The Principle of Cleansing: Knowing How to Purify from the Inside Out
Brainwashed as children by TV commercials that encouraged us to conquer nature rather than cooperate with it, we Baby Boomers have become disconnected from our built-in capacity to heal ourselves.
Purify to Create a New You
The Principle of Cleansing is certainly the least appreciated and most often misunderstood of the 7 Principles. Yet cleansing plays a vital role in anti-aging. It is nature’s way of allowing the body to get rid of unwanted toxins, waste, and foreign substances. Aging cells are constantly being replaced with new ones and new tissue. If we are to remain forever young, toxins must come out of the cells in our organs. Cleansing is the process that accomplishes this—carrying away cellular debris.
A speck of dust gets in your eye, and you blink and tear up—to cleanse out the dust so it won’t hurt you. A similar thing happens when a virus invades your system and you get a fever; it’s your immune system working to purify your body of that toxin.
Many of the signs and symptoms of aging are a direct result of the vast amounts of toxins we’ve accumulated since conception. They are stored in the liver, causing it to be congested; our joints ache, our skin wrinkles, and our eyes develop macular degeneration. Toxins devastate our sensitive endocrine system, which produces anti-aging hormones, such as HGH, melatonin, DHEA, progesterone, and testosterone. When we peel back the layers of this mostly unintentional damage, we begin to feel, and certainly look, years younger.
What most of us don’t realize is that our bodies are constantly working on our behalf to purify and cleanse us of these toxins. In fact, the ability to purge toxins out of each cell is really quite remarkable. (We pay extra for ovens that are self-cleaning, yet our bodies do it for us for free!)
But over time, our cleansing organs begin to wear down. For example, the liver—that miraculous and overburdened organ of detoxification—shrinks as we age. By the age of 70, it will likely have decreased to 81 percent of its original size. It will not only receive a smaller blood supply, but it will also be less able to do its important job of cleansing. If we choose to use drugs, they will no longer be eliminated as efficiently, predisposing many of us to overdose. A better solution is to follow the recommendations for foods, supplements, and cleansing therapies in Body Ecology’s Baby Boomer Diet … fermented foods, healthy fats, enzymes, and colon cleansing.
One of the secrets to remaining forever young is to never lose the ability to purge toxins and waste. Instead, welcome and assist your body in this natural process.
The Toxic Buildup
Every child born today—including our very own grandchildren—has inherited a long list of serious toxins as a premature (and quite unwanted) “birthday present.” According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), laboratory tests of the umbilical-cord blood of ten newborns found that the samples contained an average of 200 chemicals that can cause cancer, brain damage, birth defects, and other health ailments. Sonya Lunder, a scientist with the EWG, explains: “This is conclusive evidence that babies are being exposed to hundreds of industrial chemicals throughout pregnancy. The placenta isn’t a magic shield.”1
When we’re young, our cells have walls that are soft and pliable. As the body begins to fill with more and more free radicals, these walls, made of a fatty membrane, become hardened. (To get a better idea of what happens to your cells as you age, place a lemon on the counter and watch how the skin hardens from the oxygen.)
If cell walls remain soft and pliable (from antioxidant-rich foods), nutrients carried in your bloodstream enter your cells, while waste products are sent back out into the bloodstream, where they are eliminated in a variety of ways. Examples of how the body eliminates toxins are: bowel movements, urination, skin eruptions, sweating from a fever or the summer heat, tears, vomiting, coughing up mucus, and (special to women) the monthly menstrual “cleansing.”
Unfortunately, we have been taught that cleansings are “bad” and need to be suppressed, so we pop a few pills, keep on working, and try to pretend they’re not really happening to us. Indeed, while we were growing up, we Baby Boomers (and our parents, who believed so strongly in the miracles of modern medicine) were brainwashed to stop the cleansing.
Our Bodies Were Created to Remain Young!
As we get closer to death, we will begin to lose the ability to purify unless we choose (with strong intention) to change this natural course of events.
