Supercharge your health with a personal purification program

It used to be that "detox" meant you were checking into a special facility to be weaned from hard-core alcohol or drug addiction. But these days, you're just as likely to find people using the word to describe the process of improving their health by ridding their bodies of caffeine, tobacco, junk food and environmental pollutants. Consider detox a remedy for that chronic condition known as late-20th-century life.

"We're living in an environment that's full of chemicals, toxins and pesticides, and there's no way of avoiding contact with them," says Chris Clark, M.D., medical director of The Raj, an Ayurvedic healing center in Fairfield, Iowa. "A lot of those chemicals are associated with specific illnesses, like cancer. For that reason alone, everyone needs to detox."

Recurrent colds and flu, fatigue, digestive ailments and skin disorders are sure signs that your body's waste removal systems (liver, kidney, lungs, skin, lymphatic and gastrointestinal systems) could use a thorough cleansing. Advocates believe that regular detoxification can also help with chronic conditions, including cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, arthritis and allergies. "A detox allows the body `breathing space,'" explains Jane Alexander, author of The Detox Plan (Journey Editions, 1998). "The body's detox systems become overloaded when bombarded with toxins. A detox takes away the primary causes of overload and gives these systems a chance to work at optimum levels."

Eastern cultures have long recommended routine cleansings with each change in season. A spring detox, for example, helps us make the transition from cold weather to warmer temperatures. Individual programs vary, but their aims are the same: flush out toxins through an intense five- to 21-day regimen that includes avoiding or reducing sugar, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and drugs; consuming fresh, whole organic foods and purified water; exercising; using stress management techniques; colon cleansing; massage, bathing, steaming and all-over body exfoliation. "It takes 21 days to change the chemistry of the body," says Brian Clement, director of the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Bookstores are filled with how-to guides on the subject, and scores of healing centers offer supervised programs. But if the idea of a three-week cleanse (or even a long weekend) is too daunting, try some of these simple suggestions:

1 Eat less dairy (especially cheese) and junk food and more fresh organic fruits and vegetables. They contain phytochemicals that help us detox naturally.

2 Drink more fluids, particularly purified water and fresh-squeezed juices. They help flush toxins from your body.

3 Try a liquid diet (one day a week) of broths, pureed vegetables, water and juices.

4 Drink herbal teas like fenugreek, eucalyptus, peppermint and spearmint. "They clean out mucus in the body [which can trap viruses and bacteria] and promote urination and elimination of feces," says Clement.