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Cleanse Day Fourteen

Cleanse Day 14: Just One More Day

I took my last 4 Tablespoons of ghee this morning. Ahh, how wonderful, I do not have to have ghee until the next time that I do this 😀
Dreading the fact that I will be taking castor oil this evening, for the third time. My stomach is in knots and my gag reflex is active at the thought of chocking down more oil. Blech!

It occurred to me today that I have not written about the herbal components of this cleanse. We change the diet for 2-6 weeks and during that time we use herbal support. There are herbs that we take before we eat and herbs that we take after we eat. Below I talk about the pre-meal herbs and tomorrow’s post will include the post-meal herbs. This information is intended to inform but should not be taken as medicinal advice. If you decide to take any other herbs, you knowingly do so at your own risk. Now that I have said that, may I suggest that you see a Licensed Ayurvedic Consultant/Practitioner (L.A.C.).

Digests:
As a part of this cleanse, we are resetting the digestive system. To do that, we must put things in that are easy to digest, but also support the whole digestive tract with herbs that enable proper digestion. Everyone takes a digest four times a day, first thing in the morning and prior to every meal. There are a number of factors in determining which digest to take.

  1. Your constitution, otherwise known as your Prakriti. This is your tendencies of physical and emotional qualities. It is important to have an awareness of how your body interacts with your internal and external worlds. There are a number of tests for determining your constitution, but Banyan Botanicals has a nice one.
  2. Your current imbalance. We all experience imbalance and your Vikriti is current imbalance.
  3. The season. Right now we are in the kapha season, or spring run off. There is a tendency to have a high amount of mucous. For this reason most people during the spring cleanse will take kapha digest (ginger, black pepper and red pepper).

I started this cleanse out taking the kapha digest as I had some mucous present and found it helpful during the fall cleanse. After a week, I had to stop taking it and switch to pitta digest (Guduchi, Amalaki fruit, Cumin seed, Coriander, Fennel, Ajamoda, Licorice, Cardamom, and Cinnamon bark). Pitta is my prakriti. I tend towards a lot of heat and have to be careful taking anything that might make me overheat, which tends to show up as a migraine or high blood pressure.

gurmarGurmar / Gymnema sylvestre / Sugar Destroyer:
This herb is used to increase insulin production in the pancreas. It helps to regulate glucose levels in the blood as well as cravings for sweet foods¹ and it helps to reduce excessive appetite².
Here is what Dr. Douillard has to say about Gumar:

“Gymnema sylvestre, which is in the Sugar Destroyer formula, dulls the ability of the taste buds to recognize the sweet taste, which may naturally decrease the desire for sweets. It also dulls the intestinal tract from absorbing simple sugars, which may encourage the body to use fat instead of sugar as a fuel supply. Sugar Destroyer also supports pancreatic health.³

This is one herb that I have really enjoyed taking. I have found that it cuts down on all cravings. It helps me to not want to snack during the day and it helps me to from 6pm to 9am without needing to eat anything.

¹Pole, Sebastian. Ayurvedic Medicine: The Principles of Traditional Practice. Elsevier Ltd, Philadelphia: 2006. Page 193.
²Brala. Hagen. Effects of sweetness perception and caloric value of a preload on short term intake. Physiol Behav. 1983 Jan;30(1):1-9.
³http://store.lifespa.com/sugar_destroyer.html

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