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Colonic Tips

Colonic Hydrotherapy Preparation and Post Colonic Guidelines

In order to get the best detoxification and cleansing effects from your colonic hydrotherapy session, you can adopt behaviors and make dietary choices before and after that put your body in a good place to be most receptive to the colonic.

If you can’t stick to all of the following pre and post tips, that’s okay because small steps lead to great changes. We’ll guide you once we’ve had the chance to work with you and understand your health and lifestyle goals. In the meantime, we designed a food combination smart chart to help you design your meal choices. We want your colonic hydrotherapy to be as successful as possible and make sure you leave DTX NYC feeling rejuvenated, light, and energized!

Before Your Colonic: 1-7 Days Before the Session

What you eat and drink on the days leading up to your colonic hydrotherapy session can have a profound impact on how your colon cleanse goes and how you feel afterwards. Before and after colonic hydrotherapy, it is very important to eat a healthy diet of fresh fruits and vegetables and to stay hydrated with plenty of pure water.

If you want to supplement your pre-colonic diet, some colonic hydrotherapists suggest healing natural treatments such as dry skin brushing, fasting, or using an abdominal castor oil pack. When you schedule your colonic appointment with us, ask if these are good options for your body based on your health status and goals.

What to Drink Before Your Colonic Hydrotherapy Session

Water/Juice:

  • In the week before your colonic, start each morning off with a glass of fresh veggie juice in place of breakfast Homemade is best, but if you don’t have a juicer, be aware of the sugar content in store-bought juices.
  • Drinking freshly pressed vegetable juice is one of the best ways to support your immune system and assist in the loosening and emulsification of toxins.
  • Remember, juice combinations should be palatable! The point is finding a combination that is appealing. If your taste buds enjoy it, then you will have a better chance of integrating this concept. For the new juicer, carrot and cucumber is a good place to start.
  • Fresh pressed vegetable juices will make a HUGE difference in the results you experience during and after your colonic session(s).
  • Most importantly, don’t forget to drink more water in addition to juices. Hydration is extremely influential in flushing toxins from our cells and improving bowel and colon elimination. Add lemon or lime for a flavor boost.

When to Drink:

  • Always drink juice on an empty stomach. The best time is first thing in the morning. Allow 30-40 minutes before moving onto fruit or other solid foods.
  • If you do not have an appetite for breakfast, then do not force yourself to eat; the veggies in the juice are working for you and providing nourishment!
  • If you have had a late night of indulgence, it is best to avoid juice and/or eating breakfast in the A.M. Drink juice later on in the day to allow your body to focus on digesting last night’s meal.

Beverages to Avoid:

  • Refrain from drinking alcohol and anything carbonated like soda, seltzer, and even sparkling water. These drinks will create more unnecessary gas prior to your colonic.

What to Eat Before Your Colonic Hydrotherapy Session

Breakfast:

  • Start your day with a fresh veggie juice (like written above) and wait 30-40 minutes before eating breakfast.
  • Fresh fruit is the best choice, but plain steel cut oats and gluten-free bread with mashed avocado are great options too. Always eat fruit alone and on an empty stomach.

Lunch:

  • We suggest eating a vegetarian meal starting with a salad followed by cooked vegetables (steamed, roasted, or sautéed) and a starch of your choice.
  • Your detoxification process will be supported when you incorporate a leafy green salad before all your cooked meals.
  • You can include other raw vegetables in your salad: shredded or grated carrots, celery, cucumbers, sprouts, and radishes. Remember: raw broccoli/cauliflower are very gassy.
  • Keep the dressing simple (olive oil with a squeeze of lemon is perfect). Avoid creamy dressings and opt for lighter dressings instead. Simple is better.

Dinner:

  • Start with your salad first and follow with cooked vegetables and a fish or poultry protein.
  • If you are already practicing vegetarianism or veganism, then skip the starch at lunch and have it at dinner. When eating starches, do not combine with protein (chicken with rice, for example).

Other Colon Hydrotherapy Preparation Considerations

  • If you have had a colonic before, but it has been a while, please give yourself 3 full days to reintroduce healthier eating and juicing before coming in for colonic. Remember: Your body will be more receptive to the colonic hydrotherapy when your body has had a chance to “loosen” things up with dietary changes that foster greater releases during your session.
  • The day before the colonic is not the time to be indulgent. The day before, the day of, and the day after should be the days you are most considerate of food combinations and diet.
  • During your colonic session, your hydrotherapist will be happy to go over all the details and answer your questions concerning diet and food combining.
  • If this kind of diet and food combining concept is new to you, don’t worry if you don’t get it right all at once. Even if you don’t stick to the diet above, any changes you make for the better will have a positive impact on your colonic session.

