Understanding Detoxification
Aug02

Understanding Detoxification

Detoxification is really a process of cleaning out sludge and garbage in the body, in order to aid healing. Crash detox can be dangerous, but done slowly and carefully, it can really help your body to get better. This article is an excerpt from “From Here To Longevity” by Dr. Mitra Ray, where she encourages us to listen to our body when we eat. She explains that the 2 main areas that benefit from detox are the immune system and the digestive system. And detox takes time. Enjoy this excerpt from Dr. Mitra Ray:

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How to get Rid of your Symptoms
Apr12

How to get Rid of your Symptoms

I keep boxes of magazine pages and clippings on the topic of cleansing and eliminating toxicity. I get excited about this topic because you can never go wrong when you start cleansing the body.

Toxins come from both internal and external toxic overload, but either way, it shows up with symptoms in your body.  Symptoms is your body telling you something and you better listen.

Hallelujah Acres (www.hacres.com) taught me that “The only true disease, Toxemia, is caused by obstructions in the human sewage system. The poor elimination of metabolic toxins (from food, exercise, stress, and environment) results in a septic poisoning of the bloodstream. If the body is never given a chance to effectively be rid of toxins…..it will store them away in the tissues and lymph and wait for an opportunity to ‘detoxify’.”

Here is the typical ‘symptom’ story I hear:

  1. You get a symptom or two, feeling like you have the flu, or you have diarrhea, or a headache, or something worse.
  2. You reach for a pill or medication to enable you to function as usual, because you have to keep going, and nobody likes pain or inconvenience.  You MAKE the symptom go away one way or another.
  3. You eventually get over it, but unfortunately, your body suppresses and stores its toxins.  They don’t just ‘go away’ by themselves.
  4. Your body now runs on overload with its stored toxins, until eventually you get something worse like arthritis, a liver problem, acne, chronic fatigue, and the list goes on.

It’s not difficult to make sure your body is clean and able to do its job of keeping healthy.  Here are some helpful to-do items you can get started with today.  Body cleansing doesn’t have to be complicated, and it can be fun if you have the support of someone else who wants to do it with you.

  • Go on a juice cleanse for a week.  Juice some carrot, apple, celery and parsley juice for breakfast every day.  For added nutrition add beet and ginger slice.  Drink a glass of watermelon juice later in the day.  Also drink 6 glasses of pure clean water, and eliminate coffee or other comfort drinks.  See how you feel.
  • Go on a liver cleanse – once a month for 3 months.
  • Eliminate all dairy from your diet for a month (cheese, milk, cream, ice cream, etc).  Document any changes.
  • Do a house cleanup of toxic household products you use.  If you get anything from the regular grocery store it is likely toxic and should be disposed of.  Be very very careful in which products you use in your home – vinegar, baking soda and borax are safe.  This cleanup is very necessary for anyone with asthma or upper respiratory problems, and liver-related problems.  Use very simple and pure household cleaning products.  We recommend and use www.vermontsoap.com.

Areas of pollution include:  smoke, pop and sugar drinks, bags of chips, nice expensive, but toxic body products, not enough fiber, lack of oxygen, not enough pure water, not enough rest and relaxation, or too much sluggish behavior with no exercise? 

Be a sleuth and find out what things trigger symptoms in your body.   Get to the root of what is destroying your health.  The positive side of having symptoms is that your body is trying to tell you something, and you can do something about it.

It’s time for cleansing out the garbage in your body that’s causing the symptoms.  Don’t cover up your symptoms – they are really your friends.

Lyn

PS  This is not medical advice.  We do not treat or cure disease.  Please seek out medical advice from your trusted health professional.

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Foods that Hinder Your Detox
Aug30

Foods that Hinder Your Detox

There are certain foods that actually hinder a detox.  Identify the killers and you will be more successful. 

Here is a list of common detox killers to avoid while trying to detox:

  • dairy or GMO soy
  • sugar (for most detox’s you can still have limited fruit)
  • caffeine (or pop)
  • meat
  • gluten
  • peanuts or corn (common allergen)
  • alcohol, tobacco, over the counter drugs.

This looks like a nasty list, but there are a LOT of great foods you can enjoy and still feel satisfied.  If you are going on a raw food detox, then that’s another story, but if you are still going for some cooked food, I have some ideas for you below.

