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In practical terms, a purge consists of taking a product of plant or mineral origin after fasting for at least 6 hours, then waiting a minimum of 12 hours and having gone to the bathroom before refeeding. This therefore requires staying 18 hours without eating at a minimum. The most notable effect of these purges is to cause diarrhea that completely empties the intestines. There is nothing new in their use since in the Middle Ages, apothecaries offered more than a hundred different ones.
“Purges help the body to clean the excretory organs that are responsible for the normal elimination of acids (kidneys), viscosities (liver and colon) and damaged cells. Moreover, they facilitate the cleaning of the lymph during the healing crisis. Undesirable pathogens will have nothing to feed on and will return empty-handed from where they came…”
Nelly Grosjean & Miguel Barthéléry, The Zen Detox Cure Volume 1
I became acquainted with purges on the day of the departure of The Fasting Walk in the summer of 2018. I then defined myself as a “pure and hard” hygienist, meaning that I believed that by providing a diet suitable for my body (see the article “The Origins of Living Food”) with the right hygiene of life (see the article on the law of hormesis), my health would naturally tend towards an optimal state. So I didn’t want to hear about substances that trigger diarrhea on command; they seemed superfluous or even dangerous to me… Except that the team surrounding me in the preparation of The Fasting Walk insisted heavily that I purge before departure. I didn’t understand their arguments, but since they seemed to find it important and I, on the other hand, had nothing to argue except my idealistic vision of hygienism, I resigned myself…
Can one sustainably eat 100% plant-based and raw without purges?
Thus, I took my first purge and it was a revelation… For I found that entering a fast after a purge is much easier. After subsequently performing other purges, as another positive effect, I also noticed with astonishment that I was no longer affected at all by recurring periods of fatigue during which I was strongly tempted by animal products. Even though I had 4 years of living food behind me. And then, all doubt about their potential harmfulness was removed as I observed a peak in physical and mental fitness after each purge. I come to the conclusion that motivated me to write this article on purges: 100% living food does not work if one does not purge! I verified this around me and I also see it online with “vegan personalities” who one day change their tune by admitting that ultimately this diet does not work for them, to the dismay of their thousands of followers… For the purists of 100% raw plant-based eventually end up feeling weak if they do not consume animal products or cooked food again.
Are we made for living food?
Arriving at this crucial point, it is time to refocus the debate on solid foundations:
– We are primates, a family 63 million years old, and more specifically we belong to the clade of hominids for 7 million years (which includes gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees) whose diet consists mainly of raw fruits and vegetables (between 99 and 95% depending on the species). Moreover, the metacarpals (these bones of the hand) which mean in Greek “behind the fruit” are more intended for gathering than for hunting.
The example of the Inuit having a meat share close to 90% in their diet simply shows 1. the remarkable adaptability of the human body 2. that by practicing the 3F (see this article on the law of hormesis, because on the ice floe it is cold, we fast regularly and we do not spare our efforts, not much in common with the life of the average sedentary person today…) we manage to limit the deleterious effects of an inadequate diet. And no one envies the old age they had for those who know a bit of their history… If the Paleolithic diet produces results in the short term, it is mainly because it sets aside dairy products and cereals, which relieves the body of its digestive work without triggering the vital cleaning of the organism.
– According to anthropologists, the first humans incorporated a meat share into their diet about 2 million years ago, then cereals (cooked) and dairy products about 10,000 years ago. It is therefore reasonable to think that genetic adaptations may have manifested to allow us, to some extent, to consume something other than raw vegetables. Nevertheless, our fundamental constitution is not really designed to digest anything else. Humans have shown themselves to be opportunistic and innovative at a certain point in their history to find calories in a context very different from ours today. It is now possible to return to our basic natural diet and it is a chance. The Universe provides us with its fruits everywhere on our planet.
– There is nothing vital for humans that cannot be found in plants. This is a fact. By the way: proteins are not the exclusive domain of animal products (see table below) and the B12 we need is produced by our intestinal microbiota, provided it is healthy enough. To learn more about this, read:“Animal Proteins and B12”.
– The consumption of animal products, due to the pollution generated, is threatening all life on the surface of our planet, including our own species. Furthermore, in terms of carbon footprint, it is preferable to consume fruits that arrived by boat than to consume animal products (on this subject, read the article:“The Impact of Living Food on the Environment”).
