Cleanses are short-terms diets that alter your dietary intake to cleanse your body of toxins and promote weight loss. Proponents believe cleanses leave you looking slimmer and feeling healthy, while detractors claim cleanses are unhealthy and potentially unsafe. Before doing a cleanse, check with your doctor to be sure it won't negatively affect any of your existing medical conditions.
Cleansing the Liver
In "The Fat Flush Plan," nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman lays out the reasoning for fat cleanses. Gittleman believes five factors prevent you from losing weight: toxic liver buildup, water retention, reluctance to eat healthy dietary fat, stress and too much insulin. Your liver is supposed to clear out your body's toxins, but when it's overwhelmed with the chemicals present in caffeine, alcohol and prescription drugs, it stops functioning properly and can hold onto fat, resulting in weight gain and cellulite development.
Methods
In "Health Is Simple, Disease Is Complicated," James Forleo describes how to perform a liver cleanse. For anywhere from one day to two weeks, you should blend and drink the following each morning: juice squeezed from a few oranges and half a lemon, 1 to 3 oz. extra virgin olive oil, and 1 to 2 cloves of garlic. Next, drink a tea made with 1 tsp. each fennel, comfrey, licorice and fenugreek seeds and 2 tsp. flaxseeds. Lunches and dinners should consist of salads dressed with lemon juice or olive oil, steamed veggies and fresh fruit. You should not consume any meat, fish, eggs, legumes, sugar, grains, caffeine or alcohol while participating in the cleanse.
Cleansing the Colon
A second method of cleansing involves the colon. Like your liver, your colon eliminates toxins from the body in the form of fecal matter. However, according to Dr. Edward Group III in "Health Begins in the Colon," some waste products adhere to the walls of your colon and stay there. Called "hardened waste," this remnant fecal matter can actually contribute to obesity. Group believes most Americans accumulate several pounds of hardened waste by the age of 30.
Methods
There are several methods for a colon cleanse. Group recommends an overnight cleanse for situations where you overindulge or want to quickly remove toxins from your system. He suggests you pour 16 oz. of purified water into a glass and add the juice of half an organic lemon as well as 1 tsp. organic apple cider vinegar. Drink this mixture with 8 capsules of an oxygen-based colon cleaner. Walk around for 15 minutes after ingesting this beverage if you experience temporary stomach discomfort.
Warning
There is little scientific evidence that cleanses rid your body of toxins or unwanted weight. Colleen Doyle, the director of nutrition for the American Cancer Society, told USAToday.com in 2009 that she knew of no published trials that prove your liver, kidneys or lungs need any artificial stimulants to prompt them to remove bodily toxins. If you still wish to perform a cleanse, talk to your doctor before you begin.
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