We have a small sample of case studies which have shown us that just giving broad spectrum, good quality probiotics can help a range of conditions not instinctively linked to the gut.
One case was a 10 year old child with asthma. It was suggested that the dysbiosis in his gut was alerting the immune system to potential invaders, in lay terms, it had the immune system on "amber alert" as a baseline state. This meant that anything that came into his system was reacted to instead of tolerated, e.g. pollen, pet hairs etc.
After two months on daily probiotics (between 4 bn and 20 bn), his asthma attacks had dropped from two to three per week down to two to three per month. This was a very encouraging result but as a side effect, his behaviour was also much calmer and his attention span had increased.
His temper outbursts had dropped drastically and his mother reported that he did not "kick off" anywhere near as much as he had been doing prior to the probiotic treatment regime.
It is suggested by this treatment that the level of dysbiosis can greatly influence the state of reactivity generally of the whole body, physically, emotionally and mentally. With the less favourable kinds of bacteria colonising the bowel, the level of irritation and toxicity is greatly increased and the body is highly reactive to any other potential irritant.
Extrapolating from this, anybody experiencing any kind of intolerance, allergic reaction and behavioural disturbance (and this can include depression, anxiety, stress) should try a course of good quality high strength probiotics before they restort to other medicines to suppress the symptoms.
It is suggested that the seat of many problems is the gut flora - at the Taymount Clinic we have many good results from initially attending to the level of good bacteria in the gut. It is worthy of further study that some serious conditions like Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis can be affected positively by making sure the gut flora are the beneficial kind rather than the pathogenic strains.
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most elegant and efficient.
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Friday, 13 August 2010
Juicing - Why should we juice?
JUICING? - WHY DO IT?
Why Juice? Why not just eat the stuff?
Loads of good reasons, here are just a few to chew on...
1. Juicing is a way of mechanically chewing up your food before you eat it. Your body is like a juice extractor, you chew the foods up so that your body can extract the nutrient-rich juice and then reject the fibre. Juicing saves your body time and energy – it is like nature’s fast food, healthy fast food. Most of us are too busy to chew properly and this has bad effects like bloating, wind, reflux etc. Juicing gets nourishment into your body in a form it can absorb quickly and easily.
2. You would not sit down to a big plate of greens and fruit for breakfast – so you would not just eat the stuff. Also, we need to eat more fruits and veggies to get the same nutrients that we used to get in our fresh food; intensive farming and long journeys to market, vast storage barns where the produce is stored, all mean that our food has lost a lot of its nutrients but the time we get them home. We should try to eat more seasonally and more locally produced foods to get more nutrients.
3. Juicing enables you to “wrap up” the less attractive taste of nutrient-rich greens and veggies in the sweet and flavourful juices of fruits making the whole thing palatable and getting nutrients inside you that you would not normally have ingested.
4. Because we don’t just eat the stuff!
But don’t we need the fibre?
Yes we do need fibre, we are not suggesting that you replace all your meals with fruit and veggie juices – just ADD the juices to your diet and eat nice high fibre meals as well. People who go on juice-only fasts often have a lot of problems with constipation so we acknowledge fully that we need fibre, probiotics and prebiotics to maintain a healthy colon. So drink your juice and eat your high fibre complex carbohydrates (wholegrain cereals and salads) too!
How much juice should we drink every day?
Studies over 10 years in Israel have shown that just one half-litre glass of green juice taken three times per week can reduce your chances of Alzheimer’s by an astonishing 76%. Think what a daily drink could do! If you get into the habit of taking a large glassful (think of a pint glass) every day and then a refreshing carroty or beetrooty or fruity cocktail for the fun of it any other time of the day, then you are boosting your daily nutrient intake way beyond what most people have in a week. 30 days on that and you will feel the energy and health improvement.
I don’t have time in the mornings to make a juice, can I do it the night before?
Yes, if you can get the juice nice and cold with some ice, put it in a flask and fill it right to the top to avoid air oxidation and keep it in the fridge until you need it, you won’t lose too many nutrients and the quality will be ok. An old juice is still better than no juice!
Which juicer is the best one to buy?
The best juicer on the market is the one that you would use every day. It is no good buying the top of the range technically brilliant machine if it doesn’t suit your lifestyle and spends most of its expensive life in the cupboard – I have been there, done that! A cheaper, less-efficient juicer that is a pleasure to use and one that you keep on the table top and use every day is a far better buy than the gleaming stainless steel beauty that costs you a month’s salary and is too complicated to clean up afterwards.
Great starter models are shown on the “Shrek Juice” leaflet. Other models of juicer are designed for multi-purpose and more advanced kitchen usage and we cover some of those in the demonstration.
Should we only juice organic foods?
In a perfect world, all produce would be organic and yes, that is the best type to buy and juice. But this is not a perfect world and organic foods cost a lot more than conventionally farmed produce. A juice made with conventional fruits and veggies is still better than no juice at all. If you have to compromise, consider that any green leafy vegetable is going to have been sprayed at least once (sometimes many times), so where you have a choice, buy green leafy veggies organically if you can and wash thoroughly all the other produce that you may have to buy conventionally grown. Make the spinach, lettuce, cabbage and kale the first choice for organic if you can; it is much easier to wash the other produce and remove pesticides and chemicals, much harder to get them off crinkly lettuce and kale leaves.
Things like avocados, bananas, oranges and coconuts etc., have thick skins so they should be ok to eat non-organic. Make choices where you can, but don’t worry about it if you can’t. It is still good to juice even if it is not organic.
