Photo: Nikki L.

Challenging symptoms: sugar & caffeine cravings, brief headaches, brief muscle cramps, two exhaustion crashes.

Beneficial results: Relaxation, reduction in anxiety & stress, increased energy, improved skin, balanced blood sugar and relief from cravings. Lost five pounds in the first week.

Adherence to the Diet: Excellent, except for some accidentally ingested banana bread batter.

In my experience, there are two groups of people who really, truly love to talk enthusiastically about their bowel functions for hours on end: preschoolers, and people doing a detox cleanse. While I’ve never had an amazing must-tell-the-world experience in this arena, I do agree that if you’re going to do a cleanse, you need to be able to talk poo with your doctor (if no one else).

Think of it like the scoreboard at a baseball stadium, in a game of you versus the undesirables. If you don’t keep an eye on your stats, you won’t play your best game.

So all that is to say that in checking the scoreboard this week, I noticed my fiber mixwasn’t having much of an effect. Drinking it left me feeling a little nauseous at times, and then one morning I felt some cramps and general malaise. I’ve had occasional cleanse cramps and nausea, but this felt “off” enough that – given the scoreboard – I thought we might need to pull the pitcher, so to speak.

The fiber I was using has inulin and stevia in it; both of those have given me digestive problems and headaches in the past. Many fiber drink mixes have flavors and sweeteners; the capsules usually don’t. PaleoFiber is available without flavor or sweetener, but the one I happened to have was tasty berry flavor.

My doctor gave me ground slippery elm bark to use instead. I prefer simple plant-based supplements to highly technical powdered mixes anyway, so this fit the bill. Once I got past the idea of guzzling tree bark, all was well – it has a pleasant, sweet taste. The scoreboard reflected my success! My husband is using my leftover PaleoFiber now, with great success. What works for one person may not work for another.

Approach and Outcome

This is the fourth cleanse I’ve done in the past three years. Each time, it requires less mental preparation and logistical effort. I go into it feeling more prepared and enthusiastic about the results I know I will get – my skin improves, my stamina increases, and the focus on eating a limited variety of food actually relieves the stress of constant choices and decisions.

I’ve also had better success the more times I cleanse. Let’s be honest – the first cleanse, I ate chocolate in week one, and fast food several times during week three. I don’t recommend that.

Even though it gets easier, each time around there are new experiences, new results and new challenges. The more I do it, the better I know what to expect from myself, which is a good foundation for any challenging endeavor. Although I may not stick to the diet or even make significant changes immediately to my long term diet, the cleanse has a lasting mental effect. Feeling that good for three weeks makes you think. It makes you more aware of the food choices you make, and more attentive to the results of your choices.

Photo: (= dana <3 J.M =)

Having said that, the first several days of this cleanse were an immediate challenge. I was craving sweets all day, just wanting to be eating something, as this is what I have gotten into the habit of doing in the past six months. I work from my home office, and graze all day. I usually have nuts, chocolate, chips, fruit, or cheese and crackers on hand, and a cup or two of tea or coffee. During the cleanse, my desk has been devoid of food or beverage. I go to the kitchen to eat.

I was ridiculously excited about my first morning snack! A boiled egg never looked, smelled, felt or tasted so good. I ate it with a sliced up apple, and wow, was I in heaven.

I only felt true hunger pangs a few times those first few days. More often I just felt a compulsive need to be putting something in my body. I had to keep distracting myself so as not to think about it. I had plenty of work all week, so that wasn’t hard. I did not cave!

By the time day four rolled around, the cravings were gone. My blood sugar evened out like warm bay waters at sunset. That felt GOOD.

The Unfortunate Incident

Then there was the banana bread incident. My last cleanse, I ramped up my steely determination to bake chocolate chip cookies without ingesting a single chip. I did it quite successfully, and hence thought I could do something similar during this cleanse. I was like an accomplished athlete going into a game a little too confident.

Photo: Or Hiltch

My son and I made gluten-free sugar cookies and banana bread for a school brunch. After putting the bread in the oven, he and I did our usual job of licking the beaters and scraping out the bowl. Oops! I didn’t even realize what I’d done until I went to make my shake about twenty minutes later. I was so comfortable with the baking idea, I wasn’t careful enough to bypass our usual ritual of licking the beaters. I had a bit of a headache that night, which may or may not have been related.

It really is a challenge to prepare food you can’t eat, or even taste, during a cleanse. I know a lot of parents think about this as they consider cleansing – they’ll still need to cook the usual fare for everyone else. It’s hard!

Last but not least, here’s the report on the shake mix I’m using: it veers a little toward the chalky and grainy side, as do many products made with processed rice. I did not help the situation by adding veggie broth for the liquid and a half-banana in hopes of improving the texture. Savory banana–not a winning flavor! I’ve had better success adding more flavor to cover the broth – equal parts spinach and cherries are my favorite combination. Spinach adds a nice texture to the shake, and the taste is surprisingly subtle while the nutritional benefits are great. Blueberries work well too.

The good news regarding the shake is that it leaves me feeling awesome! It’s very filling, and I feel great for hours after drinking it. It’s working better for my body than the food-based shakeI used in the last three cleanses (although the Standard Process shake tastes better).

In summary, I feel so much better after seven days of cleansing I am honestly amazed. I didn’t think I was feeling that bad when I started, but I’ve since realized how much general stress and anxiety I was living with, along with constant sugar & caffeine cravings. I do some stress-relief practices while I cleanse, which enhance my results – more on that next week.

For now, I feel energized! I have had a bit of trouble getting to sleep the last two nights, not feeling tired when I go to bed. But when I wake up, I’m in a positive mood, well rested, and ready to face the day. That’s a fabulous improvement.

On the Agenda for Next Week: More information on non-dietary parts of my cleanse routine, an appointment with my Ayurvedic practitioner, and a birthday celebration in wine country!

View the first installment of Kendra’s spring cleansing process in Special Detox Series: Spring Cleansing in Action.

Disclaimer: Kendra Mellinger is not a healthcare professional, and therefore does not prescribe or recommend any treatment for disease or health concerns. Any cleansing program should only be done under the supervision of an experienced healthcare practitioner.

Share and Enjoy