All you need to know about detox, intermittent fasting and cleansing with Ayurvedic Expert and Detox Consultant Catherine Heartwood.
How did your journey begin, can you tell us a little bit? Because we know you have a very interesting story. You have not eaten anything for six weeks. Did you live only on water?
I've done this twice. Fasting for six weeks developed naturally. I studied psychology, but not just psychology and how the body affects the mind; I felt we needed to focus on mind-body-spirit integration. So, while writing my psychology thesis, I studied Eastern traditions. All this wealth of knowledge is much deeper than just dealing with the mind.
Was there really a difference after six weeks? What did you feel?
While I was fasting, I was on a beach in Hawaii in an extremely quiet place. It was a holistic experience rather than just fasting. It was silence in a place with no phone and no one around. I was with a girlfriend at the time, it was really great. My perception was very clear, my senses were very sharp.
Everyone has an opinion about detox, but I want to hear from you once again. What is poisoning us?
We live in a world with thousands of chemicals. Pesticides, GMO foods and heavy metals from burning coal, additives in our food… Processed foods contain many preservatives and antibiotics, if not all foods. All of these toxins affect our microbiome; can harm gut bacteria. Our microbiome is like a healthy soil for our existence. If we do not have a healthy soil, we cannot have a healthy body.
Some people think that detox is not good for everyone. What do you think about it?
First of all, I want to distinguish between detox and fasting. You can fast and detox at the same time. Or you can just detox without fasting. If we're talking about a pure detox, that doesn't mean you shouldn't eat. It means ingesting herbs, supplements and binders that will collect and remove toxins from our body. But in busy working life, fasting can be very difficult as our mind stops working. It may be good to fast for one to three days while detoxing. If you're in a place where you don't have to use your brain, you can go on longer. It would be great if your digestive system had a break of 24-36 hours. If you want to enter a deep regeneration, the break you really need is 72 hours. You can continue the detox even while eating. This is a way of how you can integrate detox into your daily life as a working person. We don't go out much right now, so it's a great time for intermittent fasting.
Fasting lasts 16 hours, right? What do you think about adopting it as a lifestyle? Is it healthy?
Yes, 16 hours. Intermittent fasting is very important as a lifestyle. When we fast, we allow all of our body's processes, our energy and enzymes, which are constantly focused on digesting food. Intermittent fasting removes cellular debris. When we do this deep cleaning, we are doing ourselves a huge favor. When we fast for 32 to 72 hours, we regenerate our stem cells.
Can we consume herbal supplements, water, nuts, fruit juice and vegetable soup with bone broth in intermittent fasting?
Herbs, juice, vegetable soups with bone broth or if you are vegetarian, vegetable soups without bone broth are very important for cleansing the body. Herbal nutrition has a great importance for cleansing the intestines and helps to remove toxins from the body as well as binders. The substances that collect toxins, keep them in balance and throw them out of the body are called "binders". When you don't fast, you release toxins and they come back into your body. Substances such as psyllium, bentonite clay, coal, citrus, pectin are examples of binders. Consuming these things is as important as fasting while detoxing.
Do you recommend everyone detox once or twice a year?
Of course. I recommend a weekly cleaning up to three times a year. But this frequency should be different for everyone. Some people have more toxins in their bodies. You can look in the mirror with your tongue out to see how many toxins are in your body. Do you have a white or yellowish coating on your tongue? Candida fungus forms a green layer on the tongue; the white layer indicates toxins. If you have too many toxins in your intestines, it can cause parasites or leaky gut syndrome in your body. If you want to detox, I suggest you first consult an expert who will give you a complete guide on what to do. When you provide all your personal information to the consultant, that specialist will give you information specific to your body in the light of this information.
Is it possible to do liver cleansing at home? Or do we need to go to a detox center for this?
The organ that cleans toxins is the liver. Therefore; drinking alcohol, smoking, living in a polluted city, consuming non-organic foods, breathing polluted air creates toxins in the blood; The liver collects these toxins and expels them using the bile duct. But you can do liver cleansing at home.
