“A body cleanse is needed to prepare your body for fast metabolism. A cleanse is also a great source of live enzymes and an ideal combination of nutrients for your body. Commit yourself to a body cleanse in order to ‘reset’ your metabolic system and flush the impurities out of your system as explained in this article.” 

One of the biggest difficulties that crop up in renovating the metabolic system is to undo the years of damage that’s been done by eating the wrong foods, or by eating the right foods in the wrong amounts. It’s bad enough that we’ve eaten all sorts of junk food. But far more problematic is that we’ve allowed way too much of it to accumulate in our digestive system, particularly in the colon.

Throughout the years, our bodies have digested and assimilated hundreds of thousands of pounds of food. That’s truly amazing, isn’t it? Even more amazing—and of much greater importance—is that unless we have consumed the correct foods, our bodies probably have not digested everything completely, at least not yet!

At different stages of our lives, our bodies react in different ways to the food we eat.

• When we began life, our systems were, for the most part, clean and efficient.
• And in our early years our parents probably fed us foods that were somewhat wholesome and promoted good health.
• As we entered our teens, however, our hormones kicked in, our digestive system changed, and the foods we chose to eat also changed—probably for the worse!
• As we got to the end of our teenage years and reached early adulthood, our enzyme production changed.
• Now doesn’t it make sense that our eating habits should also have changed—for the better—to keep up with each of these various stages and changes that our body went through? Have yours? If you’re like most people, the answer is a resounding no!

The trouble is, our enzymatic systems changed but our eating patterns did not. The fast foods that our teenage metabolisms devoured are now clogging up our slower, adult metabolisms.

Keeping Pace

Each time our body goes through a change, no matter how big or small, the consistency and the concentration of the enzymes in our system also change. Changes in our external environment bring about changes in our internal world. A dramatic but easy-to-understand example of this process is as follows:

• Suppose you took two children, born at about the same time and same area, and both of healthy parents.
• Suppose, further, that you relegated one of them to life in a poor section of a third-world country. While the other grows up in the lap of luxury in a clean, healthful environment.
• Now I’d be willing to bet that if you took the well-off child to that third-world country to meet the impoverished one ten years later, the well-off child would become sick. Why would this happen?
• Well, the answer is simple. The child who was brought up in the healthful environment has never been subjected to the germs that he/she would have encountered in the impoverished country, while the less fortunate child has built up an immune system that allows him/her to literally digest the germs as they enter his/her body.

I use this drastic example to illustrate how changes in your environment can cause everything about your inner systems to undergo at least slight modification. This happens because the human body attempts to acclimate to its surroundings in order to survive. The same is true, though to a far lesser extent, in regard to changes in your:

• age,
• activity level,
• sleep patterns, etc.

Each one of these elements, if changed, would cause a slight modification in the production of enzymes in your system.

The Poisonous Result

When you regularly consume the wrong foods, certain undesirable “matter” tends to build up on the walls of your colon.

• If this matter continues to remain on the walls of your colon, it ferments.
• And the fermentation may cause odors to emanate from either the skin (such as the skin of the feet) or the mouth.
• In addition to the fermentation, this buildup of matter is the main cause of blockage in the bowels, which is even more serious.
• In the worst case, blockages can cause illness and, eventually, death.

According to William T. Tiller, N.D., president of the International Association for Colon Hydrotherapy, waste material accumulates in the colon, and then it breaks down and becomes toxic. Waste particles are “toxic,” in the sense that the body’s immune system recognize the waste particles as allergens. So an inflammatory allergic reaction occurs, often resulting in one or another of a variety of disorders.

To avoid having this happen to you, the Maximize Your Metabolism program is designed to gently remove these accumulated toxic wastes from your system.

As mentioned earlier, the longer this material is allowed to remain, the greater the buildup in the colon.

• This poisonous matter forms layers that are virtually “glued” to the walls of your digestive tract.
• The longer the layers are allowed to remain there, the more clogged the system becomes.
• Also, this coating of dead material may start making its way up your colon, where it can cause greater problems.

