Align Cleanse and Reset Guide 

Let’s do this! 

Follow the program for 14 days. Eat three meals a day, plus snacks as needed using the list of approved and not-approved foods as your guide to plan meals. Choose foods that are whole and organic as much as possible. A list of prescribed supplements to enhance your results is key, and instructions on accessing those are below.

Overview:

You will be following a customized diet that has a healing, detoxifying, anti-inflammatory focus. This is also a dietary program based on removing many foods from our diet that are known to cause food allergies, food sensitivities, weight gain, and cause disruptions in the digestive and elimination process. 

Those for whom this is a radical change in habits will respond in many different ways. While in the long term most people experience profound benefits, the first few days may be the hardest. Changing habits can be challenging at first, but will get easier as you get into a flow. Be gentle with yourself! Try to add in some self-care rituals such as meditation, yoga, walks outdoors, or anything else that relaxes you. 

Foods to Eat: 

■  Organic Vegetables: including anise, artichoke, asparagus, beets, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chives, cucumbers, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, onions, parsley, radishes, rhubarb, shallots, spinach, squash, water chestnuts, watercress, yams, zucchini and more. 

■  Meats and Fish: including beef, chicken, fish, lamb, turkey. Fish should be wild caught with a low mercury content. Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel and herring are preferable. Swordfish, most tuna, and king mackerel are very high in mercury. Select hormone-free and antibiotic-free chicken, turkey, and lamb. Select beef that is grass fed, hormone free, and antibiotic free. 

■  Bone broth soups. It’s essential to balance your intake of muscle meats and organ meats with homemade bone broths. Bone broths are rich in glycine, and amino acid found in collagen, which is a protein important in maintaining a healthy gut lining. 

■  Eggs. Preferably free-range and organic. 

■ Non-GMO Soy: including edamame, miso, tempeh, tofu

■  Starchy tubers. Yams, sweet potatoes, yucca/manioc, taro, lotus root. 

■  Fermented vegetables and fruits. Sauerkraut, kim chi, beet kvaas, coconut kefir, etc. These are excellent for gut health.

■  Olives, avocados and coconuts (including coconut milk). 

■  Sea salt, spices, apple cider vinegar, green tea, herbal teas. Avoid sugar or artificial flavorings.

 ■  Low Glycemic Organic Fruits: including apples, apricots, avocados, berries, cherries, grapefruit, grapes, lemons, oranges, peaches, pears, plums

■ Nuts, seeds, nut milks and nut butters. Homemade nut milks are best.

Foods to Eat in Moderation or Consider Eliminating:

  This is where things get more personalized depending on your needs. If you already have a very healthy diet but are still not seeing the results you desire, then consider cutting out grains, legumes or nightshades so you can test how you feel.

■  Healthy Oils: Eat in moderation. Coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil, grapeseed oil. 

■ Grains (consider cutting out completely if your main goal is to lose weight or give up sugar, you are trying to rule out food allergies, or you struggle with high blood sugar): including amaranth, barley, buckwheat, bulgur, corn, couscous, kamut, millet, oats, quinoa, rice, rye, spelt, wheat, wheat germ.

■ Beans and Legumes (consider cutting out completely if your main goal is to lose weight or you are trying to rule out food allergies): including black beans, lentils, peanuts, peas, pinto beans, soybeans.

■ Nightshade Foods (cut out if you have widespread joint pain or suspect autoimmunity of any kind): including eggplant, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes.

Foods to Avoid:

 ■ Sugars: including agave, candy, chocolate, corn syrup, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, molasses, sucrose and all artificial sweeteners. Small amounts of stevia are OK. 

■ High Glycemic Fruits: including bananas, canned fruits, dried fruits, mango, pineapple, raisins, watermelon. 

■ Gluten-Containing Compounds: including barbecue sauce, binders, bouillon, brewer’s yeast, cold cuts, condiments, emulsifiers, fillers, chewing gum, hot dogs, hydrolyzed plant and vegetable protein, ketchup, soy sauce, lunch meats, malt and malt flavoring, malt vinegar, matzo, modified food starch, monosodium glutamate, nondairy creamer, processed salad dressings, seitan, some spice mixtures, stabilizers, teriyaki sauce, textured vegetable protein. 

■ Dairy Products: including butter, cheeses, cow milk, creams, frozen desserts, goat milk, margarine, mayonnaise, sheep milk, whey, yogurt (except coconut). 

■ Alcohol: all alcohol. 

■ Other: canned foods, coffee, processed or refined foods.

Supplements:

To really get the most of our this program, you will want to add a few key nutraceuticals.   This will boost your results and help your body actually  clear what you are releasing. I have specific recommendations for shakes and other supplements available through my Fullscript account. Send us an email at hello@alignashevillle.com with “cleanse” in the subject line to be added to Fullscript and sent the list! We will simply give you access to our core products for detox that you can order online, or we are happy to provide personalized recommendations based on your needs.

Remember:

1. Plan and prepare your meals ahead of time. 
2. Follow the diet guidelines for everything you consume. 
3. Make sure you have a bowel movement before the end of the day. You eliminate waste this way. If this doesn’t happen spontaneously, try an herbal laxative tea. 
4. Drink plenty of pure, filtered water. Half your body weight in ounces.
5. Take a 30 minute walk or its equivalent every day. Beyond that, try to weave more movement into your daily routine. This helps your lymph to move. Walk to the store, take the stairs, do some morning stretching
6. Sweating is a detox pathway! It helps you eliminate what you are detoxing. Try sauna or a hot yoga class.
7. Rest, get enough sleep, go to bed by 10pm and stop to take deep breaths throughout the day.
8. Epsom salt baths, meditations and any other self-care relaxation habit that feel good to you.
9. Try castor oil packs to enhance detox: saturate a flannel cloth with castor oil, put over liver, cover with an old towel, put a hot pad over your abdomen, and rest for 30 minutes while the castor oil works its magic.
10. Try detox teas
11. You may feel a little worse before you feel better. This is normal. However, if you have any concerning symptoms, please check in with me!