What is tissue cleansing?
Tissue cleansing uses a combination of juice feasting, nutritionally relevant detoxification support, bulking and toxin binding agents with bowel, liver and kidney flushing methods.
Unlike intermittent fasting, we saw last month, the objective here is not so much to activate the various survival mechanisms that lead to muscle growth and fat burning but rather to switch off the survival part of the nervous system and the demands on the digestive system thus making the way and diverting energy towards repair and self-healing.
Detoxification is a process that takes place at every second of every day but stress, environment and lifestyle can have a detrimental effect leading to toxins accumulating and backing up down the line (oxidative stress). The short term effects are fatigue and poor general health, the long term effects are metabolic diseases, heart diseases and cancers. There is very little doubt now-days that those so called “disease of the western world” are, at least in part, linked to an inability to process the phenomenal amount of toxin we are, often unwittingly, exposed to.
The importance of keeping nutrients high during tissue cleansing
Although referred to as a “fast” tissue cleansing is more concerned with flooding the body with the necessary nutrients for detoxification than with depriving it. Detoxification is a process that requires a lot of nutrients particularly anti-oxidants to mop-up the free-radicals that are released as a by-products. This is to avoid further damage from the detoxification process itself (something that would definitely be counter-productive).
To that effect it is recommended to drink a lot of antioxidant rich (vegetable) juices and even supplement with additional antioxidants,
Why is flushing out a key element in tissue cleansing?
The four excretory routes of detoxification the body can use are the skin, the bowel, the liver and the kidneys. In order to eliminate fully toxins need to be able to move freely out of those particular channels. Keeping them clean, open and stimulated is essential to avoid build up and re-absorption. Colonic irrigation, liver/gall bladder flushing, skin brushing and plenty of (kidney enhancing) fluids are essential elements of tissue cleansing.
How long should tissue cleansing last
It takes between 24 and 48 hours (depending on the individual) for the Gastro-intestinal track (bowel from mouth to anus) to fully empty, even with the assistance of bowel flush or colonic irrigation. 
The minimum a tissue cleanse can last therefore is 72 hours. This will make it possible to “flood” the bowel (and therefor the cells/tissues) with the infusion of nutrients that comes from the juices and other supportive adjuncts.
The maximum a tissue cleanse should last is 7 days after which time it is usually agreed that the body becomes used to the new regime and stops responding with as much focus on detoxification (although the associated fat loss will continue to release toxins normally stored in fat). It is best to re-introduce some foods for a week or two before going back to the tissue cleanse routine if looking to go deeper. It is also important to take a break from bowel flushing to establish a healthy stock of friendly bacteria and symbiotic organisms.
Most people feel that one or two episodes of seven days each per year is enough to improve or/and maintain health.
In the next newsletter we will discuss ways of supporting the function of detoxification thus sustaining the benefits of tissue cleansing.