If you had or still have strong prenatal jing, you will also have a strong ability to cleanse. One of the secrets to remaining forever young is to never lose this ability to purge toxins and waste.
Instead, welcome—and assist your body in—this natural process.
If you’re someone who proudly boasts, “I never get sick,” I don’t want to burst your bubble, but ask yourself, Do I have the vital energy to cleanse? As you change your diet and create more energy, please expect to do so.
This is certainly not to suggest that you welcome an infectious disease like tuberculosis, AIDS, or pneumonia. These, along with chronic viral and fungal infections, are not cleansings. Indeed, the aim of this book is to show you how to build a stronger immune system to protect yourself against infectious disease, and give you the tools to heal these chronic infections.
But every Baby Boomer should feel the gratitude and joy that comes with realizing that our bodies were created with this amazing function embedded within us—this ability to purify in order to heal and stay young.
Modern Drugs Often Suppress Cleansing
Thousands of years ago, ancient Chinese healers knew the dangers of suppressing the body’s natural healing process. Their work—designed to restore prenatal jing energy and enhance daily chi energy—included the use of natural foods and herbs that activated the energy of the cleansing organs so that they could do the job they were created to do.
Medicines used by modern Western science today stop, close down, or interfere with the “pushing out” process of cleansing. When was the last time someone congratulated you for having a cold? We are simply not taught to look at cleansings in this way. We regard colds and fevers as a body in rebellion, so we beat it back into submission with drugs and denial.
We look upon symptoms such as skin eruptions, mucous discharge, sore throat, headaches, aches and pains, depression, lethargy, increased fatigue, and fevers as illnesses, so we suppress the symptoms with drugs. In fact, turn on your television set almost any evening and you’ll find a drug commercial promising to cure any one of these.
Anti-Aging Application
The Principle of Cleansing has special relevance to the DNA theory of aging (see Chapter 3), which suggests that we have a fixed genetic predisposition toward certain symptoms of aging and age-related diseases. But a body that frequently rids itself of toxins can ultimately take a detour from many of these “predetermined” genetic paths, such as breast cancer or Alzheimer’s.
And what can you expect from continual use of drugs that are only suppressing the symptoms? Imagine this: If every time a young man called a woman for a date and was pushed away with a nasty reply, he’d eventually stop calling. The same is true for the body. Although your body is amazingly “persistent,” it will gradually become more out of balance and acidic, and at last concede defeat.
Since the drugs are also not correcting the source of the problem, the toxins and nutritional deficiencies remain, and the immune system weakens with each onslaught of drugs, losing its life force. We age early and die sooner.
Dismantling and Rebuilding
As you follow the Baby Boomer Diet, you will at times experience healing and a renewed sense of vitality. You’ll feel and look great. However, do expect, and welcome, the times of cleansing when you ache, feel tired, feverish, or even ill, knowing that when you arrive on the other side of the cleansing, you’ll be free of damaging toxins.
Often the flu-like, depressed, and exhausted feelings are also caused by the die-off of the pathogenic yeast causing the infection candidiasis. This is called the Herxheimer die-off reaction. As the yeast die off and exit through normal body channels, they release toxins that cause these symptoms to occur. Please be assured that this die-off is normal. Toxins wreak havoc when they first enter your body; it makes sense they would also cause some disquiet on the way out.
“Is This How I’m Supposed to Feel?”
Cleansing looks like a disturbance to the entire system. Think of it as a little like spring-cleaning. When you decide to clean your living room, you begin dusting, vacuuming, washing the windows, and moving things around. The dirt and grime start to fly, furniture is rearranged, garbage bags are filled, and it may look as if order couldn’t possibly come out of such disarray. If someone arrived in the middle of this process, your living room would look pretty disrupted and possibly worse than it did before you began! But if you stick to the plan and keep at it, in the end it will look much better and feel more livable than it did before.
