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cleansing and detoxification
83
then the metabolism slows down. As this pattern decreases the likelihood
of excessive detoxification, this type of person should be given a shorter
program. People who have a slower metabolism and greater body weight
can cleanse and fast more frequently and with increased intensity. People
who are of medium height with red tones to the skin and hair and who
maintain good levels of body warmth will find fasting and detoxifying
programs an easy and productive process. If you wish to clarify your body
type, consult an Ayurvedic practitioner. You can also simply start a cleanse
and then stop if you are too overwhelmed physically and emotionally,
returning to it at a later date.
For many relatively healthy people it is simply pleasant and
rejuvenating to perform a cleanse at the onset of each season. Choose
cleanses to fit the weather and your mood. The consumption of lots of
juiced root vegetables, raw chiles, and ginger, accompanied by plenty of
potassium broth (see under “Kitchen Basics” in chapter 4) and warming
herbal teas, should be used in autumn and winter, while for the spring and
summer, watery vegetables and fruits like melon and cucumber, along
with an abundance of green salads, would be ideal.
For those wishing to cleanse only twice a year, the first cleanse should
take place in spring. This is traditionally the best time of year to cleanse.
It helps you to replenish your energy and shrug off the excesses of winter.
Spring itself gives us the fresh ingredients for cleansing, such as spring
greens (the sour varieties), dandelion leaves, young nettles, and new haw-
thorn shoots. Such plants can be used to thin the blood before the onset
of summer heat. There are striking similarities between spring and
autumn; for example, the damp nights and the golden days that give us
green grass of such piercing vernal freshness. During the transitional
season of autumn; you will again be able to find young dandelion leaves
shooting up everywhere, and the nettles that have been cut down all
summer will also begin to produce green, tender growth. Therefore
autumn is a good time of year to cleanse the liver in preparation for the
work it will have to do throughout the winter months, when the body and
immune system are called on to endure the cold and the possible increase
of infections.
Excessive fasting can slow down the metabolism and break down
muscle, possibly leading to subsequent undesired weight gain.
The Differences between Fasting and Detoxification
Fasting involves total abstinence from food, with only water being drunk.
This is a very good way of healing the body because only pure fluids,
which do not require much processing, are entering the system, thereby
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