I’ve got a smoothie maker – can’t I use that? What is the difference between a smoothie and a juice anyway?
Smoothies are blended fruits and vegetables with none of the fibre taken away – it is the whole fruit or veggie blended to a fine pulp and sometimes watered down with fruit juice or water to make it drinkable.
Blenders are the same thing as smoothie makers and neither one is a juicer. You really need a juicer AND a blender in the kitchen.
Stay Juicy - Stay LIVE!
For more ideas on juicing, join in one of the Juicy Workshops at Taymount Clinic - see www.taymount.com for details of the next one. Fun, information, juicy samples and take-home recipe sheet and a chance to try out various juicing machines.
Monday, 26 April 2010
Lactic Acid Pickles and Fermentation
I have now got loads of milk whey left from making kefir cheese. I have been reading up about pickling vegetables in whey instead of using vinegar. The Ancient Ones used to make preserved vegetables using whey - it is a nasty modern idea to use highly acidic pickling vinegar. The commercial manufactures use acetic acid instead of lactic acid with all its friendly bacteria. The old method meant that the foods were preserved using lactic acid and the acidophilus bacteria stopped any nasty putrefaction - they did the preserving. These days, the acetic acid kills everything - including your taste buds.
Seriously, if you eat too many pickles, it can lead to stomach ulcers. The Japanese are among the healthiest nations on the planet but they still have a very high incidence of stomach ulcers and this can lead to stomach cancer. The reason for this is the incredibly high number of pickles they eat alongside their very healthy sushi and sashimi.
So let's get back to the old methods and use whey (lactic acid teeming with friendly bacteria - especially when it is whey from making kefir), to preserve our vegetables. They are more fermented than pickled and this makes for a very gentle-on-the-tongue pickle that has an exquisite flavour and texture rather than an acid bite that the commercial pickles give you.
A mixture of shredded cabbage and carrot is called Kimchi and it is a lovely accompaniment to cold meats and fish. Cabbage alone is of course sauerkraut and we are all familiar with that. Red cabbage (Rot Kohl) is often used in Germany and Bavaria, served hot with all sorts of warm, filling winter dumplings and good stuff (remember I eat cooked foods in the winter so I do appreciate warm, rib-sticking knoedels and ham dumplings that the Austrians do so well!).
We eat a lot of sushi and sashimi (raw fish is an important source of vitamin B12 for raw foodies), at home so we often run out of the little packets of pickled ginger, so this was first on my list of new creations. I have found a lovely jumbo piece of ginger root and scraped and sliced it very thinly. I put this in a jar with whey which I have coloured using beetroot powder so it is the traditional pink colour but with no nasty chemical colourings. It is now sitting in the fridge muttering quietly. I will check it in two weeks to see if it is ready. I will let you know how it goes.
So now I still have three litres of kefir whey still left in the fridge. I have a cabbage in the cooler that seems to want to be shredded up with a carrot to make some kimchi. Trouble is, I often go to the trouble of making all this stuff and then nobody wants to eat it. Perhaps I am not doing the sell bit very well....? The question is, am I going to get around to shredding it and putting it in a jar. We will see. I really need a very clever raw recipe for something delicious to make using the kefir whey. I wish I could find a Themomix recipe for making ice cream or sorbet of some kind with the whey. I will keep looking and experimenting.
I have visions of having gluts of vegetables which I dehydrate and bottle in oil or slice thinly and pickle in whey. I have these earth-mother hallucinations of cupboards stacked full of jars and bottles of nutrition-rich preserved (RAW) foods brimming with enzymes and probiotics which will see us through the winter - organic, wholesome and yummy.
Well - first, you have a dream, then you make a plan from the dream, then you make it happen. Watch this space.
Seriously, if you eat too many pickles, it can lead to stomach ulcers. The Japanese are among the healthiest nations on the planet but they still have a very high incidence of stomach ulcers and this can lead to stomach cancer. The reason for this is the incredibly high number of pickles they eat alongside their very healthy sushi and sashimi.
So let's get back to the old methods and use whey (lactic acid teeming with friendly bacteria - especially when it is whey from making kefir), to preserve our vegetables. They are more fermented than pickled and this makes for a very gentle-on-the-tongue pickle that has an exquisite flavour and texture rather than an acid bite that the commercial pickles give you.
A mixture of shredded cabbage and carrot is called Kimchi and it is a lovely accompaniment to cold meats and fish. Cabbage alone is of course sauerkraut and we are all familiar with that. Red cabbage (Rot Kohl) is often used in Germany and Bavaria, served hot with all sorts of warm, filling winter dumplings and good stuff (remember I eat cooked foods in the winter so I do appreciate warm, rib-sticking knoedels and ham dumplings that the Austrians do so well!).
We eat a lot of sushi and sashimi (raw fish is an important source of vitamin B12 for raw foodies), at home so we often run out of the little packets of pickled ginger, so this was first on my list of new creations. I have found a lovely jumbo piece of ginger root and scraped and sliced it very thinly. I put this in a jar with whey which I have coloured using beetroot powder so it is the traditional pink colour but with no nasty chemical colourings. It is now sitting in the fridge muttering quietly. I will check it in two weeks to see if it is ready. I will let you know how it goes.