The greater the die-off reaction, the more uncomfortable you may feel. A home enema or a visit to your colon therapist at the first sign of cleansing will greatly help in this regard. It’s extremely important to adhere to The Diet strictly during this time, to give yourself the maximum opportunity to heal. It’s easy to get discouraged when you believe yourself to be just as “sick” as before, but have faith that when this healing period ends, you will have taken an important step toward your goal of a longer, healthier life.
We don’t just cleanse physically; we also do so emotionally. As your body cleanses, you may feel inexplicably weepy, on edge, fearful, full of doubt, and angry. Without warning, you may feel like lashing out at someone verbally or even physically. This is all part of the elimination of stored-up emotional toxins connected to your physical organs. Just know that these feelings are normal, and it’s beneficial to release them in a safe environment.
It may help you to bear in mind that nature is kept eternally young and renewed by the constant cleansings of storms, hurricanes, tidal waves, floods, ice, and snow. Think of how fresh and clean spring feels after the wet and snowy cleansings of winter or after a major spring storm … how fresh and pure the air has become.
Don’t be afraid to cleanse—your body has the wisdom to only do so when it is strong enough and ready to handle this process. When you’re cleansing, do what is recommended when you come down with a cold: flush the colon, rest, keep warm, and drink lots of fluids. You do want to keep your energy up during your cleanse: eat warm broths and soups (such as miso soup), and alkalize your bloodstream with a green drink and a green smoothie (some recipes are included in this book). Probiotic liquids will also build your immunity and energy.
How Long Will It Take?
Cleansing is a continuing, step-by-step phenomenon. When you’re healthy, you will find that it is ongoing. Your most significant period of cleansing may occur during your first three months, and especially during the first few days and weeks, on the Baby Boomer Diet. This is a time of great healing.
The length of cleansings is different for everybody, and it depends on how long the toxins have been in your body and how deeply embedded they are. For some, it takes three months to a year to feel the positive effects of anti-aging through cleansing. Most people feel a lot better after only two weeks on The Diet.
While cleansing symptoms do clear up (usually within three to ten days), you can shorten their duration and “minimize discomfort” by cleansing your colon with an enema or a colonic. (For more information on colon therapy as an antiaging strategy, see Chapter 25.)
You Call the Shots
The Baby Boomer Diet works because it supports your body in doing what it was designed to do: cleanse itself and restore inner balance. While you can’t stop cleansing, nor would you want to, you might be reassured to know that you have some control over the process.
How quickly do you want to cleanse? Well, if you were climbing a mountain, and you knew that everything you ever desired was waiting for you at the top, how fast would you move to get there? Conquering the adverse effects of aging is like climbing a challenging mountain. You’ll have to go step by step, using special tools to make the job easier, but it’s you who will decide how fast to go.
Helpful Tips for Cleansing
• Avoid the following acidic foods: sugar, fats and oils, salt, grains, animal proteins, nuts, and seeds.
• Cleanse the colon as soon as possible.
• Get plenty of rest, and reserve your energy for healing. Do not exercise at this time.
• Alkalize your body with a green drink, a green smoothie, or a spoonful of apple-cider vinegar added to a glass of water.
• Drink alkaline, mineral-rich water.
• Nourish your body with raw and cooked alkaline vegetables from the land and ocean.
• Build your immunity with fermented vegetables and liquids.
• Eat warming, soft foods, along with soups and broths (try natto and miso).
• Call a friend who can gently remind you that you are just cleansing, and to stay the course.
• Practice gratitude for this gift embedded within, and visualize a younger you!
To paraphrase the wisdom of a biblical verse: “Be like a child to enter the gates of heaven.” As we begin the process of returning our bodies to a childlike state of nontoxicity, youth, and vitality, living here in this dimension will seem more like heaven. Rewarded with the wisdom of 40 to 60 years, we Baby Boomers can now clearly visualize what we want and can use our talents—acquired over a lifetime—to create heaven for ourselves and for those we love: our children and grandchildren.
In the next chapter, we will explore one of the most important lessons of life: finding and creating balance.