On Cleanses - The truth you don't hear on the news

My name is Serena Sabala and I am a certified nutrition consultant. Me and my husband Eugene Sabala are the co-founders of Whole Shift Wellness , a company that specializes in bespoke programs for busy professionals.?

We have over 20 years of combined experience transforming the well-being of over 500 professionals across five countries; this has allowed us to develop a proven method that will shift you to your most fit healthy and confident self in three months to a year.

In this article, I am going to cover a very popular topic in the field of nutrition, which is the topic of cleanses. I'm actually going to share with you some key secrets that you don't hear about in the mainstream media revolving around such practices, which indeed can have some powerful and beneficial effects if approached correctly.?

However, since I want to add a lot of real value to you, I'm actually going to delve deep into the most common mistake and myths around cleanses so that you can prevent them from getting in your way.?

Let's not waste any time and delve deep into the top four myths and mistakes which I have witnessed most often, and some even experienced myself)!

Myth #1: You need to do regular cleanses in order to be healthy.

In my experience, this is actually not true. It is important to understand and appreciate that our body is a very intricate and intelligent machine, which knows even better than us, exactly what to do in order to achieve a state of healthy balance. Therefore it is constantly doing its utmost to cleanse itself and detoxify itself of any harmful substance substances that it might come in contact with. It does so in a multitude of ways, some of which we take for granted; we cleanse through sweating and perspiration. We cleanse by simply going to the bathroom regularly. We cleanse even by exhaling effectively. These are all common and basic ways in which your body gets rid of toxins so if you are not making the most of these basic daily activities, I would recommend you focus on those before you even embark on anything more drastic or extreme.?

Ask yourself these simple questions: Are you drinking enough water every single day (the ideal amount is half your body weight in ounces minimum)? You may need even more if you exercise regularly. If you're not drinking enough water, there’s no point looking for anything more advanced until you have actually mastered that so that you can start flushing toxins through the body regularly. One simple way to assess whether you're drinking enough water is to notice the color of your pee: if it is very dark, then chances are that you're not drinking enough water whereas if it's very clear and only slightly tinted, then you're probably getting it right.?

Another question to ask yourself is whether you are exercising regularly (a minimum of three to five times a week) to a point where you're causing the body to perspire and sweat. If you're not doing that, focus instead on establishing a routine that works for you. This will lead you to eliminate more unwanted substances and you will also be more inclined to drink more, which will create a positive ripple effect of further cleansing.?

Plus, if you're doing the right kind of exercise, you will also get rid of any extra fat as the body will tap into its reserves for fuel. This is fantastic news from the perspective of cleansing because some of the most harmful toxins in the body are stored in our fat cells, so by losing any excess fat, you'll also be losing the unwanted toxins trapped in it.?

Another fundamental area to investigate is that of healthy digestion. Do you go to the bathroom to pass stools a minimum of once a day? This is so important because nothing is more harmful and toxic for the body than anything remaining stuck in your digestive system for any longer than absolutely necessary. So if your elimination is not ideal, for sure you should address that asap. By the way, the single most impactful way to improve your digestion is to improve your nutrition, so stay tuned for more on that to come from me soon!

Once you maximize these fundamental practices, you might not feel the need to do anything more extreme to cleanse your body and you might achieve a well-balanced and healthy state. That is why I don’t believe you need to cleanse to be healthy. Of course, if you’re dealing with a specific condition that requires such intervention, you will get benefits from implementing it in an intelligent and supervised way but the goal is always to cover the basics first.

Myth #2:?Cleanses are harmless and always beneficial. This is not a given and really depends on which ones you're doing and how you're doing them, but most importantly on what is your attitude going into them. Take a moment and ponder: why do you feel this need to do cleanses? As I mentioned above, if?your body is in a balanced state of well-being, it is doing the vast majority of cleansing necessary on its own and you don't need to do anything more. In my experience, we actually sometimes develop this need to embark on extreme cleanses when we are not ticking the minimum viable boxes and we are not treating our bodies best. We may be going through periods when we are neglecting our bodies and so we feel the need to recover with extreme measures.?

As a result of that, we may end up stuck in a vicious cycle whereby we’re doing extreme cleanses which sometimes are actually very depriving and can make us feel hungry and depleted. These experiences will lead us to fall off the wagon sooner or later and throw all rules out the window; we will then go back to harmful behaviors such as overeating, drinking, and over-consuming other substances that are generally not good for our bodies for a period. Until, of course, we’ll get back on the next cleanse. This vicious cycle is as far from balance and health as they come.?

This is why I don’t believe it is true that cleanses are harmless, because they actually can be counterproductive if you're not doing them right and if you don't do them with the support of a specialist. You actually run the risk of depleting your body of necessary nutrients and getting stuck into an all-nothing approach to health that is far from conducive.

Myth #3: Cleanses are natural. This is actually not necessarily true. Some of them may be more than others, especially if you’re consuming a lot of freshly pressed juices from organic fruits and vegetables. However, I still want to clarify that our bodies came to be what they are today through millions of years of evolution in the wild. Our modern-day living is a very new occurrence that has only developed over the last couple of centuries. In the wild, there is no such thing as a juice bar or a juice tree! In fact, in the wild, there would be no way of extracting juices from fruits and vegetables. That is something that we've been able to do only in recent years, thanks to the gadgets that we have access to now.?

The most natural way to get nutrients into your body is still to eat them and chew them out of whole plant-based foods as close to their natural state as possible. We are not designed to live on liquid calories. This is not to say that there can be some benefits in consuming juices within the context of a very healthy and well-balanced overall approach. But you don't necessarily need them to be healthy. Not to mention, some cleanses actually revolve around consuming highly processed supplements and powders which again are not found that way in nature. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of high-quality supplements in the world these days and some are more useful than others, in the right circumstances. But natural is not the word I would use for any of them. What's natural are fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, and so on.?

Myth #4 Cleanses are great for weight loss. Now let me tell you, in my extensive personal and professional experience, I can absolutely guarantee you that cleanses are not conducive to sustainable weight loss. If you approach them safely, they may allow you to reset your taste buds after a period of overindulgence but I still wouldn't recommend them because the vast majority of the weight that you lose, you will likely put back on the moment you go back to normal eating. It is so much more effective to gradually drop all the most unhealthy food and habits that you've gotten yourself used to in a way that is less drastic and dramatic for your body and that will be less likely to cause you to give up and throw rules out the window or go hungry and binge on the very foods you've been depriving yourself of.?

Not all cleanses are bad, of course. Some individuals who are dealing with certain kinds of chronic diseases would benefit from them, with the support of a specialist, but none of them are to be taken lightly, and most definitely I would not recommend them as a weight loss tool. So if you constantly find yourself in a position where you feel the need to do a cleanse, I invite you to look at your weekly habits and think of how you can develop strategies that can prevent you from getting to that point. Please don't ever hesitate to reach out to me in person around the studio if you have any questions. You can also email me at [email protected] and if you'd like to find out more about our unique bespoke and holistic methodology to achieve optimal health and well-being, please feel free to download a free copy of my book “Make The Shift” from www.wholeshiftmethod.com . Ciao for now.?