The purpose of liver cleansing is to remove toxins from our body. For a few days, we discharge all these toxins in the body by purifying them of fat and proteins and shock the body. Then we have to consume a large amount of fat to further shock the body and flush out all the toxins from the gallbladder. But before cleaning, I recommend reading all the pros and cons of this process.
Could it be a dangerous process for anyone?
It can be dangerous if the person has a gallstone problem. Most gallstones are soft. Therefore, they exit the bile duct quite easily. But if a person has a large calcified gallstone, it can be very painful to get rid of it because it is almost a meter long and 3-4 cm. must travel on a thick road. So let the people you trust do this cleaning.
When we have heavy metals in our bodies, it's quite popular to make activated carbon shots now. But it is also said that these drinks can harm all the beneficial bacteria in our intestines. Is this true?
Yup. That's why you should make sure you take your activated carbon shots at night or in the morning. If you consume it with meals, it will take the beneficial ingredients of the meal along with the harmful ones. Therefore, it is recommended to consume a small amount of activated carbon, for example half a teaspoon is enough.
What should we pay attention to about the water we drink?
The quality of the water is important. Most city waters contain chlorine and fluoride, which blocks thyroid receptor sites that affect all of our metabolic activity. These substances also harden the pineal gland. In London and many other cities, they recycle water because it is so precious. During the recycling process, many bacteria enter the water. Traces of cocaine, drugs and even hormones found in birth control pills have been found in London tap water.
How can we understand the quality of water? Is there any method for this?
We should invest in the filters in our house. There are many water filters on the market. I made a simple activated carbon filter to remove harmful substances. But you can get a very useful filter added to your kitchen sink and these products are really worth the investment.
Is it necessary to do “Colema” while detoxing?
Not required, but recommended. Because it is very important to work your intestines while detoxing. If you are constipated, the toxins cannot leave your body and are recycled. Therefore; Every day, preferably twice a day, first thing in the morning should be to go to the bathroom. If you are not going, you should consume some herbs that will take you to the toilet. Some herbs trigger you to go to the toilet, and these are called laxatives, which stimulate your digestive system. You can make a simple, clean and easy implant from these plants; this will probably get you to the toilet in half an hour. But it's very important to move your bowels while detoxing.
What are the benefits of coffee? Do you recommend drinking coffee?
If your nervous system is okay, drinking coffee isn't the worst thing in the world. Do not drink coffee if you are stressed, as coffee increases the stress on your body. If you are calm and need it, you can drink coffee during intermittent fasting; takes you to the toilet. Coffee contains caffeine; Therefore, it is not recommended to be consumed before bedtime. It is more beneficial to consume in the morning hours.
But you can also use coffee rectally as an implant. Because in this way, it is an important antioxidant to your body and cleanses the liver. glutathione you receive the item. The glutathione in coffee is mostly destroyed by stomach acid. If it is very well produced and resistant to stomach acids, you can take a glutathione supplement. But one of the best ways to supplement glutathione is with a coffee implant. With the implant, glutathione reaches the portal vein and liver directly from the hemorrhoidal veins without being exposed to stomach acid. It is very helpful to have N-acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) in your body while doing this. NAC; It increases the production of glutathione, selenium and choline, so having these substances in your diet while doing them is important for increasing the glutathione level. This implant does not cause diarrhea, it consists of only 80 ml of liquid. It can trigger bowel movements, but still glutathione is absorbed in the body. You can do it in "Colema" but it's a much more messy process; Implants that can be used at home are much more practical.
The views expressed in this article are written to shed light on alternative studies and to encourage conversation about these studies. Even if the articles contain the advice of physicians to some extent, they are for informational purposes only. This text; cannot replace professional medical advice, diagnosis and treatment.
Catherine Heartwood – Ayurvedic Specialist, Detox Consultant
Having studied psychology, Catherine Heartwood worked in various health and wellness centers and gained experience in areas such as massage, detox and Ayurveda. Heartwood continues to positively change the lives of many people with the consultancy services and courses it provides in various fields from aromatherapy massage to detox diet, weight loss and Ayurveda education at Living Wisdom.
