We’re always searching for that quick fix, the remedy that will make us more energetic, less moody, better able to fight off colds and more attractive.
As a growing number of yuppies reject the idea of taking pills for our ailments, we turn to natural remedies.
One that’s supposed to work wonders is the body cleanse.
I know a half-dozen people who are doing them. They’re so popular, they’ve spawned a cottage industry.
On the Internet, companies offer herbal concoctions that promise to flush out the parasites and gunk in your body and restore your insides to a healthy balance.
They ask questions like: Are you constipated? Do you suffer from allergies? Do you sometimes feel sluggish? Well, you might have worms!
One of the websites I visited offered odd testimonials about the product’s effectiveness: “At first I saw only tiny little creatures and then a few days later the Loch Ness Monster arrived!” It’s enough to make you think body cleanses are pure quackery.
But after delving into the subject, I’ve learned that body cleanses make sense, especially as explained by people who have studied the effects that processed foods, pesticides, drugs, sugar and alcohol have on the body.
And you don’t need to spend money on anti-toxin pill “programs” – a term that implies you’ll have to buy a six-month supply of herbs to cleanse yourself.
Naturopathic doctors say we’re poisoning ourselves a little bit each day.
If eating only at McDonald’s for one month can make Morgan Spurlock, the filmmaker who documented his junk food experience in “Super Size Me,” seriously ill, you have to wonder about the cumulative effects on our bodies of processed foods, pesticides and other toxins.
“It’s one theory explaining why humans get sick,” said Abigail Seaver, a naturopathic doctor who has a practice in Ridgway. “An overburdened detoxification system could be the reason for certain health conditions.”
She’s treated patients who have psoriasis, acne, food allergies, headaches, chronic fatigue and other ailments not with drugs but by eliminating processed foods from their diet.
The American diet is full of glucose, salt and fat that are hard for the body to digest and tax the liver and kidneys. Too much salt, sugar and fat can lead to diabetes, coronary disease and liver failure.
Seaver doesn’t suggest boxed remedies. Instead she suggests a diet that’s devoid of sugar, caffeine, alcohol, red meat and fatty foods. She also recommends herbs and amino acids that support the liver to make bile – the stuff that, among other things, helps move toxins out of the body.
Deborah Wiancek, a naturopathic physician in Edwards, agrees with Seaver’s suggestions and adds another: She believes wheat and dairy products should be eliminated for a few weeks to determine if a person’s ailments are related to gluten or lactose allergies.
Sometimes, just eliminating these foods from the diet for a few weeks will result in improved energy. But bad diets don’t just create lethargy. Wiancek said that the most common health problems facing Americans today – heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and cancer – can be avoided, and sometimes eliminated, by changing our eating habits.
A healthier diet reduces the amount of toxins in our body, but to flush out accumulated waste, she also recommends plants such as herb licorice and milk thistle as well as lots of beets and artichokes, and the spice turmeric and other herbs.
She also suggests five servings of vegetables a day and healthy proteins such as tofu and fish. And then there’s water. In this altitude, Wiancek recommends 10 cups of filtered water daily. Saunas, hot springs, and baths with Epsom salt all help eliminate waste trapped in the skin.
It’s a relief to know we don’t need to buy a box of cleanse-me from some scary Internet site.
The more I think about it, these cleansing diets make so much sense it’s a wonder why anyone would go back to consuming fried foods and chocolate cheesecake only to need another cleanse six months later. It makes more sense to keep our bodies free of junk every day.
Cindy Rodríguez’s column appears Tuesdays and Sundays. Read Cindy’s blog at denverpostbloghouse.com/rodriguez
Leave a voice message at 303-954-1211 or e-mail her at crodriguez@denverpost.com.
