The Detox Thread

[StmpyElephant]

I did the master cleanse for four days (the minimum is ten) and it nearly killed me, lol. I had the worst constriction taking place in my chest and my heart was beating so rapidly. It was an interesting experience though.

[foxytina_69]

our bodies are great at cleansing themselves yes, but its hard to do it fully and naturally when were always stuffing ourselves of food

if you give your body a break every now and then of not eating, your body can focus on healing and cleansing itself, rather than simply digesting food. i dont think its completely necessary to use products to cleanse us, instead, just fast for a little while drinking only pure water w/ lemon, or do a juice fast with freshly juiced veggies/fruits, and its amazing what our bodies will do for us when they have the opportunity to cleanse themselves. i like to do a fast every change of season. just a day or two.

ofcourse, there are always things you can take to aid in helping your body cleanse itself, but if you are healthy, they arent always needed.

ive been on a couple detoxes in the past year, with detox medications, to help cleanse my liver since im on alot of prescription meds. in that kindof situation, i think its perfectly great to use a detox helper.

[Seaside]

our bodies are great at cleansing themselves yes, but its hard to do it fully and naturally when were always stuffing ourselves of food

I agree, foxytina. Our bodies were designed to get us through periods of famine, and we didn't develop the systems we have today while stuffing ourselves with food three times a day on a daily basis. When animals become ill, the first thing they do is stop eating to devote their energy to healing.

We also did not have all the chemicals in the drinking water, air, and food we have today. Our livers are designed to be the cleansers of our bodies, but we are putting too great a burden on them with all the voluntary and involuntary chemical ingestion that takes place today.

We don't necessarily need herbs to assist our bodies, but I know I trust herbs a lot more than I trust medical opinions on health and healing gained from being educated in schools who get their funding from pharmaceutical companies. I can't think of any industry larger than this one, which profits off maintaining illness by relieving symptoms, rather than assisting the body to heal itself.

[veggiegirl3]

<Morgan Spurlocks wife written a detox diet book. Following her husbands supersize me diet. She said on his third week his liver was like pate !!!!!.
She is a vegan so the book should be interesting?. The Book is called Detox Diet.>

I'm reading it now. I like it a lot. She encourages people to stop eating all animal products (except for honey, which I don't think she mentions), caffeine, refined sugar, and to drink more water.

She is vegan herself, but you're right, she is not a "vegan chef" but sometimes catters to vegan customers.

It basically emphasises having a healthy lifestyle, which I like. It's a good book. Also, check out SKINNY BITCH, which talks about that stuff, but goes into the ethics of veganism a little bit. The title is a brilliant marketing technique, as the book has much more to do with health than weight loss, and it was written to help stop cruelty to animals.

[Tigerlily]

Maybe I'm not getting it, but I don't understand how not eating is suppose to make you feel better? Doesn't your body need the nutrients and calories to function?

[veggiegirl3]

Oh, no! You are definately supposed to eat! Those two books (and probably others) emphasise not eating crap that harms your body and eating more unprocessed, nutritious food.

[Tigerlily]

Oh but what about those who are doing water fasts or juice 'fasts'?

[GoodbyeGirl]

i have recently stopped eating dairy products and i want to clean any yucky animal residue out of my body. i have been looking up a lot of detox/cleansing websites and i've gotten a couple of books. there are so many stories and photos of people with lots of worms or huge worms being expelled from their bodies when they do a cleanse. does this really happen very often? are most of us really walking around with a bunch of worms living in our digestive tracts? how do you find out if you have any?

[Cairidh]

i have recently stopped eating dairy products and i want to clean any yucky animal residue out of my body. i have been looking up a lot of detox/cleansing websites and i've gotten a couple of books. there are so many stories and photos of people with lots of worms or huge worms being expelled from their bodies when they do a cleanse. does this really happen very often? are most of us really walking around with a bunch of worms living in our digestive tracts? how do you find out if you have any?

everybody has parasites
I've tried two different cleansing thingydodahs that are supposed to get rid of worms but none came out of me
they're hard to get rid of

I did find that the thing that cleansed my insides the most (not of parasites but of nasty food residues) was a 100% fruit diet - I don't recommend it, you'll get deficient, but a week long cleanse of mostly raw fruit plus green smoothies (50% fruit, 50% leafy greens) and raw coconut would give your insides a good clean out
green smoothies are fantastic at um.....getting you to go....
and the fat in raw coconut binds with toxins and escorts them out of the body.

