What is Nutritional Cleansing?
Isagenix has been a leading advocate of nutritional cleansing for over a decade as scientific evidence has shown surprising health benefits associated with the practice. People have practiced intermittent fasting with the supplementation of vitamins and herbs for thousands of years, but recent studies have shed even more light on its ability to help with weight control, appetite suppression, increased insulin sensitivity, cell maintenance, brain health, and detoxification.
Benefits of Nutritional Cleansing
Weight Control
When incorporating cleanse days into their lives, one of the first things people notice is weight loss. According to studies, intermittent fasting is just as effective as cutting calories when it comes to weight loss. In fact, one study found that women who intermittently fasted for six months experienced more weight loss than women who merely cut back on their daily calorie intake.
For worrying health statistics in the UK, check out this handy infographic we’ve put together.
Appetite Suppression
It’s easy to assume that not eating for a day will make you even hungrier and more likely to make up for lost calories the next day, but this isn’t the case. In fact, evidence suggests regularly practicing intermittent fasting leads to the consumption of less food on normal calorie days. Whether this is due to a shrinking stomach or not, people who nutritionally cleanse with Isagenix proclaim to have less food cravings on cleanse days.
Increased Insulin Sensitivity
Insulin sensitivity simply refers to how well insulin disperses glucose from the blood into the appropriate tissues after eating. One study found that healthy men who nutritionally cleansed every other day for two weeks experienced increased glucose uptake, resulting in greater insulin sensitivity and improved blood sugar control.
Brain Health
Although studies regarding the effect of fasting on the brain have only been conducted on animals thus far, the results look very promising. According to the studies, fasting appears to stimulate brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) production, which increases the ability of brain neurons to resist degeneration and stimulates learning and memory.
Evidence also suggests fasting’s ability to stimulate neurogenesis, or new brain neuron growth. Increased BDNF levels leads to increased serotonin, which validates some claims from ageing men about experiencing improved mood and perceived quality of life after two-day cleanses.
Cell Maintenance
The term may be unknown to most, but autophagy is a vital natural defense mechanism of the body to guard against ageing. With autophagy, all of the organ systems and normal bodily processes continue to work smoothly as they should while old and damaged cells or components of cells are repaired for optimal cell function.
As we age, autophagy decreases and weakens our body’s ability to repair itself. Fasting, nutritional cleansing, and restricted calorie intake have been shown to promote autophagy and cellular repair. Thus, many claim experiencing an “anti-ageing” effect from regular cleansing.
Detoxification
Last but not least, cleanse days also help detoxify the body. By fasting and taking the right nutritional supplements, you’ll flush toxins and impurities out of your body that have built up over time and improve your overall health. This benefit of nutritional cleansing honestly deserves its own article.
As you can see, Isagenix cleanse days help with much more than simply losing weight. As science has proven, nutritional cleansing provides the body with several key benefits, allowing it to repair and restore. By replacing toxins with essential vitamins, nutrients, and minerals, you’ll begin enjoying a healthier, better you.
The Science Behind Nutritional Cleansing
The human body has mechanisms designed to remove or repair damaged cells and molecules. When three meals a day is eaten, the body remains in growth mode, preventing the removal of damaged molecules. Nutritional cleansing provides the body with the time it needs to identify and tag damaged proteins for removal.
During a cleanse, cell molecules target proteins and work on recycling them into amino acid building blocks. This degradation is complemented by autophagy. According to the results of an Isagenix study performed by top scientists at institutions like the University of Illinois at Chicago, cleansing and intermittent fasting not only boosts weight loss, but it reduces inflammation as well. In other words, partaking in shake days and cleanse days promotes improved overall health.
Isagenix for Increased Weight Loss and Mental Acuity
By following the Isagenix programme and incorporating shake days and cleanse days into your lifestyle, you can increase your body’s ketone levels. Since ketones are necessary for the breaking down of fat, increased ketones leads to weight loss.
Ketones also provide protection against mental ageing. Studies with animals have shown that intermittent fasting boosts mitochondrial function, antioxidants, and brain-protective proteins.
Nutritional Cleansing – An Integral Part of the Isagenix Programme
Cleanse days play a critical role in the Isagenix programme. They allow for enhanced weight loss, increased energy, better sleep, improved brain function, and more. That being said, Isagenix users should only have a maximum of two consecutive cleanse days per week. The body needs nourishment, so Isagenix shakes and snacks are just as important as nutritional cleansing when following an Isagenix programme.