Nourish Northwest

Post by Olivia Martino, Registered Dietitian and Co-Owner of Nourish Northwest

The sun has been out a couple of times this month, and to most Portlanders, this means it’s time for shorts and to sit outside and drink beer all day.  While I am certainly not opposed to those two things, what this time of year mostly means to me, is that it’s time for a cleanse.  A lot of people do cleanses, or detoxes in the spring.  This is an appropriate time of year because spring represents regrowth or rebirth.  It is also a time of transition in life and in nature.  We are transitioning from warming, heavy winter foods to fresh spring veggies.  My body always feels ready to do a cleanse in March.  I have two main reasons for doing a yearly cleanse.  The main one is that I get to a point in the long winter, where I feel like my eating habits aren’t the healthiest and I need to re-set. I usually feel as though I have been eating out too much, eating too much in general, choosing unhealthy foods too often and drinking a little more than I feel is healthy.  Every year that I do this, I learn more about what my body really does or doesn’t need and how I can satisfy cravings and hunger with much less that I usually do.

The other reason I have for doing a yearly cleanse is to give my body a chance to eliminate toxins and become more efficient at doing so for the upcoming year.   Toxins are everywhere.  They are present in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.  Toxins accumulate in our body and can lead to metabolic disturbances, and eventually to serious health concerns, such as chronic fatigue, headaches, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases and cancer.  It is the liver’s job to rid the body of these harmful substances and it does so, through a series of reactions.  Certain nutrients, such as magnesium, vitamin C, and vitamin B6 are needed for the liver to do its job efficiently, and my cleanse involves eating a lot of foods that are high in those nutrients.  Other ways to decrease toxic exposure are to eat organic foods, drink filtered water and avoid alcohol and tobacco.

There are many different types people do, ranging from complete fasting or water fasting, following the Master Cleanse, or simply choosing to eat “clean” for a couple of weeks.  The cleanse that I have done for the past 7 years falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of extreme.  I am not a proponent of fasting, or the Master Cleanse because these cleanses do not provide your liver with adequate nutrients to do its job.  The cleanse I follow is food-based and does not involve supplements.  You simply spend the first few days eliminating certain foods from  your diet, consume only fruits and vegetables for the middle days and then gradually re-introduce the foods back in.  It is challenging, but do-able.  It is structured for 12 days, but I am doing two smaller 8 day cleanses this year.  My second session, I will be leading a group at Nourish, the dates TBD.  A few clients have expressed interest in doing this cleanse so I am taking requests for dates.  Email me at olivia@nourishnorthwest if interested!  A little sneak peak into what you have to look forward to/dread….

Day 1… eliminate all alcohol, caffeine, sugar, red meat and dairy.  This is pretty much how I normally eat, but taking out caffeine was a challenge for me and I did suffer from headaches for a couple of days.

Day 2….eliminate some other major food groups, as well as salt and oil.  This is where the creativity really needs to come in.

Day 3… Down to only fruits, veggies, whole grains and fish.

Day 4… Only fruits, vegetables and rice.  I felt surprisingly energetic and satiated all day.  I am usually tired and ready for bed at 9 pm, but found myself still up and full of energy much later.

Day 5… Only juices, smoothies and broths.  I decided to purchase my first juicer right before this cleanse.  I spent this morning of the cleanse juicing up a few blends, recipes courteous of Abby Bliss White, our amazing fitness instructor at Nourish Northwest.  I made a beet, carrot, ginger juice, a kale, parsley, cucumber, lemon and broccoli juice and two smoothies.  They lasted me all day and again, left me surprisingly energetic and satieted.  I also decided to treat myself and spent the evening at Loyly, a Scandanavian spa and sauna house in SE Portland.  Sweating is another important part of detoxing.  Here you can move from sauna to a cold water plunge and then back into the heat of the steam room.  A few cycles of this and I felt incredibly relaxed and cleansed.

Day 6….Starting to re-introduce solid foods and rice back into  the diet.  This was my one really tough day of the cleanse.  I was starving all day long, feeling irritable and emotional. I was sick of eating food with no salt or oil. While these are all very normal emotions, it was definitely a true test of my motivation.  I did a lot of reflection this day.  I wanted to quit and I almost did.

Day 7… the end is in sight!  More foods are coming back in! I have never been so happy to eat a bean!

Day 8… A dinner that was worthy of “non-cleanse” status.  This is a diet I can sustain.

Lessons I have learned from doing this cleanse:

• Always do it with someone else.  You will need emotional support and external motivation, someone to cook with and to hang out with.  I had an amazing cleanse partner this time and this was, by far, the most delicious cleanse I have ever done.
• PLAN, PLAN, PLAN.  I wrote myself out a daily meal plan this year for the first time.  This was extremely helpful.  There are days when your brain feels pretty foggy and you are confused as to how to get through the day’s tasks, much less prepare three meals a day.  Always have plenty of food with you at all times.  Do a big grocery shop in the beginning and plan on a few more little ones throughout.  Spend a few nights cooking enough food for the next few days.
• Try to exercise lightly daily.  Walks are the perfect exercise for cleanses.
• Be mindful of your food.  I ate my dinners with music off, computer off and no other sounds/distractions whatsoever.  This is something I rarely do, but is so important.
• Ease back out of it.  This is a lesson I have learned the hard way, when trying to squeeze the cleanse in between parties and events.  You will feel TERRIBLE if you spend the first day off the cleanse eating cheeseburgers and drinking a lot of beer. Trust me.
• I am stronger than I think.  I somehow always forget this and it is a good thing to know about yourself.  Doing a cleanse is a major mental challenge.  It tests you in many ways.

So, again, if you are interested in joining me for my second round of this cleanse, email me at olivia@nourishnorthwest.com and I will figure out dates that work best for everyone.  You will receive the cleanse schedule, meal plan, recipes and most importantly, group support.  I hope you’ll join me!