So now I still have three litres of kefir whey still left in the fridge. I have a cabbage in the cooler that seems to want to be shredded up with a carrot to make some kimchi. Trouble is, I often go to the trouble of making all this stuff and then nobody wants to eat it. Perhaps I am not doing the sell bit very well....? The question is, am I going to get around to shredding it and putting it in a jar. We will see. I really need a very clever raw recipe for something delicious to make using the kefir whey. I wish I could find a Themomix recipe for making ice cream or sorbet of some kind with the whey. I will keep looking and experimenting.
I have visions of having gluts of vegetables which I dehydrate and bottle in oil or slice thinly and pickle in whey. I have these earth-mother hallucinations of cupboards stacked full of jars and bottles of nutrition-rich preserved (RAW) foods brimming with enzymes and probiotics which will see us through the winter - organic, wholesome and yummy.
Well - first, you have a dream, then you make a plan from the dream, then you make it happen. Watch this space.
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Kefir cheese and dehydrators
Dehydrator experiment went a bit wrong; the kefir curdled quite alarmingly. It grew more but it made a very acidic yogurt that I didn't like much. So we have decided that we will not use the dehydrator but keep it at room temperature but slightly warm the milk before we put it over the grains, taking the fridge chill off really. That way, we don't retard the growth whilst the milk comes up to room temperature.
I am using the curdled kefir (now reconstituted) as part of a batch set aside for making some more probiotic cheese; I love that feta-style kefir cheese. I shall have to give it a name - any suggestions?
Kefa? Fetir?
I am using the curdled kefir (now reconstituted) as part of a batch set aside for making some more probiotic cheese; I love that feta-style kefir cheese. I shall have to give it a name - any suggestions?
Kefa? Fetir?
Kefir and home-made feta-type cheese
Kefir
We are growing our kefir on at astonishing rates at the moment. I have sourced unpasteurised milk from Hook and Son (thanks for that link, Janie Turner of Thermomix) and now I am happily slurping 6-8 ozs of gorgeous creamy kefir each morning.
The kefir cheese is just an amazing success. I am so proud of myself! After several revolting and probably health-risking attempts at making a probiotic cheese, I have perfected the method.
You need a large bowlful of kefir - whole milk is best but the raw milk people seem to only sell semi-skimmed, so we are making do with that. Put the whole bowlful in a cheesecloth (this is best done by simply lining a large bowl with cloth and then filling it with kefir. When it is all settled, gather up the corners of the cloth and pin them together and lift gently, hanging the whole thing just above the bowl to drain. After 24-36 hours, you will have a bowl of thin whey and a cloth full of what looks like Philadelphia cheese. The whey is great added to fresh fruit and veggie juices or used in bread making or to make the crackers mentioned below. It is also fab for enzyme-rich pickles- more about that another day.
Scrape the soft cheese into another bowl. I found that you can almost mould the cheese in your hands through the cloth, picking up all the bits stuck to the cloth as you go. Put the cheese ball into the bowl and add salt and mix well. I bought a couple of cheese moulds from the internet, there are several cheese making suppliers on ebay. I line the cheese mould with fresh clean cloth and then pop the cheese into the mould. Cover with the cloth and put the press lid in place. Then I put a heavy weight on top and watch the last of the whey start to ooze out of the holes in the mould. I leave it to compress for a couple of days.
Turn it out of the mould - then a couple more days in the fridge and you will have a large lump of what looks and cuts like white Wensleydale and tastes like a slightly beery Feta cheese. It is just wonderful.
I put this on my dehydrated raw crackers (my version of Scan bran - email me if you would like the recipe: enquiries@taymount.com) and I feel so virtuous, it is a scandal.
Love and kefir grains to the world.
Oh, if you want some kefir grains, you can buy them on the taymount website: www.taymount.com - products - digestive aids
We are just experimenting to see if the kefir grows faster in the dehydrator - in a sealed Kilner jar to keep it from drying out of course. We already found that if you are making bread, the dehydrator is incredible for speeding up the proving and rising process. Just put a shower cap over the bowl to keep the bread dough moist.
We are growing our kefir on at astonishing rates at the moment. I have sourced unpasteurised milk from Hook and Son (thanks for that link, Janie Turner of Thermomix) and now I am happily slurping 6-8 ozs of gorgeous creamy kefir each morning.
The kefir cheese is just an amazing success. I am so proud of myself! After several revolting and probably health-risking attempts at making a probiotic cheese, I have perfected the method.
You need a large bowlful of kefir - whole milk is best but the raw milk people seem to only sell semi-skimmed, so we are making do with that. Put the whole bowlful in a cheesecloth (this is best done by simply lining a large bowl with cloth and then filling it with kefir. When it is all settled, gather up the corners of the cloth and pin them together and lift gently, hanging the whole thing just above the bowl to drain. After 24-36 hours, you will have a bowl of thin whey and a cloth full of what looks like Philadelphia cheese. The whey is great added to fresh fruit and veggie juices or used in bread making or to make the crackers mentioned below. It is also fab for enzyme-rich pickles- more about that another day.
Scrape the soft cheese into another bowl. I found that you can almost mould the cheese in your hands through the cloth, picking up all the bits stuck to the cloth as you go. Put the cheese ball into the bowl and add salt and mix well. I bought a couple of cheese moulds from the internet, there are several cheese making suppliers on ebay. I line the cheese mould with fresh clean cloth and then pop the cheese into the mould. Cover with the cloth and put the press lid in place. Then I put a heavy weight on top and watch the last of the whey start to ooze out of the holes in the mould. I leave it to compress for a couple of days.
