Detox vs Depletion: an Ayurvedic take on the modern world of cleansing

A couple stories first that inspired this post...

A fellow Eastern medicine practitioner was telling me about someone close to him who decided to do the Master Cleanse and how he just kept his lips zipped though it was incredibly challenging. I sympathized and said that I had received an email from a client asking what I thought about her doing the MC because she had friend who did it who just looked great afterwards. My fellow practitioner asked how I responded... 

A young woman with a small frame and wearing lots of layers came up to me while I was offering Ayurvedic guidance at Sparc one day this winter saying she "was thinking about going raw"...after we talked she later introduced me to a friend and said "when I met Kate I told her I was thinking about going raw; Thank goodness I talked to her first!"

Lately the blogosphere is crazy with stories of folks doing juice cleanses and reporting that they feel "clear", "light", "awake" but also vulnerable/sensitive/emotional and often succumbing to illness of some sort afterwards. 

I realize this post might be a little controversial and I want to start off with the old Ayurvedic adage: "Nothing is good. Nothing is bad."....because it's all about who it's for, which is why I love Ayurveda so much in the first place. Everything in this world has a way of acting as a medicine AND a poison, it all depends on who it's for  and how it's used.

So keeping that in mind, one could say that all methods of cleansing could potentially be "good" just so long as they're used by the right person - and for the appropriate length of time. For clarity, I'm going to go through some of the most common types of cleansing below but first, the basic constitutional types so that you have a frame of reference for the doshas.

Imbalances of the Vata-type Cleanser: very low weight or potentially underweight, weight accumulates around waist/belly, anxiety, worry, feels easily overwhelmed, insomnia (waking in the night), lack of direction, dry skin, constipation (lack of daily bowel movement or small pebble-like poops), abdominal distention, bloating, gas, dislike of wind, often cold, PMS: cramps bloating fatigue, lack of menses. *and if you've had an eating disorder in the past, look no further.

Imabalances of the Pitta-type Cleanser: medium body fat, weight accumulates around thighs & hips, stress, perfectionist, critical, anger (repressed or quick to explode), insomnia (can't settle down at night), inflammatory skin conditions, acne, loose bowels, very smelly gas, generally runs hot, PMS: acne anger.

Imabalances of the Kapha-type Cleanser: plentiful body fat (can be overweight but not necessarily), weight accumulates evenly all over body, dullness of mind, lethargic, depressed, over-attachment to belongings/emotions/habits, wakes feeling sluggish even with 8-10 hours sleep, congestion-prone, can have constipation but due to stagnancy so will improve with exercise, PMS: breast tenderness water retention.

So now what's the right cleanse-medicine for you...

Sunshine & Water Cleanse

This is sometimes recommended in Ayurveda for true Kapha constitution individuals and only for a short amount of time. This is not something I would ever recommend to someone living in a city, who has a job and/or can't take absolute rest. Continue to juice cleansing for why...

Juice Cleansing

This is perhaps the most popular type of cleansing at present and for good reason. Juice cleansing can balance Pitta and Kapha all depending on what types of juice you use. Juice cleanses typically use lots of bitter and astringent greens both of which are balancing for Pitta and Kapha. Kapha needs ample spices to be sure it's digestive fires stay up like ginger, black pepper and cinnamon. Pitta can follow a juice cleanse for a day perhaps but without the strong fire of pitta being fed, it can blow out of proportion even more so than before. Don't believe me? Find a firey type who is doing a juice cleanse and see how "balanced" they stay before they want to rip someone's head off. Thinking "oh but that passes"? Scroll down to Signs of good cleansing below.

Now, Vata-types, I know that juice cleansing appeals to you because it just looks so simple. Like you wouldn't have to think about anything and you'd feel so "clean" and "clear". I know, and I hear you. But how about feeling grounded and calm so you can think clearly? How does that sound? "Cleansing" really isn't what Vata-types really need. In some ways they can cleanse their lives of things that are making their Vata worse like coffee, sugar, alcohol and eating unmindfully which for most will feel like a big "cleanse". What Vatas don't need is something that's going to strip them down and make their nervous system even more raw to the elements around them. They need to learn how to build a comforting home in their own bodies through nourishing rituals and meals so that they feel that they can better weather the storms of life. Vatas, darlings, scroll down to Kitchari Cleanse...

Raw Foods Cleanse

I love me some raw foods. Yes, that was my Pitta talking. Raw foods for a few days can be just what the doctor ordered for someone of strong Pitta constitution. Their blazing digestive fire can happily handle eating raw for a little while and the extra work required to digest raw foods can help bring that excess fire to balance. Kapha folk, meh, you could do this for a little while but ultimately you'll want to bring back those heating spices I mentioned in the juice cleanse section and hot teas or you'll never spark that fire that you need to get the spring back in your step and instead the food you eat will just sit in your belly and not feel like it's going anywhere anytime soon. Vatas, if you want to feel spacey, and more prone to fatigue, bloating and constipation, give this a try; in other words, please don't go there with the raw food diet.

