Jennifer Harper interview, copyright Victoria Mary Clarke, 2002

If you’ve been feeling tired, fat, stressed and bloated but you can’t resist coffee and sweet things, the chances are you’ve considered de-toxing.  Ever since Patsy decided to detox, on Absolutely Fabulous, it’s been the fashionable thing to do.  A quick seven day fruit or juice fast, maybe with a few colonics thrown in and then you can return to your normal lifestyle a half stone lighter and feeling fighting fit.  Yes?  Definitely not, says Dr Jennifer Harper, who’s a naturopath and author of  the ‘Detox Handbook’.  She’s in Ireland to re-educate  us out of faddy quick-fix detox plans and onto her sensible, well planned, effective one which she says is much much easier to do and far better for you in the long run.
Why is everybody deciding to detox, all of a sudden?  Because, Jennifer says our toxic load is now spectacularly high, just from environmental pollutants-chemicals in the air, in the water, car exhaust fumes, industrial pollutants, everywhere we go we are surrounded by toxic chemicals.  No matter how healthy the diet we follow.  And if you combine the toxic overload with the stress of having to deal with traffic and mortgages and kids and making a living and mobile phones, that kind of thing, it’s a wonder we’re not all dead already.  Feeling tired and in need of comfort foods and the telly is inevitable, given the way we are living.  So a detox is obviously a good idea, but even if you could drag yourself off the sofa and get out the juicer, you might just be doing the worst possible thing, by embarking on a fruit fast.
“The de-tox books generally focus on a mono-diet,- grapes or apples- and they tend to be very short in duration,” Jennifer says.  “The thing is, those fasts became popular at the turn of the last century, when our environment was very different. So it’s more important than ever to detoxify, but the process needs to be changed to suit the way we live.”
So what’s wrong with just doing a quick grape cleanse?
“It  swings the body into a shock form of cleansing.  And if you start to cleanse too quickly without preparing the other organs, you get all kinds of horrible symptoms-blinding headaches, skin eruptions and nausea being some of them.”
She likens the situation to a motorway pile-up with all the chaos that ensues.  Her own programme, which she has been developing at her “Body Wisdom’ clinic in Surrey has three levels, and you have to complete the first level, before you can move on to the next.
“You start with the superficial level, which is the skin, the lymphatics, the lungs and the large intestine.  And you get all of those working effectively, so the body is moving the toxins out of the body efficiently. Only when you’ve got the first level moving can you go on to do the deeper organs.”
This is great news for anyone who’s feeling fatigued and knows they should get healthy, but can’t bear the thought of trying.
“If you look at it simply, when you are detoxing, you are taking away from the body, taking away toxins.  But if your body is already tired and depleted, you could be depleting your energy further, by doing that.  So the first level is about getting your digestion strong so that whatever food you eat, you assimilate it effectively.  And also you need to nourish your body with the right foods, to increase your energy levels.  Some of the allergens do need to be removed in level one, -wheat and dairy and coffee.  We generally overdose on them and that’s why it’s important to come off them.  But what I want is for people to be motivated to get onto the next level because they do have the energy!  So it’s not about dragging the juicer out and making carrot juice, straight away.  Because if you are feeling tired, you don’t want to do that.  And this time of year is autumn, which is a good time to nourish the body, but it’s certainly not a time to do a big cleanse.  Spring time is the time for that.  It’s commonsense, really, when it’s cold outside, you don’t want to have too many raw foods.”
A lot of people think that being healthy means living on fruit and salad, I point out.
“The spleen and stomach are the organs responsible for metabolism, and in Chinese medicine they believe that if you keep eating raw or cold foods in cool weather and when you are tired, particularly, it weakens the stomach and spleen, because of the cold energy.  The raw vegetables and fruits also contain a lot of water, which leads to a “damp spleen” which then leads to oedema in the body.  So people carry a lot more fluid, you could sometimes be carrying half a stone in weight, by eating too many raw foods.  So I say to people that if you really want to eat raw foods, you have to learn to balance the energetics of foods.  And ideally you need to include spices.  Yogi tea is amazing, and so is ginger tea, you’ve got to include things which stimulate the stomach.”
And you’ve got to avoid drinking cold water, with your food.
