I'm sure you know what it is and there is a good chance that you have done a "cleanse" before...  The idea is that your body accumulates toxins through a combination of over-eating, consumption of non-nutritious, processed foods, alcohol and prescription drugs.  Stress, negative emotions and environmental factors such as smoke from a forest fire can also contribute to a toxic load.  These toxins will literally polute your body causing a range of different symptoms; feeling bloated, sluggish and fatigued, experiencing constipation, frequent headaches and stomach aches, rashes and other skin conditions are all indicators that you are due for some internal cleansing.  And a poluted body can also lead to a poluted mind; irratability, mood swings and yes, even full blown depression. 

From herbal supplements to saunas, cleansing- alike weight loss -has become a multi-billion dollar industry with all sorts of ridiculous miracle products claiming to change your body in no time flat.  And just like the weight loss market, all the pills and spa treatments are most often nothing more than a waste of your time, energy and money.  The only way to detoxify your body is to cut the crap and eat clean.  If your body was your vehicle, and your food was your fuel, the best way to "run like a race car" is to feed your body the highest quality fuel- real food.  Eating clean, which is practiced by natural body builders, figure models and other athletes, is nothing more than a cleansing diet maintained year round.

The key points to cleansing or eating clean are:

• Drinking lots of water (avoid tap water)
• Consuming a diet high in real foods (vegetables and fruit, lean proteins, whole grains, legumes, raw nuts and seeds, vegetable oils, herbs and herbal teas).
• Eliminating processed foods (including bread & pastas), pre-made, bagged, boxed or canned food, table salt, sugar, wheat, fried and deep fried food, most dairy products, margerine and alcohol.

The society we live in is full of toxic choices.  Cleansing is not something that I recommend doing, it is a lifestyle that I recommend living.  When you eat a clean diet and exercise regularly, you maintain a healthy body and there is no reason for you to "detox".  

Eating clean is the best way to get back to basics, to be healthy, happy, to lose the weight and to keep it off.

You wouldn't try to run your car on anything other than real gas, so why would try to run your body on anything other than real food?