by Dr. Brooke Azie-Rentz
Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’ -Robin Williams
This year, this quote seems even more pertinent here in Washington. After just breaking records for rainfall, the flowers and blossoms are bursting at every little shred of sunlight they can absorb and sprouts are crowding each other for space as they reach for the sun. No matter the rain, Spring is one of my favorite times of year. Everything is so fresh and so clean; it gives us all the itch for some spring cleaning, including our bodies.
Maybe some of us have partied or indulged a little too much over the Fall and Winter, or maybe it is just time to brush the dust off and start moving again, but Spring is the time to get our bodies tune-up started. So immediately people think of a cleanse or detox, but do you know the difference? To keep it simple, a cleanse is much more mild than a detox. A lot of times it consists of a juice cleanse or a cleaning up of your diet. For example, you may drink fresh squeezed, organic detox juices for your breakfast, lunch and snacks and then only eat one clean meal per day x 2 weeks. Most people during this time will feel lighter, happier and cleaner due to the fact that they are getting in lots of vitamins and minerals (through the organic juice) and not eating/drinking their morning double shot vanilla latte, bagel and “quick, healthy” lunch of taco time between meetings. For some this may be great, for others, this is not enough.
I have always lived by the motto, “no pain, no gain.” If I am not sore after leaving the gym, I didn’t work out hard enough. If I am feeling good during a detox, it isn’t doing anything! In my opinion, during a detox you should feel icky, gross, tired and sore. Your body is mobilizing all the toxins you have ever been exposed to in your life. Moving these through your lymph system, liver and kidneys should leave you with body aches, fatigue, headaches, weird bowel movements and all kinds of other signs that your body is cleaning! You don’t ever wash your muddy clothes and expect the water to be clear do you? No! The water is brown and dirty! Same thing happens when you start cleaning your organs, the water (blood, lymph, stool, urine) is dirty! Therefore, if you choose a detox over a cleanse, expect to not feel 100%. Plan your detox at a time when you can be a little tired, irritable, and basically not on your A game. Here at AIM, we have tried many different detox products and the one we have decided to keep at our clinic is The Herbalist’s Detox-It Kit along with our specified detox diet program. Here are the key ingredients of the kit:
- I. Gel plusFiber ™: this provides soothing herbs to help heal the gut and fiber to help bind and remove toxins
- 3 tinctures:
-
- Detox : promotes healthy liver and gallbladder function
- Blood Sugar Blues ™: helps balance blood sugar and control hunger
- Rasayana : helps support and reset the adrenal glands (stress organs)
- Namaste Tea: Promotes Mental Health and Stress Reduction during the detox while supporting the body’s vital organs
- B.T. Caps: helps prevent gas and support healthy bowel movements during the detox when things can get a little slow
Spring is a great time to think about cleaning and renewing ourselves. Cleanses and detoxes are a great way to accomplish this, but be careful, sometimes we can push our bodies to hard, too fast. While we would always support you in trying to better yourself, we do advise that anyone attempting a detox be supervised by a doctor. Like I said above, during a detox you don’t always feel so great, so it is nice to have a trained professional in your corner to help determine if your symptoms are serious or are just part of the “pain” associated with a good detox. We at AIM are always here to help you be a better, stronger, and cleaner you!