To Cleanse or Not to Cleanse?

As a Nutritionist, I like to explain to my clients how we can compare our bodies to a house. In your house, there are rooms and each room has its own function. Just like each organ and system in our bodies. In order to keep the house clean and fresh many of us hire professional cleaners.

Cleansing our bodies is much the same to having a house professionally cleaned. A good cleaning professional needs to have an understanding of the property, the homeowner’s unique preferences and tastes, and what products we can and can’t use on certain areas of the house. It’s all about knowing our house and finding out what will give us the best results.

While standing in the aisle at a local Health Food store, I overheard two women speaking about doing a cleanse. They scanned the shelves, seeming confused as to what they were really looking at, and wondering what all the differences were. The deciding factor on what to buy? Price. They picked the cheapest product, seemed happy with their product and went to the cashier. If only it were that easy!

Often, people make purchases based on what their close friends or someone they trust has told them, or we go with something that is familiar to us, perhaps because we’ve seen the brand in a commercial or an ad in a magazine.

With cleansing, people automatically assume they are doing their body a favour. However, often the opposite is the case. The users complain about headaches, nausea, diarrhea and a whole list of other un-fun symptoms.

We need to be careful and look at a few key factors when choosing the right cleanse for our body. If you buy a cleanse that claims to  detox the liver, kidneys, pancreas, etc… then you are most likely going to stir up the pot! First and foremost, you need to ensure that the bowel is strong and in good working order so that the toxins you stirred up from cleansing can be removed. Think about it this way; what is the first thing you remove when cleaning your house? The “garbage” – well it is the same with cleansing, you need to first get rid of all the garbage and clear out our bowels.

So if you do want to cleanse, do some research on what you’re putting into your body. Starting off slowly is key and concentrating on cleaning our body inside and out with proper steps is critical.

Happy Spring Cleaning!