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Writer's pictureSharron Cosgrove

Four Days to reset your Agni

Reset your Digestion and Fat Metabolism

If followed meticulously … you may find the following benefits

Weight loss

Burnt toxins

Boosted energy

Improved Mood

Increased Immunity

Health and Longevity

Cleansing is a natural and essential process that our bodies undergo every day, every month and every year. In nature, there is an opportunity for cleansing with every season and even with every breath we take.

We live in a toxic world. In nature, we can plainly see daily and seasonal cycles that support the survival of plants and animals. For example, birds fly south, whales migrate, and leaves turn red and fall off the trees in the Fall. While all this is happening, we may only be putting on or taking off a sweater. Though just like the birds, our survival depends on being connected to these natural cycles through eating seasonally, cleansing regularly, and living in harmony with nature.

When we are under stress, the body is told to store fat, which often results in weight gain, cravings and the storage of fat soluble toxins, chemicals and pollutants.

Perfect Timing is designed to reset the body’s ability to be a better fat burner. Fat is the body’s calm, long lasting, mood stabilizing, detoxifying, repairing, rejuvenating and endurance fuel.

In just four days, while working and maintaining your regular schedule, you'll be supporting the body’s natural ability to burn fat and detoxify itself.

Benefits of Cleansing and Burning Fat Cells

Each morning you will drink increasing amounts of melted ghee called your Morning Ghee - and eat a simple non-fat diet to stimulate fat metabolism so you start burning off fat cells. Because fat is a stable, non-emergency fuel, you will experience a sense of calm when you enter fat metabolism mode.

According to Ayurveda, fat is a detox fuel. This is because molecules of emotion, fat soluble toxins and chemicals are stored in our fat cells. When we burn our fat, we are burning these toxins along with it.

Examples of the toxins stored in our fat cells include preservatives, DDT, dioxin, pollutants, pesticides and other damaging chemicals.

This cleanse will help detox and nourish your lymphatic system. The lymphatic system drains the wastes from your body and controls and regulates your immune system. It is pumped through muscular contractions, so if one is sedentary, the lymphatic system will also eventually become sedentary and will create toxicity in lymphatic-related tissues such as the breasts, skin, joints, and muscles.

Molecules of emotion - or mental toxins, according to Ayurveda - such as anger, fear, sadness, jealousy, etc., are lipophilic, which means that they take safe haven and store in our fat cells, causing physical and emotional disturbances for years and years. When we burn our fat cells, we release these old patterns of behavior that we find ourselves repeating over and over again.


Brief Overview of the four day cleanse

First thing each Morning

Day 1: drink 2 tsp melted ghee.

Day 2: drink 4 tsp melted ghee.

Day 3: drink 6 tsp melted ghee.

Day 4: drink 8 tsp melted ghee.

You can drink the ghee plain or mix with 1/2 cup of warm rice, almond, coconut, or organic cow’s milk. Wait a 1/2 hour before eating anything.

o Digestive Herbs and Spices

After testing* you will have discovered if you have too much, or too little Agni, meaning digestive acidity. See the herbal recommendatiobns under Detailed Instructions below.

*See information on testing your Digestive Fire


o Cleansing Herbs

Either use herbal recommendations below or take 2 capsules (400mg each) of Manjistha and 2 capsules (500mg each) of Turmeric twice per day after meals.


o Three Non-fat Meals per Day (No Snacking)

Follow a non-fat diet of seasonal vegetables, fruit and kitchari. Eat a light breakfast, a big lunch and a light and early dinner.


o Hot Sips and Daily Ounces

Sip warm-hot plain water every 10-15 minutes and drink half your healthiest body weight in ounces of plain, room-temp water per day.

On the Evening of Day Four

After a hot Epsom salt bath, take one of the following laxatives:

  • 1 ½ cups of prune juice.

  • Or 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt dissolved in 1 cup of water with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

  • Or 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt dissolved in 1 cup of water with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.

