Modern living can easily burden our whole system. We eat unhealthy foods, we drink unhealthy drinks and we don’t give our bodies a chance to recover and flush out the toxins we ingest. 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 spring cleaning your body rather than detoxifying. Naturopaths suggest a Spring and Autumn ‘cleanse’ 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. The ultimate plan would be to take yourself off to some haven of peace and tranquility for up to a week, where you could rest when you needed to and do lots of yoga, meditation and get lots of fresh air. (A girl can dream!) But failing that here are some DIY products that come with handy instructions on the packet...

The thing is, I know of several different ways of cleansing; but do I ever do it? Unfortunately not! However, I am very attracted to a couple of new products we have just recently started stocking. I think for many of us the best we can hope to fit into our busy lives is 2 or 3 days of cleansing, but without some structure I personally find even that advice quite easy to ignore. So when Nature’s Plus launched a few juice cleanses that were short and easy to follow I thought Yes! I can do it!

The first product is called The Pre-Diet Cleanse. It is a 3 day course of tablets that you take morning and evening and it cleanses every eliminatory organ from the lungs to the large intestine. The morning tablets contain a blend of energising fruits and vegetables, some essential vitamins and some guarana to give you an energy boost. The evening tablets mainly focuses on detoxing (our bodies naturally detox over night so this way you can simply boost that natural process). The benefit of the Pre-Diet Cleanse is that if you are going to do a fast, either a proper no-eating fast or a Juice Fast, following this programme first will help to eliminate some toxins which will make the whole process smoother and less stressful. The programme is aimed at improving what Nature’s Plus call the 9 Vital Factors of Healthy Elimination - (Stomach, Small Intestine, Large Intestine, Neuromuscular Control, Liver, Lymphatic System, Kidneys, Blood, Lungs).

The second product is called Skinny Mini and it’s a 2 day Juice Fast, but its unlike any other juice fast in that it includes 6000mg of each of the main red anti-oxidising superfruits - Noni, Goji, Mangosteen and Pomegranate. This delicious mixed berry juice delivers the essential nutrients, minerals and enzymes for full body cleansing while also re-energising the spirit with nutrients including iron and Vitamin C which reduce fatigue. Skinny Mini also includes Super CitriMax® is a patented, natural, non-stimulant fruit extract from the Garcinia cambogia fruit used as an ingredient in dietary supplements to help support a healthy weight. It also contains L-carnitine, which is an amino acid that has many benefits, including improving energy and supporting weight-loss as well as improving muscle performance. Together these ingredients produce a great tasting berry flavour and are filling.

The last bit is pretty important - most of us are used to eating very often (you could say too often) so we are used to feeling full. Hence they add ingredients that make us feel full without many calories, which will make the whole experience much more comfortable - i.e. not feeling like you could murder someone for a piece of toast! The main thing is that you should not feel too hungry during the cleanse.

Skinny Mini also comes as a protein shake, so if you want to continue the process a while longer but without fasting you can use it as a meal replacement to help improve your energy, keep you feeling full and your your weight under control.

For more information on either of these products call in to Organico, or make a free appointment with the Nature’s Plus consultant Brid Brady who will be back in-store towards the end of May. Look out for the date and time on FaceBook.