Turn it out of the mould - then a couple more days in the fridge and you will have a large lump of what looks and cuts like white Wensleydale and tastes like a slightly beery Feta cheese. It is just wonderful.
I put this on my dehydrated raw crackers (my version of Scan bran - email me if you would like the recipe: enquiries@taymount.com) and I feel so virtuous, it is a scandal.
Love and kefir grains to the world.
Oh, if you want some kefir grains, you can buy them on the taymount website: www.taymount.com - products - digestive aids
We are just experimenting to see if the kefir grows faster in the dehydrator - in a sealed Kilner jar to keep it from drying out of course. We already found that if you are making bread, the dehydrator is incredible for speeding up the proving and rising process. Just put a shower cap over the bowl to keep the bread dough moist.
Monday, 28 September 2009
Antibiotics - the good guys
Anti-biotics - what exactly are they and why do we need Probiotics?
Anti- means against and bio- means life so they are literally "against life". They kill bacteria. They don't kill fungus and they don't kill yeast or viruses but they kill bacteria. If you have a raging infection, this can be life-saving. However, antibiotics will usually kill most of the bacteria they come into contact with and this can mean your friendly gut bacteria (the good guys) as well as the bad guys doing all the infectious damage.
We have trillions of bacteria inside our digestive system - our bodies have adapted to the presence of beneficial bacteria over the ages and some organisms make things for us like vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 in our colons. This is obviously a good thing. We like that.
So when you knock them all out with antibiotics, you need to put them back in again, or else the yeasts (untouched by the antibiotics) will take over the show. Hence - candida overgrowth (Candida Albicans is not a pop star's name - it is a very unpleasant yeast if it is allowed to get too dominant - another blog on that coming soon). People can go for years feeling less than great because of this nasty little opportunistic organism.
Acti-yog, Yoccult, Acidivia....? Are manufacturers making monkeys out of us?
People respond to advertising and think that if they drink a cute little bottle of sweetened yogurty stuff every morning, or scoff down a pot of fruity creamy sweet yogurt, they are getting their daily good guys. Well these products are not bad; they are not harmful (apart from all that sugar and the "lite" ones have aspartame - don't even get me started on that neuro-toxin!!!), but they don't have the muscles to re-populate your good guys in enough quantities.
Immediately after a course of antibiotics, send in the cavalry!!
Immediately after a course of antibiotics, bring in the cavalry!! Doses of antibiotics are measured in the numbers of live organisms per dose that you are taking. Don't ask me who counts them all, perhaps they use a computer or something.... ? We are talking about an ideal post-antibiotic or post-cleanse dose of around 100 BILLION live organisms in one shot, maybe for two or three days in a row. Here at the Taymount clinic, we use Replete Intensive sachets to deliver just this dose in one pleasant tasting drink taken at bedtime. Thereafter, a daily dose of around 20 BILLION will keep the cavalry topped up. We use our own branded ProBioMAX but we are always looking for the best products to bear our label. This is the best one we have found at the moment.
Frankenstein bacteria...?
Probiotics are subject to the same genetic engineering as larger beasts, sadly. Be very suspicious of anything which offers a strain of bacteria mentioned on the label with a little "R" in a circle, or a patented or unique bacterium inside. You do not want to populate your bowels with GM bacteria. Things in nature cannot be patented; only Frankenstein bacteria genetically modified in a lab can be patented. There may only be the tiniest little change necessary to make it unique and patentable.
...only the tiniest little change but...our DNA is 99.4% identical to chimpanzees. See what a HUGE and HAIRY difference 0.6% variation can make?
But think on this - our DNA is 99.4% identical to chimpanzees. See what a HUGE and HAIRY difference 0.6% variation can make? Do you want natural human-symbiotic good guys or are you prepared to take a risk on the GM probiotics that might behave like chimps in your gut??!!! Might appeal to you-ooo-ooo-ooo but it's not for me-eee-eee-eee. I prefer to drive to work rather than swing from the lampposts!
Go for the natural and the unpatented - avoid the Biffidumb Digestidumb and Acidophilus Chimera and stick to taking a simple and high-dose good quality probiotic capsule or powder daily. A good brand will list the natural organisms by name on the side; I will post a list of the best and most useful good guys in another blog. And Google up "kefir" - more about that another day.
Eat organic veggies and don't scrub them very hard - just wipe off the visible dirt and grit and don't peel unless you really have to - some of the dirt contains great SBOs - Soil-Based Organisms which we really need to keep the bad guys at bay.
The old adage about eating a pound of dirt before you die may have had some truth!!!
Anti- means against and bio- means life so they are literally "against life". They kill bacteria. They don't kill fungus and they don't kill yeast or viruses but they kill bacteria. If you have a raging infection, this can be life-saving. However, antibiotics will usually kill most of the bacteria they come into contact with and this can mean your friendly gut bacteria (the good guys) as well as the bad guys doing all the infectious damage.
We have trillions of bacteria inside our digestive system - our bodies have adapted to the presence of beneficial bacteria over the ages and some organisms make things for us like vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 in our colons. This is obviously a good thing. We like that.
So when you knock them all out with antibiotics, you need to put them back in again, or else the yeasts (untouched by the antibiotics) will take over the show. Hence - candida overgrowth (Candida Albicans is not a pop star's name - it is a very unpleasant yeast if it is allowed to get too dominant - another blog on that coming soon). People can go for years feeling less than great because of this nasty little opportunistic organism.
Acti-yog, Yoccult, Acidivia....? Are manufacturers making monkeys out of us?