Kitchari Cleanse

Ah, kitchari, the traditional dish of Ayurveda made of mung beans, rice, ghee and spices. Kitchari is the star of the Pancha Karma diet (if you don't count ghee). The Ayurvedic Cleansing that you see offered by myself and the majority of Ayurvedic Practitioners here in the west is an incredibly mild version of PK (if we can even say that) as PK should only be done under the keen supervision of a qualified practitioner and away from life (work, family, bad weather etc). Kitchari is balancing to all doshas provided it's done with appropriate portions/spices and for an appropriate time (not too long for vata). Kaphas do well with more beans and spices and less ghee and rice. Pittas do well with equal parts beans and rice, lots of cilantro, and some ghee & appropriate spices. Vatas do well with more rice, ghee and spices and less beans. Like the above cleanse methods, a kitchari cleanse follows the Signs of good/bad cleansing too. Some of the many great things about kitchari: 

• It's a complete protein which means you can eat it and still have energy for a full day of work/life
• It's incredibly easy to digest. So long as the spices are right, no one has any belly/GI trouble after eating this. 
• It soothes the nervous system without bogging it down. Kitchari because it's so easy to digest remove any stress from digestion allowing the body's tissues to detox what they don't need and take the nutrients they do. 
• Kitchari heals with it's amazing spices like cumin, coriander and fennel. 
• Mung beans have been used for centuries to detox the body. 

Does a Kitchari Cleanse sound right for you? Then check out the dates of my group cleanses on the left column or email me to plan your own: yoginikate@gmail.com

Whole Foods "Cleanse"

For some this is perfect. This diet will suit all doshas though might not be the best medicine for Pitta and Kapha. Giving your body a break from all processed or refined foods, stimulants and depressants can be huge! The better your digestion can function, the better your body can eliminate the toxins you naturally come into contact with. If your week typically includes more days with than without coffee, alcohol, refined sugar, baked goods, or processed meats then this could be the perfect place for you to start. If you're considering one of the other cleanses it's wise to include a few days of this Whole Foods diet on the start and end to avoid any boomerang-effect that brings you back into your old less healthy habits/crutches. 

What To Look For While Cleansing

Signs of good cleansing:

• improved sleep
• improved energy 
• feeling less sluggish in the morning
• clear lustrous skin
• improved digestion (happy belly)
• sattvic (peaceful) mind
• grounded clear thinking
• increased comfort in your body

Signs that it's not the right cleanse for you or that you were doing the right one but for too long: 

Excessive cleansing leads to depletion of ojas and increase of Vata so you'll start looking more like the Vata-type Cleanser if you cleanse for too long or too strongly. 

• increased aggression, anxiety, lethargy
• feeling "spacey"
• feeling cold
• waking in the night
• bloating
• constipation
• loss of appetite
• deep fatigue
• sustained acheyness and/or popping joints

If you're giving up the famous dietary crutches (caffeine, alcohol, sugar, meat) there are often a few days of the less fun detox with some headaches, body aches etc. It varies completely from person to person often having little correlation with how much of the crutch foods they were using. If in two or three days these detox symptoms haven't cleared up and you're not feeling more of the good cleansing signs, then adjustments need to be made.

I hope this post helps shed some light on what method of cleansing would best suit your current state of health. If you're looking to learn more about what fits you, you can always book a consultation with me over the phone or in person by emailing me at yoginikate@gmail.com.

If you're considering a cleanse of any kind it is always a good idea to consult your health practitioner first.

Still wondering about the Master Cleanse...ok, here was my response to my client. I know there are people out there that swear by it. This is just my perspective using the lens of Ayurveda:
The Master Cleanse imbalances all doshas and I personally have never seen anyone who lost weight from it manage to keep it off.  It's such an extreme "cleanse" (really starvation diet) that people tend to swing back the opposite direction into overeating or eating (or drinking) really poorly just as easily. It combines two ideas that don't go well together: spiking the digestive fire (through the cayenne lemon drink) and not eating. The worst thing you can do to encourage inflammation is to build a fire that's not fed. Then vata gets distorted & bloating and constipation can result and then once you do eat, kapha comes in to retain all the fat and calories it can because it was so deprived.  I find that extreme cleanses like the Master Cleanse often attract people who have histories of disordered eating because there's a history of wanting to eat in an extreme fashion - all or nothing - and that's not going to change the underlying patterns that aren't serving them.