Hey guys,
Other than the handful of granola I had today it was my first true raw day, and I'm really excited!
However, there have been some posts and other triggers that got me thinking more about CLEANSING. I have been vegan the past year and vegetarian 11 years before that, but I know I'm still toxic and probably have build up.... My main question is: Does going raw ALONE give me a good "cleansing" over time? OR should I need to do a fast first? (with water or juice?) Or if I transition to raw, will this be enough without doing anything else?

* I keep seeing TONS of products out there for colon cleansing, etc. And some that are supposed to clean out really old junk that has been rotting in your colon (gross pictures like this.. [www.drnatura.com] ..ewww)

Of course we want to be as clean and pure as we can be... but I question if I can do it on my own, without buying a "cleansing" product or program? Or even just simply going RAW! YAY =)

Any feedback would be appreciated, Thanks!!!

I certainly don't think anyone needs to jump into any esoteric practice FIRST.

In my experience..a proper raw diet IS plenty cleansing, and have experienced periods of even uncomfotable cleansing on diet alone. fasting of course will accelerate this process, and periodic fasts could be a useful (in some cases: necessary) adjunct.

in my opinion. external cleansing ALSO can be a useful (in some cases: necessary) adjunct. but I can't recomend any product or specific 'cleanse'. personally I advocade hydrotherapy, for those that are motivated to do such things.

I would certainly transition to raw..you might find that a particular method..say mostly fruit or mostly juices..is far too cleansing to be comfortable.

I think one should be raw for a long time...judge for themselves.....and go from there.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Eating a raw diet comprised of fresh whole ripe organic raw fruits and vegetables is enough.

My opinion is YES. Later, you can always augment with mono-eating or light fasting....if you are VERY comfortable......and want to facilitate greater interior cleansing.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I've done a series of colon cleanses, and I'd say that with 100% raw produce, nuts, and seeds, you can cleanse just as well over time.

I did them because I was overweight, had lost a lot of weight in a short time on raw foods, and felt like trying it out. I thought they were good to do for me, and I would do them again as a spring cleanse, and fall cleanse..so 2 a year for a couple years, until I felt I was in shape and doing high raw or 100% raw foods.

Love,
Prism

Just raw eating

mono eating, fruits and vegetables

without nuts, without fancy gourmet etc. Will be enough yes. Detox will be rough but worthwhile.

>Is it "cleansing" enough just to eat raw?

Yes, if you get enough fiber. A head of lettuce and 20 pieces of fruit will do it. Or something in that ballpark.

Your colon will be so beautiful that a physician performing a colonoscopy on you would literally jump for joy. They never see beautiful colons.

You can't improve on that with a bizarre "cleansing" ritual.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2007 01:29AM by arugula.

It depends on your previous diet. If you were eating the Standard American Diet for 30 years, and then switch to a vegan raw foods diet, it will take a couple years to clean out your system. If you do a cleanse and detox program, you will clean out your system in three to seven days.

I recommend doing a cleanse to get the old waste out of your body, why wait two years when you can get it out in one week?

Also, some things like gall stones build up over time. You need to do more than eat raw foods to get those nasty things out of your system. Some people have hundreds of gall stones inside them.

Mike

Drinking wheatgrass juice and lots of dandelion juice has been incredibly cleansing without my needing to take any particular packaged detox program packs. Wheatgrass is an all over blood purifier and cleanser for the body and dandelion is one of the best, if not the best leafy green for super great liver detoxification.


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Bikini

The body is more than capable of cleansing itself given the proper conditions of good health. This means feeding it a biologically appropriate diet, getting plenty of rest and sleep, and providing the conditions of good health. Many of these cleanses introduce a toxic herb or supplement into the body that cause the body to go into a cleansing action, to remove the toxic substance that was ingested as part of this cleanse. As a part of the body's effort to remove the introduced toxin, perhaps some old sludge that was in the body before might get expelled when the new toxins are removed. Or perhaps not.

This cleasing action requires a lot of energy from the body, energy that could have gone into more important healing, like healing tumors or other problems in the body. Our minds think they know whats best for the body, but in fact they really don't know, they are just going on heresay from other people. The body itself has a priority of healing actions it knows it needs to take, and for the mind to think it knows better than the body is simply hubris or arrogance.

For myself in my process, I used cleanses at first. I did the arise and shine cleanse, with its bentonite/psyillium shakes and the colema board. However, part way into the cleanse I realized that it didn't feel good to do the cleanse and I quit the cleanse early. Later, as I began to understand the level of commitment to my healing that was going to be required to have better health, I realized that the raw diet wasn't like other diets, where you eat a certain way until your weight drops to the desired level. I realized that this a permanent lifestyle change, and the benefits of the diet last only as long as I would remain on the diet.

So at this realization, having a cleanse that might be "theoretically" equivalent to eating raw foods for 2 years no longer made sense, since I saw that the raw diet only benefits me for as long as I am on the diet, which I came to realize meant the rest of my life if I want to benefits to last the rest of my life.

Will doing a cleanse do permanent harm? Probably not. Is it necessary? No. Does it help? That is not my experience, based now on being 100% raw for 5.5 years.

I've done both the Natural Hygiene way (just raw and properly combined food) for over two years and used a cleansing kit after eating cooked for a few years.

The clay and psyllium cleanser (with only raw, clear liquids), worked really well, I was so glad I did it (6 days) and it really set me up for all raw.

When you've been living so unnaturally, using something to 'treat' your condition can reduce the time you need to cleanse. I know this doesn't accord with Natural Hygiene practices, but it was true anyway for me. We live with unprecedented levels of toxins from every element - air, water, food, clothing, living space, etc. NH and Essenic cleansing practices were conceived before our present time and didn't cover such a toxic situation.


However I don't think the cleansing kits are very good, esp. the one I attempted. It was full of alcohol-based tinctures - I couldn't stand it and think it's a stupid idea and not at all cleansing.

But clay and psyllium is nice and purposeful, intended for short term use only.

I don't think nature would set up a reality were you have to wait millions of years to first know the scientifically claimed benefits of fasting and then thinking it through carefully to gain the highest level of health.


Just enjoy your fruits and veggies.

I think Bryan is right on this one. What your body needs and wants is a state of equilibrium where it can become comfortable and healthy so that it can change at its own pace. If there is any chance you will ever go back to cooked food, then don't bother irritating and attacking your body with cleanses only to retox; you can't get the benefits of years of raw food within weeks, you can only get it slowly over those years. I can't count the number of new or one-two year rawfoodists who have had their diet suffer seriously by breaking their equilibrium with this junk (or who got into the disordered habit of trying to use them to 'fight' the fact that they went off raw) it is nothing more than self-abuse.

I remember one person last year who had "just went raw" and went on a "cleanse" that consisted of drinking glasses of pasteurized apple juice blended with cooked non-organic olive oil and garlic cloves...naturally it had no result, and she wasted her time because she never had the emotional resources inside to stay raw in the first place.

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