Detoxification Techniques
What Detoxification Techniques are Available?
Several methods of detoxification are currently available. These include fasting, specific diets, colon therapy, vitamin therapy, chelation therapy, and hyperthermia. As a word of caution - All long-term fasts require medical supervision as well as prior assessment as to levels of nutrients, to insure that deficiency does not occur. Weekend fasts are safe for most people, although it is still wise to seek advice from a professional experienced in detoxification.
The most easiest, inexpensive and effective methods of detoxification are fasting and specific dietary regimens. Keep in mind that the goal is to achieve a healthier way of eating, not weight loss.
Water and Juice Fast:
Most experts recommend beginners to do one or the other over every weekend for a few months. A water only fast starting Friday evening and ending Sunday morning (or just all day Saturday, as an alternative) should be broken with a day of raw foods (fruit/salad only, plus water), not with a heavy meal. Make sure that not less than four, and not more than eight, pints of water are consumed during the fast.
Weekend Monodiet:
This consists of a full weekend of relying on a single food such as grapes, apples, pears (best choice if you have a history of allergy problems), brown rice, millet, or even potatoes (boiled only).
Alkaline-Detoxification Diet:
Developed by Dr. Haas, this three to four-week plan helps to detoxify the body tissues of protein and acid wastes and can also help to reduce weight, increase vitality, and promote healing. This plan involves the elimination of acid-forming foods from your diet and eating only fruits and vegetables (mostly vegetables), plus fresh sprouts and millet. The diet also focuses on particular eating principles, including exceptional chewing (thirty to fifty times each mouthful), drinking quality water plus the steamed vegetable water, and eating all food prior to nightfall.
Vitamin C Therapy:
Exposure to various toxins, like lead or benzene, will deplete your vitamin C stores. Evidence also suggests that vitamin C deficiency hampers the body's own detoxification process.
Chelation Therapy:
A synthetic amino acid known as EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) is administered intravenously and binds to various toxic metals in the blood. The toxins are then flushed from the body through the kidneys. Used primarily to treat cases of lead poisoning, many doctors have found that EDTA can remove the calcium and plaque present in the walls of arteries in atheroscelerosis. This therapy has net to receive FDA approval as a treatment for heart disease.
Regardless of which program you choose, make sure you get plenty of rest, and keep warm.
See also: How Do You Know if You Require Detoxification?
Net Resources:
Fad Diets From Ask The Dietitian.
Fast, Therapeutic
By Evart Loomis, M.D. This therapeutic encounter is in direct contrast to the usual medical practice of today.
Gerson Therapy From the Gerson Institute.
Tibetan Dietary Therapy From Steven C. Hollifield, Ac.Phys.