Detox seasons are good, so be intentional about them, take time out of your usual schedule of meal plans, and even spend money to make sure you get the best nutrition possible. Eating at home where you can control what you eat is important.   Have fun planning for your detox and making it happen.

Breakfast:  Fresh juiced vegetables, Green smoothies, oatmeal with almond milk, buckwheat or other non-gluten pancakes.

Lunch:  Fresh raw green salad with avocado, grated carrot, grated beet, cucumbers, alfalfa sprouts,  tomatoes, sprinkled with ground flax, and/or sesame/hemp/sunflower seeds.  Sprinkle fresh berries on top for fun.  Hearty dressing can be cilantro dressing, or avocado/lime dressing or olive oil with garlic/herb vinaigrette.  Fresh juiced vegetables.

Supper:  Here are some ideas of what I would serve.  Rice/lentil pilaf, Quinoa dish with curried stir-fry vegetables or curried chickpeas and lentils, Curried squash soup,  Dal or black bean sauce with rice,  Baked potato with steamed veggies.  Top with a dab of coconut butter.

During your detox, drink plenty of juiced vegetables.  For the following recipes you need to experiment and make it how you like it.  The outcome also depends on the kind of blender or juicer you have.

Vegetable Juice:  1 handful parsley, 1/2 inch fresh ginger, 6-8 carrots, 3 stalks celery, 2 apples, 1/2 lemon, and any other vegetables you have around such as a beet, zucchini,romaine lettuce, kale, beet tops, few dandelion leaves, etc. I usually juice once a day and store it in mason jars in the refrigerator to drink during the day.

Green Smoothie:  Blend up a handful of spinach or kale, 1 apple, 1 banana, 1/2 squeezed lemon, water to make blending easy.  Add 1/2 cup frozen blueberries or mango if you have them. I even add avocado in my green smoothies.

Green Smoothie #2:  1 1/2 cups of washed kale, chopped, 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 banana, 1 cup green grapes, 1 pear, 1/4 inch ginger peeled, 1 cup water.  Blend until smooth.

Avocado Salad Dressing:  3/4 cup water, 1 large avocado with the pit removed, 3 tbsp squeezed lime juice, 1 tsp lime zest, 1 garlic clove, optional dash of cumin, s & p to taste.  Add 2 tbsp of honey if needed.  Blend & serve as a dressing, or as a dip for vegetables.

Berry Dressing:  1 cup fruit, 1/2 cup water, 2-3 tbp honey, 2 tbsp olive oil, few tbsp. apple cider vinegar, s & p to taste.  Blend and serve. I usually “blend & taste” to get the right consistency and flavor!  Blackberry dressing is our favorite.

Enjoy the Detox!

Lyn

PS  PERFECT BODY ALKALIZER   30 Veggies, Fruits and Berries gives you all the whole food nutritional goodness you need to Nourish, Support, and Balance your whole body. It is Plant – Whole Food health building ingredients. Fight disease with a strong immune System. Protect your family with Juice Plus+ superfood. Chewables are for the kids and capsules for adults. Perfect for busy people, busy families, and everyone who wants to REBOOT their immune system.  Get started today.  Email me gethealthy@gmail.com with your message and number and I’ll get back to you.

 

 

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9 Useful Cleansing Teas
Mar16

9 Useful Cleansing Teas

I have made prune tea where I placed 2 prunes in a mug of hot water, and enjoyed every drop.  I have made apple tea, where I put a few slices of apple in a cup of hot water with a dash of cinnamon.  The soft apple slices left at the bottom sure taste nice.  Cardamom tea is made with 3 cardamon pods in a cup of hot water.  Fennel tea is made with a teaspoon of fennel seeds in a mug of hot water.  Here are more teas with their stories and ways to make them.

 TAHEEBO TEA,  ESSIAC TEA, GREEN TEA,  GINGER TEA, PEPPERMINT TEA, CELERY TEA,  DANDELION ROOT TEA,  MARIGOLD TEA, WATERMELON SEED TEA

Pau d’Arco or Taheebo Tea

Pau d’Arco is the name of the bark that comes from the Taheebo tree, which grows in Argentina and Brazil.  Most health food stores carry the loose prepackaged bark.  In folklore, taheebo tea has been believed to have anti-microbial properties that act as strengthening and cleansing agents.

Refreshing tea, slightly bitter, but add maple syrup or honey if necessary. Great for controlling candida, boosting the immune system, as a general body detoxifier and as a general body tonic. Drink hot, or cold with ice cubes and a lemon slice.

