I have done many " cleanses" over the last several years.
The cleanses I have participated in are supervised and NOT the same as the "master cleanse " which involves maple syrup ,cayenne and lemon and usually at home. In fact I spend most of my vacations on cleanse retreats ( I know snooooooze
)
I REALLY enjoy them. The mental clarity one achieves when the body is not spending any ,some, or all or some of its energy on digesting is amazing.
I have done straight up cleanses with no spiritual component and others which include meditation and/or yoga and other classes.
I prefer the latter
Though I was skeptical and SCARED of colonics at first , I found that I got a buzz after wards and now implement them in my real, food filled, life.
If you embark on a cleanse just to lose weight , you are bound to fail long term.
If you use the cleanse( at home or at a retreat ) as a bandaid therapy for bad habits , you will also fail.
As a staring place for change,it may succeed ,if you are committed long term, as with any life style change
There are many pre cleanse and post cleanse instructions which involve raw and steamed whole foods.
If you eat fried chicken (yuck) on the way home from cleanse , the cleanse itself becomes a moot exercise for change, and everything else. Your choice . again long term.
I confess to eating french fries once, before a cleanse - something I had not done in 4-6 years .It was interesting
It did not have an effect the outcome of the cleanse but I probably don't have the same toxins and habits in me that most people have.
Cleanses and all dietary/lifestyle choices must be looked at in "context" along with other variables.
Ya, for the average processed food, sedentary human , it may not be the way to go. No panacea here for an ongoing lifestyle of unhealthy choices
Unfortunately , these people go looking for a "quick fix" for everything wrong with their lives
Most studies use this overweight ,unhealthy group of humans as their control group . And then the press jumps in and publicizes this one week of their lives as reality and the "cure"
It does not give people like us an authentic perspective
JMHO
by beforewisdom » Sat Jan 01, 2011 3:55 pm 
