Detoxification

Feel better in two weeks —
with Women to Women’s Quick-Cleanse

by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP

• Using the Quick Cleanse for hormone balance
• Quick Cleanse Guidelines
• Foods to exclude
• Foods to include
• Success tips
• Identifying food sensitivities

How long has it been since you felt truly great? Stop for a moment and take inventory of how you feel right now. Are you feeling tired, bloated, moody, flabby, achy or spaced-out? Do your clothes fit a little tighter than you might like? Are you suffering from allergies or chemical sensitivities? Or are you so used to feeling “off” that it now feels normal? If so, let me tell you how you can feel better in just two weeks by simply paying more attention to what you eat.

I can’t think of a patient who hasn’t been skeptical when I tell them how life-changing the Women to Women Quick-Cleanse can be. But it’s true. You are what you eat. It’s that simple. Of course, diet is not the only factor — getting to the root of health issues is complicated. But it is a fundamental piece of the puzzle. With this elimination diet plan, you’ll eliminate the dietary “clutter” that is taxing your digestive, endocrine, and immune systems and slowing your metabolism. From here, you can quickly determine which foods fuel your unique biochemistry and which ones get in your way. The reward will be increased energy and focus, clearer skin, more efficient digestion, and an improved muscle-to-fat ratio — you may even lose a few pounds.

This cleanse is based on the same eating plan we recommend to all our new patients and Personal Program members — with resounding success. Most of us don’t recognize how big an obstacle toxins can be to hormonal balance. The cleansing plan is simple and can be customized to suit your comfort level. Changing eating habits can be discouraging, difficult and confusing at first — which is why most conventional doctors don’t go there. They don’t believe women can do it! But I know differently because I’ve seen the solid evidence every day in my office. If you’ve been trying to make healthy choices but just can’t seem to shake a sense of being off-balance, a detox diet might be just what you need to flush and prime your system for a fresh start. So take it slowly — and don’t give up! Try this plan for two weeks and see how you feel. If you fall off, try again a few months later. I promise you that the self-knowledge and vibrant health you gain will be worth it.

So let’s get started!

How a quick detox diet works

The Women to Women Quick-Cleanse plan helps turn down the noise in your body and frees up your immune system to deal with other, potentially more hazardous concerns — like viruses, accelerated aging, or unchecked cell division. Because you will be eating whole foods, simply prepared, and supplementing with a probiotic and fiber supplement, the plan allows your upper GI tract to cleanse, rest and restore itself, which in turn boosts your liver’s ability to detox efficiently, quiets inflammation, heals the lower gut, revs up the metabolic fire, cleanses the colon, and reminds your body to burn fat, not sugar, for fuel.

No diet is a cure-all. In fact, I don’t like the word diet because it brings to mind fads and self-deprivation, and in my experience most diets of that nature just don’t work. Because the science of weight loss is so much more complex and variable with the individual than we ever previously thought, it wouldn’t surprise me if traditional dieting became a thing of the past. So while the specifics of an effective elimination diet are complex in that they depend upon an individual’s unique make-up, the basic idea is simple: certain foods and nutrients will fire up your metabolism and certain foods and substances will derail it.

Because everyone’s biochemistry is different, multiple factors come into play in a successful cleansing plan, including your age, genetic profile, the degree of inflammation in your body, hormonal balance (including estrogen and thyroid levels), hydration, exercise, rest — and above all, your liver’s ability to detoxify. But it’s safe to say that stress, environmental exposure, poor exercise habits, and suboptimal nutrition begin to take their toll on women universally by the time they reach their late 30’s to early 40’s. An improved diet and nutritional supplementation can undo much of the damage wrought by our modern lifestyle. But to really flush your system out you will need to identify which foods are optimal for your individual “blueprint” — and which are best avoided. And that’s what the Women to Women Quick-Cleanse diet is all about.

Related to this article:

References & further reading on two-week Quick Cleanse

 

Last Modified Date: 04/18/2011
Principal Author: Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP