Healthy Living: Clean?

January 21, 2010

Herbal Cleanse It seems Americans are obsessed these days with being clean (well the majority of them anyway). Many take more than one shower a day, wash with anti-bacterial soap, Clorox the house twice a day…you get the point. Ever thought about your body before and whether or not it’s really clean? Like, inside-out clean?

Nutrition has always been a real love of mine. Remember this post? Ever since I can remember, I ate my greens as a wee little girl just because I liked them. Ask my mom. So I think it’s in my blood. I just love whole, nutritious eating (except for an occasional cheeseburger here and there, especially when I’m pregnant. no, I’m not pregnant) and I love reading books, articles, magazines…anything to do with health and nutrition. Over the years as I get a little older, I’ve realized the importance of “cleaning” out my insides every once in a while. I’ve been on the search for a good cleanse and finally happened upon one that I LOVE and quickly became passionate about. Before you stop reading because the word “cleanse” has you envisioning yourself camping out by the toilet or buying into some marketing scheme, this isn’t rocket science nor am I trying to make money off of my friends and family.

That said, lend me an ear. A cleanse is simply that, “cleaning” your body of waste and toxins (found in pesticides and hard-to-digest foods) and enabling your colon and other organs to function more freely. It’s almost as if, your body is “resting” from having to work so hard to rid itself of the bad stuff. I won’t go into all of the details as to why herbs aid in the cleansing process (because there are numerous cleanses out there without the herbs), but herbs are a natural source of health and wellness and were often used before medicine came into the picture to aid the body in self-healing. A cleanse also aids in maintaining a healthy weight and/or healthy weight loss for those that need it. And with ingredients such as butternut bark, black walnut hull, wheat grass leaf, milk thistle seed, and some good pro-biotics, you just can’t go wrong! We definitely don’t incorporate these gems into our body on a daily basis, unless you live in the Amazon or something.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the cleanse that I chose (which was recommended to me by a nutrition pro who happened to also be my maid-of-honor in my wedding) who has studied nutrition and supplements a good chunk of her life along with her mother. So what’s the point in all of this? I mainly am just answering questions that many of you have had, and some whom even requested a blog entry about. There are thousands of details I’ve left out but to keep it simple, because of our poor food quality in our time and culture, nutrition is very important coupled with good supplements to help the body function at it’s best quality.

All of this is said, with a very fine balance of course. I don’t claim that if you do a cleanse or take supplements to aid in your health, that you will be happy and healthy. We serve a God who is ultimately in control of our health. At any point He could take that from us and so we as Christians don’t depend on products that are “good” to save us. Kevin and I believe that we are held responsible before the Lord to care for ourselves and for our family in the best possible way. And in particular, I as a wife and mom feel that this is one of the ways I can be faithful to the Lord. So no nutritionist wars here or battle of the opinions please 🙂 We each do what we feel the Lord has called us to not pointing our fingers in judgment. This is just a very ,very small concern in light of eternity. I’m happy to answer any additional questions you might have about things I’ve implemented into our family or anything else concerning herbs, vitamins or cleanses. I’m here to help not because I think I’m “super nutritious woman” and have all the answers, but simply because I love nutrition and helping others to be more passionate about it as well.

And just to make this post a little more FUN, there’s a huge prize involved! Just leave a comment (by Monday January 25th) and I’ll draw a name at random. The lucky winner will receive 2 packets of SPARK ( a wonderful, delicious and energizing vitamin/amino acid drink, also safe for children 4 and up), 2 bottles of SLAM (another incredibly healthy drink that especially helps when you are fatigued or need a boost for exercise), 20% off of one Advocare product of your choice ( a brochure of products will be included) , 1 Quart of FIT all natural fruit and Veggie wash as well as one 100% organic cotton kitchen towel with the monogram of your choice. And for local peeps, 2 FREE one-day passes to Health Central. A give-away hard to pass up. Comment away!