My Yearly Detox Juice Fast

January is as good a time as any to clean out your system, mainly because it follows Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and many other holiday celebrations where food is invited in abundance. Last year I followed the 21-day detox according to the Clean book, by Dr. Alejandro Junger, and it changed my life. I got rid of toxins, pain, and weight. So here I am a year later and am ready for a follow up visit.

The first thing I've done is clean out the kitchen of holiday goodies. I'VE THROWN AWAY THE COOKIES. "What!!!" You say? That's right. The only other way to get rid of them is to eat them, so.... bye bye sugar.

The next thing is, I've found my Clean book and I'll be reviewing it to refresh my memory, but also to keep me in motivation mode. It's really important for me to get my head in gear so that once I start I'll have no excuses to turn back or "cheat". Perhaps I'll also re-watch one of my favorite food documentaries: "Hungry For Change", "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead", or "Forks Over Knives". We humans get ourselves excited and motivated but then it tends to trail off. So we need to refresh our memories - often.

The third important thing I'll do is find some "Clean" recipes that I can live with, at least 7 for starters, to get me through the first week of lunches. Throughout the past year I've had a keen eye out for "Clean" recipes, so I've got a few up my sleeve. There are also some in the book. Then I'll be making a shopping list. I've also collected a few juicing recipe books so I think I'll glance through those and pick out some favorites for my grocery list.

The fourth thing on my "to do" list is to eliminate the "no-no" foods from the house and from my brain. Over the past year some of these foods crept back into my diet, so I'll be eliminating them again for the 21-day detox. One of the purposes of eliminating these foods was to see if any of my health issues were, in fact, allergic reactions to food. It was a great surprise, and relief, to find that I was indeed allergic to gluten and dairy. My life changed dramatically for the better after permanently eliminating these.

YES INCLUDE THESE FOODS	NO EXCLUDE THESE FOODS
FRUITS: whole fruits, unsweetened, frozen or water-packed, diluted natural juices	Oranges, orange juice, grapefruit, strawberries, grapes, bananas
DAIRY SUBSTITUTES: rice, nut milks such as almond milk and coconut milk	Dairy and eggs, milk, cheese, cottage cheese, cream, yogurt, butter, ice cream, nondairy creamers, canned coconut milk
NON-GLUTEN GRAINS AND STARCH: brown rice, millet, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat	Wheat, corn, barley, spelt, kamut, rye, couscous, oats
ANIMAL PROTEIN: cold water fish, wild game, lean lamb, duck, chicken, turkey	Raw fish, pork, beef, veal, sausage, cold cuts, canned meats, hot dogs, shellfish
VEGETABLE PROTEIN: split peas, lentils, legumes	Soybean products (soy sauce, soybean oil in processed foods, tempeh, tofu, soy milk, soy yogurt, etc.)
NUTS AND SEEDS: sesame, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, walnuts, nut and seed butters (organic)	Peanuts, peanut butter, pistachios, macadamia nuts
VEGETABLES: preferably fresh, raw, steamed, sautéed, juiced, roasted	Corn, creamed vegetables, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers, sweet potatoes
OILS: cold pressed olive, flax, safflower, sesame, almond, sunflower, pumpkin, walnut, coconut	Butter, margarine, shortening, processed oils, salad dressings, mayonnaise, spreads
DRINKS: filtered water, green tea, herbal teas, seltzer or mineral water, yerba mate	Alcohol, coffee, caffeinated beverages, soda pop, soft drinks
SWEETENERS: organic brown rice syrup, organic agave nectar, stevia	Refined sugar, white or brown sugars, honey, maple syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, Splenda, Equal, Sweet ‘N Low, etc.
CONDIMENTS: vinegar, all-spice, sea salt, dried pepper, basil, carob, cinnamon, cumin, dill, garlic, ginger, mustard, oregano, parsley, rosemary, turmeric, thyme, raw cacao, small amounts of miso, small amounts of wheat-free tamari	Chocolate, ketchup, relish, chutney, soy sauce barbecue sauce, teriyaki sauce, other similar condiments

And the last thing I'll do is indulge in my favorites - a glass of wine here, some peanut butter there - just one last time before a 21-day hiatus. Not everything on the "no-no" list is forever banned, but I do eliminate them just for the cleanse. Who knows, maybe I'll find that something else is wreaking havoc to my system and needs to be furrowed out. After all, my goal here is to be and feel as healthy as possible, so I WANT to find the culprits.

I'll be doing the elimination portion for the next week, and then start the actual 21-day detox on Friday, January 11, 2013. Please come and travel with me on my journey in search of better food for better health. I wish you all a happy and HEALTHY New Year.

