Spring cleaning for your body

The human body has an extraordinary internal detoxification system which consists of the liver, the colon, the kidneys, the lungs, the lymph and the skin. All of these organs and systems are functioning at all times to clear out waste, pathogens and toxins and keep things moving. So if the body already detoxifies itself, why are we embarking on this detoxification cleanse?

Over time, our bodies can become overloaded with waste products and toxic metabolites which can burden these organs and make the whole process more sluggish and less efficient. For the next few weeks,  as we take time reducing our toxic load and reducing our inflammatory response, we will allow our bodies to rest, regenerate and reboot. The supplements we will be taking will help us to get rid of accumulations that have built up in our bodies over time. It’s the perfect time to embark on such a project after a long winter of accumulating dust bunnies under the bed, so to speak. We can think of this cleanse as a big Spring cleaning and our bodies will certainly appreciate the attention.

Just a few more days!

Ing XOXO

Rotation eating

Learning to eat foods in rotation is as easy as it sounds. Basically, you rotate your foods on a cycle that is at least 4 days long. If you have signs of digestive issues, bloating, leaky gut, constipation or other, a longer rotation cycle is recommended, such as 5-6 days or more. Because of their propensity to irritate the intestines and their ever-presence in our diets, we will target grains for this rotation, however some people also use it for proteins or anything really. Here is how it works. You will need to write down your meals so get a journal or app on your phone for this purpose, or simply jot down your menu on a calendar. Example: Tuesday (Day 1) Rice…Wednesday (Day 2) Wheat…Thursday (Day 3) Corn…Friday (Day 4) Oat…Saturday (Day 1) Can have Rice again or choose something else. You just need to wait at least 4 days before repeating the same grain.

Here is a partial list of the grains I am referring to: I realize that some may be classed as seeds but just go with it: wheat, rice, quinoa, millet, corn, oat, barley, buckwheat, etc. Most of us have a very high concentration of wheat in our diets. This is a means to change that up as best as we can because the proteins in wheat can be very irritating over time.

Have you noticed that it is easier to “feel” when something is not quite right with a food item since the beginning of the cleanse? When we eliminate then re-introduce foods and when we eat in rotation it is easier to recognize potential problems. An irritating food item that is eaten every single day, or even several times a day, can cause unwell feelings but it is not exactly clear which food is the cause since the symptoms are all jumbled together and always present. Spacing out potentially difficult foods helps you to feel their symptoms more clearly so they can be eliminated more permanently.

By the same token, eating in rotation also helps to prevent new intolerances/allergies/sensitivities from developing by giving your system time to recover and heal from the effects of a challenging food. Those with gut issues may choose to continue complete avoidance of irritating foods such as grains, legumes and dairy until full healing.

One of the biggest advantages of eating in rotation is that it encourages awareness and diversity of our food choices. Most people only eat some 25-35 different food items, or less. And most people eat so much wheat, up to 8/10 servings a day, each and every day. Hopefully, this exercise will help mix things up a bit.

You will see that with a little effort, your health and vitality can improve by not burdening your body with the same foods over and over.

This is our last blog. Thanks for reading along with me as we did this, holding hands, interlaced fingers.

Ing XOXO

Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup                           —Paulo Coelho

Against the grain

This post is for all of us who are staying away from grains, by choice or necessity, for a while longer. Mostly, I hope to reassure the ones who are worried, or are tired of responding to the concerns of those around them, about “cutting out an entire food group from the diet.”

Food groups are a gathering of foods that share similar nutritional properties or biological classifications. Nutritional guides such as Canada’s Food Guide and the US Food Pyramid are pictorial representations of food groups that are used to guide people with recommended daily servings and choices within each food group. They vary from country to country and may or may not be sponsored by special interest groups that support the consumption of a particular food group, such as the dairy board or the wheat council.