[DianeVegan]

i have recently stopped eating dairy products and i want to clean any yucky animal residue out of my body. i have been looking up a lot of detox/cleansing websites and i've gotten a couple of books. there are so many stories and photos of people with lots of worms or huge worms being expelled from their bodies when they do a cleanse. does this really happen very often? are most of us really walking around with a bunch of worms living in our digestive tracts? how do you find out if you have any?

Hi GoodbyeGirl,

There are certainly a lot of books and websites for "detoxing" these days. If you read any of my past posts I explain why I am not a fan. Are we walking around with worms in our digestive tracts in the U.S.? Not if you are one of the majority drinking treated/clean water. You would have a good idea if you were infested with worms, and you would most likely be losing weight.

As for the animal "residue," I wouldn't worry. With the constant turnover of cells in your GI tract, nothing remains for long - there is nothing for it to stick to despite what these books and websites state.

Also, if you want to truly "detox" your body then you will need to drink pure water (distilled, NOT filtered or spring water) and breathe pure air (this would be extremely expensive and I don't even know where you could find air without any toxins these days). I am sure the books and websites don't mention air and water (only distilled water is pure unless you are lucky enough to find an old iceberg) because they really focus on detoxing via the GI tract, fasting, supplements. There is a huge money-making industry that has grown out of this idea.

So please "detox" if you think you must but don't worry that you are missing out on anything if you don't.

[Aylish]

I have little red zit like things on my arms and thighs. Not a lot, but I typically don't get acne or bumps on my body (just a little on my face). I became vegan 3 weeks ago, and before that was a veggie reliant on dairy. Is this a detox thing?

Otherwise I feel great!

[tipsy]

could very well be!

the skin is one of the biggest detox organs!

[tabitha]

I have little red zit like things on my arms and thighs. Not a lot, but I typically don't get acne or bumps on my body (just a little on my face). I became vegan 3 weeks ago, and before that was a veggie reliant on dairy. Is this a detox thing?

Otherwise I feel great!

Can you body brush them or are they sore?

[Tiggerwoo]

Acne is your skin purging itself generallly (in adulthood anyway, teenage may be hormonal) of toxins, so I'm sure they are detox related. The body will try to get rid of toxins from the easiest path possible, and if the liver, bowels, kidneys etc are already working hard, then the skin will take the remaining burden.

Carry on the good work, the symptoms will lessen. What I would say is drink lots of good quality water, skin brush as Tabi says as this stimulates the lymphatic system, if you can get a mini trampoline to do some rebounding.... usually around &#163;20 from Ebay, and eat alot of fresh fruits/veg....... try juicing this will all help. Also if you have access to a sauna at a gym a few times a week or steam, this will speed the process up to sweat the rubbish out. Alternatively try a couple of epsom salt baths per week..... they draw the baddies out, but it must be a hot bath for say 20-30 mins.

[tabitha]

Tiggerwoos, you should DEFINITELY quit your day job (or night job in your case). You are so good at this sort of thing! We could start up a business. You could do the nutrition and I could do the personal training.

[Tiggerwoo]

Tiggerwoos, you should DEFINITELY quit your day job (or night job in your case). You are so good at this sort of thing! We could start up a business. You could do the nutrition and I could do the personal training.

Thanks, intend on doing so when I qualify, will be setting up the reiki bit at the end of the year hopefully and the naturopathic bit in about 4 years, but alot of my info, came from research when I was ill myself.

Good idea about us going into business together....... now what could we call it?!

[tabitha]

TiggerTab.? TabbyTig?. Sounds like a cat rescue home!! - Lets do that instead!!!

[Tiggerwoo]

He he......... can just imagine it........ would be gluttons for punnishment, what with you working at the cattery and me at the bunny and guinea rescue!

[Aylish]

Thanks very much everyone. It seems to be going away. But I do have a body brush. I'll give it a go.