  • 3 heaping tablespoons of dried bark
  • 10 cups water

Boil for 5-15 minutes and let cool.
Pour the tea (with bark) into a large glass container and store in the fridge.
Drink a cup of this tea two to eight times a day.

Essiac Tea

Blood cleansing Tea – See the Full Recipe Here

Rene Caisse, a very caring nurse from the town of Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada was one of the very first freedom fighters in the field of alternative healing. It was in the 1920’s. She fought the medical establishment, believing that there should be no suppression of non-toxic alternative therapies when established medicine’s toxic procedures have failed.

She never divulged her secret formula to the researchers and medical establishment, but tirelessly worked with patients in her own home including those that were referred to her by doctors. One MD said to her “Miss Caisse, I will not say you have a cure for cancer. But you have more evidence of a beneficial treatment for cancer than anyone in the world.”

She faced opposition, threatened with arrest and imprisonment. She said “I never dreamed of the opposition and persecution that would be my lot in trying to help suffering humanity with no thought of personal gain.”

Renee Caisse died in September, 1978 at the age of 90 years old. Her recipe has been handed down and this is a generally accepted version of it.  Essiac Tea Recipe Here.

Green Tea

A great Chinese tradition, as well as a highly acclaimed cleansing tea, used for disease prevention, anti-aging and longevity.

Some of the health benefits of this all-round cleansing Green Tea are:  antioxidant called EGCG (EpiGalloCatechin Gallate) which is more effective than Vitamin C and E and has been found to aid in reducing cancers of the bladder, colon, pancreas, esophagus, rectum and stomach as well as chronic lymphocytic leukemia,  lowers bad (LDL) cholesterol and improves the good cholesterol (HDL), reduces high blood pressure, lowers blood sugar, helps protect the liver, aids in dental health, and boosts immune function.

Here is how to brew a perfect cup of green tea.  The goal is to get the best flavor at the same time as retaining the maximum health benefits of the Green Tea.

  • Use 1-2 teaspoons of good quality green tea leaves
  • Fill the kettle (or pot) with cold water and bring to a boil
  • After turning off the kettle (or pot), allow it to stand for up to 3 minutes to lower the temperature a little
  • Pour the heated water over the tea bag or tea leaves, and allow to steep for up to 3 minutes.  If using a tea bag, remove the bag.
  • Allow the tea to cool for 3 more minutes.  Drink the tea.  You can drink 2-5 cups per day.

Tips on making cleansing Green Tea:

  1. Do not over brew the leaves
  2. You may make 2-3 more pots of tea from one batch of leaves.
  3. Do not pour boiling water on the leaves directly as the tea will be bitter
  4. For variety, add honey, sliced ginger, fresh lemon or mint.
  5. Try iced tea with honey and ice cubes.
  6. Best green tea is made with the dried leaf tea.  Avoid green tea bags if possible.

Ginger Tea (also a cold-cleansing tea)

Ginger tea has a spicy, invigorating taste, yet it is soothing and calming to the stomach.

Ginger has been used as a home remedy for flu and cold, to help with travel and motion sickness, indigestion, nausea, and also to ward off a sore throat. Ginger is also used in cleansing the kidneys.

Some other benefits of ginger is that it increases circulation, improves digestion, helps with the nervous system, and is a general immune booster. Teas that bring a host of health benefits like this are what we call cleansing teas.

The benefit of drinking Cleansing teas is that it helps to cleanse out the toxic residue from your system and aid the body in healing itself.

Ginger Tea Recipe

Ingredients:  Water – 4 cups
2 inch piece of fresh ginger root
Optional:  honey and lemon slice

Peel the ginger root and slice into thin slices.
Bring the water to a boil in a pot.  Add the ginger.
Cover and reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Strain the tea.
Add honey and lemon to taste.
Note:  If you are making ginger tea as a home remedy during cold and flu season, sweeteners are not recommended.

Peppermint Tea

Peppermint has a fresh, lively taste. The dried leaves from your own herb garden make a wonderful tea.

Peppermint is naturally caffeine-free. Someone has called Peppermint  “The Ultimate Internal Body Workout”!!  The cleansing benefits are usually in the following areas:  improving digestion, soothing the stomach, helping diarrhea and intestinal colic, for a sore throat, heartburn, as well as antioxidant properties.  Here are some more areas that are reported to be helped:  toning of the internal organs such as the liver, intestines and nervous system, help with halitosis (bad breath, a sign of toxicity), dermatitis and itching associated with eczema, menstrual cramps, anti-viral (including herpes) and headaches.  No wonder drinking the tea is a great cleansing idea.

