Asian medicine treats the body in alignment with the natural world. When you come to see me for treatment, I not only look at you and your chief concern today, I also look at the weather outside, the season, the time of day, and more. When taking the reins on your own health care, aligning your body with seasonal energetics is a wonderful starting point. The spring and autumn equinoxes are of particular importance as they mark a shift between yin and yang energies, the two energies at the core of Asian medical theory. This makes the start of spring and fall an optimal time to make a shift within your own body. My favorite way to shift? A whole foods-based reset, or cleanse.

Is "Cleanse" a Dirty Word?

Often, when people use the word "cleanse," what they mean is "caloric restriction." The Equinox Cleanse is most decidedly NOT about caloric restriction. Food is fuel for your body. I've never met a mechanic who recommended running your car on the least amount of gas possible. The same goes for you. If you want to feel your best, you have to set yourself up for success: eat real food, and plenty of it. The Equinox Cleanse is centered on the idea that the quality of food you eat directly impacts your quality of life.

Why the Equinoxes?

The concepts of yin and yang are at the core of Asian medicine (want to know more? Click here for my post on yin and yang theory). At the equinoxes, the energetics of our natural environment switch from yin to yang (in spring) and yang to yin (in autumn). The restful, quiet, yin nature of winter changes to the growth-centered, sprouting yang-energy of spring. The bustling, active, yang nature of summer transitions to the softer, quieter yin energy of autumn. This phenomenon is an example of "intertransformation" in Asian medicine, and is one of the four hallmarks of how the concepts of yin and yang interact with one another.

This environmental energetic change is a pivotal moment to capitalize on our own ability to transform. You do not have to start your cleanse exactly on the day of the equinox to take advantage of this moment. Opting for a cleanse around the time of the equinoxes aligns yourself with the natural world to maximize the impact of your dietary shift.

The Basic Rules

Eat Whole Foods
NO Sugar
NO Gluten
NO Dairy
Eat this way for a minimum of 10 days. 14 days? 21 Days? EVEN BETTER! At least 10.

That's it. Those are the rules. Pretty straight-forward, right? You are allowed to eat as much as you want, as long as what you're eating follows those four rules. Let's take a peek at what they mean.

Whole Foods: Whole foods are foods that you can identify on sight. That is, unlabeled items. All veggies/fruits are whole foods, as are meats/seafood, eggs, and legumes. Note that processed meat-replacement products are not whole foods. The rule of the thumb at the grocery store is to shop in the periphery: eat items from the produce section, the deli, and the bulk bins (I'm talking about lentils here, not chocolate-covered cherries). If you are buying an item with a label, you must be able to pronounce every item on the label, and be able to identify if by sight if you came across it on the street.

NO Sugar: This can be the biggest leap for folks, so I've added a section below for more details. Sugar is highly addictive, and added into almost every processed product. Sugar feeds bacteria in your gut - if you experience bloating, gas, or digestive issues, limiting sugar will help to starve out the bad bacteria who are taking hold in your belly. No sugar means no sugar that is not present in a whole food. That means no alcohol, either.

NO Gluten: Ideally, I'd like you to avoid grains in general while you are on the cleanse, but we'll start with gluten. Gluten is a protein found in some grains that is inflammatory for a large number of folks. Add that most grains grown with gluten today have more gluten than they did in the past and the chance of inflammation increases. If you are exercising a lot (read: intense cardio), a limited amount of grains can be a helpful way to get carbs into your body as an energy source. If you are not exercising a lot, I recommend avoiding all grains while on the cleanse. Remember Rule #1: eat whole foods. Avoiding gluten does not mean that all items labeled as "gluten-free" are okay. Gluten-free pasta, brownies, pancakes, cookies? All of these processed foods are off the shopping list. A label reading "gluten-free" is a marketing tool - the food can still be very processed and unhealthy. You are eating whole foods, right? Step away from those labeled items and get back to the produce section.

NO Dairy: None. No yogurt, no kefir, no butter (clarified butter, or ghee, is okay), no milk from any animal, no cheese. According to Asian medical nutrition, dairy can bog down the digestive system. Not only can dairy intake slow down the digestive process, it can also negatively impact your ability to get the most out of the food you eat. Please do not substitute soy milk for dairy milk. Soy has an estrogenic effect in the body, and mimicking hormones is only a good idea under very special circumstances. Eggs are allowed and very much encouraged - they are a great protein source to get you through the day! I recommend purchasing pastured eggs to maximize their nutritional impact.

Other Considerations: This is a cleanse, so I'm hoping I don't need to say this, but no recreational drugs allowed. Caffeine is a drug and you know I am all about cutting down on caffeine intake. That said, you can have caffeine while on this cleanse. I recommend limiting caffeine to 1 (8 oz) cup per day. This is a great opportunity to start to cut down on your caffeine use. If you are having 2-4 cups of coffee per day to stay energized, now's the time to see what kind of energy you have if you give your body real, whole-foods-based fuel instead. Limit soy. As mentioned above, soy can wreak havoc on your hormonal system. Be careful with potatoes. Potatoes are a great source of carbs if you are exercising heavily. Otherwise, they're kind of an empty source of carbs. Yes, you can find potato chips whose labels meet the rules above. Please do not eat potato chips every day and think that counts as a vegetable. Buy high quality proteins and produce. Check out my Quick & Dirty Grocery Guide for more info.

No Sugar: Details

First, breathe. It's okay. You can do this.

Sugar means sugar means sugar. Honey is sugar. Agave nectar is sugar. Maple syrup is sugar. Blackstrap molasses is sugar. White sugar is sugar. Turbinado sugar is sugar. All sugar is sugar. No sugar. No fake-sugar either: no aspartame, stevia, or other artificial sweeteners. No sugar. Nothing whose label has a word ending in -ose. "-ose" means sugar.

What about fruit? Fruit is a whole food with natural sugars present. Fresh fruit is very much allowed, and encouraged! Please eat fruit. Try not to overindulge: 2-3 palm-sized servings of fresh fruit per day is the goal. Dried fruit is not allowed. Dried fruit is concentrated sugar, like candy. No dried fruit.

But, grains break down to sugar in the body! You're right, they do. That's why I recommend avoiding all grains unless you are doing high-intensity or cardio-heavy exercise.

But! But! But!

Whenever I talk to clients about dietary shifts, the conversation is met with a fair amount of resistance. But it's hard! But I don't have time! But I don't want to! But my partner/kid/dog will never eat this way! But! But! But!

First off, no one is forcing you to do this cleanse. You are grown. You can decide what you do and do not want to do. I am happy to talk with you about how to make the best out of this cleanse, tips and tricks to get through the rough patches, and where to find recipes. I will support you through this process, but I will not debate the basic tenets of the plan. You're in or you're out. You choose.

Making dietary shifts can feel very hard, but let's take a step back for perspective. Remember puberty? That was hard. How about your first break up? The first time someone close to you died? Birthing your child? Life is full of hard moments. Changing the food you eat for 10 days is not that hard, especially when you think about the bigger scope of your beautiful, challenging, amazing, scary, wonderful life.

Resources

I've posted a few recipes on my blog to get you started. This cleanse is a modified form of the paleo diet, so googling for "paleo recipes" can take you a long way. One of my personal favorite cookbooks is The Whole30. That plan includes all of the rules of the Equinox Cleanse, plus a few more - which means that all of their recipes are compliant.

If you find a recipe you love, share it in the comments for other folks to try!

You can always reach out to me for ideas, support and questions.

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Equinox Cleanse: Reset Your Body for the Season