Today marks day one of my first ever cleanse. I’m doing the Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox.
It didn’t come entirely out of nowhere – a few people I know have done this particular program. Others have done food/alcohol restriction experiments, and yet others are necessarily eating modified diets because of allergies and food sensitivities.
I looked into it, figured it’s only 12 days long, and wondered how I’d feel cutting out refined sugars, most other sugars, flours, dairy and anything fermented. So many people I know have reported feeling many, many times better after modifying their diet to reduce these particular components. For 12 days, what have I got to lose (other than a few dollars and a bunch of toxins)?
The specific herbs in the D-Tox package are designed to help re-set optimal liver performance (biliherb) and the others to “cleanse” the system (cleansaherb, laxaherb and cl extract) – I expect to be having a very literally craptacular time in a couple days!
The diet to go along with it is designed to regulate pH in the body, by separating foods into aklaline forming, acid forming and neutral foods. During the cleanse, one is to eat mostly alkaline and neutral foods (80% plus), a few healthier acid forming foods (>20%) and eliminate other food groups entirely. Those curious about the particulars of the eating requirements can check out the document here.
So far it hasn’t been too painful – caffeine is blessedly allowed, so I’ve had black coffee and green tea today. I can also have butter and/or olive oil on most things. Overall, the day really wasn’t bad in terms of what I could eat or changes from my regular routine.
Breakfast was an egg, fried in a bit of butter, with sauteed red peppers and onions, topped with fresh tomato. This would usually be toast or cereal, if anything, so the egg scramble was a real treat!
Snacks were a few raspberries and some almonds. Almonds are a golden food on this plan for some reason, and I can eat as many as my wee heart desires. I do need to pack better snacks for tomorrow. I can’t rely on the work vending machine for a pick-me-up on the cleanse.
Lunch was pretty typical. I had the usual green salad made from the bounty of our CSA share, dressed with lemon juice and some really great olive oil. I also brought a potato to “bake” in the microwave and doused it with butter and some sea salt. I’d have had chives too, but I forgot them. Again this was actually a bit nicer than my typical meals. I wouldn’t normally bother with the potato, but I was paranoid of the salad not being filling enough and wanted to ensure I had some more bulk.
Dinner was a couple quick peppered fillets of sole, brown rice, and another salad. Dessert will be the rest of the raspberries (the diet does allow domestic fruits, but only one serving of sweet fruits per day).
So far, at the end of the day, I don’t feel all that different.
I’ve felt fuzzy off and on (pretty standard for a Monday). I feel bloated (also not out of the ordinary) and I have yet to poop (story of my life).
I am a little more irritable than usual, but I was irritable yesterday too, and I think it has more to do with the fact that my apartment looks like a laundromat, a campsite, a pet store and a catering school all showed up, partied, barfed their entire contents and left, than with the lack of sugar, flour or dairy.
We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Have you ever done a cleanse or something similar? How’d it go?
i’ve done a similar cleanse for two weeks a few times now. i felt great afterward, but it was a real struggle by day 6-7. i thought i’d be craving breads, but what i really missed was the dairy. i thought about gooey cheese or smoked cheese all the time!
.-= col´s last blog ..Alphabet Drawers =-.
I often wonder, is there any actual good scientific evidence that these cleanses, (a) do any good, and (b) do what they claim?
.-= Derek K. Miller´s last blog ..Links of interest 2006-06-28 to 2006-07-04 =-.
I did the same cleanse for the first time last year – the first few days were tough, but ever since I have adopted many of the eating habits. I stopped putting sugar in my coffee and I don’t miss it at all. I also now only eat brown rice as my main carb with dinner. What I missed most? My glass of wine on a Friday night after work…..it was more of missing the ritual rather than the alcohol itself.
@col – so far my biggest craving is a cheeseburger with sauteed mushrooms (since mushrooms are also verboten on this diet)
@derek – my best guess is that they don’t do much, but if it makes you feel better (placebo effects are valid) and cut out garbage for a little while, it won’t do any harm. Any comment from an MD I could find said much of the same.
@rita – I’m surprised at how much I’m enjoying eating the diet, and that I’m not missing alcohol, yet. the biggest thing so far is that it’s *annoying* to have to plan so stringently to keep myself fed.