Organico Bantry

Organico Bantry is now on Facebook, and during the week starting the 17th of April we will be putting up daily cleansing meal ideas and menu plans. If you would like to follow our suggestions for 3 days or the full week become a fan or look on our website. We will also give the information out instore during that week. It’s much easier to do a cleanse with a little support!

Modern life tends to burden our digestive system. We eat unhealthy foods, we eat too much and we don’t give our bodies a chance to recover and flush out the toxins we ingest from our food, the environment and the alcohol we consume. Traditionally many cultures had fasts built into the year, like Lent or Ramadan. Unfortunately the tradition of fasting has waned in Ireland and this means that our digestive systems need a little break.

Think of a Detox as spring cleaning your body. Naturopaths suggest a Spring and Autumn ‘cleanse’ or Detox to eliminate toxins and help prevent serious illness. Cleansing can be very invigorating, however during the process toxins are mobilised in your system prior to being voided from the body and this can be quite tiring. So it’s important to find a cleansing programme that suits you, and to get the timing right. Ideally prepare over a quiet weekend, so you have more time to cook healthy meals and to rest. My sister Rachel and I are planning to do a short cleanse in the middle of April. Here are some ideas to help you get started yourself:
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Try this if you would like to do a gentle spring clean!
For a gentle supportive cleanse try three days of eating brown rice or quinoa (which contains easy to digest protein) with vegetable proteins, steamed vegetables or raw salads (preferably not just lettuce). Try something like cabbage salad with seeds and a light yoghurt dressing – see our website for healthy salad ideas. In conjunction with this drink lots of warm water, herb teas and vegetable juices. Try A.Vogel Goldenrod Tea, which supports the kidneys, Pukka 3-Ginger Tea, which is warming, and Dr Stuart’s Detox Tea. Eat lots of apples and pears, and a limited amount of healthy oils such as flax seed oil, hemp seed oil or Udo’s Oil.

Cut out
All meats, processed foods, wheat, dairy, caffeine, sugar (except for the sugars in the fruit), alcohol, and all ‘bad’ fats.

Preparation
Take Psyllium Husks, ground linseeds or Chia Seeds to clean out your bowels before you start. Chia seeds were the ‘energy food’ of the Aztecs, and are now gaining a lot of popularity for their ability to detoxify our digestive systems, and slow down the absorption of carbohydrates. They are very useful for people with blood sugar control issues or who are trying to lose weight. Ask for information on how to take the seeds when you buy them (or check out our website).

Tips
• When hunger pangs strike, eat an apple, some brazil nuts or almonds, or have a herb tea – don’t reach for the toast!
• Try starting each day with a large glass of warm water with a dash of lemon juice, cider vinegar, or Molkosan (ask in your local health shop about this powerful drink). These drinks are all alkalising, which helps combat the effects of our rich ‘acidifying’ regular diet..
• Alongside this diet, it can be good to take some herbs to aid the cleansing process. A.Vogel makes a Detox Box that contains tinctures to cleanse the kidneys, liver, and lymphatic system, and a bowel cleansing tablet. Using these tinctures is not completely necessary but will help support your body’s efforts to eliminate toxins.

Afterwards
When you are happy you have achieved your goal, you will want to re-introduce foods like meat, dairy, sugar alcohol and caffeine very slowly. Don’t just go and have a steak and a bottle of wine the first night! Keep eating the brown rice and Quinoa, and the vegetables, for another week if you can.

Further ideas:
• Eat more not less of certain foods. Add three whole fruits to your diet every day. For example try eating an apple, pear, mango or peach (organic where possible) before each meal. By eating more fruit you will eat less unhealthy food (there is a limit to what you can physically eat!). Fruits also contain many vitamins, minerals and enzymes that help combat the effects of unhealthy foods. And apples contain a special fibre that aids health by supporting your good digestive bacteria.

• Continue taking Chia Seeds after your cleanse. I mix some in with my glass of Molkosan every morning and evening, which really helps my digestion.

• Once a week try to eat vegetarian for the day. Or try to eat one vegetable-based meal every day. Notice I say ‘vegetable-based’ meaning not a cheese sandwich! Research indicates that vegetarians are healthier and longer-lived than meat-eaters,. Look online at www.organico.ie to find loads of tasty vegetarian recipes for all the family.

• Obviously, if you have a medical condition, consult your GP or a qualified nutritionist before changing your diet.

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