People respond to advertising and think that if they drink a cute little bottle of sweetened yogurty stuff every morning, or scoff down a pot of fruity creamy sweet yogurt, they are getting their daily good guys. Well these products are not bad; they are not harmful (apart from all that sugar and the "lite" ones have aspartame - don't even get me started on that neuro-toxin!!!), but they don't have the muscles to re-populate your good guys in enough quantities.
Immediately after a course of antibiotics, send in the cavalry!!
Immediately after a course of antibiotics, bring in the cavalry!! Doses of antibiotics are measured in the numbers of live organisms per dose that you are taking. Don't ask me who counts them all, perhaps they use a computer or something.... ? We are talking about an ideal post-antibiotic or post-cleanse dose of around 100 BILLION live organisms in one shot, maybe for two or three days in a row. Here at the Taymount clinic, we use Replete Intensive sachets to deliver just this dose in one pleasant tasting drink taken at bedtime. Thereafter, a daily dose of around 20 BILLION will keep the cavalry topped up. We use our own branded ProBioMAX but we are always looking for the best products to bear our label. This is the best one we have found at the moment.
Frankenstein bacteria...?
Probiotics are subject to the same genetic engineering as larger beasts, sadly. Be very suspicious of anything which offers a strain of bacteria mentioned on the label with a little "R" in a circle, or a patented or unique bacterium inside. You do not want to populate your bowels with GM bacteria. Things in nature cannot be patented; only Frankenstein bacteria genetically modified in a lab can be patented. There may only be the tiniest little change necessary to make it unique and patentable.
...only the tiniest little change but...our DNA is 99.4% identical to chimpanzees. See what a HUGE and HAIRY difference 0.6% variation can make?
But think on this - our DNA is 99.4% identical to chimpanzees. See what a HUGE and HAIRY difference 0.6% variation can make? Do you want natural human-symbiotic good guys or are you prepared to take a risk on the GM probiotics that might behave like chimps in your gut??!!! Might appeal to you-ooo-ooo-ooo but it's not for me-eee-eee-eee. I prefer to drive to work rather than swing from the lampposts!
Go for the natural and the unpatented - avoid the Biffidumb Digestidumb and Acidophilus Chimera and stick to taking a simple and high-dose good quality probiotic capsule or powder daily. A good brand will list the natural organisms by name on the side; I will post a list of the best and most useful good guys in another blog. And Google up "kefir" - more about that another day.
Eat organic veggies and don't scrub them very hard - just wipe off the visible dirt and grit and don't peel unless you really have to - some of the dirt contains great SBOs - Soil-Based Organisms which we really need to keep the bad guys at bay.
The old adage about eating a pound of dirt before you die may have had some truth!!!
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Detoxification
The word "detox" is very in vogue at the moment and probably one of the most over- and mis-used terms in health and wellness contexts.
Detox appears on everything from bath oils to smoothie labels and one can be forgiven for assuming that "detox" is something you can buy in a small box from Superdrug.
So what does detox really mean?
Toxification means poisoning. So It is the de-toxification of the body - removing from the body substances which, if left inside the body, would lead to in-toxification (poisoning; yes, being drunk really is being poisoned).
Potential poisons, or toxins don't just come from cigarettes, alcohol, junk food and pollution. Every time we release stress hormones (adrenaline etc) these also need to be metabolized (detoxified) and neturalised.
We have the potential to poison ourselves (autointoxicate) each and every minute we are alive.
Let me show you....
Breathe in, take a nice deep breath for a count of 4. Hold for a count of 12 and then breathe out for a count of 8. You just detoxed. A bit. Honestly!
Carbon dioxide is the resulting waste gas from many types of cell metabolism. This gas is dissolved into the blood stream as carbonic acid. This acid waste must be removed from the blood stream as quickly as possible to prevent the blood acid-alkali balance - the blood pH - from becoming too acidic. When you breathe out, carbon dioxide leaves the blood once again becoming a gas in the lung alveoli and is subsequently breathed out. So breathing out is a form of detoxing! Simple and cheap. Doesn't come in a box from the chemists!
So the key to successfully maintaining the correct blood pH is to make sure the body doesn't have too high a toxic or acidic load. On an every-day basis, we are in need of detoxing as each and every metabolic process is taking place normally. When you add all the other toxic load that we are fond of ingesting in our modern indulgent and self-destrctive lifestyle, the cigarettes, the sweets, the alcohol etc., then you can see how we have a need to detox more often, more thoroughly and probably with more active measures than just exhaling.
Apart from dead skin and hair cells, each and every cell inside our bodies is alive which means they are metabolising and respiring. They are taking nutrients and oxygen from the fluid around them (interstitial fluid) which comes from the bloodstream and lymph system. Once they have used what they need, they excrete the substances they don't need and/or their products. These go back into the lymph fluid and bloodstream and are eventually broken down (metabolised) and/or excreted from the body in one of four ways. The liver is the master detoxification organ as it handles most unwanted an toxic substances we ingest. However, once it has neutralised various poisons, the liver needs to dump the products of its detoxification processes out of the body. The avenues of external elimination from the body are:
Lungs - through the breath
Kidneys - through the urinary system
Skin - through the sweat glands
Bowels - through the faeces
Ingesting excess animal proteins can result in a high level of acidic waste which needs to be neutralised and excreted (detoxed), so cutting down on your intake of animal proteins is a good place to start your detoxification programme. It goes without saying that cutting out alcohol, cigarettes and high levels of sugar will also assist the body in its work to detoxify. A high intake of sugar will also break down into a waste load of carbonic acid to add to the pile. Reduce your stress levels - make your own "DO NOT DISTURB" sign and use it at every opportunity! Take up yoga, candles, incense and new age music. Do whatever it takes to reduce your emotional and mental stress as they too are toxic.
