OUR BODIES ARE RIPE FOR A SPRING CLEANSE. HERE'S A GENTLE, EFFECTIVE, SANE PROTOCOL:

Supporting the body to cleanse, balance, and strengthen. Spring and Fall are good seasons to consider a cleanse for your body, and this cleanse can be initiated anytime of year for more optimal functioning and well-being. The protocol is outlined below.

This is a simplification of our diet for a day to a week or more, rather than a, 'fast'. There are (3) components of this cleanse:
1. Yin-Yang Water throughout the day, and especially first thing in the AM consume at least a pint to a quart or more based on thirst level. To make take a cup of cold water and a cup of hot water, mix and drink.
2/ Congee, "Jook", aka. "Zhou" for our purposes use non-glutenous long grain rice, and keep it simple and bland, non-salty.
3/ Steamed Brassica Vegetables for meals. Some of the most common brassicas include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, swedes, and turnips. Less familiar brassicas include broccoli raab, collards, cress, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, and bok choy. If you feel the need for more protein and fat, you could add small amounts of almonds and walnuts. Almonds are preferential for our purposes to, 'cleanse' the body as they support the descending of stool through and out the intestines, or in the vernacular of Classical Chinese Medicine, "Almonds stimulate the descending function of the valley qi" (valley in this case is the alimentary canal).

Another recipe to support overall functioning, enhance cleansing, and help the body regulate and balance is a tea to support the Five Phases during the cleanse. This is particularly important if you don't eat the steamed veggies and congee. One good combination is SMALL amounts of each of the following:

Lemon - (wood), or Cornus Fruit - Shan Zhu Yu - if there is Liver blood vacuity.
Hawthorne Berry - Shanzha - (fire)
Gancao - Licorice Root** - (earth)
Fresh Ginger Root - (metal)
Maple syrup - (water)

If you really want to enhance the "cleanse," you can take a small amount of Zhi Zhu Wan with Zhishi in a 2:1 ratio with Baizhu, perhaps 1-2 qian of Zhishi and half as much Baizhu. I would do this with the "cleanse" as outlined above. These herbs come pre-cooked, and are re-hydrated with a little warm water, then drunk. They can be ordered thru my office.

Cleanses work best if you are committed to MAINTAINING the cleansing that you are doing during and active, intentional cleanse. Cleanses are somewhat taxing for the Digestive function (spleen qi), and I'm definitely not in favor of them unless you are willing to substantially clean up your habits after coming off the cleanse. Otherwise, they tax the digestion and then re-expose it to your usual excesses. That is actually worse than just maintaining your usual excesses, unless you are fairly robust. While most people focus on removing the PHYSICAL material from their intestines (and possible liver), we understand that the point of a cleanse is to re-set the intrinsic wei qi mechanisms of digestion. Cleaning out the material without commitment to allowing the digestive process to transform is not helpful, and actually becomes more weakening.

 Making a quart jar of the, "five phase tea" to sip on through each day of the cleanse is a great plan. For that use I would suggest about 9-12 grams of each of the solid herbs. For most people, I would use fresh ginger root (shengjiang) available from the grocery store, because we don't generally want to artificially stimulate the Kidney/Adernal system (yuan qi) during a cleanse with the dried ginger root. The cleansing process itself does facilitate the Kidney/Adrenal system (yuan qi), and I think we want to leave the Homeostatic Mechanisms (embodied spirit - Shen Jing) to find its way during this process. The lemon and maple syrup are added after decanting or straining the decoction. The decoction is made by adding 1.25-1.5 quarts of water to a saucepan; preferrably non-metalic, adding the 9-12 grams of the dried herbs (hawthorne Berry, ginger root, licorice root), and simmering the herbs for 20-30 minutes. For a quart sized amount of the tea, add 1/2 of a large lemon or a whole medium one. You don't want the maple syrup to actually make this drink sweet, though the Licorice (gancao) will do that a little. Add only about a tablespoon of maple syrup for the quart. This drink should be pretty mild.

In the CCM's view the maple tree resonates with the functioning and energetics of the Kidneys (water phase). The syrup comes from the sap, which is the "life blood" of the tree, so we are using it here to support the Kidney (water) rather than for its sweetness to stimulate the Digestive/Pancreatic Functioning (spleen). This is definitely not a rigid recipe. For instance, lemon for the Liver/Gall Bladder (wood) addresses, "liver fire", while switching to Shan Zhu Yu (Cornus Fruit), for instance, would be more suitable for people with liver blood deficiency, because it will astringe their qi to hold liver blood during the fast. One could consider using both, with the Lemon at the beginning phase of the cleanse and Shan Zhu Yu at the end.

The Zhi Zhu San Chinese Herbal Formula can be used at a dose of 1-2 grams/day of the granuled extract for supporting a gentle cleanse of the body through the Large Intestine which one of the main ways to support Liver Detoxification. The above dose can be devided into 2-3 doses.

Doing a cleanse like this has many benefits if performed properly. The least of these is its diagnostic value. If your apparent weakness comes from primarily from stagnation in your system, then there may be substantial heat liberated by the fast that will be released as those stagnations, 'open' up. Therefore, if possible, it's a good idea to give yourself more room in your schedule for resting during the cleanse period.

I can make the herbs available to you through my clinic, and will be taking orders for enough of the herbs for one week. If  you would like to include the herbs in your cleanse please contact my office and put in your order. Please let me know if you would like herbs for the Five Phase Tea AND/OR the herbal formula Zhi Zhu San.

Happy Healing!

Bill Wright, L.Ac.

**Note: high dosages of licorice root (3,000 milligrams of a powdered extract or more than 100 milligrams of the constituent glycyrrhizin) taken over many days can have effects similar to the hormone aldosterone. These include sodium and water retention, and potassium loss, which can lead to high blood pressure. Historically, herbalists have used this root in formulas for thousands of years. The trick is to use it in small amounts such as what is used in the, "five phase tea". Also note, if you're concerned about high blood pressure, it's a good idea to increase potassium rich foods and decrease sodium-containing foods.