Seasonal cleanse
POSTED ON October 24, 2009
burdock and broth ingredients
Every year during the early spring and fall I like to spend a few days cleansing in preparation for the impending seasonal change. I love the clarity cleansing brings and enjoy shaking up my routine. Plus, a cleanse will help break any habits that have snuck into your diet.
I’ve tried all sorts of cleanses and fasts from all raw blended drinks, alkalizing broth fasts, and gall bladder flushes to liver cleanses and brown rice fasts. Some have left me feeling great, others cold and weak. Since the weather is cooler, I wanted something that would be cleansing but keep me warm. I asked my nutritionist and friend Paul Pitchford for some suggestions. He recommended steamed greens and vegetables, raw sauerkraut and broths with turmeric and seaweeds. I made this broth based on the alkaline broth that I make for a spring cleanse featured here and added burdock (for its strengthening and purifying properties) along with ginger, shitake and winter squash, it tasted rich, sweet and soothing.
No one cleanse is good for everyone and I am posting this as I feel it’s not to harsh or difficult to fit into a busy schedule and can be adapted to suit your needs. It will work for people who get cold easily as the broths and vegetables are eaten warm. If you are someone who feels hot often then a salad can replace some of the steamed vegetables.
Before starting any type of cleanse it’s best to stop drinking caffeine, transition to green tea first. Eliminate any concentrated sweeteners or refined grains and flour products. This cleanse can be done for 3 to 5 days. I think it’s good to give yourself a week, so you can prepare for a day or two and then ease back into regular meals again afterwards.
Stock up on herbal teas to drink throughout the day, I like the ginger tea by Yogi Tea and fennel tea or an herbal detox blend.
I also take a powdered green drink called Green Magma, made from organic dried barley grass, delicious and slightly sweet.
Start each day with a lemon drink to help cleanse the liver. The drink has whole leaf stevia, which sparks rejuvenation in the liver and cayenne to enhance blood circulation and help stimulate detoxification.
green leaf stevia and lemon drink
This is how your days look.
Morning
Lemon water, recipe below
Cleansing broth, recipe below
Noon
Steamed vegetables; e.g.kale, spinach and winter squash drizzled with a little flax oil and tamari. 1/4 cup raw sauerkraut
Afternoon
Cleansing broth
Fresh juice or Green Magma
Evening
Steamed vegetables; e.g. collard greens, chard and turnips drizzled with a little flax oil and tamari. 1/4 cup raw kimchi or sauerkraut.
Herbal tea
Incorporate at least half an hour of exercise into your day, like gentle yoga and/or walking.
cleansing broth
making broth
There are lots of nice things you can do to enhance your cleansing experience – some suggestions are:
Dry skin brushing, I recommend this the most and a great thing to do everyday.
Dr. Singha’s Mustard Bath or any purifying and soothing herbal bath you like.
Dr. Hauschka clay mask or other natural mask you like.
Lemon drink
juice of half a lemon
8 drops of whole leaf stevia, I use “Sweet Leaf”
pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup water, cool or warm.
Mix and drink on an empty stomach first thing in the morning.
Cleansing broth
1 large burdock root, about a foot long
2 large carrots, chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 cups diced winter squash, seeds and skin too
5 garlic cloves, peeled
3 stalks of celery with leaves, chopped
1 1/2 inches ginger, sliced
1/2 bunch parsley, leaves and stems chopped
3 dried shitake mushrooms
4-inch strip kombu seaweed
large pinch arame or wakame seaweed
1 tsp turmeric
filtered water, about 8 cups
Put all ingredients in a large pot, vegetables should be covered with about an inch of water. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 1 to 2 hours or until all the vegetables are very soft. Strain and drink warm. Store in jars in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Makes about 7 cups. I made it twice on a five-day cleanse.
POSTED IN cleanse, Gluten free
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It’s like you read my mind… Going to do a baby cleanse this week. Thanks for the info.
Thats great, let me know if you have any questions, there is so much to say about the topic and the post was getting so long!
Happy cleansing!
Hi Amy,
Tomorrow is the 21st March and the beginning of Spring. I’m going to do your “Seasonal Cleanse” for about 3 days. I’ll let you know how I go…..Love Jillian
Wow Amy, I did the cleanse for four days. It was so good and I’m feeling great. The only thing was that the flax oil made me feel slightly queasy, so I sprinkled rice wine vinegar on the vegetables instead – delicious! On the third day I managed a little flax oil as well. Can you tell me which grains you use to ease off the cleanse. I started with rice porridge, but I felt bloated afterwards!