  • In 1-15 hours (average 4-6 hours), you should experience a laxative effect that will remove toxins the ghee has loosened in the body.


Detailed directions

Four days to reset Agni

STEP ONE: Start Herbal Support


These herbal recommendations are designed to support your Digestive Fire, as your digestion will slow down during the cleanse while your body focuses on detoxifying. Please decide which formula is best for you:

To increase the digestive fire (Agni) (this means you have too little stomach acid):

Chew 2 slices of ‘ginger pizza’ 15 minutes before meals. To make ‘ginger pizza,’ slice fresh, raw, peeled ginger root into thin rounds. Simply sprinkle with lemon juice and sea salt. You can make enough to last for a few days and store them in the fridge. It is helpful for flatulence, mal-absorption, nausea and indigestion.


To decrease the acidity or cool the irritated mucosa of the stomach wall and counteract excessive stomach acid. (this means your body has become too acidic). It will be experienced by occasional ulceration, heat, heartburn, acidity or indigestion. Drink one cup of hot water mixed with a pinch of each: ginger, cumin and fennel powder. Drink with your meals.

Manjistha – for the lymph system.

Alternatives: Take Red Root tincture, sheep sorrel, burdock root, astralagus and slippery elm. a commonly available herb that helps de-stagnate and detox the lymph and lymph nodes.

Turmeric

Ensure you are having turmeric, 1-2 tbsp+- per day with foods

Turmeric supports the body’s natural response to stress, while supporting the liver, skin and immune system. It builds rakta (blood) and de-inflames rasa (lymph).

Alternative to Turmeric

Drink 1 cup of dandelion root tea after each meal. Or take a plain turmeric supplement (preferably not an extract) at 500mg, 2 times per day after meals.

STEP TWO

Rehydration Therapy

Rehydrate every cell in the body. there are two parts to this challenge.

Sometimes when we drink water, it feels as if it goes right through us and we don’t absorb any of it. We then have to urinate all day, but don’t ever feel hydrated.

We can become so dehydrated that the skin lining the intestinal wall can dry out and become hard like leather. Imagine pouring cold water on leather - it just runs off. Alternatively, imagine pouring hot water on leather: soon the leather will soften and absorb the water.

Here is the First Part of this Rehydration Process:

Sip hot water every 10-15 minutes throughout the day for the next two weeks.

Yes, this is plain hot water that has been boiled and put in a thermos. Carry your thermos with you and take sips of this water all day long.

Why Hot Water?

Hot water hydrates the cells better because it is, well, hot. The hot water also cleanses the intestinal wall of old mucus build up. It opens and cleans the villi, thus allowing the water to hydrate the small intestine. This hydration allows the hot water to begin to penetrate the Lymphatic Tissues and the lymphatic drainage is activated.

Why Plain Water?

If you drink tea, the tea and the water must be separated before cellular hydration can occur. This is why we ask for just plain hot water rather than a tea or added lemon.

By doing this all day, we create an ongoing scrubbing and dilation of the intestinal wall, thus supporting a deep hydration effect.

Why Boiled Water?

Boiling water is an ancient Ayurvedic technique done to boil off impurities and, according to Ayurveda, render the water more molecularly active to clean, hydrate, and purify the body.

The Second Part of this Challenge is to:

Drink 1/2 your ideal body weight in ounces of room temperature water each day.

This adds water to the riverbed that you just scrubbed with the hot water. Now that the tissues have been softened, we can rinse and hydrate the deep tissues of the body by rehydrating the body with larger amounts of water. This too, lasts for only 2 weeks, the same two weeks during which we are sipping hot water every 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy the amazing benefits of this challenge. I would suggest pouring the amount of water you need to drink each day into pre-poured water bottles. Then you know what you have to drink each day. I understand that for some of you this challenge may be impossible. If that is you, just do the best you can and focus on the hot water.

This room temperature water can be taken in between meals or 15-20 minutes before a meal. Sipping hot water can happen all day long, even during a meal.