Rather than trying to determine how many servings of whatever group we need, or being concerned if we have to or choose to avoid an entire food group, perhaps we need to look at food on a more basic level by concentrating on the three macronutrients needed for energy, growth and metabolism. Macronutrients, fat, protein and carbohydrates, are the three big nutrient groups needed in large amounts for bodily functions and neither of them is tied to any one food group. Micronutrients, in contrast, refer to the vitamins and minerals that are needed in small quantities for health, development and growth. The best way to get all the micro- and macronutrients we need on a daily basis, is to eat as WIDE of a variety of food as we can. Let’s examine the three macronutrients more closely:

Proteins are long biological molecules made up of chains of some 20 different amino acids. Protein is manufactured by the body using the dietary protein that you eat. Its many functions include repair and maintenance of tissues, growth, energy production when carbohydrates are not available, transportation and storage of certain molecules and the creation of certain hormones, enzymes and antibodies. Complete proteins are found in meat, poultry, fish, dairy and eggs while incomplete proteins are found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains and nuts. Depending on sources, between 10% – 35% of our caloric intake should be from protein.

Carbohydrates refer to the sugars, starches and fibers that we eat. Carbohydrates are used to provide energy for working muscles, fuel for the brain, energy for metabolism and prevent protein from being used for energy when possible. Carbohydrates are found in fruits, vegetables, grains and dairy products. Depending on sources, between 45% – 65% of our caloric intake should be from carbohydrates.

Fat has several vital functions including providing the largest energy reserve in the body as well as insulation and protection for the organs. Humans depend on fat for absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Every cell membrane of the body is composed of fat, especially in the brain and nervous system. Fat is also highly involved in the production of hormones and vitamin D. As we saw in the 3-part “Bringing Back Fat” series, fats can be found in meats, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, plants, nuts and seeds. Depending on sources, between 25% – 40% of our caloric intake should be from fat.

Regarding grain products, it is recommended by Canada’s Food Guide to eat 6-8 servings as they provide dietary fiber, B-vitamins, selenium, zinc, magnesium and phytochemicals. I took the time to look up each of these nutrients and they can all be found by eating various sources of vegetables and proteins. So for those of you who will continue to avoid grains for a while, you can rest assured that your avoidance of the grain products group is not hindering your health by depleting you of the nutrients they contain. By dipping into the other food groups and eating a wide selection of colorful foods, you can easily meet all of your macronutrient and micronutrient needs.

Be bold enough to live life on your terms and go against the grain               —Unknown

With the grain

OK, it has been 8 weeks of eating without grains. Some of you will continue to trudge on grain-free until your guts are fully healed, which as we read earlier, can take a little while. Some of you will choose a grain-free lifestyle on a more permanent and preventative basis. Some of you are ready to re-introduce grains back into your life now. With this post, I hope to offer a healthy way of having your grain and eating it too.

Rice is a sensible way to begin eating grains because traditionally it is easier to digest, especially if you choose white basmati or jasmine rice. Yes, I said white. The outer coating of rice contains phytic acid making digestion difficult (see below). Do not worry, you are already eating plenty of vegetables to get the fiber you need, right!

Grains, as well as nuts, seeds and some vegetables also contain phytic acid in their outer coatings. Phytic acid plays a beneficial role for the seedling plant itself as the storage form of phosphorus but for humans, it means that digestion of the foods containing it is less than efficient. Phytic acid, also called phytate in this form, hinders the absorption of phosphorus as well as other minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron. High-phytate diets over time can result in mineral deficiencies as well as intestinal damage especially in those with less optimal intestinal flora.

Phytase is the enzyme required to break down phytate but humans do not possess sufficient quantities of it. Probiotic lactobacilli and other microflora can produce this enzyme so those with good intestinal flora have an easier time with foods containing phytic acid. What else can be done?

Back in the day, wheat and other grains were sprouted before being made into breads and other meals. Even as grains became popular, wheat used to be left in the field to be exposed to the elements before threshing which allowed the sprouting process to begin. Modern food practices have abandoned both of these processes. Soaking, sprouting and souring grains releases the enzyme phytase and reduces a lot of the phytate levels in the grains. The cooking process also reduces phytase which helps when ingesting vegetables with a high content. As for nuts, the best way to reduce their phytic acid content is to soak raw nuts overnight before eating them.

Those of you with an interest can research methods of soaking, sprouting or souring your grains at home. You can also purchase bread made with sprouted grains at any health food store by looking for such brands as http://www.silverhillsbakery.ca/sprouted/. These breads are both tasty and affordable. Another option is to find a supplier of real artisanal sourdough bread that is leavened using sourdough cultures containing wild yeasts and bacteria.