Well beyond these factual considerations, what has always motivated me to move towards a 100% raw plant-based diet is simply the aesthetic that such a way of eating, pure and simple, represents.
Purges to wean off animal flesh and cooked food
So if, as I believe, the best diet for us is to consume raw fruits and vegetables, why is it so difficult, even for those who are convinced? After 4 years of living food at 80% (from a caloric ratio perspective) I still couldn’t do without cereals and about 2 times a month I craved pastries and cheeses. Recurring cravings that I could not resist. I had come to the conclusion that either I was weak-willed, or I was seeking nutrients I needed from animal products, like B12, since these periods were associated with fatigue. In short, my mind took over and played tricks on me…
But in September 2018, after returning from The Fasting Walk, I committed to regular purges as recommended in the health plan of my naturopath. And since then, as if by magic, I have switched to 100% living (my goal) with disconcerting ease, without the slightest frustration. Now, you can put all my old guilty pleasures (which were really not cute at all) in front of me without tempting me. I simply no longer consider them as food…
I have a deep gratitude for these purges of which the etymological origin of purification now makes perfect sense for me. And I also thank those who introduced me to them: Sarah Juhasz, Damien Artero, Miguel Barthéléry, and of course, Irène Grosjean, who is the origin of a theory that explains why we need to purge and how they work. This is not the place to detail it, and I urge you to get the book by Nelly Grosjean and Miguel Barthéléry,“The Zen Detox Aromatic Cure Volume 1” if you want to know more about the subject, it is a reference. I will simply specify that, according to this book:
- All non-physiological foods, that is to say, cooked, processed, or animal-derived foods, produce in our bodies digestion residues classified into two categories: acids and glues.
- The foods that generate acids are mainly: meat, fish, dairy products, refined sugar, and preservatives.
- The foods that generate glues are mainly: heated dairy products and all starchy foods (grains, legumes, tubers, etc.) cooked.
The places where these acids and glues deposit in the body are responsible for the appearance of the main dysfunctions in our organism. For example, if we have an excess of acid in the body and it deposits in the joints, they cause us pain. If we have an excess of glues in the body and they deposit under the skin, we can develop cysts. Etc.
“In addition to destroying vitamins and antioxidants, cooking creates the conditions for carbohydrates to react with proteins, lipids, or other carbohydrates. These chemical reactions form complex, viscous, sticky products that quickly overload the liver’s capacities. The excess that could not be evacuated through stools will be lyophilized and stored in the lymph and the interstices of the extracellular matrix.”
Miguel Barthéléry, “The Zen Detox Aromatic Cure Volume 1”
Are purges a tool for regeneration on all levels?
I believed for years that one could cleanse their body of acids and glues only through living food and fasting, but it doesn’t work. I observe it everywhere around me among those who eat raw. There are 2 reasons for this:
- The glues, aptly named, are difficult to exit the body even during a fast. And worse, they slow down or even block the elimination of other poisons that the body would like to expel, such as acids or heavy metals. Our body, as incredible and resilient as it is, was not designed to handle such eliminations (glues are not natural) and assistance through purges is really not superfluous.
- For decades we have accumulated acids and glues in our tissues, and it is not by doing 2 or 3 fasts that we will clean everything. It is a long-term job, over years, that is done layer by layer.
Living food boosts our immune defenses to eliminate these multiple layers of toxic residues. The organs and emunctories then find themselves overloaded by the work to be done, and problems can arise. It even happens that some raw foodists temporarily suffer from health issues because these acids and glues reintroduced (in quantity) into circulation in the blood and lymph accumulate without being able to be evacuated. That is why eating cooked food or animal-derived products again, by re-engaging our body’s assimilation mode, allows the organism to ease detox and feel temporarily relieved. The discomfort experienced during the dietary transition to more living food is simply that of withdrawal. That is why, by moderating detox through the occasional consumption of cooked or animal-derived foods, we achieve balance. We can settle for this mode of operation that works as long as there are no major elimination crises or use purges regularly to limit the effects of withdrawal and eat plant-based and living food more easily!
That is why I say that purges are the keystone of living food and fasting.
I will conclude by reminding that all that precedes remains in the realm of hypotheses and that, to my knowledge, there are no scientific validations that support them. Nevertheless, purges are remarkably effective provided one has sufficient vitality and uses the appropriate purges, with the right quantity and at the right frequency. For this, it is important to consult a competent therapist on the subject to assist you.
