21 Pounds in 21 Days (17 page)

Rather than buying laxatives, I make colon-cleansing juices and teas at home. Here are some of my favorite—and most effective—concoctions. I've ranked them from Level 1, which provides a gentle cleanse, to Level 5 for people who are very constipated and have trouble moving their bowels.

Enemas.
Many of our parents and grandparents regularly gave themselves enemas, a method of introducing water, herbs, coffee, or other active agents into your colon to soften fecal sludge and impacted stools, allowing them to pass out of the body. These days, enemas are less common. Even health care professionals do not give them anymore, which I think is a sin! Though many patients become constipated, health providers do not want to bother with a forty-five-minute procedure that requires dealing with your feces. They'd rather give you a laxative pill and a glass of water, though enemas are far more helpful.

Like your grandmother, you can give yourself an enema at home. You'll need the following supplies:

• One enema bag (disposable or hot-water-bottle style; purchase at a medical supply store or medically oriented pharmacy)
  
• 1 lemon
  or
  organic vinegar
  
• 1 gallon of distilled water
  
• 1 small bottle of vitamin E oil or 2 vitamin E capsules for lubrication
  
• 1 old towel or blanket
  
• 1 waterproof or plastic sheet
  

To do it you'll need to go to a medical supply store or medically oriented pharmacy and purchase an enema bag. There are two types of enema bags: the disposable, one-piece style or the old-fashioned hot-water red-bottle style. If you purchase a hot-water-bottle-style bag, instead of screwing a cap onto the top of the bag, you screw in the base of the long tube. At the other end of the tube you add on a thin applicator tip that you will gently slide into your rectum to introduce water into your colon. You'll also need one quart of distilled water. To this water add either the juice of one whole lemon or one tablespoon of organic vinegar.
Caution:
Do not go over this amount because both lemon juice
and vinegar are acidic. The solution may become too strong for your sensitive inner colon.

Before you give yourself an enema, take a few moments to set up the room by lighting candles, burning incense, and playing soft music. You want to set a quiet mood. If you want to do it in the bathroom, place a plastic mat or blanket on the floor. You can also use your bed, if you place a plastic mat or waterproof sheet on top of it. If your bedroom is far from the bathroom, also line the floor with a protector in case you spill (or leak) any liquid. In order to avoid spills, make sure the applicator tip fits the tubing tightly, unless you have a one-piece disposable system, in which case this is not necessary. Make sure the clamp on the tubing is closed while you carry it. Also bring your vitamin E.

1. In your kitchen, pour the juice of one lemon or one tablespoon of the organic vinegar into your enema bag. Add one quart of lukewarm to room-temperature distilled water. (To ensure it is the proper temperature, test the solution on the inside of your wrist.) Screw on the top.
   
2. Carry the solution to your bathroom or bedroom. Hang the bag so that it is two feet above your head if you're lying down. The higher you hang the bag, the more pressure it exerts as it fills your colon, so hang it at a comfortable level.
   
3. Lubricate applicator tip with as much vitamin E oil as you need to insert it easily. You can also use olive oil or KY jelly.
   
4. Lie down on your right side and, to avoid spillage, insert the tip of the tube one to two inches into your rectum.
   
5. Release clamp, allowing water to gently enter your rectum. Count slowly to five (approximately half a cup of solution will enter the rectum), clamp bag. Repeat until all solution is used.
   
6. During and/or after taking in the solution, massage the lower left side of your abdomen. working on any hard lumps you may feel.
   
7. Retain solution for five minutes or until you feel a strong urge go to the toilet. If you don't feel the urge to purge, retain solu
   tion for up to fifteen minutes while massaging continuously. Then sit on the toilet and gently push the solution and waste matter out.
   

Liver Cleanse

If you have a poorly functioning liver, it affects your entire health. Fortunately, the liver is a very easy organ to cleanse. Here's what I recommend (see procedures for: coffee enema, juice flush and herbal remedies):

• 21-day detox:
  three coffee enemas (one per week)
  
• 7-day detox:
  one coffee enema
  
• 2-day detox:
  one coffee enema
  

Juice Flush.
We can flush the liver out merely by drinking green juices. Create any combination of these ingredients. Wheatgrass, however, should be consumed alone in one-ounce “shots.”

• Wheatgrass
  
• Carrot
  
• Beets
  
• Beet leaves
  
• Dandelion greens
  
• Alfalfa sprouts
  
• Red radish or Daikon radish
  
• Burdock leaf or root
  
• Garlic
  
• Ginger
  

In addition, I recommend drinking herbal teas to help stimulate bile secretion and assist the liver to detoxify and repair its cells. Look for these ingredients:

• Barberry root bark
  
• Oregon grape root
  
• Beet leaf, burdock leaf and root
  
• Dandelion leaf and root
  
• Milk thistle
  
• Red clover
  

Coffee Enema.
While a jolt of java gets us going in the morning, when introduced into the colon, coffee's caffeine can open up the bile ducts, stimulating the liver to release fat-emulsifying bile. It also stimulates the liver to produce glutathione, a very powerful antioxidant that causes the liver to cleanse our bloodstream. While we all have glutathione inside of us, as we get older and more toxic, the liver often secretes less of it. A coffee enema also helps the liver increase our glutathione levels, thereby stimulating a more efficient metabolism.

