Tonifying While Cleansing

[shelley]

Cleansing is very hard on the body. It means releasing stored acids and shedding them, which robs us of nutrients - vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, proteins, etc. If you cleanse too long without cycling in some very nourishing foods, you'll feel worse off than you have to. This is what is called by herbalists "tonification." Tonifying herbs and foods are rejuvenative, highly nutritious super-foods.

I like to commit to anything from a week to a month when I cleanse. Any cleanse that lasts more than 3 days should involve tonification. If you just want to water or lemon water or Cleansing Drink fast for three days, then by all means go for it, but if a fast lasts longer than a week it's best to include some broths and freshly squeezed veggie juices.

Some super-foods and herbs like Licorice are not appropriate while cleansing because they are considered "sweet" in Ayurvedic terms and are thus best left to the rebuilding stage when you need to regain the weight you lost - assuming you need to - and when you actually need more mucus after shedding unhealthy mucus. But some sweet foods are fine whilst cleansing.

Here's a partial list of foods that are "tonifying" and will keep you well-nourished and feeling good whilst cleansing:

Eggs - the best multi-vit, multi-mineral supplement in the world. Best if raw or poached or cooked in broth as in egg-drop soup.

Broths - veggie, potassium, Bieler, and poultry bone broths.

Cod Liver Oil - great source of Vitamin A. It thins the blood and allows for better circulation. Vit A is an anti-oxidant, scavenging the body of free radicals.

Wheat Germ Oil - rich in Vitamin E, which helps all tissues and is a powerful anti-oxidant. Also rich in B vits.

Other Fish Oils, Udo's Choice - great source of Omega 3 fatty acids.

Fermented/Cultured Foods - great source of all the vitamins, probiotics and enzymes you could ever want. Kefir, sauerkraut, kim chee, umeboshi plum, etc.

Sea Salt - great source of trace minerals.

Concentrace - see Sources. A liquid trace mineral supplement. Add to your water and feel your headache disappear, especially if it's a caffeine withdrawal headache. Great cure for coffee cravings. Garden of Life has "Springs of Life" which is good, or there's "CellFood" which sounds excellent and I'll be trying it soon, and there's Master's Miracle II which I have tried and is good. All of these replace electrolytes, which is very important to maintaining good metabolism.

Gotu Kola - calms and clears the mind, supports adrenals.

Emergen-C - Vitamin C and various electrolytes to keep your blood and cellular fluids alkaline as you shed acids.

Cal-Mag Fizz - great source of calcium, magnesium, Vitamin D and some B vits thrown in for good measure. This keeps you alkaline and helps you to shed acids. And the B vits make sure you have plenty of energy.

Nutritional Yeast Flakes - even more powerful than eggs in many respects and almost as cheap, this is fantastic nutrition. Add it to your Kefir and Protein Shakes.

Noni Juice - be sure to drink this on an empty stomach. Rather expensive, don't make a habit of it.

Fresh-squeezed veggie juices - you only need 8-12 ounces as they pack quite a punch!

Ginger - great source of selenium

Liquid Chlorophyll - highly nutritious, good source of magnesium, it also cleanses and deoderizes the body internally. Oxygenated the intestines and promotes the growth of friendly microbes.

Super-green foods like Perfect Food, E3live, etc. have not proven effective. Nothing beats raw juice.

Alfalfa and Alfalfa Tea, or Oatstraw Tea or Dandelion Tea - great source of minerals.

Molasses and grade B maple syrup. The sugars that help rather than hurt.

Kombu or Kelp or other seaweed - great source of minerals, iodine.

Cilantro - same.

Pineapple - great source of bromelain, an enzyme that is a natural anti-inflammatory.

Avocado - excellent source of Vitamin E

Raw nuts, particularly almonds and brazil - be sure to soak them in water overnight, then pulverize them in a smoothie, otherwise they're too tough to digest.

Sprouts.

[Quanta2998]

Have you tried Cell Food yet Shelley?