What else can you do to refresh and clean out the body as a good start to a new year programme of healthier living?
Alkaline foods and drinks will give the body a lighter load of waste disposal and taking nutrition in the form of juicing will give the digestive system a bit of a rest and enable the energy saved to be used to better purposes and enhance detoxification.
An ideal start to a detoxification programme would take into account the four avenues of elimination and aim to support and assist all these avenues.
1. Lungs - go for walks in the fresh air every day - the exercise is also good for the body and a nice brisk walk will assist in the deep breathing and expulsion of carbon dioxide gas. Make a habit of conscious deep breathing. Good for the brain cells too!
2. Kidneys - drink at least 2 litres of clean, pure, water every day. Cola drinks are highly acidic and cups of tea and coffee make you "pee" more than you drink in - a half pint of tea will have you running to the loo to lose three quarters of a pint in the urine. A net water loss for the body. Water is a master solvent - most waste products and toxins are soluble in water and safer in more dilute concentrations; so the more water you give your body, the more it can use for safer detoxification.
3. Skin - sweat is a solution of water and waste products; it is rich in organic substances which makes it so ideal for bacteria to feed on - this is why old sweat smells so unpleasant, you are feeding bacteria on your old rubbish! Clear out your pores of dried salt residues and old skin cells which may block the exit for more sweat. Dry skin brush before your daily shower and clear out the exits for these dissolved toxins. If you have access to a sauna, this is an ideal way to keep the skin clear and allow the sweating mechanism to carry toxins from the body efficiently and safely. Daily skin brushing will soon become addictive, it stimulates the blood capillaries in the skin and makes you glow with good health! Exfoliate regularly in the shower or bath to keep the dead cells from building up and dulling the complexion. Indulge in a massage - especially aromatherapy - as often as you can afford it.
Juice-Fast¹ for a few days and give your digestive system a rest. Apart from sex, the most energy we use on a daily basis is for digestion (well, all of us digest daily....). If we let our juicers do the chewing for us and swallow only the nutrient-rich solutions which they produce (the juices), we can nourish ourselves with the minimum of effort needed from the body. Juice combinations high in green leafy vegetable juices are highly alkaline which helps the body to balance its blood pH with less use of alkaline salts from the bones (yes, your body will take calcium from your bones to neturalise its acid waste load if you eat too many acidic proteins). The best juices for detoxing contain lots of cucumber, celery, fennel and spinach. Five juices and 2 litres of water every day will keep your taste buds and your mouth busy enough not to feel deprived and will give your body marvellous support for its detoxing chores.
One thing to remember - just like cleaning out that cupboard under the stairs.... at first you chuck out the piles of shoes and stir up the dust and make an even bigger mess - likewise with detoxing, you can re-dissolve crystalized toxins which have been stashed in various hiding places around the body - this can make you feel under the weather a bit for the first couple of days. Rejoice in this feeling, it means you are sweeping all the rubbish out from its hiding places and dumping them out of the body for good. The finished product will be clean and tidy "underneath the rug" as well as the bits that show!
The other good thing about detoxing is that it often leads to a noticeable loss of excess fat from the body - this sounds like a great double whammy to start the New Year!
Happy Detoxing.
References:
1 7lbs in 7 days by Jason Vale
This book is an excellent introduction into juice-fasting and takes the beginner through the whole subject of juicing from theory to practical with delicious recipes and timetables, even giving shopping lists to make it easy to prepare. A great place to start your juicing journey.
2 The Detox Miracle Sourcebook by Robert Morse, N.D. Module 7.7, Raw Fruit and Vegetable Juices, p 225
This book is a comprehensive font of knowledge from basic physiology to complete detoxification. A must for the interested therapist and keen amateur alike.
Further Reading:
The Complete Book of Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices by Norman W. Walker
Juicing by Michael T. Murray
Juicing Therapy by Dr. Bernard Jensen
Slim 4 Life by Jason Vale
Article – supplementary – feature on juicing and recipes to back up Detox article:
Here are a few delicious-tasting juices which will support your body beautifully during a detoxification programme.
As you progress, try and reduce the amount of fruit in your juices as the more green leafy vegetables you juice, the better for the body; fruits can lead to blood sugar fluctuations which may make you feel more hungry. But, if the addition of fruit makes it easier for you drink the juices, then go ahead and enjoy them as they are.
These recipes will provide masses of enzymes, vitamins, and minerals without loading the body with acid waste. They are particularly high in electrolytes, and some are rich in chlorophyll for purifying the blood the lymphatic system. Chlorophyll is one of nature's best heavy-metal and chemical detoxifiers.² Juices give you nutrition without your body having to work for it. Just what you need when detoxifying.
(Note; the lemons and limes in the recipes do not make the juices acidic; paradoxically, they metabolise to an alkaline "ash" when digested)
Most recipes will serve two people a generous large glassful each:
Le Digestif:
4 apples
1 cucumber
large stick of celery
small piece of fennel
1/2 lemon, peeled
1 lime, peeled.
