One-Day Digestive Reset

According to Ayurveda, agni—the sacred fire within—is the gatekeeper of good health. Balanced agni preserves and restores optimal health and prevents the formation of ama—a harmful, sticky sludge made up of poorly digested foods, accumulating wastes, and toxins.

On the other hand, impaired agni is at the root of every imbalance and disease. Ayurveda recognizes a number of different types of agni in the body, but the central digestive fire nourishes and affects agni throughout the system.

Agni in the digestive tract is simultaneously our first line of defense against ill health and the essential pathway through which nutrients are made available to every tissue in the body.

The central digestive fire’s impact on our overall health and well-being is no less influential. In fact, proactively tending to agni—which is precisely the idea behind a short digestive reset like this one—is one of the most effective ways to encourage improved health.

If the concept of agni is new to you, you might appreciate reading The Importance of Healthy Digestion: An Ayurvedic Guide to Understanding Agni. This resource provides a useful perspective on why strengthening the digestive fire is so beneficial—especially today, when our bodies are being asked to process a seemingly endless barrage of environmental toxins, processed foods, unresolved emotions, and psychological stress.

A periodic digestive reset can help clear these accumulations from the system while kindling and balancing agni.

Why This Approach?

There are a lot of different cleansing techniques out there, but many of them require a great deal of planning and a significant time commitment. The truth is that it is often easier to complete a one-day digestive reset than a longer cleanse.

In the context of our busy modern lives, this can mean the difference between doing nothing at all, and doing something meaningful to support agni. What’s more, you can choose a frequency that works for you and your schedule.

Whether you commit to one day each week, month, season, or just commit to engaging this process whenever you feel the need, it can be a powerful tool for improved health. If done regularly, this practice can be transformative.

You Might Benefit from a Regular Digestive Reset If:

• You struggle with digestive difficulties of any kind.
• You have intense cravings for spicy, salty, or sweet foods.
• You frequently lack energy or feel exhausted.
• You suffer from stress or anxious feelings.
• Your mind feels scattered and you have trouble focusing.
• You tend to feel foggy-headed or lethargic.
• You sense a subtle and undefined malaise; you just don’t feel as well as you think you should (or maybe as well as you have in the past).

Contraindications

As appealing as this approach may be, a digestive reset like this one is not appropriate for anyone who is extremely weak or debilitated at the moment.

Pregnant or breastfeeding women should only consider a digestive reset based on a monodiet of kitchari (i.e. fruit and juice fasts would not be appropriate), and they should consult with a health care practitioner before doing a reset on any sort of regular basis.

 

Several Different Methods

While a water-only fast might be appropriate for some individuals, it would not be recommended on a general level. For many, a water fast would simply be too extreme and provoking, and could actually cause more harm than good.

Dietary Choices

We will discuss three different monodiets here. Recommendations are based on your constitution and current state of balance—take our Ayurvedic Profile™ quiz if you don't know yours.

We highly recommend the first option, particularly if you do not have a firm grasp of the unique imbalances at play in your system. It is far more universally appropriate than the others, and will therefore be detailed below more thoroughly than the other options.

1. Kitchari

Kitchari is a traditional Ayurvedic stew made from basmati rice and split mung dal. It is very nourishing and substantive, balances vata, pitta, and kapha, and provides powerful support for internal cleansing. It is generally safe for people of all constitutions and imbalances.

2. Fruit

Appropriate fruits can be especially light and clarifying while still providing some substance. A monodiet of fruit counters excesses in the heavy, dull, stable, and cloudy qualities and could be appropriate for individuals with a substantial kapha imbalance, provided they are not also suffering a significant vata imbalance.

However, if your appetite is particularly sharp or if you have trouble skipping meals, do not try a monodiet of fruit; kitchari will be preferable. If you think that a monodiet of fruit might be appropriate for you, an Ayurvedic practitioner can help to advise you on personally and seasonally appropriate fruits.

3. Juice

A monodiet of juice imparts the lightest, clearest qualities to the system and also helps to counter excesses in the heavy, dull, oily, stable, and cloudy qualities. A monodiet of juice would generally only be appropriate for individuals with a substantial kapha imbalance, without significant vata or pitta influences.

If you think that this technique might be appropriate for you, we would highly recommend that you consult with an Ayurvedic practitioner—not only to confirm that a juice monodiet would be appropriate for you, but also to advise you on the best juices for your situation.

Varying the Length

For those with especially light constitutions and anyone who is underweight, a daytime observance of the monodiet might be sufficient—from the morning until dinner, which could be a fairly normal (though healthy) meal.

For everyone else, the monodiet can be observed straight through until breakfast the following day.

The Reset Day

Whatever monodiet you choose should be substantive enough that you can maintain your essential responsibilities.

Freshly prepared foods are always best, so you’ll want to prepare your meals and teas fresh each day—at whatever time works best with your schedule.

That said, you can prepare all of your food for the day in the morning, if you like.

The Diet

Stick to Your Monodiet. Eat kitchari (or your monodiet of choice) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—allowing at least three hours between meals. You can garnish your kitchari with a little melted ghee, fresh cilantro, a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice, and salt to taste.

Eat Dinner Early. Try not to eat anything after 7 p.m. the day before your reset.

