> Holistic Healing > Detoxification and Cleansing

Who're You Calling "Toxic"?
by author Jenn Farrell

Whenever I hear the words �cleanse� or �detox,� it reminds me of an old friend. This friend enthusiastically and diligently undertook an intense program of cleansing and near-fasting for a full 14 days.

A slight fellow at the best of times, by the end of the second week, he looked tired. I told him I was relieved that he�d soon be eating again.

As I understood it, for the first few days post-cleanse, he was to consume only juices and broths and then gradually reintroduce solid foods like brown rice and fruit. So imagine my surprise when he showed up at a mutual friends� birthday party that same night at a Chinese buffet restaurant and ate himself silly!

Later, as I held his coat for him while he threw it all back up in the bushes behind the restaurant, I remember thinking, �If this is detox, I�ll skip it, thanks.�

This month�s theme is indeed cleansing, and for those of you who undertake a cleanse, fast, or detox program this spring, I salute you. Just don�t ask me to join in. It�s not that I don�t think such things are laudable; it�s just that for me, taking a week or two off from my usual naughtiness would be a bit like putting a Band-Aid on a broken arm.

My habits aren�t really that bad. But the older I get, the more I realize what I�ve gotten away with�and now it�s time for my body to pay back for those carefree years, with interest. I�m just not certain that a week of milk thistle and raw veggies is going to undo a lifetime�s worth of accumulated damage.

The other problem is my highly addictive personality. I�ll admit it; I�m not good with denial. The minute I decide that I can�t have sugar, or bread, or whatever else I need to get rid of, then I can�t stop thinking about it. I might not even eat the forbidden food that often, but suddenly, I�ll absolutely die without it. Eventually I give in, and then wind up feeling guilty. That�s no way to approach anything, especially one�s own health.

For me, the long-term solution is not to focus on the things that I can�t have, but instead to try and incorporate more of the things I can. When I focus on eating whole grains, organic produce, and lean protein, there just isn�t a lot of room left over in my life (or my tummy) for croissants and candy. I know this little reframing technique is just a way of �tricking� myself into doing the things that I should, but whatever works, right?

So cleanse and detox away, and know that I�ll be cheering you on from the sidelines. Just don�t ask me to go for Chinese afterwards�

Jenn Farrell is a Vancouver writer who’s waiting for the “self-cleaning” oven inventors to apply their research to human bodies.

Source: alive #281, March 2006