Clean 21 repairs and restores your essential functions at their core — your gut. Rejuvenate your life with the acclaimed 21-day program created by Dr. Alejandro Junger.
More powerful than any detox or meal plan, Clean 21 is a functional health program that is MD-designed to deliver highly effective results. You’ll redirect your body’s energy and nutritional resources to help repair your gut, detoxify, and boost metabolic functions, allowing your body to restore functional balance. An easy-to-follow daily protocol features Clean organic nutritional shakes, targeted supplements, and whole-food eating guidelines designed to heal and empower you with lasting health habits. Your journey to lifelong wellness begins here.
Dr. Alejandro Junger is a cardiologist, New York Times best-selling author, and founder of The Clean Program. Recognized as “The Father of Detox,” Dr. Junger's programs have been embraced globally in the health and wellness space.
We can address the root cause of chronic disease and dysfunctions by examining, assessing, and therapeutically delivering on nutrition, environment, lifestyle, and genetic predispositions. Why are these symptoms presenting? What is causing them? Let’s talk about assimilation.
What is Assimilation?
Assimilation represents the absorption and digestion of nutrients by the body to be utilized for optimal health. This process starts in the mouth and ends at the cellular level where the final products are utilized. To put it very simply, what we don’t assimilate, we can’t use.
Nutrients must be digested, absorbed, and assimilated for our bodies to reap the benefits and use them properly. Assimilation is one of the most crucial body systems. Without it, it would be impossible for our bodies to survive.
On a more physical level, when addressing assimilation we consider the following:
Digestion and absorption required to assimilate
Macro- and micronutrients in food to fuel the body
Breakdown of large molecules of food into smaller units using digestive output: stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes, bile acids
Digestion + Absorption + Assimilation
Digestion and absorption in the gut are essential for good health. These processes provide the building blocks to integrate nutrients into our being and allow us to thrive.
Cultivate Good Bacteria
Our high-quality Cultivate probiotic capsules help to support the growth of good bacteria in your gut to improve your digestion and overall health. Probiotics are essential for maintaining a strong immune system, healthy digestive system, and balanced intestinal health.
When we take probiotics, we help fight invaders, improve our nutrient absorption, increase our ability to detoxify, and reduce the negative effects of antibiotic use. Our gut is filled with hundreds of different species of good bacteria. A truly healthy gut will contain more good bacteria than cells in the entire body. This healthy gut flora is the first thing other organisms encounter in the digestive tube as they fight to protect their territory and prevent other organisms from taking hold.
Gut bacteria help with the production of crucial b vitamins, specifically folate (B9), biotin (B7), and B12. These nutrients have to be pre-digested by bacteria before the body can absorb them. When we are not getting these nutrients, we can experience a variety of symptoms that seem to appear out of nowhere like low energy, brain fog, and skin issues.
The liver may get a lot of attention in the detox world, but the intestinal flora is arguably the largest detoxification component of the body. To put it another way — if the gut didn’t have a well-balanced intestinal flora, the liver would have to work almost twice as hard.
Supporting our intestinal flora with supplemental probiotics can help to rid the body of toxins entering our air, food, and water. Probiotics, like lactobacillus, look promising in helping to detoxify heavy metals and to prevent their absorption into the body.
Their support in reducing the toxins we inevitably encounter day to day, modulating the immune system, improving digestion and nutrient absorption, and their ability to decrease typical symptoms of antibiotics are a few benefits we don’t want you to miss out on.
Digest Food Well
Digest is a digestive enzyme formula that supplies a broad spectrum of non-animal-derived enzymes including acid-stable lipase and three different proteases chosen to provide powerful aid in breaking down cellulose, fats, and proteins.
Enzymes play a key role in our body’s cells, catalyzing chemical reactions that facilitate the breakdown of existing materials while creating new ones. When we eat food, a key step in the digestive process is the release of pancreatic enzymes in the small intestine. If we have low production of these essential enzymes, or if we are dealing with food intolerances and/or GI inflammation, we end up with a lot of bloating and digestive discomfort.