Thank you. Love to you, Jillian
It is always hard introducing foods again…make sure your having raw sourkraut as you need the probiotics to help with digestion. SImple grains are usually the best, like brown rice (make sure your soaking it overnight and draining off the liquid before cooking) and only eat 1/2 a cup at a time. After a couple of days I introduce some beans for protien. Keep it simple for as long as you can!
You can continue with the lemon cayenne a few days a week for the rest of spring, great liver cleansing.
Thanks for writing!
Hi Amy, Ulrika from Copenhagen here. I have just discovered your blog – super inspirering!
I want to do a summer cleanse next week. Do you have any suggestions?
Hope ypu are well.
All the best,
Ulrika
On day 4 of the cleanse and I feel great. I don’t know how much weight I’ve lost, but I definately notice a difference. My skin complexion is so much brighter. No black circles under my eyes in the morning! Thank you so much for your help and support.
That looks soooo tasty, looks really light too. I like that there is 5 cloves of garlic, I love garlic! Gotta try this out
Love this cleanse, going to try it soon!
wow, going to try your seasonal change cleanse for 3 days, more if i can. Doing the lemon cayenne drink in the morning, really helps with digestion for the whole day. thanks, Jackie
We don’t have fresh burdock in my small town but we do have a couple of health food stores. Can I used dried burdock in substitute to fresh? And if so how much would I use? I got the cut which is used in teas.
Thank You
Grace
Yes dried burdock is fine, I have used it when I can’t get the fresh root. I would use 3 to 4 tablespoons.
Hope you enjoy yhe cleanse!
Amy.
Thank you for getting back to me, really appreciate it. In making your broth you said to add enough water to cover vegetables by a inch. Well it didn’t seen like enough water so I added more and I think I blew it very watery tasting. So I added more ginger, burdock, seaweed, turmeric and garlic cooked longer. Instead of straining I mix everything in my Vita Mix blender but now I don’t have broth I have soup. Is that OK or does it need to be broth? Too expensive to throw out!
I’m planning your cleanse for next week and wondered if there are any guidelines on what vegetables are appropriate/better or if any should be avoided during a cleanse? Thanks!
Hi Amy,
I have a similar question to that of Grace. Does it have to be just broth or can you use the vegetables purred with the broth? I wouldn’t want to just compost the vegetables.
Rosalia, Once you have simmered the begetables there are no nutrients left, so it’s best to strain, the idea is to have something that is very easy to digest.
Pureed soups are good too but I wouldn’t want to cook a pureed soup for so long.
Thank you! Also, can ground stevia be substituted for the drops of whole leaf. I usually drink a squeezed lemon with warm water in the morning but I don’t add anything. I was wondering if stevia is an important piece when doing the cleanse. What are your thoughts on wheat grass? I have done a lot of research on it. My husband and I grow our own. I value your opinion.
Stevia is a liver rejuvinative, so increases the cleansing action on the liver whilst doing the cleanse, but still worth doing it with out too. You could steep the leaves and make a tea and then add the lemon.
Thank you for your prompt response. My husband uses ground stevia root for tea. Does the ground stevia root have same properties as whole leaf stevia?
Hi Amy,
Just done the seasonal cleanse for the third year running. It’s so good and I’m recommending it to all who are interested in eating well and improving their health and well being.
Thank you for your inspiring and creative recipes and ideas.
Best wishes,
Jillian
Hi where can we find – burdock root in central florida…Who sells it fresh.
You could reach out to my friend Sofia at Fresh food underground, she’s based in Florida.
If not using dried burdock root is also fine.
Dear Amy
I am a big fan of your kitchen!! Since yesterday I do the seasonal cleanse (goal 5 days). Day 2 I feel really powered off, fatigue and head ache…is this “OK”? You recommend green collard Noon and Evening. Is there a amount I should keep? And the fresh juice in the afternoon…you mean fruit juice (which one?) I hope I can keep up until Friday 🙂 Best Nina
Hi Nina,
I can’t give cleansing advice. If you feel really weak and tired you should eat something more substantial that just steamed vegetables. Try adding some beans or whole grains or avocado to the steamed vegetables. THe amounts are up to you, I usually eat a big bowl for lunch and dinner and vary the vegetables. If you want to include a juice as well as the broth then I would suggest a vegetable juice or watermelon juice. When cleansing its important to rest as well.
Amy x