As some of you ponder the prospect of adding grains back to your life, please consider how your gut healing is progressing. A gut that is not fully healed and that is not treated well can eventually make its way back to the condition it was in at the beginning of this cleanse. Step gingerly and if you decide to go with the grain, do your best to stick with white rice or sprouted or soured grains, spacing out the servings and integrating one at a time. This means, for now, eating one serving then waiting a few (4-5) days before enjoying another. More details coming soon 🙂

Eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately                           —Unknown

Week 8 – Spring cleaning

It has been a LONG winter. I look out my window and there are still 2-3 foot high piles of snow covering our yard. Nevertheless, the sun is shining. Soon we will be opening our windows and letting in the warm fresh air. This means that spring cleaning is just around the corner. We have just spent several weeks cleaning some of the accumulated toxins out of our body. Let’s now look at how we can safely clean our homes while keeping our toxic load low.

Baking soda, vinegar, castile soap, essential oils…let’s get cleaning! We’ll use the bathroom as our example, then you can move on to other rooms in your home on your own. To wash the bathtub and counter surfaces, you can add equal parts of baking soda and castile soap (or even natural dish soap) to a bit of water to make a paste and scrub away dirt and grime. Sprinkle a 1/2 cup baking soda down the bathtub and sink drains and pour in some vinegar. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes then flush it with hot water to clean the pipes. Soak a strip of cloth with vinegar and wrap it around the base of the faucets and let it sit for 30 minutes only to see your hard water deposits disappear with a few strokes of an old toothbrush. Scrub the toilet bowl with baking soda mixed with a few drops of tea tree oil to disinfect, deodorize and make it shine. Spray some pure vinegar on the toilet seat and surfaces to disinfect and clean. Wipe your mirrors with a solution of 2 cups water, 4 tbsp vinegar and 2 drops natural dish soap…voila, your reflection has never been more beautiful!

Cleaning naturally is as easy as that. For other recipes and several great ideas, click here: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/03/31/spring-cleaning-tips.aspx?x_cid=20150324_ranart_spring-cleaning-tips_facebookdoc. Get yourself some spray bottles and label them. You can use a parmesan cheese container for the baking soda. Make it easy by setting up a transportable cleaning bucket for all of your supplies that you can carry from room to room. Get your kids on board. They will love mixing the ingredients together and it sets a wonderful example about keeping harmful toxins and fumes out of our homes. If you have a cleaning crew that visits your home, show them you care by offering non-toxic solutions for their use. Over time, any toxins in cleaning products can make their way into the tissues of our bodies causing harm. It makes sense to use natural substances in our homes for many reasons including environmental health and our own health. Make your home a safe haven 🙂

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow                –Proverb

Week 7 – Digestive enzymes

Digestive enzymes are substances that help breakdown the food we eat into smaller particles so it can be properly absorbed by the body. The main sites of digestion occur in the mouth, the stomach and the small intestine. Humans make and secrete digestive enzymes into the saliva, stomach, pancreas and in the small intestine. We can also obtain some enzymes from the foods we eat by including some raw vegetables/fruit or raw vegetable/fruit juices in our food choices.

As people age and as we are influenced by different stressors of life, inside and outside our bodies, the production and secretion of digestive enzymes can decrease. This is why it is so common to hear about bloating, gas and heartburn as people get older. Most youngsters, providing they do not have digestive conditions, can digest just about anything. Improper or inefficient digestion also leads to toxin buildup which further impedes digestive enzyme production and secretion, so it can become a bit of a vicious circle over time.

We can improve our digestion situation by eating non-irritating foods, by eliminating foods that we are sensitive to, by reducing stressors in our life and by reducing our toxic load. Low stomach acid production is also linked to zinc deficiency so we must also examine key nutrients. Assuring an optimal normal flora is also a biggie as the toxins from an overgrowth of Candida and other pathogens in the gut have a strong ability to reduce the excretion of stomach acid. When stomach acid (HCl) is too low, early digestion in the stomach is reduced, affecting the entire rest of the process. Maldigested food from the stomach arrives in the small intestine to be bathed in enzymes from the small intestine and the pancreas. The food, expected to arrive in a certain state, arrives less digested than it should be. Therefore, the enzymes secreted by the small intestine and pancreas cannot fully digest the food so it then passes into the large intestines not as digested as it should be. This is why people will sometimes see particles of food in their poop. This is not normal.