I personally drink peppermint tea as an after-dinner digestive aid, for stomach gas, as a breath freshener, and as a relaxer.

Peppermint Cleansing Tea

  • Place ¼ cup mint leaves in a pot
  • Pour boiling water over the leaves
  • Steep for 10 minutes
  • Strain out the leaves when you pour your peppermint tea.

Optional: add honey or maple syrup as a sweetener.

Celery Seed Tea (Kidney Cleansing Tea)

Celery Seeds are best known for being a great tasting herb in potato salad or grandma’s relish.  Celery Seeds have also been helpful for people suffering from kidney problems and acts directly on the kidneys as a natural diuretic (eliminates water from the body) and helps to eliminate toxic buildup in the joints.  Celery seeds have been used for Urinary Tract disorders because of its anti-bacterial properties, for headaches, and for gout.

Celery seeds are full of potassium and natural organic sodium, which help the body to cleanse wastes from areas such as the skin, bowels and kidneys.  It helps the acid-alkaline balance in the body and is helpful for cleansing from excess uric acid.  Do not drink this tea if you are pregnant.

Directions:
1 tbsp celery seeds (ground or cut)
1 pint of boiling water

Steep and then let cool.
Strain and drink.
Drink 3 cups a day for 3 days a week.
Best if made fresh.

Dandelion Root Tea: Get your Cleansing Dandelion Tea recipe here

Marigold Tea (Calendula Tea)

Calendulais used externally in salves and oils, for conditions like inflammation, burns & cuts, eczema and other skin conditions.  Calendula tea is used internally as a healthy tonic to aid in digestion, help with stomach ulcers, cleanse the body, reduce fevers and infections, and even help menstrual cramps. The flavonoids in the marigold petals are the active ingredients in this remedy.

This is a perfect tea for the Do-It-Yourself person.  Marigolds grow easily in the garden, and you can pick the petals fresh for tea, or use petals you have dried yourself.  Make sure your marigolds are not sprayed.

Method:

  • Place 2 teaspoons of fresh petals, or 1 teaspoon of dried petals per cup of water.
  • Place the petals in a cup and pour boiling water over.  Cover and let steep for 15 minutes.  Adjust the strength for your taste – add more petals if you like it stronger.
  • Strain and press the petals to drain the tea.  Add honey to taste and enjoy.  Drink 1 or 2 cups each day.

Note:  You could be allergic to this tea if you are allergic to daisies or ragweed.

Watermelon Seed Tea

(Recipe by Cayce)
Who could have thought that watermelon seed tea would be a great cleansing tea for cleansing and purifying the kidneys and bladder?  Now is the time to collect all those seeds and get ready to make your cleansing tea.

Cayce, a health enthusiast, recommended Watermelon seed tea for kidney stones, to stimulate under-active kidneys, and to help with circulation.

Instructions:
1 Tablespoon Watermelon seeds, ground or chopped up.  (Buy large watermelons and harvest the seeds)
1 pint of boiling water

Directions:
Steep.  Let it cool.
Strain and drink.

  • Make this tea fresh each time
  • Drink once a day, 3 days per week.
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Cleansing Juice Recipes
Mar15

Cleansing Juice Recipes

Vegetable and Fruit juices provide complete nutrition in a natural food form.

Your body can absorb the food and go to work using the nutrients for repair, rejuvenation, and rebuilding of any part of the body that needs help.  Whenever I drink freshly juiced vegetable juice, I feel an instant surge of energy and feel that cleansing action in my body immediately.

Steve Meyerowitz has said: “Condensing pounds of valuable foods into a single glass, while simultaneously maximizing assimilation, is what makes drinking juice so beneficial to health”.  I agree.

We have used the Champion Juicer for over 20 years and find it does a wonderful job.  You will need a heavy-duty juicer like a Champion, or a Breville juicer to give you good extraction of juice from the dry pulp.

“When the vegetable juices are raw and fresh, the water they contain is actually Distilled Water, distilled by Nature, and they contain exactly what the body needs, the finest quality of nourishment”.  Water Can Undermine Your Health, 1996 Edition, by Dr. Norman Walker, p.4

Try out some of these great juices.  Every one of them will be good for you.  Have some fun and enjoy God’s great gift of health as you drink them.

