Most organizers agree that the state of your home and the state
of your health are directly related. Oprah regular Peter Walsh says
that “home, heart, head and hips are intimately connected.”  

Karen Kingston, author of “Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui,”
devotes an entire section of the book on clearing clutter
internally. Since the last big chocolate holiday, Valentine’s Day,
is now behind us and Passover and Easter are several weeks away,
it’s not a bad time of year to do some internal decluttering.

 I recently talked with holistic chef Adina Niemerow, author of
“Super Cleanse: Detox Your Body for Long Lasting Health and Beauty”
about how to organize a cleanse and better nutritional habits in
general. 

Disclaimer: Check with your physician before embarking on any
radical nutritional changes.

Angela Hoxsey: First, what’s the difference between a cleanse
and a diet?

Adina Niemerow: A cleanse is done for a short amount of time; it
doesn’t have all the nutrition you need for an everyday diet. It’s
mean to jumpstart a new way of eating.

AH: Being prepared — organized — before you start a cleanse is a
big part of whether you’ll be successful or not in sticking to the
program. 

AN: Right, so first choose a cleanse that appeals to you and
learn the routine. I offer nine different cleanses in my book.
Decide if you’re really ready to commit to a cleanse; you’ll need
to make time to take walks, sleep and relax as well as prepare the
juices and broths you’ll be drinking. Then make sure you have the
equipment, like a juicer or blender, and all the ingredients you
need in advance.

AH: What are the essentials of a good cleanse program?

AN: I believe there are seven essential elements to a successful
cleanse. Drinking lots of pure water — I recommend a liter for
every 30 pounds of body weight per day — is No. 1. Breathing
exercises, plenty of sleep, gentle exercise and eliminating waste
are four more essentials. Trying to get to a sauna or steam room to
sweat is very beneficial. It is also very important to nurture the
mind and spirit daily, whether through meditation, writing or
simply reading a book with a positive message.

AH: In her organizing book, “”Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui,
Karen Kingston talks about the importance of colonics and keeping
your system “clear.” Why would the average person need a colonic
and why do you recommend them during a cleanse?

AN: During a cleanse, clearing out the old intestinal sludge is
crucial. Health begins in the digestive tract. It’s not for
everyone, but in my experience, colonics are very beneficial. You
could also use herbal laxatives to keep the bowels moving.

AH: How would a person phase out of a cleanse?

AN: There’s a whole chapter in my book on breaking the cleanse.
I recommend sticking with some of the new ideas you learn, like
making green juices. Also, we don’t need as much food as we think
we do. We may not be as hungry and we need to check in with that
and not just eat out of habit. Your cravings, especially for sugar
and caffeine, may change. You might notice you get a runny nose if
you reintroduce dairy to your diet after a cleanse — pay attention
and see how your body reacts when you reintroduce foods. There’s so
much you can learn about your body from a cleanse, and everyone’s
different.

AH: What are your favorite kitchen tools for a healthy diet?

AN: I prepare a lot of raw meals, so I love my VitaMix blender.
I have a Cuisinart to make raw vegetable pâtés and other fun
things. A fine sieve is necessary to make nut milks. Knives, of
course, and a good cutting board.

AH: What are your top three tips to organize yourself
nutritionally?

AN: First, I love shopping at the farmers market on weekends for
all my essentials. Second, on Sunday nights I write out my menus
for the week. I like to eat mostly vegetarian and make one-pot
meals like soups that I can have with salad and other things all
week. Third, when I buy vegetables, I clean them, cut them up and
store them in glass containers in my refrigerator. If they are
prepped and  ready to go  I am much more likely to eat them all,
and I hate wasting food. 

Adina Niemerow lives in San Francisco. For more about Niemerow
and her cleansing programs, visit www.adinaniemerow.com. Copies of
her book, “Super Cleanse,” are available at www.amazon.com.