestors likely started it tens of thousands of years ago after a winter with shorter days and increased sleep. There was likely an accumulation of soot, dirt, dust, and ash, as they had to burn coal, oil, or wood through those winter months. A good cleaning once spring hit was essential to help prevent spread of disease and infection.
So, as you embark on deeply cleaning your home this spring, or giving your yard a spring clean-up (as both so desparately need it due to winter-time neglect), you might want to give that same attention to your body. That’s right, you’ve likely gotten less fresh air, less physical activity, and packed on a few extra pounds of fat over the winter months, and a good spring cleaning or cleanse is in order. The winter months have also included some big holidays, where we overeat, lay around, get stressed out, and really hit our bodies hard.
With spring being a great time to do a cleanse, the next question is which cleanse would be best for you? You can find dozens and dozens of cleanses out there today. Most of them have legitimacy and will work to help get you cleaned out. Rather than give you an exact recommendation here, I want to make sure you know the most important component to a successful cleanse.
Regardless of the cleanse you choose, it should contain smaller portions of food and less calories during the time you are on it. The key is to get the body into a state where it is burning up excess debris and fat that has built up over time.
Simply put, you need to take a break from any processed, sugar-laden, artificially sweetened or flavored, pre-packaged food. Your liquid intake should be limited to just water or tea (unsweetened… of course! ). And skipping a meal or meals is helpful.
While we have historically recommended the 21-day Purification Program from the company Standard Process, you need not go three full weeks. Any cleansing period is better than no cleansing period. I would do no less than three days if you want to get significant benefits, though.
Personally, I do not look for cleanses specific to the liver, gallbladder, or colon. A good cleansing protocol will essentially cleanse all your organs if done properly. This is why sticking with whole, organic, pure foods is critical. You want to avoid the pesticides, herbicides, GMO’s, and artificial additives that are found in most foods today. This gives your body the break it needs from having to breakdown and process foreign substances that the human body was never designed to be exposed to.
A good cleanse will often involve some type of intermittent fasting. I’ll write more on intermittent fasting in a future article, as I believe that to be the best biohack and health booster you can do. It simply involves skipping a meal, skipping a day of meals, or skipping days of meals.
And don’t forget, as you get overwhelmed and confused about which detox is the best, the best detox is to STOP TOXIFYING! Eat clean, real foods, drink water, skip some meals, and avoid the junk foods, and your body will naturally and automatically do the spring cleaning for you.