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  >  Asia   >  What a Day of Detoxing is Like

I’ve always believed in the power of the body to heal itself and tend to avoid hospitals, doctors and medications unless absolutely necessary. I can’t remember the last time I took an over the counter medication, or visited the doctor about an “illness.” Medication is always the last resort for me, because my belief is that pills suppress or mask symptoms that need to be expressed to be healed. I tend to have a more holistic view of health, where I perceive “illnesses” or “diseases” as the body’s way of sending a message that things are seriously out of whack, and that diet or lifestyle changes need to be made.

Until now, I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy super robust health, and an ironclad digestive system (knock on wood). Lately though, at the ripe old age of 41, I’ve noticed a slow down in my body’s processes, lower overall energy, and a general feeling that things are not running at their optimum level.

I’ve juice fasted in the past, and gotten good results, so I decided that a deeper cleanse was just the ticket for my bodily woes, and began researching possible options.

Enter the Health Oasis Resort in Koh Samui, Thailand.

A 2 week cleanse and detox there, would involve 14 days without food, daily massage to stimulate the clearing of the lymphatic system, morning yoga, diluted fruit and vegetable juices, veggie broth to rebalance lost minerals and electrolytes, ozone and herbal steam sessions to detoxify the skin, daily colonics and a basket of herbs and tinctures designed to aid the cleansing process.

Before arriving, it all seemed rather daunting, but now that all has been completed, I can say without a doubt, that this was the easiest and most effective cleanse I’ve ever done.

At Health Oasis, the first day is spent fully flushing the digestive system, with oxygen magnesium powder taken in juice. This is done to expedite the cleansing process, because the emptier the colon, the faster the body can start it’s cleansing work. If the oxygen magnesium doesn’t work (it didn’t for me), you’re given the “back-up plan,” – a powerful combo of herbs from which there is no return. Believe me, I know. 😉

The real cleansing process begins bright and early on Day 2, when lovely Tong arrives with a big smile, to wake you up with a bentonite clay/psyllium fruit juice shake. Surprisingly this does not taste bad. Four more of these shakes are taken at 3 hour intervals, over the course of the day, and for the duration of the cleanse.

The negatively charged bentonite clay attracts the toxins the body is releasing, and the psyllium brushes the intestinal walls and keeps you feeling full. Believe it or not, this actually works. During my 2 week fast, I was never truly hungry. I didn’t even crave a cup of coffee, which was a real surprise!

Aside from the shakes, there’s a basket of sprays including colloidal silver, ocean minerals and chlorophyl, amongst other things, that are taken sublingually for faster absorption by the body, as well as a 22 herb HEAL detox mixture. Add in spirulina and guarana capsules, oxygen sprays, ozone and herbal steam baths with dry skin brushing, daily massage and daily yoga, and of course, those pesky colonics, and each day is jam packed full of things to do.

I thought I’d be sitting around all day, bored, with lots of time to blog and read, but it just wasn’t the reality. Instead, I felt that I was constantly behind schedule or in danger of missing some key component of the cleanse.

It can feel like cleansing is a seriously intense business, but there’s little danger of “screwing up” your detox. We went off the schedule several times, but it made no difference. By the end of 2 weeks, I still had enough energy to practice an hour of yoga every morning, glowing skin, and felt refreshed, clean and deliciously empty.

And the 5 kilos I lost in the process? Let’s call it an extremely welcome side effect. 🙂

5 kilos lighter and enjoying my first meal of papaya

5 kilos lighter and enjoying my first meal of papaya

About Health Oasis Resort
Located on Koh Samui’s Bang Por beach, the Health Oasis Resort has supervised thousands of cleansing fasts over the last 17 years. It’s the only fasting detox resort in Thailand which has been licensed by the Health Department as a Traditional Medicinal hospital. There are naturopaths, a TCM doctor, accupuncturist and massage therapists on site.

Most packages include accommodation, daily massage, herbal steam sessions and a basket of herbs and tonics designed to support your cleanse. Detailed information about cleansing and fasting programs, along with their rates can be found on their website.

Comments:

  • July 11, 2014

    Wow, I really admire you for having gone through it, and am glad that it wasn’t nearly so bad! And to lose 5 kg in 2 weeks!! I am very very interested in doing some kind of detox/cleanse but 14 days without food is too intimidating for me. I could try a shorter version though.

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    • July 14, 2014

      Thanks! 😀 I was really surprised by how easy it was, and how little hunger I felt. You’re really so busy over the course of the day, that there’s not much time to think about food. I would totally recommend going to a specialized detox resort though, because I think the environment also makes it easier. There’s no temptations and everyone is doing the same thing, so it’s very supportive, and actually quite a lot of fun too! I think most people start with 7 days…so shorter versions are definitely available. You can always extend if you feel good… 🙂

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  • July 9, 2014

    Man, this sounds intense! I wouldn’t want to subject myself to this anytime soon haha. But it doesn’t seem as bad as I expected. Also just gotta say that I love your first paragraph. It’s how I’ve always felt, but people seem to think I’m crazy sometimes. It’s nice to agree with someone for a change 🙂

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    • July 10, 2014

      Heh heh… you are young still, so I think you’ve got some time before the body starts breaking down. 😉 But yeah, I think there is a place for medicine in our world, but it should be a last resort, not a first resort, like it usually is. We’re way too quick to medicate these days, but I believe it’s a band-aid, not a solution… anyhow, just my opinion. 🙂

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  • July 9, 2014

    Hmmm got me thinking… Especially after coming hone for the summer. My body feels like it is cleaning out all the bad air in my body.

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    • July 10, 2014

      Gahh, I can’t imagine all the pollution in China… and that’s what they said at the detox resort – it doesn’t matter how “clean” you live and eat, we all still have toxins inside our bodies from the air, stress and the way our food is grown. Blech. 🙁

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      • July 11, 2014

        Yes it worries me. Shanghai is not as bad as other places, but we did have a few terrible days. Average days are getting higher too. I felt like I had smokers cough when I came home getting rid of the bad air 😉 food in China tastes ‘real’ if that makes sense. So much flavour. Here I think so much is shipped in or grown in greenhouses, or forced to ripen we miss the flavour. Although they pump our food with chemicals . What is worse? Pollution or chemicals? Just scares me to think about it.

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  • July 8, 2014

    A M A Z I N G!! You made it, and apparently wasnt even that hard! This idea is amazing…I wish I could do something like this soon, and take my husband with me, but I think he will never agree to it ;/ anyways, now Im feeling bad that I just had popcorn!! Congratulations 🙂

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    • July 10, 2014

      Yum! Popcorn. Lol actually that’s one of the first things I ate after the fast was over. I LOVE popcorn! 😉 My hubby really wants to do the detox and fast too… maybe you can convince your husband that it’ll be good for his health… after seeing what came out of me (even on the 14th day), I am more convinced than ever that regular cleansing/detoxing is important for everyone!

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      • July 10, 2014

        Yes I can imagine!!! How often it is recommended to do a cleansing/detox? I love this idea, and would love to convince my husband too haha 🙂

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