Here in Australia, winter is behind us and Spring has finally arrived. Despite the warmer temperatures and budding blooms, you might also be feeling this shift internally, as well. We’re discussing the best ways to cleanse with the new season and detox from the more stagnant months. Find out how to stay healthy, vibrant, and energized with Spring.
For those of you who are heading into Fall and Winter, details for your season change can be found in this article.
In Spring, your mood may feel brighter, your digestion faster, and you find yourself craving foods you haven’t in quite some time. It’s only natural. With the shifts of the seasons, we change too, and Spring, especially, has a new vibrant and dramatic energy that kicks us into gear and gets us moving after the more static Winter season. However, Spring is also a transitional and dynamic season, known for its lion/lamb shifts in temperature and climate. Despite the warming temperatures and green surroundings, Spring is also a time that many find themselves under the weather with colds and seasonal allergies. Go with the flow, so to speak, and eat what Nature provides, and you’ll likely find yourself in good health.
Here are are 7 tips to detox from a dormant season and keep from getting sick:
1. Support with Young Sprouts
You may already be feeling like eating more raw, fresh, and light foods. Hone these cravings even more by filling your plate with young sprouts, shoots, greens, wheat grass, and fresh herbs. Greens are excellent for your liver, the organ associated with the season Spring. Young grasses and sprouts also contain more nutrients than their mature counterparts. Juice them, throw them into your smoothies and salads for energy, glowing skin, and a happy liver.
2. Brighten Up with Sour Flavor
Sour is the flavor associated with the liver according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Helping to contract and purge toxins from the liver, this flavor is highlighted in vinegars, brines, and fermented foods. Start the day with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to help cleanse your liver, or add raw fermented kimchi or other fermented vegetables to your meals.
3. Get Up and Move
Winter tends to create a feeling of needing to hibernate, turn inwards, and be comforted by one’s surroundings. Spring is a time to open back up, go outside, and be more active. In fact, movement is essential to get your lymphatic system moving, cleansing out stagnant energy and toxins you may be storing.
4. Wake Up with Lemon Water
Like apple cider vinegar, lemon water also helps to support and flush your liver, get digestion moving, and alkalize the body. Upon waking, prepare warm water with about 1/2 a lemon, squeezed. Don’t eat or drink anything else for about 20 minutes to allow for the lemon water’s full effects.
5. Boost with Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll, or the molecule that gives plant matter its green pigment and traps the sunlight’s energy, is also quite nourishing. It is full of vitamins and minerals, including iron. It’s oxygenating to the blood, supports wound healing, hormonal balance and helps to detoxify the body. Add green as well as a chlorophyll liquid supplement to your diet for a boost in energy and immune support.
6. Herbal Remedies
Spring is all about supporting your liver function, and beside diet and lifestyle, an easy way to do this is with liver-supporting herbs. Milk thistle, dandelion root and greens, licorice, and nettles are all wonderful for gently cleansing the liver. Nettles are also especially helpful in combating seasonal allergies. Find them in tinctured form, teas, or supplements, and be sure to ask your doctor about any interactions with medications or health issues.
7. Fatty Foods
By this point we know health is cultivated not only be what we do do, but by what we don’t consume or practice, as well. Going back to our liver function – fatty, fried foods contain toxic carcinogenic rancid fats that are hard on your body and hard for your liver to process. If you are noticing that your energy is less than ideal, your skin is lack-luster or breaking out, or you are experiencing seasonal allergies, it may be a good time to cut back and switch to purer, easier to digest foods. Focus on what’s in season, stock up on greens, vegetable juices, and plant-based meals.