A

[riotgurl]

My BF and I are starting a fast tomorrow. We're doing a 3 day juice fast then a 10 day water fast and then 3 more days of juice. I'm really looking forward to it but at the same time I'm worried. I've fasted before but never for that long. Any tips?

[DianeVegan]

Well, my tip would be to never water fast but there is a thread here that may give you some advice.

[foxytina_69]

diane, all of the detox books ive read HAVE included information about the air, water, etc.

riotgurl, if youve never fasted before, 10 days of water fasting is quite a long time to fast!

[riotgurl]

I've fasted before. Just never that long and with only water. ;\
Today was the first day of just water.

[eve]

just be aware that when you come off the fast, you will gain weight because your body will start preparing for the next 'famine', and will retain every single gram that you eat! Good luck riotgurl

[foxytina_69]

yes, and you have to come off them extremely slowly!! (but you already knew that riotgurl!) good luck riotgurl!

my naturopath is putting me on a detox starting thursday!

[folkmaiden]

Yep I do Detox. It is crucial in our modern day. Please read my post titled "Detoxing Heavy Metals and toxins".

I hate fasting and cleansing because I get sick... headaches and nausea.

I use Natural Cellular Defense which is made of liquid zeolites and has none of the classic detox side effects. It is tasteless and you just take 3 drops 3x's a day and it cleanses heavy metals and toxins out of your body. Check out www.liquidzeolite.org

or www.detoxhealing.com

also listen to this talk about "our toxic world"

[Tangerine]

Yep I do Detox. It is crucial in our modern day. Please read my post titled "Detoxing Heavy Metals and toxins".

I hate fasting and cleansing because I get sick... headaches and nausea.

I use Natural Cellular Defense which is made of liquid zeolites and has none of the classic detox side effects. It is tasteless and you just take 3 drops 3x's a day and it cleanses heavy metals and toxins out of your body. Check out www.liquidzeolite.org

or www.detoxhealing.com

also listen to this talk about "our toxic world"

sounds awesome... but for $200

Im a budget... there has to be something cheaper... maybe I'll look around on eBay or some other site

[pavotrouge]

Sorry for bringing up this old thread, but I'm planning to do 5 days of fasting (on vegetable broth/light soups, vegetable and fruit juices, tea and water) for the first time starting Saturday and was wondering of anyone of you would like to join

[emmapresley]

i've only just come across this thread..wondered how your five day fast is going pavotrouge?
perhaps you could post what you've been eating and how it's going

[pavotrouge]

I started a day earlier than I had planned, so this is already day 4...
I've eaten only pureed soups on Thursday to make my body get used to fasting.

Since Friday, I've eaten nothing but a small bowl of porridge Sat evening when I was freezing cold. I'm living on tomato, grape and apple juice, a nice selection of herbal teas (a good excuse to finally buy a selection of organic teas), homemade vegetable and miso broth and water, also drinking a big glass of sauerkraut juice every morning to get digestion going [also used a clyster but it didn't have much of an effect, the juice does better for me].

All of this doesn't have quite the effect on me that I had expected- I had thought it'd be a mental struggle, but I'm not hungry at all, don't have any circulation troubles (I'm very sensitive to that) or anything else- I know, that's good- but also don't experience detox symptoms... the only thing I have noticed is that my skin has become a lot clearer, but that could be a hormonal thing, as well.

I'm feeling good, but not much of a difference. I'm feeling relaxed, cleaned my place and read a lot during the weekend, but that might also be due to the fact that I've got the week off work.

To be honest, I'm considering stopping the whole thing- it seems my body doesn't need it

[cedarblue]

also drinking a big glass of sauerkraut juice every morning to get digestion going

do you mean pickled water?? how big is the glass?

lemon juice or lemon slices in hot water first thing gets my digestion going!

[pavotrouge]

yes, it's not exactly tasty but surely nicer than those salts you can use...lemon juice doesn't affect me

[thecatspajamas1]

I'm doing the master cleanse right now. I did it in March for 10 days and now I'm going to do it for 20 days. I'm on day 2. If you don't know what the master cleanse is, it's basically a juice fast when you drink only a lemonade made from fresh lemons, real maple syrup, water, and cayenne pepper.

