Are Cleanses Safe? How to Reset Your Body The Right Way According To A Functional Medicine Expert

In my telehealth functional medicine clinic, I’ve seen my fair share of cleanses and detoxes promising to shed pounds and help you achieve the body of your dreams. However, these popular cleanses are hyper restrictive and unsustainable.

In fact, many of my patients have done cleanses and felt better, only for symptoms to come back immediately after the cleanse is over. So what’s the deal? Why can something be so beneficial in the short-term, but offer little to no long-term success?

Why cleanses don’t work

The thing is, the reason most cleanses don’t work is because they are often marketed as a way to lose weight rather than helping your overall health. Ultimately, for a cleanse to actually work, it can’t be a quick fix to reach a certain weight.

Healing takes time and weight gain and other symptoms are really just a side effect of a larger health problem brewing underneath the surface. No one wakes up sick overnight. You are always either trending toward disease or health with every choice you make - the food you eat, the products you use, and more. 

In order to lose weight, heal digestive stress, clear brain fog, restore your energy, and overcome any other symptom, you need to address the root cause of why these symptoms are occuring in the first place.

In order to ensure long-term success, the goal should be to reset and rebalance areas of your health - gut dysfunction, blood sugar levels, etc. - that can be contributing to larger health problems. 

By focusing on improving how you feel (rather than looking for quick fixes), you’ll be able to make consistent choices that facilitate healing and transformation - not restrictions.

Signs You Need A Reset

If you are struggling with any of the below problems, chances are pretty high that you can benefit from a true reset to rebalance certain areas of your health.

     1. Your sweet tooth is out of control

Constant cravings are a big sign that something is off. When sugar is a staple in your diet, it can put your blood sugar and leptin hormones on a roller-coaster ride which increases your cravings even more and can lead to diabetes, weight loss resistance, and other metabolic health problems.

     2. Your digestion is off

Symptoms like gas, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation are uncomfortable and a major red flag that something is off. Considering your gut is the foundation of your overall health and contributes to everything from your energy levels, mood, immune health, and hormones, gut problems can really inhibit your total wellbeing.

     3. You struggle to lose weight

I always tell patients, “You need to get healthy to lose weight, not lose weight to get healthy.” Your microbiome contains a vast collection of bacteria - good and bad. When you don’t have enough of the good bacteria, bad bacteria takes over and leads to inflammation, slowed metabolism, and hormone imbalances. 

     4. You are always tired

Constant exhaustion is not normal, it’s adrenal fatigue. Inflammation, stress, toxin buildup, and microbiome imbalances can wreak havoc on your HPA–axis which elevates cortisol and leaves you in a perpetual state of fatigue.

How to reset your body the right way

If there’s no quick fix to your symptoms, are cleanses even worth it? If done the right way, yes. Ultimately, it all comes down to learning how to use food as medicine. 

That’s why I set out to partner with Kroma. A leader in the wellness and functional nutrition space, their 5-Day Reset program teaches you that food can be both delicious and healing at the same time so you can learn how to eat for health in a sustainable way.

In order to answer the common question of what happens after your reset is over, I created the Kroma x Dr. Cole Daily Essentials Bundle.

In it, you’ll find everything you need to take the good habits you cultivated from the Kroma 5-Day Reset in your daily life. In it, I hand selected some of my favorite Kroma items including:

• Beauty Matcha
• Super Porridge
• 24K Chicken Bone Broth
• Ultimate Vitality Latte
• Vanilla Cinnamon Plant-Based Smoothie

Each one of these delicious items are packed with essential nutrients that can help propel you to your next level of wellness by targeting key areas that make the biggest difference in your health. 

I believe wellness should be sustainable and enjoyable in order to be successful long-term and the Dr. Cole Daily Essentials Bundle is everything wellness should be - delicious, nutrient-dense, and uncomplicated - and nothing it shouldn’t be.

As one of the first functional medicine telehealth clinics in the world, we provide webcam health consultations for people around the globe.