Today was kind of an interesting day for me.
These past few weeks, the change of pace from cooking to health at NGI has really forced me to think about some of my beliefs regarding food and medicine.Today’s class on cleansing and detoxing definitely did that, which I think was a good thing. I didn’t agree with everything the chef taught, but I feel more comfortable with my opinion now that I’m really educated about it. ”Cleansing” or “detoxing” has become somewhat of a hot trend over the last few years, especially since celebrities have become as crazy-thin as supermodels. Remember when Beyonce lost a ton of weight for Dreamgirls doing the cayenne-lemon water Master Cleanse? Or how Gwyneth Paltrow always seems to be pushing the extremes of detox diets?
Our class made a bunch of “detox” drinks, from the popular- like the Master Cleanse and fruit juices- to the obscure, like a flax drink and a liver cleanser with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil.
I tried each of them, and was actually really pleasantly surprised by how delicious and refreshing it was. I actually think I could do the Master Cleanse for a few days, the whole not-eating thing aside. It’s unique and flavorful enough to not get bored of…I actually think it would be really good mixed with vodka. Just sayin’.
My other favorites were the fresh juices.
I’ve had juices before, but usually in combinations and not just straight-up flavors. We had a delicious green apple, a smooth, sweet carrot juice, a deeply colored beet juice and a really refreshing watermelon juice, which used the entire watermelon, rind included!
Other concoctions included a simple chicken stock and vegetable soup, an apricot puree, an amaranth porridge and a detox tea made with licorice, peppermint and burdock root.
The lecture portion of the class focused on the main organs in our gut, what other body parts Chinese medicine correlates them with, and foods or activities that could help or hinder their function. For instance, did you know that malfunctioning kidneys are associated with ringing ears and hair loss, and that birth control pills are said to interfere with the function of the small intestine? I don’t quite believe some of the extreme connections (for instance, I think that sometimes you just get sick or are genetically predisposed to certain conditions, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the function of an organ or your diet), but it’s definitely fascinating to learn about the connections between different body parts. For instance, the fact that I’m usually a pretty cold person proves some insight into why I love hot, spicy foods, which I never would have thought about but kind of makes sense.
My favorite part of the class, though, was probably listening to my classmates’ experiences with cleanses. I’ve always been pretty anti-cleanse (basically, I think that your body is meant to use its functions and that if you eat a mostly clean, whole-foods diet you don’t really have anything to “detox” from. Plus, I can’t imagine not eating for three or more days), but I respect the fact that everyone’s body and mentality is different. I’d say most of my classmates have experimented with a cleanse at some point or another, and they had mixed experiences with it according to their varied constitutions- some thrived on juice fasts, for example, while others felt lightheaded and nauseous from all the natural sugars.
More and more, I feel like NGI has been a real eye-opener in terms of the differences in people’s bodies and beliefs. Most people tend to grow up surrounded by people who share similar views on food and health, and even in the blogworld I feel like there’s a fairly prevalent group mentality: “Ignoring a craving is always wrong!” “Oatmeal with peanut butter is the most perfect breakfast on earth!” (I’m not bashing those points of view at all…heck, I know I’ve said them before.) It’s just interesting to see so many well-informed points of view collide at NGI, and sometimes it’s forced me to step outside my comfort zone and be confident about the choices I make. At the end of the day, I eat the way I do for me, not for anyone else.
Well, that ended up being far more of a brain dump than I anticipated. I’m off to go pack- off to San Francisco for the Foodbuzz Festival tomorrow. Wheeeeeee!!
What’s your point of view on cleanses and detoxes? Have you ever tried one? Would you?
