Spring Cleaning vs. Detox

I Ain’t no Doctor

an occasional column by Charles Faris, hhc

Hey there Non-Doc. I’m reading about this Spring Cleaning thing and I’m a little confused. What’s the difference between a Spring Cleaning and a detox? And how is this different from the kit cleanses I see t the health food stores?–Tempted and Confused

Well, Tac, I’m glad you asked, as there is nothing I like more than expounding upon the seemingly arcane differences between such concepts as cleansing and detoxing, of a food cleanse and a kit cleanse. So let’s just take your questions in order.

Spring Cleaning vs Detox

So we might look as if we are splitting hairs here, and for me the major difference between a Spring Cleaning and a detox is intent, although the specificity of the time of year for a Spring Cleaning as well as the method also come into play.

Let me just start by saying that detox is a pretty general phrase, describing any number of ways to rid the body of toxins. A detox can be general or specific. You could take a detox for mercury poisoning, for example, or you could be interested in a good overall purge. The basic idea for most all detox programs, however, is the use of herbs and other powerful substances to target specific toxins in the body and pull or flush them out.

In this way, there are definitely some detox elements to a spring cleanse, which is at once both more general and also of different intent than a detox. The Spring Cleaning is concerned not only with toxins, it is concerned with the actual quality of your gut, the small and large intestines. The Spring Cleaning is primarily focused on your digestive system; on giving it a rest, on avoiding foods which clog up or slow down the digestive process, and on cleaning out the sludge that has built up over the years.

So while a detox may target substances that are in your blood, tissues and organs, the Spring Cleaning is aimed at your digestive system, your large and small intestines as well as your liver. While as a result of cleaning up these organs you may then do a good detox, due to the more efficient work they are able to perform, being all tuned-up as it were, these larger benefits of the Spring Cleaning are not its primary target or goal.

Food Cleanses and Kit Cleanses

Now, as to the difference between a food cleanse such as the Spring Cleaning and a kit cleanse that you might find in the store. In general, there are two types of kit cleanses, the detox and the colon cleanse. I’ve already dealt with the detox, which is often simply a type of temporary flush designed to help people who need to pass a urine based drug test on order to get a job or stay out of jail etc, so I’ll focus on the cleanse kits.

The cleanse kits are working in the same realm as the Spring Cleaning, using herbs and fiber, usually psyllium, to do the same work that the Spring Cleaning accomplishes with good old food straight from nature. In this way, the Spring Cleaning is generally easier on your system, without any of the kick back that you get when your body has to adust to the stopping of the herbs and fiber.

Let’s get into that a bit. Most of the kits contain two types of herbs, an herbal laxative and an herbal toner. The toner contains herbs that nurture and strengthen the colon, while the laxative is a stimulant that gets things moving along. This is naturally weakening for the colon when done for a prolonged period of time, so these two sets of herbs offer up a balance; the one hand giveth and the other taketh away.

With the kit cleanses as well, we have the fiber. The fiber is taken with water, sometimes mixed with clay, a natural detoxifying agent, in order to provide bulk, to provide the colon something to push through the system, acting like a broom of sorts to sweep out the gack and the frack that has been coating the lining of your colon for years perhaps. Ever looked down into a clogged drain to see the gunk that is stopping it up? Yeah. Kinda like that.

So two problems here, in my own experience as well as the experience on many others. When you quit the kit, the body has a withdrawal reaction from the herbs and the fiber. Just like your body would have a reaction if you quit giving it caffeine or alcohol or any other powerful substance. And what the herbs and the fiber were promoting, movement in the bowels, begins to slow down and possibly stop. A frequent complaint after a kit cleanse is constipation. Yuck. Back to square one. Sometimes people will go back and get another kit just to get the process going again in order to slowly kick the habit. Yeah.

Transform your Relationship with Food

With Spring Cleaning, there are no laxative herbs or added fiber. No concentrated substances to wean yourself off of once the cleanse if done. The Spring Cleaning works with common foods, powerful in their own right, and nothing that you have to worry might throw you into a negative cycle.

Spring Cleaning is actually an invitation to eating habits that are healthy for your digestive system, habits that you can sustain for  a lifetime. Spring Cleaning is an invitation to transform your relationship with food, digestion, and your immune system by changing your eating habits for a week and observing what happens. What could be better than that?

I hope I’ve offered you some clarity, Tac. Please use the comments if you have any additional questions about food, healing, and the nature of the digestive system. I love the opportunity to expound!

photo by riot jane