Our bodies produce many different types of enzymes as needed for different functions. For instance, amylase is released in your saliva to break down carbohydrates. Various enzymes break down different substances, and a good enzyme supplement like our Digest formula contains a variety of enzymes with diverse functions, such as protease, lipase, lactase, and amylase. Digest is a plant-based, broad-spectrum supplement, formulated to provide powerful digestive support, and reduces bloating and indigestion.
Remember, we get almost all nutrients that build and support our bodies from the foods that we eat. We must create enough pancreatic enzymes to break down and assimilate these nutrients effectively.
Leaky gut syndrome has been gaining more attention in recent years. As we become more and more affected by poor dietary choices, bacterial imbalances in the GI tract, stress, and overall toxic overload, the prevalence of leaky gut syndrome is on the rise. A growing body of research suggests that leaky gut syndrome can be a precursor to some serious health conditions.
Glutamine (or L-Glutamine, as it is also known), can be a key in healing this disorder.
Leaky gut syndrome is also called intestinal permeability, and it refers to a breakdown of the protective mechanisms in place between the GI tract and the bloodstream. The intestinal wall is the largest barrier between your internal bodily systems and the outside world. The intestinal wall lines the entire digestive tube and is in constant contact with incoming outside substances such as food, beverages, chemicals, drugs, viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens.
Intestinal permeability occurs when immune cells in the intestinal lining begin producing inflammatory molecules, and the protective intestinal tight junctions are disturbed. These tight junctions are the gateway between the intestinal tract, the bloodstream, and internal organs.
When the function of these tight junctions is compromised, toxins, undigested food particles, and microbes can pass into the bloodstream, causing multiple negative effects. Leaky gut has been linked to irritable bowel syndrome and other inflammatory bowel disorders, celiac disease, allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases, systemic inflammation, and Type 1 diabetes.
Assimilation of Oxygen
We can also apply assimilation by taking in oxygen through the breath and incorporating it into blood cells. Our cells need oxygen to function. Our cells use the oxygen we breathe to get energy from the food we eat. The body’s cells use oxygen to transfer energy stored in food to a usable form. This process, which is called cellular respiration, allows the cells to harness energy to perform vital functions such as powering muscles (including involuntary muscles such as the heart) and the movement of materials into and out of cells. Without oxygen in the body, cells can function for a limited period; long-term oxygen depletion leads to cell death and eventually death of the organism.
Proper breathing can help us sustain healthy blood oxygen levels. Without proper breath comes a host of other ailments, including elevated anxiety and emotional stress, reduced energy levels, and compromised immune function. Focused breathing exercises can increase oxygen saturation in the body and ease physical and mental stress, as well as enhance cellular function.
According to the American Lung Association, “If practiced regularly, breathing exercises can help rid the lungs of accumulated stale air, increase oxygen levels, and get the diaphragm to return to its job of helping you breathe.” Breathing exercises can also help improve overall respiratory health, lung capacity, and a sense of calm rejuvenation.
Oxygen Can Help With Anxiety
When the body enters a “fight, flight or freeze” state and has gone into its sympathetic nervous system response, we tend to hold our breath or take very shallow breaths from the chest. One of the quickest ways to get out of the sympathetic nervous system response and into the parasympathetic is by utilizing deep breathing techniques. Specifically allowing your exhale to be longer than your inhale.
You can start today by simply inhaling through your nose for a count of four, and exhaling through your mouth for a count of five. Continue doing this as many times as you need until you feel relaxed and calm.
Cacao-Nut Delight: Sugar-Free Clean Chocolate Superfood Bark with a Nutty Twist
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Indulge guilt-free with this sugar-free clean chocolate bark recipe. Made with mindful ingredients, it's perfect for Keto, diabetic, or low-sugar diets.
If you want a 3-day reset following clean diet guidelines, check out these recipes in a 3-day meal plan to help reset your gut and enhance your detox processes.
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