Stay Hydrated. Drink at least 8–12 cups of room temperature, warm, or hot fluids to ensure adequate hydration and to help flush toxins from the system. Ideally, most of your fluids should be taken between meals. Appropriate fluids include water, CCF Tea, rehydration tea, and detox teas like Detox Digest. Drink as much of any of these as you like.

Routine for the Day

Wake Up Early. Rise early enough to give yourself a spacious and relaxed morning.

Scrape Tongue and Brush Teeth. Upon waking, scrape your tongue with a tongue cleaner and brush your teeth with a natural formula like Tooth Powder.

Drink Hot Water. Sip 8–16 ounces of hot water to cleanse the system and to awaken the digestive capacity.

Do Some Gentle Exercise (optional). Gentle exercise such as walking, tai chi, qigong, or gentle yoga. This is not a day to push yourself physically.

Prepare Food and Teas. You’ll want to have plenty of time to prepare your food and teas for the day.

Do Not Overeat. Remember to follow your monodiet throughout the day, as much as desired without overeating.

Take Triphala at Night (optional). About a half-hour before bed, steep ½ teaspoon Triphala powder in a cup of freshly boiled water for ten minutes. Cool and drink. Or, take two Triphala tablets with a glass of warm water.

Retire for the Night by 10 p.m. Sleep is the body’s best time to detox so be sure to get plenty of rest during this process.

Activity Level

• Keep your activities relatively quiet and mindful, whenever possible.
• Surround yourself with things that you find uplifting and nourishing.
• Minimize stress and exposure to frantic or disturbing environments.
• Rest as much as you need to. You can ensure that the bulk of your energy is devoted to cleansing by minimizing the number of resources that your body allocates elsewhere.

It is not uncommon to experience a mild reduction in bowel movements during a cleanse. This brief reset is unlikely to disturb your system.

However, if you find that your bowel movements are slowing in frequency or volume, or that your stools are becoming more difficult to pass—either during or after your reset days—please see our resource on how to rebalance elimination.

Healthy elimination is critical to the detoxification process, so it is best to be proactive about relieving any discomfort as soon as you are aware of it.

A Catalyst for Positive Change

While a single day may seem too short to truly reset agni, periodically dedicating a day to rest and detoxify the digestive tract can ignite dramatic improvements in the strength of agni throughout the system.

Over time, this approach can strengthen the digestive capacity, balance elimination, de-escalate cravings, improve energy levels, and contribute to a richer sense of well-being.

If you’re even a little bit curious about how a one-day digestive reset might feel to your body, it’s certainly worth giving it a try. What do you have to lose? It’s simple, yes. And sometimes, in today’s complicated and busy world, simplicity is just what we need in order to heal.

Recipes

Remember that whatever monodiet you have chosen to work with, your food will absorb the energy of your mindset and state of being while you are preparing it. You can assist your healing process by bringing good intentions and a sense of presence into your kitchen. 

• How to Make Kitchari
• CCF (Cumin, Coriander, and Fennel) Tea
• Alakananda Ma’s Rehydration Tea

Shopping List

The quantities below represent the approximate amount required for each one-day digestive reset. As you learn your habits and needs with this process, the quantities may need to be adjusted accordingly.

Herbs & Products

Continuing to take Triphala in between reset days will help to support further detoxification. You are welcome to continue any of the teas in between reset days as well.

• Triphala powder (⅛ ounce) or Triphala tablets (two tablets)
• Tongue Cleaner
• Optional: Brahmi/Gotu Kola powder for rehydration tea (⅛–¼ ounce)

Groceries

• Organic White Basmati Rice (7 ounces)
• Organic Yellow Mung Dal (4 ounces)
• Organic Ghee (clarified butter—available at most health food stores) (2 ounces)

Vegetables for Kitchari (2 cups total):

• Asparagus
• Carrots
• Celery
• Green beans
• Summer squash
• Sweet potato
• Winter squash
• Zucchini

Spices and Garnishes to Have on Hand:

• Black mustard seeds
• Cilantro
• Cumin seeds, whole
• Coriander powder
• Coriander seeds, whole
• Fennel powder
• Fennel seeds, whole
• Ginger root, fresh
• Hing (asafoetida)
• Optional: Kitchari Spice Mix (replaces some individual spices in kitchari)
• Lemons
• Limes
• Mint, fresh or dried peppermint
• Natural mineral salt
• Turbinado sugar
• Turmeric powder

Cleanse Products

Or, save time and money with one of Banyan’s cleanse products:

• Banyan’s Kitchari Kit contains a seven-day supply of Organic Basmati Rice and Organic Yellow Mung Dal, as well as Kitchari Spice Mix and Organic Ghee.

• For an even more convenient and customizable option, Banyan’s Cleanse Bundle allows you to select which items you’d like, and also features CCF Tea.

Additional Resources

For more information on Ayurvedic Cleansing, visit our cleansing department.

To explore the Ayurvedic practice of rasayana (rejuvenation), please see our rejuvenation department.

For more information on agni and why it is so critical to our overall health, you may enjoy our piece on The Importance of Healthy Digestion.

For more on ama (natural toxins), please see our article on Ama: the Antithesis of Agni.