1.  Kidney Cleansing Juice
by Dr. Norman Walker

Juice and drink three times a day
Carrots
Beets
Cucumber

2.  Kidney Stone Cleansing Juice
Adapted from Healing Juices by L.A. Justice

Parsnip juice mixed with Carrot, Celery, Zucchini or Beet juice.
Note:  Avoid alcohol, coffee and soda drinks.

3.  Energy Boosting Cleansing Juice

Juice and drink twice a day.

1 bunch parsley
1 stalk celery
1/2 cup spinach juice
1 kale leaf
3 beet greens
1-2 apples
Add 1 cup pure water

4.  Regularity Cleansing Juice

Juice and drink twice a day:

3 apples with skin – contain pectin which triggers contractions of the colon
1 pear
1 cup spinach leaves
1/4 lemon
1/4 inch of fresh ginger

Juice and drink twice a day
Note:  Limit constipation foods like cheese (and milk), fried foods and beef.

5.  Blood Regulator Cleansing Juice
from Juicing for Life by Cherie Calbom and Maureen Keane

Juice and drink:
1 handful spinach
4 lettuce leaves
4 sprigs parsley
6 carrots, greens removed
1/4 turnip

6.  Cleansing Tonic

1/2 inch wedge green cabbage
2 green apples, seeded
6 carrots, greens removed

7.  Spring Cleansing Tonic
from Juicing for Life by Cherie Calbom and Maureen Keane

Handful parsley
4 carrots, greens removed
1 garlic clove
2 stalks celery

8.  Our Personal Usual Healthy Juice Blend
I am trying to follow Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s nutrient-dense, low glycemic index chart.  Also, I am trying to use as many “above-ground” vegetables as possible.  Here is a typical juice blend that we make at our house.  We try to go to the local vegetable market where people sell their organic produce, to get locally grown healthy nutrition.

1 bunch of parsley
1/2 bunch of cilantro
3 carrots
1/2 bunch of celery
1 cucumber
5 kale leaves
2 inch piece of ginger (use less if this is too strong)
1/2 lemon
2-3 medium size beets with greens
1 lettuce, endive, spinach or combination of whatever you have
3 organic apples

TIPS from “Make your Juicer Your Drug Store” by Dr. L. Newman

  • Raw carrot juice is excellent for babies and growing children, as it contains the minerals and vitamins necessary for health and growth.
  • Diabetes/Pancreas support juice:  A combination of carrot, celery and parsley juice with the juice of either string bean, cabbage or brussels sprouts (using carrot and celery in about equal proportions, or even one-third carrot and two-thirds celery).  Start with one glassful and increase over time until you take two quarts per day.
  • Beet juice improves both the quality of the blood and also the circulation.  Take 1/3 beet juice along with 2/3 carrot and celery juice.
  • Carrot juice, rich in Vitamin. A, is good for the eyesight.  Make carrot and parsley juice for the eyes.
  • Carrot juice supports the body with any place that is lined or covered with mucous membrane i.e. lungs
  • Dandelion juice is a blood builder and purifier, liver cleanser, gall bladder and spleen.  It increases the flow of bile and saliva so it is an aid to digestion.  It has also been used for such conditions as diabetes, liver and kidney troubles.  (I suggest that you add it to carrot juice).
  • Bathe in the morning sun.  A sun bath and air bath is a great purifier.
  • Most health problems begin with constipation.
  • Two to three hot Epsom salts baths weekly will help to promote better circulation and also rid the body of waste matter through the skin pores.

TIPS from “Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices” by N.W. Walker

  • Cucumber juice is a good natural diuretic, promoting the flow of urine.  Also it promotes hair growth due to its high silicon and sulfur content.
  • Parsley juice is potent and should be taken along with carrot juice.
  • Spinach juice helps to cleanse and heal the lower bowels and the intestinal tract, plus it supports the teeth and gums preventing pyorrhea.
  • Turnip leaves contain the highest percentage of calcium of any vegetable.  Combine turnip leaf juice with carrot and dandelion juice to support the bones and teeth.  Turnip leaves are also a strong alkalizer, especially when combined with celery and carrot juices
  • Watercress juice added to carrot, parsley and potato juices has been helpful for emphysema.
  • Beet juice has been helpful for menstrual disturbances and during menopause.  Take 2-3 ounces two or three times a day.
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