Constipation Provides An Important Clue

Fortunately, Mother Nature has a formidable warning system that sends out signals of imminent danger. As you might guess, that warning often comes in the form of constipation.

We’ve all experienced constipation at one time or another.

What does constipation do to you?

Abnormally infrequent bowel movements, or difficulty in eliminating dry, hardened feces from our system — this can over time lead to buildup of waste material in the colon and further clog your digestive system.

Although constipation is not a good thing, having constipation does not necessarily mean that we’re in danger of toxic poisoning. But there are many people who are constantly constipated or are plagued with frequent bouts of this condition. Those folks should pay particular attention to this article.

The Body Cleanse

The answer to this problem is a simple body cleanse in order to “clean house”—our digestive house, that is. Everyone should cleanse their entire digestive tract once a week to re-energize the digestive system.

This process will scrape away at the built-up matter and eventually flush all of it away. This allows the system to function as efficiently as that of a newborn.

The benefits that you can expect from this are abundant, including:

• better sleep patterns; sharper concentration and focus; much less stress; stronger muscle contractions; better absorption of nutrients into your muscles, organs, and bones; and much more energy.

The most important aspect of this cleansing process is that it restores that born-again purity to your digestive system. Thereby enabling it to maximize the metabolism-building features that will be introduced in the next stage of the Maximize Your Metabolism program.

The 24-Hour Full Body Cleanse

It’s a good idea to begin each body cleanse during the morning hours, with your first meal. The process itself couldn’t be easier:

• simply mix the juice of one lemon into a glass of plain, fresh (preferably distilled) water,
• and then drink this mixture,
• wait at least ten to thirty minutes before you consume anything else.

Think of the solution of lemon juice and water as a liquid Brillo pad, cleaning everything it touches on its way down. The overall cleansing process outlined in this article is done only once a week. But taking this morning drink of lemon water is something you can do every day of your life for a mild daily body cleanse of your digestive system.

Once you have drunk the lemon water and waited the requisite ten to thirty minutes, you may consume any vegetable you like, just as long as you juice it—but be sure to juice it yourself. (Bottled or canned juices are not allowed, since the processing removes many of the valuable vitamins and minerals.)

You may also prepare a vegetable soup by boiling pure water (no salt!) and adding fresh, raw vegetables.

Speaking of which, you should strive to buy the freshest, organic vegetables you can find. Organic vegetables have notably more vitamins and minerals. Plus you get the added benefit of consuming food (free from any chemical treatment).

Drink Plenty Of Water

In addition to the freshly juiced vegetables, and possibly a soup, you’ll be consuming a fair amount of water on the day of your body cleanse.

Calculate your required water intake as follows:

• drink at least one cup of water for every 14 pounds of body weight (during your cleanse).

If you weigh 150 pounds, for example, you are to consume about ten or eleven cups of water. (The day after you complete the cleansing process, you may resume your normal daily consumption of water.)

How much water should I drink based on weight?

About one cup of water for every 20 pounds of body weight.

Incidentally, when I refer to water, I mean pure water, not coffee, tea, flavored seltzer, iced tea, etc. In addition, no salt or salt products in the water you consume for your cleanse.

As stated earlier, distilled water would be best, as it contains no harmful chemicals or metals. Although distilled water literally contains almost none of the natural minerals found in well water, it is still a far better choice when it comes to cleaning out your system.

What Else Do You Get To Eat?

Just one additional thing. During the cleansing period, you may consume as many fresh, raw, organic vegetables as you wish.

Remember, the purpose of the cleanse phase of this program is to give your digestive system a long-needed rest and purify it for the next stage of the program.

Keep in mind that many, if not most, of the people who undergo this cleansing process have overburdened their digestive systems for years.

The all-American custom has been to eat whatever and whenever we want. It’s not uncommon for people to start the day by eating a “hearty” breakfast of, say, bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee. And sending their digestive systems through a living hell as a result. Another common practice, which is just as bad, consists of skipping breakfast entirely. This hinders people from getting the fuel their metabolism needs in the morning. The point here is that most people either start the day off by consuming the wrong foods or by depriving their bodies of food altogether.