Freshen Up:
one whole cucumber
two pears
sprig mint
small handful of parsley
one apple
small piece of peeled lime
Apple of My Eye:
4 apples (green ones are best for this one)
1 lemon (half peeled)
1 lime (half peeled)
one whole romaine lettuce
handful of spinach
Non-tequila Sunrise:
1 red pepper and 1 orange or yellow pepper if you can find them
2 peeled oranges
3 large carrots
1 lemon roughly peeled
2 red apples
toss in some fresh apricots if in season
1 whole peach or nectarine if in season
Juice all the above ingredients, pour half glassfuls out, then add:
1/2 small beetroot to the juicer (for the hard-core juicers - omit if you are on the nursery slopes!)
Mix the beetroot juice with the remaining juice in the jug and top up the glasses
(you can almost feel the beta-carotene coursing through your viens from this one!)
Swamp Juice
(we call this Shrek Juice at home, but we do not have permission from the movie makers to use this name here!)
Quantities are for 2-4 people as we always end up sharing this with non-believers and on-lookers!
Large handful of Spinach
Large piece of broccoli stalk
6 Brussels sprouts
Handful of any fresh sprouts (alfalfa, clover, sunflower, etc)
1 stick of Celery
handful of Parsley
3 large Carrots
1 Lemon
1 Lime
1 whole Cucumber
4 Green apples
1/4 Pineapple
- make juice from above ingredients and then add to blender with 1/2 avocado pear, 1 teaspoon spirulina, 1 teaspoon of dried wheatgrass.
drink immediately.
Detox appears on everything from bath oils to smoothie labels and one can be forgiven for assuming that "detox" is something you can buy in a small box from Superdrug.
So what does detox really mean?
Toxification means poisoning. So It is the de-toxification of the body - removing from the body substances which, if left inside the body, would lead to in-toxification (poisoning; yes, being drunk really is being poisoned).
Potential poisons, or toxins don't just come from cigarettes, alcohol, junk food and pollution. Every time we release stress hormones (adrenaline etc) these also need to be metabolized (detoxified) and neturalised.
We have the potential to poison ourselves (autointoxicate) each and every minute we are alive.
Let me show you....
Breathe in, take a nice deep breath for a count of 4. Hold for a count of 12 and then breathe out for a count of 8. You just detoxed. A bit. Honestly!
Carbon dioxide is the resulting waste gas from many types of cell metabolism. This gas is dissolved into the blood stream as carbonic acid. This acid waste must be removed from the blood stream as quickly as possible to prevent the blood acid-alkali balance - the blood pH - from becoming too acidic. When you breathe out, carbon dioxide leaves the blood once again becoming a gas in the lung alveoli and is subsequently breathed out. So breathing out is a form of detoxing! Simple and cheap. Doesn't come in a box from the chemists!
So the key to successfully maintaining the correct blood pH is to make sure the body doesn't have too high a toxic or acidic load. On an every-day basis, we are in need of detoxing as each and every metabolic process is taking place normally. When you add all the other toxic load that we are fond of ingesting in our modern indulgent and self-destrctive lifestyle, the cigarettes, the sweets, the alcohol etc., then you can see how we have a need to detox more often, more thoroughly and probably with more active measures than just exhaling.
Apart from dead skin and hair cells, each and every cell inside our bodies is alive which means they are metabolising and respiring. They are taking nutrients and oxygen from the fluid around them (interstitial fluid) which comes from the bloodstream and lymph system. Once they have used what they need, they excrete the substances they don't need and/or their products. These go back into the lymph fluid and bloodstream and are eventually broken down (metabolised) and/or excreted from the body in one of four ways. The liver is the master detoxification organ as it handles most unwanted an toxic substances we ingest. However, once it has neutralised various poisons, the liver needs to dump the products of its detoxification processes out of the body. The avenues of external elimination from the body are:
Lungs - through the breath
Kidneys - through the urinary system
Skin - through the sweat glands
Bowels - through the faeces
Ingesting excess animal proteins can result in a high level of acidic waste which needs to be neutralised and excreted (detoxed), so cutting down on your intake of animal proteins is a good place to start your detoxification programme. It goes without saying that cutting out alcohol, cigarettes and high levels of sugar will also assist the body in its work to detoxify. A high intake of sugar will also break down into a waste load of carbonic acid to add to the pile. Reduce your stress levels - make your own "DO NOT DISTURB" sign and use it at every opportunity! Take up yoga, candles, incense and new age music. Do whatever it takes to reduce your emotional and mental stress as they too are toxic.
What else can you do to refresh and clean out the body as a good start to a new year programme of healthier living?
Alkaline foods and drinks will give the body a lighter load of waste disposal and taking nutrition in the form of juicing will give the digestive system a bit of a rest and enable the energy saved to be used to better purposes and enhance detoxification.
An ideal start to a detoxification programme would take into account the four avenues of elimination and aim to support and assist all these avenues.
1. Lungs - go for walks in the fresh air every day - the exercise is also good for the body and a nice brisk walk will assist in the deep breathing and expulsion of carbon dioxide gas. Make a habit of conscious deep breathing. Good for the brain cells too!
2. Kidneys - drink at least 2 litres of clean, pure, water every day. Cola drinks are highly acidic and cups of tea and coffee make you "pee" more than you drink in - a half pint of tea will have you running to the loo to lose three quarters of a pint in the urine. A net water loss for the body. Water is a master solvent - most waste products and toxins are soluble in water and safer in more dilute concentrations; so the more water you give your body, the more it can use for safer detoxification.