[Caramammal]

Did anyone go through a detox or healing crisis when they adopted a vegan diet?

If you did, how clean was your diet in the first place, and what were your 'detox' symptoms?

During this first month, I've had lethargy/fatigue for 10 days, also a few skin eruptions, headaches, throbbing teeth/mouth, sensitivity to smells, weird thoughts..things from my childhood will present themselves..like a feeling or a smell and I go back to a memory from way back, and have been pretty emotional, in terms of really clear feelings, also 3-4 toilet trips a day (no2).

I've not had any colds/cough/phlem.

What did you guys go through?

[harpy]

Nothing personally, but I think we've had some similar reports before. Are you sure you're getting enough calories? And not too much fibre (you could switch to white bread etc temporarily if your stomach feels upset)? Hope you feel better soon anyway.

[pat sommer]

Wow, sounds like withdrawal symptoms.
Let us know how it goes. Hang in there!

[Korn]

Hi Caramammal, as I'm sure you know, you don't get 'weird thoughts' or childhood memories popping up from eating plants... But things like eg. eating a lot less, reducing sugar dramatically etc. can of course influence how we feel. The same goes for stopping eating stuff we ate just as 'tranquilizing food'.

There's a general misunderstanding about healing/detoxing: the (few?) people who experience so called detoxing effects when going vegan don't get these symptoms because they're on a new diet, but because they were having a diet/lifestyle that needed to be 'healed/detoxed' before they switched to a better diet. Sometimes 'detoxing' isn't even happening, people just see body changes since they change the way the eat/live. Some people's bodies may simply get a little shock because they're actually starting to behave the way they should have behaved in the first place!

If you think the effects of changing your diet are so intense that you consider this a 'crisis', maybe you should move forward a little slower than you do now? It's a known fact that people who stop using something that's bad for them (too much alcohol, tobacco, drugs) may feel horrible by doing so, but these symptoms disappear. When it comes to diet, I guess a slow change (eg. when reducing sugar intake) sometimes may be more comfortable than a sudden one, and to use the sugar example, replacing too much refined sugar with eating more sweet fruits than one normally does may be very helpful in the transition period. Improving one's lifestyle is supposed to be fun and feel right, so make sure you make the best out of it, and don't - on a subconscious level - assume that there some kind of ascetism involved in this.

[Hemlock]

Me and Corum are going for a colonic irrigation on Friday to kick start our diets and also ensure that there is no meat still lingering in our colons from our pre vegan days!!!
We're colonic virgins so it should be interesting

[pavotrouge]

well... um, have fun?!

[cobweb]

Me and Corum are going for a colonic irrigation on Friday to kick start our diets and also ensure that there is no meat still lingering in our colons from our pre vegan days!!!
We're colonic virgins so it should be interesting

i find colonic irrigation both disgusting and fascinating, please post about it afterwards Hemlock!

[Hemlock]

Heehee! I will, in lurid detail. I've heard you can lose up to a stone the first time in putrid malingering 'stuff'. We'll see

[cobweb]

wow, imagine that!.

do they show you the 'stuff' afterwards?

[Hemlock]

Apparently you can watch as it all comes out of the tube while the therapist gives you a running commentary.....best not eat that morning as I have a poo phobia - not really a great phobia for a nurse to have

[veganlinda]

I'm drinking wine and detoxing myself of a relationship does that count? I am normally a pretty healthy eater and tend towards far too serious thinkings but every now and then drinking wine reminds me to be more frivalous and actually enjoy life. This is my emotional detox although I do realise the advantage of dietary detoxes and have done them in the past to great effect .... I may need to do one after I have successfully done my wine detox as well

[pavotrouge]

I do wine detox all the time, only take care it doesn't turn into a habit! I need emotional detox as well atm.

My "proper" detox attempt has been a year and a half ago and I still feel that if I need it, my body forces to detox itself (when I'm ill or emotionally upset) for a couple of days.
I wonder how long it usually takes for your body to fill with toxines? And whether big city life is more "dangerous" than living in the countryside?

I've turned vegan at 18, never drank much, never smoked or did drugs (ok I did try out things).