I have been researching the best time to do a spring cleanse and of course I personally prefer using a method of cleansing that is relatively gentle. If a cleanse program suggests inducing vomitting (even if just once), I avoid it. If a program recommends a lot of colonics (enemas), I would most likely avoid it. One or two colonics a year is healthy in my opinion (I do not receive this many), but going beyond that may start to impair your body’s natural elimination processes.
Some cleanse regimens recommend going completely off of meat and oils for a week or more, and I’m not sure if this is necessary either. Remember – first and foremost – we are all unique individuals with unique situations. If you work a physically demanding job that requires for you to take in many complex proteins and high amounts of calories, then maybe you should simply consider drinking some organic lemon juice in warm water in the morning and/or before bed. But otherwise you should obviously keep up your protein and carbohydrate levels.
If you are fortunate enough to be able to take a week off of work (maybe you work from home or you are self employed), then you might consider taking more intense actions for cleansing – like going strictly vegetarian for a week or cutting out gluten completely during that time, etc. So, most importantly, figure out what you can handle and what will be gentle for you. If you eat meat everyday, and you suddenly go for a whole week without it, you might experience a cascade of symptoms and this would not be gentle.
One article (and practitioner who I trust) is Dr. Isaac Eliaz, a medical acupuncturist. He has a nice article on spring cleansing here: http://www.faim.org/guestwriters/seasonal-spring-cleanse-protocol.html
Good luck and try to be kind to yourself!
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