The Day of Your Colonic

The day of your colonic is an exciting day because this is your own personal opportunity to feel lighter, healthier, and more rejuvenated. Do not eat anything two hours prior to your colonic session for the best results. If possible, have a bowel movement before your session to allow better flow of water through the gravity-method process.

Your diet schedule may vary depending upon the time of your colonic, but here are some general recommendations for how to eat on this very important day.

  • This is a great day to eat lighter, perhaps even lighter than you have been the previous week.
  • Allow 2-3 hours between a meal, preferably a salad, and your colonic session if possible.
  • If your colonic is scheduled early in the day, simply drink warm water with lemon or veggie juice in the morning.
  • If your colonic is scheduled in the afternoon or evening, juice and salad are the best options for your meals earlier in the day.
  • If you feel hungry and are craving a piece of fruit, go for it. Just make sure that you eat the fruit at least one hour or more before your session.
  • Please do not eat 3 hours before your appointment. You may drink water, fresh vegetable juice, or herbal tea to stay hydrated.
  • If you have an appointment before noon, then eating some fruit is fine. Be sure to eat the fruit alone and try not to eat it the hour before your session. An afternoon salad is ok for those with evening appointments.

Foods to Refrain from Before and After Colonic Hydrotherapy

There are certain foods that should be avoided entirely, or as much as possible, before and after colonic hydrotherapy sessions. Not surprisingly, these are also foods that contribute to poor overall colon health and that should be avoided in daily life even when you don’t have a colonic hydrotherapy session coming up.

Here are some foods to avoid as you prepare for your session and after it as well:

  • Carbonated beverages such as soda, seltzer, and sparkling water
  • Red meat
  • Cheese, milk, and other dairy products
  • Soy products
  • Processed meats and foods (if the label has more than 10 ingredients, skip it!)
  • White flours (pastries, refined white bread, pasta)
  • Refined sugar

What to Eat and Drink After Your Colonic Hydrotherapy Session

We’re confident that you’ll feel great inside and out once you complete your colonic hydrotherapy session, but you can keep that feeling going for the long-term if you eat right, exercise, and take good care of your colon. Post-care focuses on hydration, which is vital to balance our organ function and support our elimination. It is important to feed your body with fresh nutrients, and this is the perfect time to drench your cells with enzymes and promote alkalinity.

Drink a glass of water and/or fresh vegetable juice immediately after your colonic. In the first 24 hours after your session, you may want to stick to soup for your meals, especially vegetable soups or pureed soups. Continue to drink plenty of pure water, herbal teas, natural juices, and liquids that contain electrolytes. Try to stick to cooked vegetables and raw fruits for three days after the first 24 hours. Avoid raw vegetables until your body has time to adjust to the colon cleanse.

How to Foster the Transition Diet Between Colonic Treatments

  • Focus on maintaining favorable food-combining principles, which will help to reduce gas. Your eating habits do not have to be perfect in order to make progress. Even small changes and more mindful choices can create results in a short period of time. It will be easier to feel the benefits of follow-up colonic sessions when you adopt the healthy habits as a lifestyle choice.
  • You will develop an awareness of how old habits and tendencies truly affect your body. As your system becomes more alkaline, the once tolerated acidic/mucus-forming foods and drugs (pharmaceutical and recreational alike) will soon be recognized by your system as the poisons they are. This recognition is a good thing. It means that your cells are regenerating, your blood is more oxygen rich, and your nervous system and senses are gaining acuity.

Long-Term Nutrition for Colon Health

For the greatest long-term benefits, it’s important to eat a balanced diet that contains protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. Fiber is also essential to colon health and contained in many healthy foods such as veggies, fruits, avocado, and almonds to name a few. As a general rule, simple carbohydrates such as refined sugars, white flour, and bread should be avoided because they are not a valuable source of nutrition or fiber. Many people benefit from taking probiotic supplements to maintain a healthy gut and adding flax seed oil to their diets to support a healthy colon.

Most importantly, our team at DTX NYC is invested in your long-term health and well-being. Adopting a new lifestyle and diet can be intimidating and challenging, but we’re here to be your colonic NYC resource. Every small step brings you closer to finding a healthier, more rejuvenated you. If you have questions, would like to book an appointment, or are feeling challenged, we are only a phone call away!