‘Definitely not cold water.  That dilutes the digestive enzymes, which are crucial to digestion.  And a lot of us are hooked on antacids, which neutralise the stomach acid.
So it’s important to eat enzyme rich foods.  Sprouts are super-foods because they are totally alive and you eat the complete plant, including the root.  The three fruits that I recommend are pineapple, papaya and kiwi. In level one it’s really all about educating people to choose foods that nourish the body and give you energy.”
            One of the nice things about Jennifer is that she doesn’t give you lists and lists of things that are forbidden.  Instead she gives you a few simple choices of things that would be nourishing and good, at each level of detoxing.  She does say, also, that if you are finding it tough going and you have a blow-out and eat a packet of chocolate biscuits, it’s not the end of the world. 
“It’s a journey, so don’t be put off. If you really want chocolate, get the best quality that you can afford.  Get organic, with a high percentage of cocoa.  I worked with a patient who was a chocaholic.  Obsession and cravings tend to be an imbalance of the earth element.  So one of the symptoms will be a craving for sweet foods.  And I treated her to balance the earth element, and strengthened her spleen.  And she came back for her next session and said “You aren’t going to believe this, but I don’t want to eat chocolate anymore!”.  So by tonifying the energy, in level one, cravings should subside.”
There is a range of tools in the plan, to strengthen and nurture the different organs at each stage.  Essential oils, she says, are very helpful, especially to reduce cravings for bad things.
“Ginger is very good.  And Aveda do a blended oil of clove and oil of cinnamon.  Those two are particularly good for the kidneys and the kidney energy is responsible for willpower and motivation.  You massage it into your lower back, but make sure you use the blended oil and not neat clove or cinnamon oil!.  Grapefruit, I also recommend , for obsessions with food.  If you are feeling slightly wobbly and you are tempted to go and raid the fridge, it’s very good. Fennel is particularly good for oedema and for a sluggish lymphatic system.”
I mention that the last thing people usually feel like doing when they are detoxing is exercising.  But good news again, you don’t have to!
“By all means, try to get some basic exercise into the routine, even if it’s just gentle walking or swimming.  Swimming is excellent for the lymphatic system.  And deep breathing for fifteen or twenty minutes, in the park.  But respect your energy level, if you are tired, rest!  In winter, it’s a time to conserve energy, you should definitely not be hammering away in the gym, if you are tired, you should be careful to do exercises which build energy, like tai chi and yoga.”.
Detoxing also extends beyond the things we eat.
“Most of the cleaning products that we use are very toxic.  I suggest bicarbonate of soda, as a cleaner and olive oil as a furniture polish.  Also spray thyme essential oil and tea tree oil, to disinfect and freshen the air.  Especially with children, it is a lot healthier to use essential oils for cleaning surfaces, than chemical sprays.  Because children tend to put their hands in their mouths and take  in chemicals.  Of course you can also buy eco-friendly products in most supermarkets now.”
What about for the face and body?
“I’m a great believer in Aveda products, I particularly love their colour range for hair and their conditioners are the best I’ve come across.  They are environmentally sound, they source their products very carefully and use organic where they can.  Skin-wise, I use their body scrub very lightly on my face and their jojoba oil for the body.  I also like Dr Hauschka products,  it is  particularly important to be careful what you are putting on your skin because the skin absorbs everything, and people just aren’t aware of that. It is very enticing, when you read about new products which guarantee a firmer smoother skin in eight days!  But what kind of things are they putting into that cream?”
Level one begins to focus on some of the emotive issues around food, the reasons why we use it for comfort and get stuck on the sofa, feeling fat in the first place.
“You have to treat the trinity-mind, body and spirit.  I use the analogy of the three legged stool.  If you merely focus on the physical, that leg will be nice and strong, but the other two will collapse.  You have to keep your mind strong, because it affects the immune system.  But I am a great believer in not repressing anger, fear, grief or worry.”
So how do you do express your repressed feelings healthily?
“Well if you are angry with your boss, it’s probably not a good idea to go and yell at him, but you can re-enact the scenario at home, in the privacy of your bedroom! And if shouting at an imaginary person isn’t enough, you can punch the pillow, harmlessly!”
           
“Detox Handbook” is published by Dorling Kindersley £5.99 sterling.
Jennifer’s website is doctorharper@aol.com