Nowadays, it seems you can’t pick up a newspaper or surf the Internet without quickly coming across an article that purports a new, dynamic cleanse will be your gateway to good health for the rest of your life. If only that were true. Yet, it is true that cleanses undertaken for specific reasons, thereby seeking specific results, and featuring specific foods/ drinks to consume (or, alternatively, cut out) are well worth your time. And there’s little that’s new about the idea either.

Toxin cleanses and fasting programmes involving the likes of herbs and natural nutrients have been around for centuries, if not millennia, in different civilisations; relied on not just for wellbeing but also insisted on for spiritual purposes by religions. And the reality is that, with so many toxins and harmful organisms in the air, water and environments all around us, it’s all too easy for us to breathe them in, drink, eat and consume them every day of our lives. And, to be honest, that reality’s only getting worse, which means that it’s more important than ever to try and cleanse our livers, colons and other organs of these entities on something like a regular basis.

All that said, whatever the newspapers and ill-informed web articles say, there’s nothing to match a toxin removal that involves fully naturally-derived sources of nutrition – in fact, it’s the only way to do it properly. Here are some very good examples…

 

Liver cleanses

Nowhere in the digestive tract can afford to be overrun by harmful toxins, least of all the liver, which is absolutely critical to the rest of the system for effective natural detoxification. To cleanse the liver – and help it along in its own work then – various foods you might consume include wheat grass and dandelion greens^{1, 2}, as well as beets, carrots, celery, lemons and limes³. Meanwhile, spicier foods like cayenne, cumin, curry, rosemary and turmeric are all good here too⁴, as well as, drinks-wise, apple juice and simple, purified water (as opposed to coffee, milk and carbonated drinks).

 

Candida cleanses

Candida is a type of yeast that can find its way throughout the body and on the skin; on occasions, it’s especially a problem for women, not least because its overgrowth can cause an infection of thrush in the mouth of throat. Not nice. A candida cleanse aims to get the levels of the yeast in the body back under control by removing many of the sugars that cause it to ‘over-grow’.

So, that means avoiding all kinds of sugar for the duration of the cleanse – indeed, natural foods including (dried) fruits, fruit juices, refined flour and wheat foods, yeast-based foods (of course) and natural sweeteners like agave nectar and raw honey⁵. Moreover, alcohol’s definitely out, as are old favourites like cheese, picked vegetables and soy sauce. And, while undertaking one, a candida cleanse is only enhanced by consuming organic oregano oil and a probiotic (perhaps Latero-Flora; see below).

 

Cleanses of harmful organisms

To remove harmful organisms, in general, from the body, there are a number of herbs you should make a beeline to consume for a good overall cleanse. For instance, American wormseed, black walnut hull, clove and wormwood are great for creating an environment in the intestines and wider digestive system that’s hostile to toxins and harmful organisms⁶. Moreover, probiotic supplements (again, see below) are highly advised for helping ensure gut microbiome balance⁷.

 

Liquid cleanses

While they’re effective, such natural cleanses as outlined above do involve playing about with your diet and altering it for a short period, which inevitably is going to interfere with your energy levels. Should you prefer the idea of a general cleanse that’s not going to get close to ‘wiping you out’ for a while then, a liquid cleanse may be the answer⁸. As opposed to the others mentioned, it’s all about consuming good amounts of fresh organic fruit juices and vegetable juices, in addition to the likes of oils (coconut, flaxseed, hempseed, pumpkin seed and sesame seed), miso soup, pureed soup and, of course, purified water.

 

Toxin removal supplements

As already pointed out in this article, probiotics especially – but also detoxification-focused supplements in more general terms – can be great additional sources of nourishment (for vitamins and minerals) during cleanses and, should you not fancy going the cleansing route, for helping remove toxins and harmful organisms from your body on an everyday basis. The following then are all available through us at The Finchley Clinic (along with many more):

Paratrex – a supplement that combines herbs and proteolytic enzymes to help eradicate parasites from the body, but in a somewhat slower and gentler manner (thanks to its botanical ingredients) than the harsher approach you’ll find with prescription pharmaceuticals; it’s ideal for this purpose when combined with the following two supplements …

Latero-Flora – a probiotic that primarily contains a unique strain of Bacillus laterosporus, a naturally occurring organism that populates the intestines with beneficial bacteria to help maintain a healthy colon.

Aniseed Formula – a botanical food supplement for maintenance of a parasite-free ecology in the body; in addition to aniseed, it contains cranberry, celery seed, fennel, licorice, peppermint, pomegranate, thyme and turmeric.

 

References:

1. Drewnowski A. and Gomez-Carneros C. “Bitter taste, phytonutrients, and the consumer: a review”. Am J Clin Nutr. (2000): 1424-1435.
2. Tokusumi Y. and Takagi Y. “Ectosymbiotic role of food bacteria for paramecium: bacterial detoxification of paramecia-killing toxin contained in wheat grass powder”. Zool Sci. (2000): 341-348.
3. Koumbi L. “Dietary factors can protect against liver cancer development”. World J Hepatol. (2017):119-125.
4. Singh U. P., Singh D. P., Maurya S., Maheshwari R., Singh M., Dubey R. S. and Singh R. B. “Investigation on the Phenolics of Some Spices Having Pharmacotherapeutic Properties”. Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy 4.4 (2004): 27-42.
5. Nikawa H., Nishimura H., Hamada T. et al. “Effects of dietary sugars and saliva and serum on Candida biofilm formation on acrylic surfaces”. Mycopathologia (1997) 139: 87.
6. Bor T., Gyawali R. and Ibrahim S. A. “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Essential Oils and Combination of Copper and Lactic Acid on the Growth of E. coli O157:H7 in Laboratory Medium”. Foods. (2016): 5 (1).
7. Surendrannair M., Amalaradjou M. A. and Venkitanarayanan K. “Antivirulence Properties of Probiotics in Combating Microbial Pathogenesis”. Adv Appl Microbiol. (2017): 1-29.
8. Huber R., Nauck M., Lüdtke R, and Scharnagl H. “Effects of One Week Juice Fasting on Lipid Metabolism: A Cohort Study in Healthy Subjects”. Complement Med Res. (2003): 7-10.