STEP THREE

Morning Ghee (Oleation therapy)

If you have no gallbladder, trouble with your gallbladder, or difficulty digesting fat, you’ll need to be on a modified protocol. If you do not have a gallbladder, please substitute with coconut oil, as coconut oil easier to digest without a gallbladder. If you have gallbladder issues or trouble digesting fats (nausea and indigestion after eating a fatty meal), please stick with just 2 teaspoons of ghee each morning, and do not increase. Check with your Medical Doctor to adjust your protocol if you have challenges with fat metabolism.

Morning Ghee Protocol

Day One: 2 tsp ghee

Day Two: 4 tsp ghee

Day Three: 6 tsp ghee

Day Four: 9 tbsp ghee


Each morning melt the prescribed teaspoons of ghee and drink on an empty stomach. If it’s difficult for you, mix the melted ghee into a ½ cup of warm rice, almond, coconut or organic vat-pasteurized, non- homogenized cow’s milk. Drink the warmed mixture all at once. If needed, you can add a pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon a and/or cardamom for taste.


Wait a ½ hour before drinking or eating anything.


If nausea occurs, sip ½ - 1 cup of warm-to-hot water with fresh lemon juice and grated ginger root. Be sure to eat breakfast (from your meal of choice, below) a ½ hour after your Morning Ghee, even if you feel full. This will help to settle the stomach.


STEP FOUR

Eat Three Meals a Day, No Snacks

Our goal is to teach our bodies how to enter into and maintain fat metabolism. One of the best ways to kick start this process is to eat three meals a day, without snacking in between. This gives the body a chance to run out of its normal, go-to fuel, which is carbohydrates – and switch to the calmer, more stable, detoxifying fuel of its own body fat.

The key to success with this is to make lunch your main and largest meal of the day. During lunch, take time to sit down, relax and enjoy your meal, with no newspapers, books, or electronic devices . This will help you leave the table satisfied. From there, you can try for a lighter, smaller supper.

Eating this way requires some blood sugar stability. If three meals a day with no snacks is not possible for you yet, start with four meals, and work your way down to three at a comfortable pace. Don’t strain too much, as stress and strain cause the body to store fat rather than burn it.

Foods to Avoid

To gain the most benefits from your cleanse, avoid all foods with fat, such as oil, butter, avocado, nuts and seeds or dairy and fatty meat or fish.


As well avoid these foods:

  • Avoid bread, flatbread, crackers or any baked goods as they slow down the cleansing process

  • Avoid heavy foods (such as butter, yogurt, nuts, oils, cheese, pizza).

  • Avoid sprouts and curds (including tofu), pickles, vinegar, and alcohol.

  • Avoid soy (including tofu, tempeh, miso, edamame).

  • Avoid raw, uncooked vegetables and cold drinks, cold foods, and caffeine.

  • Avoid white sugar, honey, alcohol and recreational drugs.

  • Avoid creamy foods and spicy foods.

STEP FIVE

Follow One of These 3 Meal Options

Kitchari (also called khichadi, kichari or khicharee) is your new best friend during this time, and a staple of each of the Meal Options. Kitchari is high in protein and is extremely healthy for your digestive tract and intestinal mucosa.

Note: Eating only kitchari is not for everyone.

If this causes stress or strain on the digestive system, choose a meal option below.

Meal Options


Fully Nourished Meal Option

Kitchari, steamed vegetables, oatmeal, salad, fruit and protein*

As this is the most diverse Meal Option available, I recommend that everyone start with the Fully Nourished Meal Option. It’s called Nourished because it’s designed to be deeply nourishing even as you clear toxins out of the fat cells and escort them into your colon.

While the base of this Meal Option is still ideally kitchari, if you need a change, you can substitute with a different small bean (lentils, whole mung beans, adzuki beans) and a whole grain cooked together to an easily digestible, porridge-like consistency. Please note that split yellow mung dahl beans are much more digestible than whole or sprouted mung beans.