You administer a coffee enema very similarly to how you give yourself a regular enema. The major difference is that you cleanse yourself with organic coffee instead of organic vinegar or lemon juice. To prepare the solution, boil six to eight tablespoons of organic, ground coffee in approximately six cups of distilled water for no more than fifteen minutes. (
Note
: Decide how much coffee you're going to use based on how sensitive you are to caffeine. If you're very sensitive to caffeine, use four to six tablespoons; use eight tablespoons if you drink coffee often.) It is very important that you use distilled water; introducing tap-water toxins into your body just defeats the purpose of the enema. Spring water is better than tap water but not as pure as distilled. Allow the coffee to cool until it feels barely warm when you pour a few drops on the inside of your wrist. Carefully strain the solution to remove all the grounds. Unstrained coffee can clog up the tubing during the enema, causing a mocha mess. Pour the coffee solution into your enema bag, and then give yourself an enema, following the instructions described above.

Try to retain the coffee for five to fifteen minutes—but no more! If you retain coffee for too long, you may absorb too much caffeine and find yourself feeling wired and jittery. Don't worry whether you're a five-minute or fifteen-minute person; the point is to retain the coffee until you “gotta go, gotta go, gotta go, right now!” When you feel the urge, head to the bathroom. After you sit on the toilet, place your feet on a low bathroom stool, if you have
one, and really push the feces and coffee out. This is the only time I ever teach people to push when they have a bowel movement. When you push during a coffee enema, your gallbladder opens, giving you the opportunity to cleanse your liver and bile ducts.

If you're like most people, after a coffee enema you'll feel exuberant and vibrant. You may feel like you love everyone! During your detox, you'll feel best if you perform a coffee enema once a week. Do no more than three during the 21-day protocol.

Kidney Cleanse

Flushing out the kidneys speeds our detoxification process by improving our blood flow and helping to regulate blood pressure. Anyone who has a tendency to retain water can benefit from a mild kidney flush to help keep the body fluids in balance and eliminate fluid retention.

• 21-day detox:
  three kidney-cleanse drinks (one per week)
  
• 7-day detox:
  one kidney-cleanse drink
  
• 2-day detox:
  one kidney-cleanse drink
  

Black Cherry Kidney Flush.
I used to drink this right before my period to help keep my stomach flat and to help keep me regular. Juice two bunches of fresh parsley; add ¼ cup black cherry juice, ¼ cup distilled water, then 5 drops of goldenrod tincture. If the taste is too strong, use less parsley. Drink only half a cup at a time followed by a warm cup of marshmallow root tea.

Want-to-Have Treatments

Chi Machine

My retreaters' favorite exercise, the Chi machine, helps detox your body as you lie flat on your back resting, reading, talking on the phone, or watching TV. You relax with your feet in the machine and it gently swings them back and forth, as though you were a fish in motion. By improving the movement of Chi (Qi), the
Chinese term for life-force energy, the exercise improves circulation, increases oxygen in the body, improves digestion, improves colon peristalsis, soothes tired muscles, eases joint pain, and helps to eliminate toxins. Because it takes stress off their body while assisting them with weight loss, I especially enjoy this exercise for people who are really heavy or obese, older, or very sedentary. It should be done daily and for up to an hour. Do this
or
the Rebounder (www.mvdietdetox.com).

Detoxifying Bath

Once a week prepare yourself a detox bath to help eliminate toxins and acid through your skin. Add the following to hot bath water: 2 cups of baking soda, which will help neutralize the acids contained in the toxins; 2 cups of Epsom salts, which gives the water a higher ion content than the body, drawing fluids and, therefore, toxins out of the body; a few drops of an essential oil, such as lavender for relaxation or peppermint for energy, so you benefit from the aroma therapeutic properties of the oils.

Dry Skin Brushing

By brushing your skin with a natural-bristled brush, you can help slough off your skin's outer layers so it can breathe and detoxify better. But don't do it the same way you slough your skin in the shower with a colorful plastic scrunchie. Brush your skin when it's dry instead, since this is the most effective way to remove the pore-clogging dead skin. The only implement you'll need is a vegetable-fiber bristled brush (not a loofah sponge, a sea sponge that is used wet, not dry, as a vegetable brush is) with a long handle to help you reach those hard-to-reach places.

For fifteen minutes brush your body in a circular motion, starting with your feet. The idea is to brush hard enough for your skin to become warm, rosy, and glowing, indicators that the top layers of skin are sloughing off. Next, take a hot shower followed by a cold shower. The hot shower relaxes and opens the skin's pores allowing toxins to escape; when you cool the water down, it closes the pores back up.

Lymph Drainage Massage

Unlike other types of massage whose goal may be to relieve muscular tension, a lymph massage is a technique to increase the flow of lymph, the fluid in the lymphatic system, helping toxins to be downloaded faster. To stimulate flow without harming surrounding tissues, the masseuse's touch should be very gentle. Benefits of a lymph drainage massage include reduced puffiness and swelling, a stronger immune system, healthier-looking skin, and greater relaxation.

Rebounder

Jumping lightly on a trampoline is one of the best exercises for detoxing. If you do it at least three times a week, it is an excellent way to stimulate and detox your lymphatic system. Jumping up and down improves the flow of fluid between the cells, which is why jumping on the Rebounder is often called cellular exercise. As you jump, the fluid moves out of the lymphatic system, decreasing excess fluid (edema) in the body, causing weight loss. Rebounding also helps circulate oxygen in the body, stimulates metabolism, improves coordination, enhances digestion, and strengthens the immune system. To start, begin bouncing once a day for ten minutes then increase slowly up to thirty minutes. If you want to bounce more than once a day, start at three to five minutes and slowly increase to fifteen minutes. Even if you do one or two minutes a day, rebounding can provide many internal health benefits. You can do this
and
the Chi machine daily in place of walking.