Womans World Cover Story: My 24-hr Christmas Cleanse

December 14, 2009
Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Award-winning nutritionist and New York Times bestselling author.

womens_worldcoverA Sneak Preview of Fat Flush for Life Principles – Even in Winter, You Can Still Cleanse, Lose Weight, and Be Healthy.

Should you detox in winter? While I don’t generally recommend it long-term, I’ve found ways to cleanse—even right around Christmas—safely and effectively.

In fact, one Woman’s World reader who tested my one-day detox lost five pounds and four inches. “In one day, you can lose all the weight you’ve gained since Thanksgiving!” You, too, may want to consider an easy one-day juice diet—before the next round of holiday goodies hits your waistline.

The secret, which is the premise of my book, Fat Flush for Life, the Year-Round Super Detox Plan to Boost Your Metabolism and Keep the Weight Off Permanently, is to modify the detox protocol for each season of the year.

Even if you live in Alaska or Florida, the seasons have an impact on your health—regardless of the climate. This is a premise of the age-old tradition of Oriental Medicine.

In winter, it’s important to strengthen your adrenal glands and kidneys. That means your diet needs to support and nourish these organs—and any detox plan or even a quick one-day cleanse must do the same.

Fat Flush for Winter
This is the season when the body naturally slows down—even if your hectic holiday schedule demands otherwise. Both physical and psychological stressors—colder weather, overwork, holiday decorating, shopping, baking, and partying—can exhaust you, making it hard for you to deal with added stress.

This time of year, cravings for sweets and sugar are common. But they only increase your tendency to pack on excess pounds—and make balancing blood sugar levels even harder, creating more cravings in a vicious cycle.

In addition, many people, particularly those with high blood pressure or those who retain fluids, may need to watch salt intake. Too many salty foods create bloating and add water weight. You may also feel fatigued, suffer frequent pain in your knees or lower back, and have trouble waking up and getting going in the morning.

Without enough of the right kind of salt, calcium may be deposited in the joints. Unfortunately, there’s as much confusion over safe sodium as there once was about fat. That’s why I recommend the right kind of salt in Fat Flush for Life.

The Christmas Cleanse
Pick one quiet day before you plan on feasting. Then skip solid foods and sip cleansing juices (like cranberry and pomegranate) and lemon water to unlock your body’s natural fat-burning capacity. For this warming, winter recipe, pick up the latest copy of Woman’s World, which features this special Fat Flush for Life beverage. This issue goes on newsstands today.

The fruit acids and vitamin C in this cleansing drink can increase the body’s ability to emulsify fat by as much as 30%. Cranberry is a powerful diuretic, and drinking plenty of water helps flush excess fluids from cells and tissues.

To help balance blood sugar on this one-day cleanse, I recommend sprinkling a little cinnamon onto your hot lemon water. This sugar-metabolizing spice, plus cardamom and cloves add flavor to my Holiday Detox Juice—and offer plenty of health benefits too.

Need a Little More Food?
Some people may feel a bit light-headed on a liquid diet, even if it’s just for a day. In that case, mix in 1 to 2 scoops of the new Fat Flush Body Protein. With one of the highest protein efficiency ratios on the market, this special blend of yellow pea and brown proteins contains essential amino acids and 20 grams of complete protein.

Fat Flush Body Protein will keep you fully sustained and energized for at least four hours. Naturally sweetened with calorie-free stevia (a sweet herb used for centuries) and inulin, a digestive tract-friendly prebiotic (feeding healthy bacteria that support weight loss), this powder offers great taste without bloating, gas, or digestive upset.

Vegan and sugar-free, Fat Flush Body Protein is ideal for anyone who’s sensitive to dairy or gluten. For recipes using this powder, check out the Fat Flush Smoothie Shakedown.

Last but Never Least
Your body doesn’t tolerate lots of raw foods in the winter. In addition to eating low-glycemic, fiber-rich seasonal fruits (apples, berries, pears, and pomegranates), steam some of your favorite seasonal veggies (bok choy, broccoli, carrots, chard and other leafy greens)—the brighter the color, the more carotenoids they contain. Fat Flush for Life contains a complete list of superstar foods ideally suited for this time of year.

Sources:
Fat Flush for Life
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19766760
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19021808
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19793508
www.unikeyhealth.com/shakedown

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Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS, is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty books including The Fat Flush Plan series and her latest book, Radical Metabolism. She’s been rewriting the rules of nutrition for more than 40 years and is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of diet, detox and women’s health issues. 

For a FREE daily dose of tips and strategies for maintaining healthy weight, conquering insomnia, and much more…check out my Radical Health Tips.

I’d like to meet and greet you on my Facebook groups, so won’t you check us out at the Radical Metabolism RevolutionFat Flush Nation, or my Inner Circle!

55 Comments

  1. janet

    can i drink water only after i drink the juice and after the lemon water

    Reply
  2. Kelly

    I have done this detox two times since it was published and love it, I can’t find the recipe for the juice after using it last time, I have read it is on this website and I can’t find it. Any idea how I get the juice recipe for the one day Christmas cleanse??? I want to do it again, any help would be apppreciated!

    Reply
    • peggy

      The recipe is: 8 oz unsweetened cranberry juice, 7 cups water, 1/2 cup orange juice,
      1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cardamon and a pinch of cloves, put in a stockpot and heat just to boiling .Alternate between sipping one cup of this mixture (microwaved for 30 sec) before serving and one glass of lemon water (8oz water with half lemon juice) every hour during the day.

      Reply
  3. liz

    Kelly; Please email me directly to get a copy of the Christmas juice.
    [email protected]

    Reply
  4. Patty

    I’m so frustrated with the lack of response to peoples questions. A lot of people asked if we could drink extra water during the cleanse and no response!! Why is that?! If we are trying to do what is best for our bodies and there is a ‘forum’ to leave comments and ask questions, shouldn’t someone be answering the questions? (Yes, I’m a bit cranky from no sugar! sorry)

    Reply

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