Among other imprudent habits are big lunches full of all the wrong foods, snacking all afternoon long, a big dinner, and a full evening of nighttime “grazing” that often lasts right up until the time that the late-evening news comes on. People who engage in these sorts of bad habits cause their digestive systems to work overtime, getting virtually no rest at all during the “night shift” yet needing to be up and ready to go for around round of eating (most likely poor eating) the next day.

As you can imagine, most folks need to cleanse and recharge their digestive systems.

Recap Of What You Can Eat

On the day of the body cleanse, you can enjoy as many meals as you wish, as long as they consist of the following kinds of food:

• fresh vegetables and their juices;
• fresh vegetable soup;
• and fresh, clean, pure water

Nothing else should pass your lips during this portion of the program, things like aspirin and vitamins included. The only exception would be any drugs or other substances recommended by your personal physician or nutritionist.

Taking Prescription Drugs

If you must take prescription drugs on the day of the body cleanse, then first speak to your physician. You should consult your physician in regard to the advisability of going through the cleansing process.

Why the concern?

When you “fast” in this fashion, even for as little as twenty-four hours, any drugs you take could have a more pronounced effect on your system. Because there will be no solid food for the drugs to bind to. And no food in your system to protect your stomach lining from pharmaceuticals that may be too harsh for it. Many drugs, in fact, carry warnings about NOT ingesting them on an empty stomach.

Symptoms During the Cleanse

During the cleansing period, you may experience a slight headache or some muscle soreness or stiffness.

• This is a normal response of your body to the massive amount of dead matter accumulated in your bowels.
• The more hardened material there is, the greater your chances of experiencing one or more of these symptoms.

Should you experience any of these symptoms, the most likely cause is the loosening of this caked-on material and the process of preparing for its elimination.

• Shortly before the actual elimination occurs, the hardened matter takes on a more concentrated form in its attempt to survive.
• This makes the dead matter harder to eliminate, but it also signals its eventual breakup and elimination.
• Once the top layer of this built-up matter is eliminated, the layers below are quick to follow.

How Long Does This Process Take?

The total time that it will take to fully clean and eliminate this buildup varies from one individual to another.

Some people can clean out their entire system in one to three days.

Others have so much colonic “sludge”—for lack of a better term—that it takes them longer.

• If you fall into the latter category, my suggestion is to go through this “clean-sweep” process for three days straight.
• Then refrain from it for a week, and finally repeat the whole thing.
• Continue this cycle of cleansing and resting until you feel totally cleansed internally. And you feel physically lighter, more mentally alert, and more vibrant.

A sure sign that your body cleanse has worked is expulsion of an abnormally large amount of feces in a single bowel movement.

Another sign that the cleanse worked is having one bowel movement for each meal consumed in a single day. For example, if you eat four times on a given day, then you should “poop” about four times that day, usually within thirty to forty-five minutes after each meal. But don’t force a bowel movement, if it’s a struggle to “poop” that often and after each meal. You may need to body cleanse some more or give your body time to adjust to the new change.

Your body cleanse can last anywhere from one to three days. You may want to take a little longer than this on your first try—it’s really a matter of personal preference. I suggest going through this type of fast regularly, ideally once a week for a twenty-four hour period.

Other Benefits

Regardless of the time it takes for your initial body cleanse to produce the desired results, going through this cleansing process will become easier and easier in subsequent weeks and your system will become cleaner and healthier as times goes on.

You can benefit from a weekly or biweekly cleansing for the rest of your life. Since it provides a great source of live enzymes and an ideal combination of nutrients for your body and mind.

Any diet that you start without first properly cleansing your digestive system is destined to provide few, if any, of the many benefits that you deserve to reap from it.

**** In a later article on the Weight Loss Plan In 7 Days, we’ll mention the body cleanse again. But in it, we’ll combine the body cleanse with everything we’ll learn here (exercises, diet, visualization, etc.). So you have a step-by-step routine that you can start using for losing weight. ****

The Next Step

Now that your system has been swept clean of its impurities, we can begin the process of actually increasing your metabolism, and it all starts by changing the way you eat. >> Go To The Next Page (How To Burn Fat And Stay Thin)