That Gut Feeling
I have been so excited to write this post. Si, I am talking about gut detox! So in my last post, I talked about the gut being connected to the brain. I think it is very important to clean your intestines to help your health both physical and mental.
Bueno pues, let's get to it. The first step was incorporating chlorophyll and using spring water. You will continue to do this during your detox, don't forget to do this. Like I mentioned before, the hardest part was to give up a lot of the food that was making me sick. Cleaning my gut was the best thing I did to help reduce my cravings. It helped improve my mood and sleep.
I started using herbs to help clean my gut. I incorporating them as much as I could throughout my day. I began with one day a week during that day I would start with my morning detox routine. If you follow my Instagram, you probably saw my post on my 6 steps for my morning routine but if you didn't here they are.
Now notice number 6 is, smoothie but when I was on my detox day I would drink tea instead. Remember, we start with one day a week then the following week is two days a week or perhaps you want to do one day a week for the first month. Go at your own pace.
Okay so the schedule for that one day was also something I posted on Instagram and it is basically a meal schedule for that detox day. If you missed it here it is
Now the herb that you use is also very important be sure to take your vitamins as well. I really emphasize taking vitamins while you do any type of cleansing or diet change. Your body is going to need help and some herbs thin out your blood and they can make you anemic or make anemia worse.
The tea that I drink is usually a blend that I make but the key ingredient is cascara sagrada. Cascara Sagrada is a bitter herb so that is why I have made my own blend but as bitter as this plant is it is also the sweetest to our body.
BENEFITS OF CASCARA SAGRADA
One of the best ways to start cleansing as many illness and diseases start in the gut/intestines and this combination of cascara sagrada and other herbs will help cleanse and purge what is lingering and thriving in your intestines
Removes toxins, acids, mucus in the intestines
Helps to restore the health of the digestive tract
Cleanses and repairs the cells in the digestive tract and re-balances the flow while keeping harmful fungus-like Candida under control. If candida goes unchecked it causes inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, gastric ulcers, lupus, vaginal yeast infection, mouth infection, etc.
Now after the tea comes the protein shake or juice. I know when you think of juice you don't think of protein. I have always been a fan of juice over shakes even if they are vegan. I know that for me when I am on a cleanse I crave refreshing food. I started making nutritional agua frescas (fresh waters) for this reason.
Don't get me wrong I have learned to love shakes now. It really depends on my mood but I do think that at first Aguas Frescas era mas facil de tomar para mi (it just made cleansing easier for me) Queria hacer una agua que me calmara la sed pero tambien la hambre haha (I wanted to make an agua fresca that quenched my thirst and calmed my hunger) You get really thirsty when you're detoxing, your body starts working with you it starts craving fresh food. I made my waters by using fresh or frozen fruit (berries or cucumber, watermelon) blending it with my vegan protein powder I make ( I will make a recipe post about this soon) then added agave nectar or date syrup.
The next thing on the schedule for the day is exercise. In the beginning, I would work out only that one day of the week then of course like everything, I added this routine to more days out of the week. Exercise is important because it helps your organs move and release all those toxins. Even if it's easy stretching it will help move those toxins out through sweat, gas, urine, and bowel movements.
After whatever exercise you prefer for your day, a meal is necessary. I am not going to lie sometimes I would just stick to the agua fresca pero el amor hacia las ensaladas crecio mas y mas con el tiempo. If you decide to drink agua fresca that is perfectly fine too just make sure you eat that snack at the 20th hr (I recommend walnuts) If you go with the salad add protein to it (walnuts, avocado, hemp seeds, garbanzo beans, sesame seeds, kale, mushrooms ) make it really packed with nutrients. I use either olive oil or hemp oil with key lime juice and salt for my dressing unless I make my own dressing for that week.
I also drink tea with my last snack of the day (walnuts or avocado) which is usually my blend of relaxation tea and I add cascara sagrada to the blend as well to help my intestines while I sleep. Of course, this is going to work by the time you wake up. Having bowel movements in the day is actually a sign of good gut health. Our bodies do the heaviest detox during the 7th to 11th hour of the day.
So that is how you start cleaning your gut. This is the first and most important step to helping your physical and mental health. A batch of the DETOX BLEND will be available soon as well as a NEW BATCH OF RELAXATION TEA & FRESH BATCHES OF AGUAS FRESCAS (I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS)
Check your emails for that post! Remember don't hesitate on contacting me with any questions. I am here to help you!!! You can also schedule online consultations for a more personal detox plan.
happy healing,
zoulee fer