Cleansing

According to Ayurvedic doctors, internal cleansing is an essential step in getting toxins out of the body. Liver and intestinal cleansing periodically is essential. Please do not do a cleanse if you have a weak liver or colon. It is best to consult your physician if you have any health conditions before starting a cleanse.

 

Daily Routine

By Amber Vitse, Ayurvedic Practitioner
(Editor’s Note: If you do not know your constitution, also known as your Dosha, take the test by clicking here).

  • Wake before 7am, sleep before 10pm. If awake between 3 and 6, this is the best time to meditate
  • Use a body brush or loofah to exfoliate your skin
  • Implement Abyangha—self massage with oils. Use a moderate amount of Cooling oil (click here on Abyangha instruction if needed)
  • Step into lukewarm bath or gentle shower. Pat dry with soft towels, apply more oil if weather is especially dry cleanse the mouth and teeth with mild paste, mint helps
  • Engage in team sports to promote cooperation, or hiking to enjoy nature. Avoid saunas, steam rooms, sunbathing, and hot tubs.
  • Dress in colors that mitigate Pitta and promote meditation: blues and greens
  • If it is difficult for you to breakfast early, try starting with a liver flush: juice of one lemon or lime, 1 tbs. Olive Oil, ½ apple or pear, blend and drink.

Taking your herbs

Triphala

A Pitta dominant individual tends to have looser, more frequent stools, thus Triphala is used only to temper the intestinal activity. Try 1 capsule with each day. If, during the cleanse as your body is adapting, your bowel movements become slower, you can increase to 2 capsules per day. If you are skipping days, not having bowel movements, Triphala can be used at night before bed as well: 2 capsules at once with warmed rice or soy milk or room temperature water. Drink plenty of fluids—water or herbal tea. Do not start the liver cleansers if your bowels are not moving regularly. Remain on the Triphala throughout the cleanse if you continue to have difficulties with sluggish bowels, hard feces or difficult movements, or skipping days.

Phyllanthus

Start with 1 capsule at night with fennel, mint, or coriander tea. Then add 1 capsule in the morning with the same tea. This can be taken along with the liver flush described above. If feeling well, increase to 2 at night, then 2 in the morning as well. This should be sufficient for most. If you are a sensitive person, keep the dose lower, or keep it to once a day. Taking it at night allows it to facilitate liver cleansing while you are sleeping—when the liver does most of its work and the body is fasting. After 2 weeks, move on to the Picrorrhiza.

Picrorrhiza

Start in the same way, but take it as a food. Use the same tea, or combination, add a bit of sweetener. These carry it into the tissues. This herb is a protector and rebuilder of liver tissue. You can work up to taking 1-2 capsules with each of 3 meals per day. Do this for 2 weeks, or continue for a month if you’d like.

Foods during a cleanse

Do not fast if underweight. Kichadi or Kichari is your best cleansing food while remaining nourished—Blend of White Basmati Rice for Pitta, Mung Bean, and spices. For recipe click here.

 Coconut (especially milky ones) or coconut milk, pomegranate, sweet cherries, grapes, mangoes, melons, pears, fresh dates and figs, sweet pineapple, sweet plums. Avoid sour or unripened fruits. There aren’t many seasonal fruits for most of us in the springtime. Reconstituting some dried fruits in water for a few hours will give you some nutritious snack options. Coconut, figs, raisins, prunes, apples, and pears are good pitta choices; and Mexican avocados may still be available to you.

Well steamed: Asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, green beans, peas, steamed sweet onions like vidalias, sweet potatoes, turnips, and zucchini. Avoid especially orange or red colored vegetables. Unfortunately, tomatoes aren’t the best for you right now. In the spring go for the new bitter greens like dandelion, chard, arugula, kale, chicory, etc. Then use fresh new asparagus for steaming, or peas, green beans, and sprouts as they become available. Mixed baby greens are good raw options this time of year.

For the astringent taste, use whole grain buckwheat, oats, and white rice, avoiding gluten-containing grains and corn during the cleanse.

If you must have animal flesh, try freshwater fish and mild poultry or waterfowl.

Dairy is usually approved for Pitta, but not so much while cleansing. Ghee, rice milk, and soy milk are options, though soy is not right for everyone!

Also astringent, all legumes or beans are good for you right now except for lentils, especially red ones.

Ghee is the optimum for oleation of tissues for cleansing. Use plenty! Coconut oil is also good for pitta and for oiling the head and body.

Coconut, sunflower seed, and lotus seed are appropriate nuts; all the others can be too heating. If they are a main source of protein for you, sprout them first by soaking overnight in water then laying out to sprout 1-2 days.

Use sweeteners sparingly, but try rice syrup, agave nectar, and stevia (the bitter aftertaste helps Pitta).

Warmed rice or soy milk, herbal teas