Fall: The Perfect-O Time to Cleanse

This past year, I've had the pleasure and delight to follow the seasonal cleanses created by nutritionist Andrea Nakayama and live food chef Andrea Caplan Livingston.  I have been doing cleanses with myself and clients for years, but their cleanses really take the cake in the form of kale, super foods, and other deliciousness.  


Cleanses, in general  are a chance to give the body a well-needed rest.  By making the decision to not eat allergens and inflammatory foods (such as wheat, dairy, nightshades, sugar, and caffeine), the body has a chance to step out of "fight or flight" mode and focus on doing essential organ repair work.

I’m a fan of doing cleanses.  What can I say?  I love my liver and I will do just about anything to make that funky organ do it’s very important job of shlepping the waste out of my bloodstream.  In this world and in these times, I know that my liver needs all the love it can get.  So I am not just willing, but eager to do 1-3 weeks of clean living in exchange for 49 of potential debauchery.  And for many many years, that willingness to do whatever needs to be done has led me to some pretty drastic stuff.

Drink clay?  I’m there.  Drink olive oil?  Check.  Subsist on nothing but vegetable juice, lemon juice or water for 3 weeks?  I’m in!  Do daily enemas or colonics?  Yes!  The only thing that I have drawn the line at is drinking my morning pee, but c’mon that’s kinda gross.

If you know Andrea and Andrea, you know that their individual and collective sparkle are enough to inspire anyone to cleanse.  That said, I was a bit skeptical about doing my first cleanse with them in the winter.  Winter is the season for eating richer heavier foods and I couldn’t imagine what cleansing would be like.  I wasn’t sure that I was ready to face the typical hunger pains and annoyance over food restriction that comes with doing cleanses.  

Even my four year old son is wild about the recipes!

Well, people, you can only imagine my sheer delight and exuberance when I realized that doing a cleanse could be darn right tasty;  Foods to look forward to eating that make you feel good;  Foods that even anti-cleansers would like. Clay and dirt?  Nowhere to be found on the shopping list, (and it turns out they’re completely unnecessary).  And to top it off, I felt like there was an overabundance of food!  I learned after day 3 to cut the recipes in half.

Andrea and Andrea take the best of what the season’s bounty has to offer while at the same time honoring what each season brings to healing the body.  The result is that you are not only eating food that’s fresh and alive, but you are also doing essential repair work on specific organs. Winter is the time of the kidneys, adrenal and lymph system;  Spring the liver; Summer the heart and small intestines; and Fall the large intestine and lungs. 

It is such a treat to make and eat the yummy foods from the recipes that Andrea Livingston creates that it’s easy to forget that you are  actually on a cleanse.  Last Winter I cleansed myself with yummy coconut squash soup, collard wraps and delectable juices . In the Spring the ante was upped as we took on the liver via veggie juice, smoothies, and savory soups.  In the Summer we delighted in the bounty of fresh berries, juices, smoothies and salads. 

The result of cleanses is a sense of renewal, energy, and well-being.  As an added bonus, I have been able to kick my sugar and caffeine habit to the curb.  (Who needs fake energy when you can sustain yourself on the real thing?)

Now I’m not just saying this because I am a colon hydrotherapist, but Fall is the perfect-O time to cleanse.  In Chinese medicine, it is the time of the large intestine and lung meridian.  For many people, the result of doing a cleanse in Fall means a Winter with a stronger immune system (fewer colds and flus), and a more efficiently running digestive system.  For me, Fall cleanses give me a vibrancy to help face the darker colder months. 

And here’s a little secret that I want to tell you and everybody else.  There are these things called superfoods that make your body feel absolutely amazing.  They give you energy, nourish your body and brain, and even kick up the sex drive a notch.  You want to make love to the world because you are so happy you are eating them!  Well, the cleanses Andrea and Andrea lead have those things too!  A big fat Wooo Hooo! 

Andrea Nakayama is a nutritional counselor who is brilliant and inspiring.  You can check her out at replenishpdx.com.  Andrea Caplan Livingston is a live food chef who I am positive could find a way to make dirt taste delectable.  Check her out at phytofoodspdx.com.  Both of them offer free subscriptions to their blogs which offer monthly tasty recipes.  Or check out their joint adventure of nourishing the whole fam at yourvibrantchild.com.

Do yourself a favor and join me in participating in Andrea and Andrea’s Fall cleanse this upcoming November.  If you are a Portlander, there will be a live class happening on November 13.  If you don’t live in this town and want to join the cleanse, they offer a tele/web class cleanse as well .  

The cleanse is more than reasonable in price:  $129  includes your very informative class (tele/web or live), recipes, inspiration, and discount offerings by various local practitioners (yoga and colonics included).  And as a special to all of you All’s Well blog readers, they are offering you $10 off.  Such a bargain for transformation!

And if that’s not enough, they graciously agreed to let me share two of my most favorite sweet recipes of theirs.  Let it entice you and tease you all the way to a healthier happier you!  

Andrea Nakayama

Cookies N' Cream Nakayummies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil, gently melted 

scant 1/4 cup raw honey

1/4 cup raw cocoa nibs

1 tspn vanilla extract

1/2 tspn good quality sea salt (or more, if you like the salty sweet)

heaping 1/2 cup pecans, chopped medium-fine

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients into melted coconut oil in bowl. Place bowl in refrigerator for about 1/2 hour. Using a spoon, scoop rounded dollops into mini muffin or candy cups. I like to use flexible ice cube trays--which come in many shapes and sizes. Freeze for an hour or until candies are hardened. 

Serve these candies directly from the freezer. 

Andrea Caplan Livingston

Piece-of-Cake No-Bake Brownies

ingredients:

1 cup almonds 

3/4 cup dried cherries

 3/4 cup dates, pitted 

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean seeded 

1/4 cup cocoa powder or raw cacao powder 

1 teaspoon coconut oil 

1 tablespoon shredded coconut 

pinch of sea salt

preparation:

Using a food processor with an S-blade, pulse almonds until they are a fine crumble. Add dates and cherries, pulse again until incorporated. Add vanilla, cocoa/cacao, coconut oil, shredded coconut and sea salt. Process until ingredients form a dough like mixture. Remove from food processor and press into a small (7x5 or so) glass pan.

Refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares and enjoy!

For more recipes, check out Andrea Livingston's blog:  phytofoodspdx.blogspot.com