What Is A Cleanse?

Cleanses are a health regimen designed to flush the body of toxins. As unique as a fingerprint, each cleanse has its own agenda with respects to its goal, approach and duration. Some are whole body, and some target major organs like the skin, kidneys or colon. Although the understanding is that the primary focus is to remove toxins they are also pursued for weight loss or for spiritual reasons.

Regardless of your motivation, all cleanses require a temporary, but usually radical change in your day to day consumption of food. Cleanses vary in duration and the medical profession tends to lean toward the conservative shorter timeframes. The more radical cleanses can go on for months. These longer running cleanses concern doctors for the simple reason that most cleanses are associated with a fasting style of diet with minimal intake of only certain foods (raw, high in fiber, fruit). These longer cleanses, similar to short-term cleanses, are generally combined with a high level of fluid intake to assist in the flushing of toxins.

The difference between a cleanse and a diet is very clear. A cleanse is a process you go through for a specific amount of time and repeat again as needed. A diet should be fundamental lifestyle choices you make for the long haul. A cleanse is used as a detox for your body so your diet can be more effective.

There are as many cleanses out there as there are recipes for Thanksgiving Green Bean Casserole. One of the more widely known cleanses is the grandfather of cleanses and is the “Master Cleanse”. It is also toted as the “Lemonade Diet” and consists of a concoction containing vast quantities of lemon juice, maple syrup, water and cayenne pepper. It has been around since the early 1940’s and although many, many other cleanses come and go, this one has the staying power of a mother-in-law. As with any cleanse, body changes and symptoms can get very uncomfortable, but this will vary with each participant.