Special to the Ryersonian

December is a clincher. You’re packing in extra study hours, exams are back-to-back, and goodie platters are always within arms reach.

One way to help your body do damage control is with cleansing, or detox as it’s also known. Cleansing often involves a type of fast.

You have every opportunity to throw your health out the window for a month. But if you remember the January lethargy that results from sugar-overload, you’ll keep a few things in mind.

The best thing to do is avoid the junk. Cut out white sugar and white flour, reduce bread products and increase vegetables and fruits – your body will do cartwheels. Keep dried fruit and nuts nearby as treats.

If you just laughed out loud, at least try to satisfy your craving for buttery fats and sweets with healthier substitutes. Cheese instead of shortbread, dried apricots instead of candy canes, Chai tea with steamed milk and honey instead of eggnog. Remember that protein (think nuts, meat and dairy) will make you less likely to overload on sweets.

If you’re still laughing – fine. Go whole hog. But here are some ways to give your body a break. Try a mini-fast, but don’t let the name scare you. No one’s asking you to pull a 40-day fast on Mount Sinai. When you wake up, drink at least one glass of water. Follow that with a cup of detox tea (any good grocery store has it). If not, an herbal tea like peppermint will do.
 
If you can, drink only wateror tea all day. If you can’t, buy raw fruit or vegetable juice, or eat raw fruits and vegetables, but nothing else. Then fill up on vegetable soup for dinner. Try this for one day and if you do well, try for more. But don’t fast while you’re busy. Wait until the rush is over. Fasting puts an extra strain on your system and you don’t need the extra stress when you have lots to do.

For beverages, add chlorophyll to your water, then drink the number of ounces that match half your body weight in pounds a day. The constant water flow will help prevent toxins from settling in your system, and the chlorophyll will act like fresh air for your organs. Avoid caffeinated and sweetened drinks.

Mary Beanish felt better after a detox she did two years ago. She was having stomach pain, so for three weeks she tried a popular cleanse that allows only water with lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper.

“It did make me feel a lot better,” said the third-year radio and television arts student. “You feel hungry but (you don’t) really feel tired.”

Since she went back to eating regular food, something she cautions should only be done gradually, she said she had a lot more energy.

Naturopathic doctor Morgan Winton sees value in detoxes. She said students should keep fruits and vegetables on hand, along with nuts and seeds.

“I think they’re helpful and it’s a nice opportunity to give the body a rest from the hard reality of what we do to it on a daily basis,” said Winton, who practises in the Commerce Court Health Centre at Bay and Wellington streets.

But nutrition professor Rena Mendelson chalks up feeling better from a detox to the placebo effect.

“Frankly, these are useless and costly,” Mendelson said about detox techniques in general. “They’re hocus-pocus.”

She said there are no clinical trials to back them up and they shouldn’t be recommended as constructive alternatives.