From a "3-Letter Word" to a "5-Letter Word"

“They” say that as your body gets older it breaks down and falls apart; you should expect it. It’s the process of getting “OLD”. When I hear someone express that philosophy I think of my mother who hated that “3-Letter Word”. She truly believed that you were as young as you felt, and she always felt great. It was her mindset. She lived her life to the fullest, even to the last.

So as the chronological clock ticked on and years were added to years, my body seemed to “fall apart” with sinus issues, forgetfulness, achy joints, and bad knees – you know how it goes. I wondered if the inevitable "3-Letter Word" had come to pay a permanent visit.

 

The first thing I did was pray and ask my Heavenly Father to heal my body; then I went to the doctor. Doctors ask their typical questions to find where the pain is and then relieve symptoms with pills and surgery; and my doctor did not disappoint. After the question period, the poking, and the x-rays, he told me I had “chronic” tendonitis of which, of course, there was no cure; “chronic” being the operative word. Because you see, once something is dubbed chronic, the patient is at the doctor’s mercy since “there is no cure”. I was told I must learn to live with it. He actually used the dreaded “3-Letter Word”. He assured me, however, that there were things which he could prescribe which could ease the pain.

Really!!! For the rest of my life? I’m not sure at what age you label someone with the dreaded “3-Letter Word”; but I considered myself still pretty young. I wasn’t even a grandmother yet! At that moment in the doctor’s office I realized I did not want to spend the rest of my life fighting pain, limiting activity, and taking myriads of pills, with surgery the only thing to look forward to. So, I began one of my favorite hobbies – to educate myself.

A friend of mine introduced me to the book Clean, by Dr. Alejandro Junger. As I read his book I was intrigued by the philosophy that toxins caused us pain and weight gain. The weight gain was caused because toxins were stored in fat. Without getting rid of toxins, one couldn’t get rid of fat. Seemed simple enough; but what were the toxins? According to Junger, toxins came from four different areas: 1) the world at large; 2) the environment in which we live; 3) personal hygiene and home products; 4) and what we put into our mouths. In fact, he said certain foods could be toxic to us; things like high fructose corn syrup, white sugar, gluten and diary, even caffeine. He encouraged his readers to go on an “elimination/detox diet” eliminating many of these allergenic and toxic foods for 21 days. So, I decided to give it a try. After all what could it hurt, and maybe I would even lose a few pounds.

First, I needed to eliminate the “no-no” foods: things like gluten, dairy-including cheese and yogurt, caffeine, the night shades, anything pre-prepared, wheat products (pasta, bread, muffins, donuts) etc. Once I was cleaned out, I started the actual juicing part of the diet where you juice breakfast and dinner and have a sensible lunch with lots of greens. Amazingly after only 10 days or so, my joint pain vanished, I had no more mucus/sinus problems and I had an amazing amount of energy. At that point I realized that my health issues were, in fact, food related.

Once I finished the three weeks of juicing, I began to add back one food at a time to find out which ones were the culprit. The first one I added back was gluten. Sure enough my joint pain immediately resurfaced. I eliminated it again and waited a few days for the pain to subside; then I tried dairy. Again, the mucus and sinus pain returned. I continued with other foods, one at a time; but some foods I have permanently left out - besides the gluten and dairy - such as white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and processed foods.

During those first few months I kept motivated by four factors. One was that I was losing a half a pound a day (total of 42 pounds). Even though pain was my main motivation, it’s amazing how finally being able to lose weight keeps you pressing forward. The second factor was how many other pains and discomforts also vanished from my body in such a short amount of time – I counted a total of 20. My energy level increased, the foggy brain disappeared as well as allergy symptoms, and I feel and look younger. Another factor which helped to keep me motivated was watching documentaries such as, "Hungry For Change", "Forks Over Knives", and "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead". These films helped to make me aware of the food industry - Big Pharma, Big Agriculture, The Dairy Industry, and Meat Industry and how much of the food industry works - not for our well being and health - but for their profit. Once you see the big picture, it helps to keep you going on the daily level when sometimes you want to revert back. But the most rewarding to me was watching those around me - my family, friends, and even acquaintances - see what had happened to me and want the change for themselves. After just a few months, I witnessed numerous others not only lose hundreds of pounds collectively, but drop unnecessary medications, and once again pursue active healthy lifestyles.

As I reflect back over my journey so far, I'm first of all amazed that my Heavenly Father did hear my cry and heal me. What I've learned from this is that He had already provided for the healing in creating an amazing body full of cells which knew just what to do to eliminate fat, toxins, and disease. It was me who had not allowed my body to do its job because of what I was feeding it. I am very thankful that He answered my prayer by opening the door of knowledge which allowed me to more fully understand how His system worked so I could then take back my health and allow my body to do the job it was designed to do. 

 

Now I have to get on with the job of living out my new favorite saying, "You're as YOUNG as you feel" - which, by the way, is a "5-letter word".