Every year at this time, you start seeing the words detox, cleanse, reboot, and reset or any other idea that it’s time to make some serious changes to clean out your body.
Businesses like ours try to capitalize on this trend, offering all kinds of programs and promises that will make you brand new and feeling better than ever. And many of us go for it. We buy kits, we join programs, we drink powders, we make changes and we “detox.” And many of us lose weight and feel better. . . for now.
OUR TAKE: The problem with this way of going about it is that these programs and kits are not sustainable. They clean you out, but then what?
We take a different approach.
For sure, springtime is the natural time to clear out the body from the heaviness of winter. In nature, the shift from winter to spring is arguably the most important transition of the year. Change is in the air through weather and harvests as well as the microbes outside and inside our bodies. They are all making dramatic changes. During the winter, our microbes’ mission is to keep the body warm and to help digest heavier foods. In the transition to spring, the microbes shift to fat burning, natural weight loss, and renewed energy. Nature takes care of us, if we let it.
WHAT TO EAT: The first foods to be ready for harvest in the spring are the bitter root veggies like ginger, turmeric, burdock, dandelion, and goldenseal among others. You can make teas with these roots as we transition into the warmer weather. These help our livers to detoxify as well as naturally scrub the intestinal tract from any accumulated mucus and toxins from the winter. This ‘scrubbing’ increases immunity and makes for a healthy environment for the microbes we depend on. The diverse microbiology of our gut is responsible for more than 80% of the body’s immunity.
In the spring, it’s best to reduce your portions of rice, grains, breads and pastas, as these foods are traditionally not harvested until fall. Increase your leafy greens and sprouts, as these all have liver cleansing qualities to help flush out toxins.
Microgreens or baby greens are also seasonal in the early spring. Compared to mature leaves, baby greens are several times more nutritious. Of course, all green leafy vegetables are loaded with nutrition, in large part due to the chlorophyll (which makes the plant green) which also helps feed our gut micro biome and support our energy.
It’s also important to reduce or eliminate dairy at this time of year. Think about how nature provides us with what’s available, and then think about how cows are calving at this time of the year–and traditionally, people let the cow feed her young with her milk not taking it for themselves. Dairy can also be mucous forming, whether or not you are tolerant to it.
For a great spring shopping list of real, whole foods that are in season in the spring click here plus one of our favorite simple recipes for asparagus and mushrooms.
When you listen to your body–being mindful at each eating opportunity — you’ll probably find that your appetite naturally begins to wane during the months of spring. According to Dr. John Douillard of LifeSpa.com, “spring boosts natural fat metabolism that decreases cravings, hunger and appetite in order to reset fat burning, start [natural] detox and lose any extra weight carried over from winter.”
USE NATURE TO NOURISH: So, this spring, let nature take it’s course and let nature nurture your body. Eat seasonally, not too much, and focus on real whole foods. Of course, a “cleanse” or “detox” won’t hurt (we hope), but see that as a jumpstart to a lifelong habit of healthy eating of real, whole foods that are in season. We love to get people {like you perhaps?} on the right track to healthy eating, AND we especially like to see you thrive on a healthy lifestyle going forward. For more on this topic, listen to our Seasonal Eating: Spring podcast.