To this kitchari base, you can add steamed vegetables, fruit, oatmeal, and other gluten-free grains.

Note: If you wish to eat fruits, Ayurveda recommends that you always eat them separately from other foods. Additionally, Ayurveda advises that one should eat sweet fruits separately from sour fruits, and always eat melons separately. Only eat all-fruit meals if you have stable blood sugar, and ideally every other day at most. Breakfast is the best time for an all-fruit meal.

Feeling Rejuvenated Meal Option

Kitchari and Steamed Vegetables*

If you feel ready for a more limited variety of foods, you can try eating just Kitchari and steamed vegetables or vegetable soup (homemade, non-fat – just vegetables cooked with herbal seasonings and optionally pureed). This Meal Option is still nourishing in terms of giving you a multitude of minerals and vitamins, but it is slightly more rejuvenative to the liver and other organs as the fare is simpler and easier to digest than that of the Fully Nourished plan.

Wow – I’m Transformed Meal Option

Kitchari Only*

Note: Please only attempt this option if you are an experienced cleanser who knows your body very well and if you are sure your metabolism and digestive system can take this.


To maximize your cleanse and reap the most benefits, eat only non-fat Kitchari, three meals a day. This will be incredibly healing to your digestive tract and extremely detoxifying. When you eat a mono diet, your body can focus the energy that normally goes towards digestion to cleansing and healing other systems. It is a truly transformative option for both your body’s detox process and your psychological relationship to food.

Always eat your largest serving at midday, when your digestion is the strongest. For dinner, eat early and eat a smaller serving.

If needed, on this Meal Option you can eat 3-4 meals per day to keep your blood sugar and energy stable.

*Add Protein for Blood Sugar Balancing

Feeling hungry, dizzy, moody, tired, nauseous, or uncomfortable? The body will not burn fat when it is under stress, so a major key during this cleanse is to be sure you are feeling comfortable. The best way to accomplish this is to keep the blood sugar balanced.

If your blood sugar is imbalanced, add non-fat protein powder (concentrates are better than isolates), or lean chicken or turkey to your meals. While the key here is to avoid fat, more protein may be needed to keep the blood sugar stable. If you are crashing in between meals, have a non-fat snack that is high in protein and plan to eat more protein at your next meal. Though the goal is not to snack, it can take some time to get the blood sugar to a balanced enough place to handle that much time in between meals.

It can take a few weeks to balance blood sugar, so there is no need to rush it during this cleanse. At no time during your cleanse do you want to feel like you are starving or suffering, as it is also important that your nervous system is calm.

I can't stress enough

If this is your first time, I recommend that you begin with the Fully Nourished Meal Option and, in future cleanses, work your way to the Feeling Rejuvenated and Wow- I’m Transformed. You will still benefit from a thorough detox if you follow the Fully Nourished plan.

STEP SIX

Final Flush on the Evening of Day Four

On the evening of day four, eat an early and light dinner. Wait 2 hours and then take a hot Epsom salt bath. If you cannot take a bath, take a hot shower and then rest with a warm-to-hot water bottle on your abdomen for 10-15 minutes to warm the belly.


Then take your laxative, choosing the laxative that is best for you:

• For sensitive digestion or loose stools, bowel irritation, or gallbladder or liver issues: Drink 1 ½ cups of room temperature-to-warm prune juice.

• For normal elimination: Dissolve 1 tablespoon Epsom

salt in 1 cup of water. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Drink the mixture.

• For sluggish, hard or constipated bowels: Dissolve 1 ½ tablespoons of Epsom salt in 1 cup of water. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Drink the mixture.

Notes:

You will likely experience a laxative effect in 1-15 hours (average time is about 4-6 hours).

Do not eat anything until the laxative effect has worn off. Sipping room temperature or warm water is fine.

If you do not have a laxative effect, and you have been eliminating well throughout the cleanse, it’s possible your bowels were already flushed out, taking the built-up toxins along. If you haven’t been eliminating well, you can take another dose of the laxative therapy the next morning or evening.

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