MY HAPPY ME {com}

By: Liliya Vafina, Nutrition Expert

Our body is smart and has a very efficient system naturally capable of maintaining and detoxifying itself. However, our innate abilitiy is limited and can only take so much of abuse until the body can’t keep up with the load when it starts to give up, allowing toxins to slip through causing deterioration of our health, looks and feeling of wellbeing.  The factors that contirbute to the abuse include eating bad fats, refined carbohydrate, too little nutrient-dense foods, unbalanced diet and nutrient deficiencies, frequent use of antibiotics, smoking, stress, environmental pollutants, inactive lifestyle and dehydration. This is where a good cleanse can come handy. A good cleanse can be a great way to ease the stress caused by the “bad guys” listed above, rid the body of toxins left behind by them, as well as jump start a healthy eating program. I can’t stress enough how important it is to adopt a long-term sustainable lifestyle, not just  a two-week program  once or twice a year when you decide to go on a cleanse, because these two weeks won’t be enough for your body to  heal itself. However, it can result in lost pounds, increased energy levels, that great light feeling and, hopefully, these great results will motivate you to keep going with your chosen healthy eating program.

Is it safe and what are the best products? I wouldn’t be the best person to recommend a cleansing product, but I will say this: there is no need to buy ANY product. They are usually very expensive and too harsh on our system. Most of the products I have seen on the market are loaded with laxatives that cause dehydration and …  much discomfort, if you know what I mean. They are great at fooling us into thinking we lose weight. In fact we lose A LOT of needed water! And the number on our scale quickly returns to normal after the magic pill stash is finished.  

What to do instead?  If you ever tried a cleansing product before, you know that the program usually requires limiting or eliminating some of the foods from your diet during the cleanse. I know some products call for increased alkaline and decreased acidic foods. Whatever terms and theories they use to convey the idea, most of them require eliminating foods that exert stress on the body, increasing nutrient- and antioxidant-dense foods, essential fatty acids, fiber and fluids. So, let’s list the steps:

Eliminate bad fats. That is saturated and trans fats. They are shown to cause inflammation*. Choose chicken and turkey breast, virtually sat fat free meat, for the duration of cleanse. No fried and fast food for their trans fat content.

Eliminate all grains, white potatoes and sugar. This will give your digestive system a break during the cleanse (but remember, whole grains should be consumed and encouraged on the daily basis as part of a healthy diet-after your cleanse that is).

Eliminate dairy products. Dairy products have been linked to inflammation and digestive disorders. Should be pretty easy to do without for a few days, there are so many alternatives available now!

Take a good dairy free probiotic daily to balance digestive microflora which is so very important for proper digestion, vitamin absorption, and immune system functions. Especially important if you were prescribed antibiotics recently.

Include good fats. Include fish at least 2 times a week or take omega-3 supplement.  Also, include ground flaxseed every day for beneficial fats and fiber.

Drink plenty of water and herbal teas, eat lots of vegetables, go easy on fruit during the cleanse (even easier on tropical and exotic fruit-too much sugar!) and always balance out complex carbohydrate (like fruit) with some protein and good fat ( a handful of nuts is a great example) to even out blood sugar, stick to it for a week and remember to eat healthy after your cleanse for long-lasting effects! Oh, almost forgot, stay active, adopt an effective relaxation technique to keep stress levels at bay (yoga is a great one!) quit smoking and enjoy the body that feels and looks its best, naturally!

*Inflammation is immune system’s first response against bacteria, viruses and other invaders. And this is good when it is just a temporary occurrence. It gets bad when this response never switches off and becomes chronic inflammation which causes a number of chronic diseases. Unhealthy eating is shown to promote chronic inflammation.