REMEDIES: Out With The Old In With The New (HEALTH, HERBS, RECIPES)

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Out With The Old In With The New

by author Terry Willard, CH, PhD

Regeneration is the message of spring. Detoxification is one of the

central concepts of natural healing. It’s impossible to build healthy

new tissue without eliminating the old cells and their by-products. This

has never been truer than in our modern society.

We are flooded continuously with synthetic chemicals, hormones and toxic

material in our food, air, cosmetics and clothing. Even a person with a

healthy diet comes into contact with undesirable toxins.

Our ancestors felt it was important to cleanse at least twice each year.

Spring and fall are the same times nature goes through a similar organic

change process. A " detox " is a good way to start a new, healthy routine.

Many of my patients cleanse at the beginning of a weight loss program or

during the festive season so they don’t feel as guilty for their

over-consumption. A detox doesn’t have to be a time of deprivation, it

can be a time of good nourishing food and inner focus.

Cleanse and Rebuild

A cleansing program is one of the major reasons people visit health food

stores and sometimes it’s the only program they do during the year.

Cleansing is also very helpful to get you back on track to better

nutrition maintenance. During a detox, people often report that they

feel lighter, less bloated, have more energy and are generally clearer.

Some people experience a mild headache or even nausea during the first

day or two of changing diet and using herbal products. This malaise

usually disappears by day four or five of the detoxification process.

It’s important to cleanse the intestinal tract, liver, blood, lymphatic

system and the urinary tract. We suggest a 12-day cleansing diet,

supported with botanicals, as a tune-up for the body. It will also help

you get the most benefit out of other supplements in your health

program. One of the most important rules of natural healing is " cleanse

a little, build a little. " By incorporating this cycle into a health

program, we copy nature in its cycle of seasonal changes. People often

go into other maintenance programs after a detox. The most common are

weight loss, arthritis, liver rejuvenation, candida, blood sugar

maintenance or parasite cleanse.

Starting with a detox program results in better compliance and

effectiveness of long-term health programs.

We suggest the use of herbs more often than a fast. If you cleanse too

hard, as can happen during a fast, you often end up with a " healing

crisis. " This is a term from the early days of botanical medicine,

referring to an acute condition associated with therapeutic treatment.

Symptoms range from headaches and nausea to fever and rashes. Healing

crises are similar to shifting gears without a clutch. The gears grind!

If a treatment plan involves herbal cleansing along with a healthy meal

plan, the gears don’t grind and we can usually avoid the crisis.

No Need to Starve

Of course, a good meal plan is the most significant part of the program.

What most people don’t realize is that you can feast, not fast, but

there are many foods to be avoided. You should not eat bread or flour

products of any type (including pasta, cakes, cookies or crackers),

dairy products, tropical fruit, fermented foods or sweets.

Other foods to be avoided are shellfish, peanuts, mushrooms and grapes.

And of course, don’t consume any preservatives, synthetic sweeteners or

additives in food at any time. Your diet should consist of 80 percent

alkaline and neutral ash-forming foods like green vegetables,

non-tropical fruit (apples, pears, peaches, plums, berries), potatoes

and squash. Alkaline grains, such as millet, and fish are also good for

cleansing. Other foods that are good during this time include onions,

garlic, green tea and almonds. Eat less than 20 percent acid-forming

beans, lentils, eggs and acid grains (oats, corn and wheat). Even though

you can eat several grains in their whole state, do not eat the flour of

these grains.

Remember, this is a time to enjoy yourself. Turn the cleansing process

into a gourmet feast, not a fast. Find recipes that stimulate your own

creativity from alive’s new series of alive Natural Health Guides. Make

this a time of nourishment, fun and relaxation.

Terry Willard is a writer, practitioner, teacher and director of the

Wild Rose College of Natural Healing in Calgary, Alberta.

Source: alive #221, March 2001

http://www.alive.com/492a2a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=648

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