Now is the Time for an Ayurvedic Spring Cleanse
Spring has been shown to be the best time for a cleanse, which may just be the best action you can take for your health today. The ancient science of Ayurveda provides a safe, evidence-based, and comprehensive way to do it.
Cleansing, or detoxing the body, has been a key practice throughout the 5,000 years of Ayurveda’s history as a system of natural healing. Now, research explains the impressive results of the Ayurvedic cleanse.
Dr. John Douillard is a leading Ayurvedic practitioner who has been incorporating Ayurvedic detox programs in his practice for decades. He explains that poor digestion is at the core of the need for detoxification.
“I think most people don’t realize that our ability to digest well is directly linked to our ability to detoxify well,” Doulliard said. “In one survey, [it was] reported that 74 percent of the American population have a digestive imbalance of some kind, suggesting that not only are we not getting the nutrition that we need, but we’re also not getting the waste out as efficiently as we could — and there are waste, toxins, and pollutants everywhere. So, even if you eat really clean, which is obviously a really important thing, you’re still being exposed to toxicity, which means that you have to be able to digest well to detoxify that. That’s why Ayurveda is all about making sure with every change of the season, we do our best to reset — a deep rejuvenation to repair the digestion and detox organs and pathways. They’re actually creating a whole new population of bugs in your gut that are based on this year’s model, which gives you the stability and immunity for the entire year.”
Given these compelling reasons, what are the best indicators to notice if it’s time for you to do a cleanse?
“How is your digestion? Do you have a food intolerance? When you look at your tongue in the morning, if it’s white or coated, Ayurveda calls it ‘ama’ or undigested food. When you’re toxic, you’re tired, and not getting the energy from the lymph delivery of fat — your immune system is compromised and you can’t take the trash out, so it starts coming out through your skin. This gives you brain fog, headaches, rashes, indigestion; all these things begin to happen,” Douillard said.
So just how does this toxicity build-up, according to Ayurveda?
“The fat-soluble heavy metals, pesticides, endocrine disruptors — they’re all fat-soluble, which means they have to be broken down from being fat-soluble to water-soluble so your body can get rid of them. That’s the liver’s job, and the liver takes a beating in our culture. The liver gets overwhelmed and becomes sludgy with bile, the bile becomes thicker and more viscous, so now your whole upper digestive defense is just compromised,” Douillard said.
The ayurvedic cleanse seeks to address these root digestive issues to help the body reset. And now there are mainstream scientific studies to support and explain just how this happens.
“So, Ayurveda has a cleansing system using ghee as the main driver of the cleanse,” Douillard said. “Now, ghee, or clarified butter, uses a natural chelator which means a detoxifying agent to pull toxins out of your deep tissues. Now we have science to back that up with something called lipophilic-mediated detox, where you take a little bit of ghee in your diet and it kicks your body into fat-burning. Then you have a no-fat diet for the rest of the day, and what that does is it forces your body to stay in fat metabolism for the day; the key is to get your body into fat burning.
Other components of the ayurvedic cleanse include the incorporation of a highly digestible mix of mung beans and rice called ‘Kitchari,’ as well as meditative practices to dial down the nervous system.
“While you’re pulling fat out of your deep tissues, Ayurveda says that the molecules of emotion — the old emotional toxins, the mental ‘ama’ — are stored in your fat and muscle. So, when you’re doing this cleanse, you’re pulling those toxins out of your fat cells, and they’re becoming more unscreened, you’re becoming more self-aware of those. You begin to have a level of clarity and awareness that you didn’t have before, more aware of the problems and can initiate a natural, involuntary, spontaneous healing response,” Douillard said.
Thankfully, the wisdom of this ancient science is available to all who are interested in getting to the root cause of disease and uncovering true wellbeing.
Herbology and Your Health: Well-Being From the Ground Up
We often think of herbs as items that we sprinkle on our food to add depth of flavor, plant in our kitchen gardens, or even the stuff of famous folk songs – parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. However, herbs are part of an ancient tradition of powerful healing tools that spans centuries, religions, and geography. Known as “herbology,” the therapeutic use of plants, herbs, and botany can aid in treating and preventing illness, promote healthy lifestyles, and even help with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
The dictionary definition of herbology is “the art or practice of using herbs and herbal preparations to maintain health and alleviate or cure disease.” Unlike pharmaceuticals which are highly refined and simple one-chemical compounds, herbal medicines consist of living or dried plants and contain hundreds to thousands of interrelated compounds.
As opposed to traditional medicine, which looks to treat a specific illness or ailment, herbology’s goal is to support the individual’s intrinsic health and is also a part of a holistic approach to mind, body, and spirit. Herbology has been part of humanity’s quest for optimum health, from Ayurvedic to Chinese, to Native American, and even modern approaches to medicine.
