So I guess this has nothing to do with being progressive..but I'm thinking about doing a detox and I need some advice. My hands and feet have been numb on and off for the past year, my joints frequently hurt and I often feel exausted, despite getting plenty of sleep. My microbiology teacher, who also happens to be a nautropath (lucky me, attending a midwifery school,) said the first thing I should do, (besides not eating any glutein, which is a protein in many grains,) is a detox. She recommended the Master Cleanse, which basically is a fast where you drink only lemonaide sweetened with organic maple syrip, with cayenne pepper in it, made with spring water. You are also allowed a glass of natural laxitive tea made of herbs. You are suppost to do this for ten days, my teacher said I should see if I could handle it for three since I get really low blood sugar as it is.
I've never done a fast or a detox, so I'm really nervous, especially since my mom used to use "fasting" as her diet plan. She basically starved herself as much as she could, without becoming completely delusional (actually, sometimes she would get a little delusional, but I've never been clear about wiether it was not eating that would make her delusional, or being delusional that would drive her to not eat.) So anyway, ever since I've been skeptical of fasting and "detox."
But now, I feel like I need to do something like that; whenever I visualize whatever is going on with my body, I see my liver and it has some black spots in it.
This would not suprise me; I've done really damaging things to my body in the past. I grew up on a farm where lots of pesticides where sprayed; then, for a while, I went to school for photojournalism and I used to work in the dark room dipping my hands in the chemicals without any gloves (also, our dark room had virutually no ventilation.) You would come out of there with a metallitic taste in your mouth from all of the chemicals you had injested and absorbed through your skin.
Then, I ran away and hitchhiked all over the country and ate acid, ate mushrooms, shot, shorted and smoked crystal meth and a lot of pot. Basically, I took whatever came my way. And on top of all that, I just think in general, on a daily basis, we take a lot of toxins into our bodies; when we inhale, we breathe in exhaust, paint fumes, Scotch Guard, cleaning products, bleach, when we eat, we eat pesticides, herbacides, when we drink, we drink chlorine, all the pharmaceudicals that are in our water, heavy metals, not to mention alcohol, food stabilizers, articfical coloring, flavoring, red dye this and yellow dye that. Basically, our bodies are a toxic waste dump of all the things in our environment that suck.
So, I'm seriously considering doing a hard core detox...but I'm scared. I don't want to get delustional or past out or anything like that. So I guess I want some advice from my readers; first, have any of you tried a detox you've liked? What was that detox like; what effects did you notice? Do you have any advice for someone who just wants all the toxins out?
Love ya,
Carrot
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and it worked well. I was still able to eat and get nutrients, but the produce has to be organic and everything must be raw. It was cool to still eat and be detoxing, but it's hard to maintain.
I would go with the master cleanse. I'd heard of it and plan on doing it when I get back from China. I'll need to clean out all the pollution from my lungs.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
Good suggestion, AGIC! Carrot, I worry about those fasting detox plans. Having had an eating disorder, I would never try one. But my understanding of food is that it is GOOD for your body, so AGIC's suggestion of raw foods could actually be cleansing. Add sawaboof's suggestion to increase fluid intake, and I think you've got yourself a fantastically cleansing diet.
And yes, I recognize that this entire comment is just restating the ideas of two other people...but I really feel strongly that the juice fasts are bunk, and I would hate to see you put yourself through it for no reason.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I think if you already have an issue with low blood sugar, not eating food, even for just 3 days, is a horrible, horrible idea.
I would talk to a doctor or nutritionist about your symptoms. I would, personally, start with the nutritionist as fatigue, aching joints, and numbness in extremities sound like they may be symptoms of a deficiency of some nutrient--Calcium, Iron, Vitamin C, and vitamin B12 come to mind.
I think a good way to get toxins out of your body is to drink a lot of fluids. Maybe that's why detox diets work. But you don't have to stop eating to flush out toxins. Yur body naturally gets rid of toxins through sweat, urine, and feces with the help of your liver and kidneys. When you increase liquids in your diet, it makes it easier for your organs to do their job. Just drink a lot of water each day. It's good for you.
There are herbal supplements and stuff you can take that probably help the process as well. I am all for herbal remedies and alternative medicine, however, I don't think it's necessary, or a particularly good idea, to fast and ingest nothing but liquids.
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"drink only lemonaide sweetened with organic maple syrip, with cayenne pepper in it, made with spring water."
This detox was incredible for me. Although I initially thought one week would be swell, I had only sipped the pepper and syrup for the time frame that you're shooting for (3 days or so) and I felt like a new man. Mind the cliche. I hope you'll write a review of yer feelings after you've gone through with the experiment. I'll see if I can hammer together some research on fasting and blog it for you. Link equipped comment coming soon!
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Not knowing much about health food and such, have read that the healthiest form of "detox" is to eat healthy, and drink lot's of water.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tricia0711
I'm really skeptical of any detox that limits your nutrient intake for extended periods of time. I can't see it being good for you in the long run. I think the raw foods diet would be the best for a detox, simply because it eliminates all the chemicals used in making our food now, and with the right balance, you can still get all the nutrients you need.
Fasting for a day isn't necessarily a bad thing (I've read things that actually say it's good for you on occasion), but if you have problems with low blood sugar now, that probably isn't your best option.
I highly suggest going to a doctor or dietician about it, though, rather than relying on people's opinions. As sawaboof mentioned, you may just be feeling the way you do because you're lacking certain nutrients (B vitamins and potassium are really important). Of course, just adding supplements to your diet might not be good either... my roommate started passing out when she started taking a multivitamin because it caused her blood pressure to drop too much.
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I'm talking with one of my teachers, a nautropathic doctor (ND,) about all of this. She recommended I only do the fast for three days, rather then the ten, and add a protein shake several times a day, rather then only drinking lemonade. I'm also going to get some lab results back from a blood draw I had a while ago and schedule a private visit with her to talk about the results of that. But I too am highly skeptical of anything that limits nutrients; especially since my mom and grandma have had eating disorders all of their lives...
love ya,
Carrot
Glad to hear you are being smart about it, Carrot! Good luck! Tell us how it goes, okay? I'm curious.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman