Natural Detox: How to Cleanse with Fruits

This guide gives you an overview of how to regenerate and detox with fruits. The approach is the human species-specific diet and, thus, the most natural and effective way you can choose. The cleansing power of fruits is ancient knowledge that is being rediscovered by health seekers, but also – slowly – by science.

Detox – not new, but an increasingly pressing issue

Detoxification is not a new concept: in old practice and knowledge, it is linked with cleansing, resting, or nourishing your body. Numerous cultures have their methods to enhance body detoxification – for instance, Chinese medicines and Ayurvedic. During detoxification, you open up ways to eliminate toxins from your system and replenish your body with nutrients and a healthy diet. Detoxification protects you from numerous inflammatory and degenerative conditions – and often mitigates or even reverses symptoms.

It is no secret or new information that we are exposed to innumerable novel substances in our everyday life – through the air, water, food, clothing, cleaners, etc. We do not drop dead when coming into contact, but no one knows what this does to the body in detail. We can just guess by looking at the rising number of chronic degenerative conditions! Our world is not like it used to be, and our body has to deal with substances and conditions we have not adapted to process – a world in which only “good detox genes” or effective detox practices can reduce the toxic pressure and mismatch we have created.

Read more on the body’s detox processes here, and on evolutionary aspects of health in a toxic world here.

What does the body need to eliminate?

What substances does the body excrete on a daily basis? The cells’ own waste, as well as xenobiotics (synthetics) and toxic substances that can interfere with and disrupt cellular function, need to be transported out of the body – safely!

• Metabolic waste is the usual end-products an organism needs to excrete. However, when deviating from a natural and species-appropriate diet, we usually have excessive nitrogenous waste from excess protein-heavy foods that stress the kidneys.
• Natural compounds from foods like caffeine, theobromine, and other seed-protective phytochemicals
• Synthetic compounds and xenobiotics like agrochemicals, air pollutants, fabricants, perfumes, etc. found everywhere, even in tap water
• Medications and their metabolites that we take in directly or via tap water
• Toxic elements like halogens (i.e. fluoride) and heavy metals

How to detox in today’s toxic world

Here is the good news: once we reach faster and more effective detoxification levels, we can restore our health and achieve rejuvenation in a way that most of us have never experienced! The elimination of accumulated toxins speeds up self-regeneration and our stem cell health and distribution! Moreover, the most eye-opening part when experiencing regeneration, is that there is the regenerative force of life that strives towards restoring damage whenever it gets the slightest chance!

Because of the confusion around detox, there are many attempts and methods that fail because they do not get to the core of the problem – optimizing the body’s own detoxification function! Thus knowing what detox really means biologically and applying it can help us choose successful ways!

Knowing how to really detox: getting to the core of the problem!

Three pillars of supporting natural detoxification and elimination are toxin avoidance, detox-supporting nutrients and the natural human diet:

1. Toxin avoidance: Minimize exposure to synthetic and harmful substances wherever possible, buy organic produce and eco-products, etc. Just stick to “as natural as possible.”
2. Nutrients to boost detoxification enzymes: Optimize micro-nutrients to support liver enzyme activity. Especially phase II should be supported during intense detox periods i.e. during fasting (dietary restrictions), changing to a healthier diet, or taking nutrients and herbs that boost phase I detoxification. Sulfur (MSM), amino acids, and B12 are needed to boost phase II enzymes and prevent the accumulation of reactive intermediates created in phase I from causing damage. Learn more here from Dr. Laura Paris.
3. The natural diet for our species: Adopt our species-specific high-fruit diet (read more here), which results in intense detoxification when transitioning from another type of diet. Be aware of the nutritional shortcoming when living in areas outside the tropics and supplement the diet accordingly (see below).

Species-specific diet

The prerequisite to detox is to transition into our natural, species-specific diet, which is highly frugivorous: Humans are adapted to a high-fruit diet, because our biology is most similar to that of tropical frugivorous primates – like the chimpanzees.

Why does fruit detoxification work?

Here I would like to mention Dr. Robert Morse! His knowledge of detox biochemistry and his practical approach using regenerative detoxification has helped and inspired many health seekers.

According to Dr. Morse, there are three causes of disease toxicity, acidosis, and one’s genetic predisposition (weaknesses). (Detox Miracle Sourcebook, pp.231). By eating the biologically (and chemically) wrong foods, waste cannot be eliminated properly from the body, and, therefore, acids accumulate within the lymphatic fluids and within tissues.

The human body is that of a frugivorous ape. We need a high-fruit diet to suit our biology, and for healing, we use astringent fruits for a limited period of time. When we eat “outside our biology,” we put the wrong chemistry into our body, with the result of acidifying the lymph and then the cells! Because eating “foods” that we have not adapted to eat cannot be processed properly by our system: For optimal function and health, we need good digestion, absorption, utilization, and elimination of what we ingest.

By avoiding the acid-forming chemistry and adopting a clean, species-specific, alkaline diet, the kidneys will “open up” as an enhanced drainage for the backed-up cellular waste. The lymphatic system – our sewer system – plays a crucial role in those processes and needs to finally be seen for what it really is: “Our great sewer system!.” When waste is effectively transported out of the body, regenerative processes – by default – will start to work much more efficiently and rebuild the tissues.

This diet recommendation is only meant for short-term, not longer than a few weeks, as they are not a complete human diet, but rather a diet for a limited period of time! It sometimes is called “fruit fasting”.

Twenty-two steps to detox effectively

This list shows the 22 most important practical steps to enhance your detox abilities!

Go on your pace: we all have different starting points and have been exposed to different levels and periods of toxic burden and stress. Detox is not a sprint; it is a marathon: decades of accumulation can not be eliminated in weeks or months! It is also normal to do this in waves, with periods of motivation and clean eating and times of going a few steps back for a while.

The goal is to slowly but surely approach a species-specific, high-raw, high-fruit diet, integrate all nutrients we need and strive towards a natural “low-toxic” living.

Important: Reducing “the bad” is the foundation for effective detox. While adding “the good” can certainly improve biochemical functions, it will not lead to deeper cleansing and regeneration.

To learn more in depth how to adopt a fruit-based diet – frugivore diet – and what supplements are essential in today’s toxic world, also visit our guides on diet and supplements:

What to eat in a day?

Although not new at all, fruit-based diets and fruit detoxing is gaining more attention lately. The concept has been long known and described by teachers like Arnold Ehret or Johanna Brandt with the “Grape Cure”.

There are two main differences: the duration and the type of foods (and even types of fruits) “allowed”. A fruit detox can also be described as “fruit fasting”, as the effects are comparable.

It depends on what your goal is: a long-term change in diet or an intensive cleanse?

1. Long-term adopting our species’ diet: fruit-based diet

if your goal is to adopt the natural, species-specific diet, you can transition into a frugivore diet and need to learn what this entails to avoid deficiencies. For this purpose, read more in our guide here.

Here is an example of a day of frugivorous meals of ca. 2000- 2500 calories a day:

• One açai bowl with 200 grams açai berries and 3 bananas, plus added greens and chia seeds (650-700 calories)
• One handful of Brazil nuts (150-200 calories)
• One banana and one mango as a snack (200-250 calories)
• A fruit meal with a variety of fruits (300-400 calories)
• One handful of pecan nuts (150-200 calories)
• One large green salad with avocado and mangoes (300-400 calories)
• Banana Smoothie with coconut milk (250-350 calories)

This diet is already a huge change if you are eating a cooked food diet and can induce intensive detoxing after a few days and weeks. But sometimes, we aim to go even faster or deeper with a fruit-only detoxification:

2. Short-term, intensive detoxification: fruit detox

If your goal is to make a short-term cleanse, lose weight, or regenerate, the diet is limited to fruits for a few weeks! While the fruit-based diet is based on nutritious tropical fruits, a fruit cleanse is often based on acidic and sub-acidic fruits, which are high in water. This is why it is sometimes called a “fruit fast”, despite eating as many fruits as you feel like! Basically you can eat fruits and drink water up to three weeks.

The “grape cure” is an extremer version, which basically means “eating grapes only.” This well-known approach is sometimes applied when addressing physical conditions and has actually been applied for at least half a century, if not much longer.

The “grape cure” typically involves consuming only grapes and water while avoiding other foods and beverages, especially processed and mucus-forming foods. The grapes can be eaten as whole fruits, juiced, or turned into grape smoothies. Some variations of the grape cure allow the inclusion of other fruits or raw vegetables in small amounts. Caution: This grape fasting should be done under expert supervision.

Detox crisis? Detox Symptoms?

It gets worse before it gets better: Detox crises actually do exist and occur more often than not when changing to a healthier lifestyle! It is like cleaning and re-decorating a room – it will get messy at first. But why does this occur in the body? Toxins will get mobilized from “storage” tissue and temporarily will be transported via the blood, too. When the elimination of mobilized toxins lags behind, we can feel the effects in the form of dizziness, nausea, and tiredness.

Further, elimination is not always pretty. The body finds different ways to expel unwanted substances. Typical is mucus in stool, urine, eyes, nose, and throat. But also skin rashes, dry or greasy skin, spots, and abscesses. Depression and mood swings are very common or even slight (short-duration) fevers. Detox symptoms are highly diverse and individual. The list is as endless as the list of disease symptoms. It is also common that the initial problems get intensified for a while! But the unifying characteristics of different detox crises are the limited duration and, more importantly, the better well-being and health afterward.

References

1. R. Morse, Kidney+filtration, Raw Figs – Your Health Search Engine (available at https://www.rawfigs.com/?s=kidney%2Bfiltration®=0). (link)
2. H. Wen et al., Enhanced phase II detoxification contributes to beneficial effects of dietary restriction as revealed by multi-platform Metabolomics Studies. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics. 12, 575–586 (2013), doi:10.1074/mcp.m112.021352. (link)
3. R. T. D. says: et al., Functional Medicine Detox Phases 1, 2, and 3. Paris Healing Arts (2023) (available at https://www.parishealingarts.com/functional-medicine-phase-detox/). (link)
4. J. Brandt (1927) The Grape Cure,  Ehret Literature Publishing, 1.Edition, ASIN 1570672792