DEEP CLEANSING IS FOR THE KITCHEN
Control oil, and you control entire continents.
Control food, and you control the people. ~Henry Kissinger (1923 – )
If you are considering an inner body cleanse or fast, instead of undertaking something that takes days out of your life, try incorporating a simple, regimen into your normal daily routine. It isn’t always healthy to embark upon a fast or partial fast without first consulting a medical professional. There are many ways to rid your body of toxins that are both non-invasive and safe. The body is an amazing organism that can process even the worst food offenders we like to gulp down. Do your body a favor and treat it gently; it will respond in amazing ways.
BE THE MASTER OF YOUR OWN DOMAIN
Your body is yours and only yours. Take control over it, take care of it and it will take care of you. Don’t take medical advice from a celebrity unless they have a medical degree. Movie stars and the like operate with self-promotion in mind; it’s a way to insure that the public will pay to see them at the box office. Just because an icon does something doesn’t make it a good idea; their saying something doesn’t make it true. Many companies are just waiting to suck unsuspecting consumers into their web of marketing, and celebrities are hired all the time to promote all kinds of products, be they worthwhile or completely useless, harmless or harmful.
CASE IN POINT
I was surprised to see Ellen Degeneres as a paid spokesperson for Vitaminwater. She spouts, among other things, that it has “zero calories”. Hmmmm. I love Ellen, her show and her humor, but that doesn’t obscure the fact that some Vitaminwater has as much sugar as Coke. Vitaminwater comes in about fifteen different flavors, so you have to check the label to find which flavors have the sugar.
The Coca-Cola Company (the maker of Vitaminwater) is counting on the public to blindly follow the celebrity endorsement by remembering the words a ‘trusted’ icon utters, applying those words to all products without thinking. The worst thing you can do is to turn off your brain when chosing what to eat or drink. If the body is a temple, then the brain is the light on the front porch that guides you safely on your way and back home again. The worst thing you can do for yourself is to turn off the light, letting others – food companies, marketing, celebrities or anyone else – do your thinking for you.
TREAT THE TEMPLE GENTLY
Beware of cleanses that are offered for sale. The body has an amazing ability to self-clean; that’s the purpose behind elimination (including sweat and tears). We take things in through the mouth or skin, the body processes the ingredients and then eliminates the residual stuff it doesn’t need. Daily, unforced elimination is important. We can eat certain things to encourage that process, but avoid doing major renovation work on your body.
Avoid products that are described with words like ‘excavation’ – metal chisels and sledgehammers come to mind -Â or ‘blueprint’ – that ammonia-soaked process used to make architectural plans using harsh chemicals – they are probably not products you want to introduce into your lower organs.
IS IT WORTH IT? DOLLARS & SENSE
Food products sold as a cleanse can be expensive, costing upwards to $150 a day. This can add up to some serious money. The hook is psychological: by paying $150 a day we convince ourselves that it is a good idea; I’ve even heard it suggested that taking time off from work to administer a ‘cleanse’, further compounding the cost in dollars and lost productivity. Why not save big bucks by using ordinary things you have in the kitchen anyway?
There’s a whole world of healthy food out there just for the taking. We all have water from the tap that comes right into your home. A lemon is twenty-five, maybe fifty, cents max. Bran and flax seed are things you can add to other grains or yogurt that will encourage things to keep moving through the system, without a heavy toll on the wallet.
Save your money. Try warm water, maybe a little lemon juice in the morning. See how it goes. You can’t go wrong by drinking water and, by the simple physics of gravity and the body’s process of digestion, you will be amazed
IS IT WORTH IT? HEALTH
If you’re not eating as healthy as you would like, give your body a break. If you really feel that you have an elimination problem, you can cleanse gently and delicately without turning your life upside down. The human gastro-intestinal (GI) tract is a pretty hearty system, able to process all kinds of things we throw down our gullet. We’ve all heard stories of passing an object inadvertently swallowed.
If you don’t feel as though things are passing through well enough, make a habit of drinking warm water in the morning. Add some fresh lemon juice for a stronger solution. I had elimination problems my entire life, and when I began drinking a few cups of warm water in the morning while getting dressed for work, everything began to work it’s way out. I continue to this day because it just keeps things moving nicely and I never have to worry that it will ever be unavailable when I need it.
IS IT WORTH IT? ACCOUNTABILITY
If a company claims that they’ll do all the work for you, run quickly in the other direction. It’s your body, your responsibility. You wouldn’t do your kids’ homework for them, would you? By initiating a dialog with your body, it will begin to teach you things, opening up a wonderful new relationship. Try it. You will be amazed.Â
IS IT WORTH IT? TRUTH
Everyone’s body is different, to some extent, yet all share similarities. All bodies generally work the same, but often respond differently to different foods and routines. We are constantly challenged to use our mental capacity to the fullest extent. We should learn to apply our intelligence to things that we eat. Real food, compared to manufactured products, is readily available, cheaper and higher in food value relative to any other thing we can put into the system.
IS IT WORTH IT? YOU BE THE JUDGE
Today’s Elaboration is for a simple cleansing therapy to be done daily or as often as necessary. A little every day is better than a lot less frequently, but I encourage you to evaluate the process and timing for your best result. Save your deep cleaning efforts for cleaning the kitchen. That way, you’ll have something to show for time-consuming cleansing efforts.
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