Springtime is Greens Time!
The theme for springtime is cleansing. In western herbalism it is common to do a fast and/or cleanse in the spring to give the liver a break and allow the body to detoxify itself – a process that is constant and can be hampered by eating heavy foods, stress, lack of sleep, environmental toxins, etc.
Our favorite nutritional supplement to support this is green super foods; the cereal greens – wheatgrass, barley grass, oat grass and the sea greens – chlorella, spirulina, blue-green algae, kelp, seaweeds. Some brands add enzymes and probiotics and some add extra liver cleansers such as milk thistle, dandelion, and burdock – caution on these colder herbs for weaker, colder, or those with gallbladder issues.
Green superfoods often come in blends or are added to other products. Do what appeals to you!
- Take it as a powder daily in a small amount of apple juice with lemon squeezed in
- If you do protein daily, use one with super greens added or add your own greens
- If you hate the taste of veggies, take the tablets or capsules
- If you party too much, take it before bed to decrease hangover symptoms and then again when you wake up
- For kids use a thicker beverage such as chocolate milk or grape juice to tone down the bitter flavor and make the texture easier to swallow
The body’s detoxifying processes are made easier by avoiding or decreasing heavy hard to digest foods – sticky grains, dairy, meats and alcohol.
*Note – toxins move through your blood to your bowels for removal. If your bowels are not moving at least once a day, you may wish to do a short-term colon cleanse, colon hydrotherapy, or longer term take a magnesium supplement and eat more veggies and less sticky heavy grains and meat in order to facilitate better detoxification. If your bowels refuse to move regularly with these changes, consult your healthcare practitioner.
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