3. Skin - sweat is a solution of water and waste products; it is rich in organic substances which makes it so ideal for bacteria to feed on - this is why old sweat smells so unpleasant, you are feeding bacteria on your old rubbish! Clear out your pores of dried salt residues and old skin cells which may block the exit for more sweat. Dry skin brush before your daily shower and clear out the exits for these dissolved toxins. If you have access to a sauna, this is an ideal way to keep the skin clear and allow the sweating mechanism to carry toxins from the body efficiently and safely. Daily skin brushing will soon become addictive, it stimulates the blood capillaries in the skin and makes you glow with good health! Exfoliate regularly in the shower or bath to keep the dead cells from building up and dulling the complexion. Indulge in a massage - especially aromatherapy - as often as you can afford it.
Juice-Fast¹ for a few days and give your digestive system a rest. Apart from sex, the most energy we use on a daily basis is for digestion (well, all of us digest daily....). If we let our juicers do the chewing for us and swallow only the nutrient-rich solutions which they produce (the juices), we can nourish ourselves with the minimum of effort needed from the body. Juice combinations high in green leafy vegetable juices are highly alkaline which helps the body to balance its blood pH with less use of alkaline salts from the bones (yes, your body will take calcium from your bones to neturalise its acid waste load if you eat too many acidic proteins). The best juices for detoxing contain lots of cucumber, celery, fennel and spinach. Five juices and 2 litres of water every day will keep your taste buds and your mouth busy enough not to feel deprived and will give your body marvellous support for its detoxing chores.
One thing to remember - just like cleaning out that cupboard under the stairs.... at first you chuck out the piles of shoes and stir up the dust and make an even bigger mess - likewise with detoxing, you can re-dissolve crystalized toxins which have been stashed in various hiding places around the body - this can make you feel under the weather a bit for the first couple of days. Rejoice in this feeling, it means you are sweeping all the rubbish out from its hiding places and dumping them out of the body for good. The finished product will be clean and tidy "underneath the rug" as well as the bits that show!
The other good thing about detoxing is that it often leads to a noticeable loss of excess fat from the body - this sounds like a great double whammy to start the New Year!
Happy Detoxing.
References:
1 7lbs in 7 days by Jason Vale
This book is an excellent introduction into juice-fasting and takes the beginner through the whole subject of juicing from theory to practical with delicious recipes and timetables, even giving shopping lists to make it easy to prepare. A great place to start your juicing journey.
2 The Detox Miracle Sourcebook by Robert Morse, N.D. Module 7.7, Raw Fruit and Vegetable Juices, p 225
This book is a comprehensive font of knowledge from basic physiology to complete detoxification. A must for the interested therapist and keen amateur alike.
Further Reading:
The Complete Book of Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices by Norman W. Walker
Juicing by Michael T. Murray
Juicing Therapy by Dr. Bernard Jensen
Slim 4 Life by Jason Vale
Article – supplementary – feature on juicing and recipes to back up Detox article:
Here are a few delicious-tasting juices which will support your body beautifully during a detoxification programme.
As you progress, try and reduce the amount of fruit in your juices as the more green leafy vegetables you juice, the better for the body; fruits can lead to blood sugar fluctuations which may make you feel more hungry. But, if the addition of fruit makes it easier for you drink the juices, then go ahead and enjoy them as they are.
These recipes will provide masses of enzymes, vitamins, and minerals without loading the body with acid waste. They are particularly high in electrolytes, and some are rich in chlorophyll for purifying the blood the lymphatic system. Chlorophyll is one of nature's best heavy-metal and chemical detoxifiers.² Juices give you nutrition without your body having to work for it. Just what you need when detoxifying.
(Note; the lemons and limes in the recipes do not make the juices acidic; paradoxically, they metabolise to an alkaline "ash" when digested)
Most recipes will serve two people a generous large glassful each:
Le Digestif:
4 apples
1 cucumber
large stick of celery
small piece of fennel
1/2 lemon, peeled
1 lime, peeled.
Freshen Up:
one whole cucumber
two pears
sprig mint
small handful of parsley
one apple
small piece of peeled lime
Apple of My Eye:
4 apples (green ones are best for this one)
1 lemon (half peeled)
1 lime (half peeled)
one whole romaine lettuce
handful of spinach
Non-tequila Sunrise:
1 red pepper and 1 orange or yellow pepper if you can find them
2 peeled oranges
3 large carrots
1 lemon roughly peeled
2 red apples
toss in some fresh apricots if in season
1 whole peach or nectarine if in season
Juice all the above ingredients, pour half glassfuls out, then add:
1/2 small beetroot to the juicer (for the hard-core juicers - omit if you are on the nursery slopes!)
Mix the beetroot juice with the remaining juice in the jug and top up the glasses
(you can almost feel the beta-carotene coursing through your viens from this one!)
Swamp Juice
(we call this Shrek Juice at home, but we do not have permission from the movie makers to use this name here!)
Quantities are for 2-4 people as we always end up sharing this with non-believers and on-lookers!
Large handful of Spinach
Large piece of broccoli stalk
6 Brussels sprouts
Handful of any fresh sprouts (alfalfa, clover, sunflower, etc)
1 stick of Celery
handful of Parsley
3 large Carrots
1 Lemon
1 Lime
1 whole Cucumber
4 Green apples
1/4 Pineapple
- make juice from above ingredients and then add to blender with 1/2 avocado pear, 1 teaspoon spirulina, 1 teaspoon of dried wheatgrass.
drink immediately.
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