Gourmet Healer: Detoxifying For Real Continued

The Gourmet Healer, Angie King, continues her discussion on healthy ways to detox.  Here is the January blog entry in case you missed it.  Angie has also provided posts on healthy oil and spice choices on this blog.

The Gourmet Healer, aka: Angie King, MS, RD, LD, lives, works and plays in Albuquerque and the surrounding area. The focus of her private practice, Gourmet Healer, is to empower individuals and families to take part in their own healing process by using Food As Medicine together with lifestyle and other therapies.  Angie earned her Master of Science in Nutrition as well as the credentials of Registered Dietitian and Licensed Dietitian from the University of New Mexico. She also works part time for the UNM School of Medicine Nephrology Division as an outpatient Pediatric Clinical Nutritionist.  Her blog link is The Gourmet Healer and is also listed in the right-hand menu in BLOGROLL for more information throughout the month.

Detoxifying For Real: Time to Fast!

Hopefully since my last post on detoxification, readers have been supporting liver detoxification by eating plenty of curries, Brassica-family foods like broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and kholrabi, and citrus such as oranges, tangerines, mandarins and the juice and zest of lemons or limes. Remember to take it easy on the grapefruit, however.  Avoid it all together if your toxic burden is high or if you’re on prescription drugs.  All of the aforementioned beneficial foods increase the production of liver enzymes that make detoxification run smoothly and efficiently, preventing and treating toxicities and associated ailments, such as autoimmune disorders and obesity.

Now for Phase II

Spring is fast approaching and it’s time to prepare to fast.  Am I suggesting you do some extreme 40 day fast with only water and a couple of other almost non-caloric ingredients?  Absolutely not. Fasting for longer than 3-5 days requires medical supervision.  Also, going longer than this without protein is counterproductive to bodily detoxification.  We need protein for everything that goes on in the body, and we especially need it for liver detoxification enzyme production, since enzymes ARE proteins.  Using juice instead of plain water will also help to prevent headaches and dizziness, since this will supply energy to the body and especially the brain.

Here are some guidelines to consider for fasting safely:

• Fast at the change of each season (4 times per year), but especially at the beginning of Spring, for 3 days.
• Diabetics should seek medical advise/supervision before fasting to prevent complications with low blood sugars.
• Prepare for fasting by eating foods and taking supplements that support detoxification, well before fasting—especially if your toxin exposure is high or you have had low-level exposure for a long period of time .
• Take a high potency multivitamin, antioxidant and mineral complex daily, whether fasting or not.  I stand behind and highly recommend USANA Health Sciences for their assured quality and science-based formulation.
• Take a Lipotropic formula during your fast to help “decongest” the liver.
• Supplement with Vitamin C during the fast to raise Glutathione levels in the liver, which will protect liver cells as their workload is increased.
• Take a soluble fiber supplement such as psyllium or oat bran powder at night before bed to aid in elimination.
• If your toxic burden is high, supplement with milk thistle extract.  Examples of those at risk for high toxic burden are jewelers and welders. Both have high exposure on a daily basis due to working with heavy metals.
• Get plenty of rest by beginning on a weekend.  Take 1-2 naps per day.
• The day before starting the fast, your last meal should be fruits and vegetables only.
• Only FRESH fruit and vegetable juices for 3 days.
• Have at least 32 oz of pure water daily. Let your thirst dictate the amount you drink beyond this.
• No coffee; canned, bottled or frozen juice; No soft drinks.

• Unsweetened, caffeine-free herbal teas can be very supportive. Choose warming teas such as Tulsi tea or those containing warming herbs and spices like cinnamon, ginger, clove and black pepper.
• Stay warm, as fasting is a very energetically cooling process.  Hence, the benefit of warming teas.
• After 3 days, gradually increase solids and limit portions—Do Not Overeat!
• Support digestion and absorption by eating slowly, chewing thoroughly and eating and drinking foods/beverages at room temperature.  Try to do this ALWAYS!
• Please seek advice from a health practitioner such as myself, a Registered Dietitian, about supplement dosages.  I will not make recommendations unless I have completed an individual Nutrition Assessment.
• Use only high quality supplements. You want a company that follows pharmaceutical-grade Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). This means that they purchase pharmaceutical-grade raw materials and then follow pharmaceutical-grade Good Manufacturing Practices in producing their supplements. These companies produce what is called pharmaceutical-grade supplements, meaning similar guidelines are followed for manufacturing their products as companies making over-the-counter or prescription medications. The government does not require the manufacturers of nutritional supplements to do this; still, some nutritional companies put this extra effort into the manufacturing of their products to provide their customers with the assurance that they are getting what is on the label. These high-quality manufacturers will put the actual amounts of the nutrients found in their products on the label and give full disclosure of all the ingredients. You also want to find an expiration date on the bottle and the company’s full address.

Please contact me with any questions about detoxification and fasting. Remember that supporting detoxification via sound and pure diet, lifestyle, periodic fasting and nutrient supplementation can and do work synergistically to create optimal health and vitality.

Blessings and Good Health,

The Gourmet Healer
Angie King, MS, RD, LD
505.850.2988
gourmethealer@gmail.com
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References

1. Pizzorno, J and Murray, M. Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine.  Prima: 1998.
2. http://drraystrand.com