3-5 Day Kitchari Cleanse

3-5 Day Kitchari Cleanse

Before you start a cleanse, make sure you check with your health provider first. And limit the amount of activity you do for the days that you are on the cleanse. Be gentle to yourself. Your body will be working hard to clean itself so it is important to support it by reserving your energy and resting. Do gentle yoga and meditation each day.

In any cleanse, making sure that you are having regular bowl movements, once to twice per day, is very important. Stool carries away the toxins from the body. I also recommend taking a hot bath or sauna to open the pours and allow your body to sweat, which also releases toxins. Drink lots of water, warm- hot. Lemon added will give an extra boost to the cleaning properties of the water and hot water in the morning with lemon will get the 'system' moving. 

You can also order or buy triphala. I have seen it in some whole foods and natural grocery stores. You can also purchase them online at http://www.banyanbotanicals.com/triphala-tablets-11. Take 2 tablets with warm water every evening before bed. If your bowel movements are still slow increase by 1 tablet, but do not exceed 4 tablets per night.  This will help balance the GI tract and colon and help eliminate toxins in a non-habit forming way. Triphala cleanses but it also acts as a rejuvanitive to the GI and colon.

Kichari Recipe (my favorite coming from www.lifespa.com)

This recipe makes enough to last you for 3 or 4 meals. You can play with the mixture of spices. Many people prefer this recipe when the spices are doubled (or even tripled).

• 1 cup Split Yellow Moong Beans* (see for ‘weak digestion’ below) Can find at ethnic supermarkets or on amazon.com, Some health food stores may have them as well. 
• ¼ – ½ cup White Basmati Rice
• 1 Tbs Fresh Ginger Root
• 1 tsp each Mustard Seeds, and Cumin and Turmeric powder
• ½ tsp each Coriander powder, and fennel and fenugreek seeds
• 3 Cloves
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 7-10 cup Water
• ½ tsp Salt (rock salt is best) or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos.
• 1 small handful Fresh Chopped Cilantro Leaves (add just as you about to eat)
• You can add any freshly steamed vegetables to this recipe to switch it up. Stay away from starchy ones like sweet and regular potatoes.

It’s important to get SPLIT MOONG DAL beans because they are easy to digest and due to their cleansing qualities, they pull toxins from the body. They are available at Asian or Indian grocery stores or through LifeSpa. Different spellings include “mung” and/or “dahl.” Please note that you do not want the whole moong dal beans, which are green, or yellow split peas.

1. Wash split yellow mung beans (dal) and rice together until water runs clear.
2. Heat a large pot on medium heat and then add all the spices (except the bay leaves) and dry roast for a few minutes. This dry-roasting will enhance the flavor.
3. Add dal and rice and stir again.
4. Add water and bay leaves and bring to a boil.
5. Boil for 10 minutes.
6. Turn heat to low, cover pot and continue to cook until dal and rice become soft (about 30-40 minutes).
7. The cilantro leaves can be added just before serving.
8. Add salt or Bragg’s to taste.

* For weak digestion, gas or bloating: Before starting to prepare the kicharee, first par boil the split moong dal (cover with water and bring to boil), drain, and rinse. Repeat 2-3 times. OR, soak beans overnight and then drain. Cook as directed.

NOTE: The third day of your cleanse you might feel a bit weak, possibly nauseous and have a headache. This can be normal and means that you have toxins that are leaving the tissues and coming into the GI tract. If you need to vomit, allow yourself to do so, and if you are not having a bowel movement eat 2-4 soaked prunes along with your triphala at night.