To complicate matters, when there is less stomach acid, the pH is affected. The food passing from the stomach should be at a certain pH when it arrives in the small intestine in order to stimulate other digestive processes and secretions. When this does not happen, the assembly line is disrupted by less optimal pH levels. A sub-par pH also allows microbes that normally should have been killed by adequate HCl in the stomach to pass into the intestines creating disharmony of the normal flora. You can easily see how this system can continue in a downward spiral.

What can be done? Since digestion begins in the mouth, one of the easier ways to improve digestion is by slowing down, chewing well and assuring that your food gets coated in saliva before swallowing. Another way to help out is by eating some raw vegetables with each meal if possible. Fermented sauerkraut and its juice is a good choice as it also stimulates the production and secretion of HCl in the stomach. It only takes a small serving to reap the benefits. You can also begin your meal with a glass of freshly juiced vegetables. Freshly grown sprouts are teeming with enzymes and can be sprinkled into your salad. Drinking a glass of water about 20 minutes before your meal helps to stimulate acid production as well as increasing the flow of bile and enzymes.

Many people will also fare well supplementing with digestive enzymes. Some will do better taking a supplement that contains betaine HCl for the reasons we just read about. You will have to discuss these issues with a health practitioner that is familiar with the use of digestive enzymes to see what is best for you. And remember, life is dynamic. You may need to supplement for just a while, or maybe longer. You may need to change supplements. It is always a good idea to re-visit how things are going from time to time. Ideally, we reach a place where our food and body can provide all the enzymes we need.

Some signs and symptoms that suggest the need for enzymes include: gas and bloating after meals; the feeling that food is sitting in your stomach like a rock; feeling full after only eating a few bites; undigested food particles in your poop; having poop that always floats; seeing an oil slick in the toilet; fatigue or low energy; constipation; heartburn; indigestion; food intolerances or allergies.

For me, for now, digestive enzymes are a part of my life. Depending on what I eat, I take between 0-2 enzyme capsules per meal. If I have some fermented sauerkraut or other raw food, I may only take one or none. If I have a particularly big meal that is low on enzymes, I will take two. And sometimes, I need to rely on enzymes with betaine HCl. It varies greatly depending on what is going on in my life. I do my best to eat what I need and to supplement only when I need to so that I do not tax and deplete my body too much. Be good to your body and it will be good to you 🙂

Ing

To eat is a necessity but to eat intelligently is an art                                                                                                               —François de La Rochefoucauld

Week 6 – Fresh fruit smoothies

Who doesn’t love a good, fresh smoothie? Smoothies are a great way to get the whole fruit into a convenient, drinkable form. You can also easily add whole-fat coconut milk or avocado to your blends and even a few vegetables at the same time. I usually keep kale handy to add to smoothie recipes because the taste blends well with many fruits. Plus smoothies are like sunshine in a glass, so fresh and colorful. I usually drink a smoothie for breakfast adding goat protein so it sustains me. And like fresh-juiced vegetables, the vitamin, mineral and phytonutrient content is high in smoothies, not to mention fiber as well. Add to that the fact that they are easily digestible and we have a winning combination!

Start out your smoothies with small servings of blueberries, cherries, strawberries and raspberries. If all goes well, you can also dive into pears and apples and gradually up the glycemic index over the next weeks. For those of you with diabetes, hypoglycemia or other sugar issues (and even the rest of us), be careful with your servings. Start small and have some good fats at the same time such as full-fat coconut milk, coconut oil or avocado to decrease the spike and crash tendency that comes with eating sugar, even natural sugar in fruits. Along this same line, I recommend you eat the whole fruit, not fruit juice, so that the fiber dampens the pancreatic load as well.

At our house we use a Vitamix blender which really does the job. It is quite an investment but we get a lot of use out of ours. We can even make fresh fruit sorbet with it! Here are a few recipes to get you started:

Simple Green Juice
3 whole peeled oranges, cut into quarters
2-3 kale leaves (stems removed)
2-3 ice cubes

Lorraine’s Pina Colada Sorbet
1 cup Frozen pineapple
1/3 cup full-fat coconut milk in a can

Strawberry Basil Smoothie (from Paleo Smoothies)
1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
8 fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk from a carton (not a can)
1 tbsp raw honey (optional)
Juice of 1/2 lime

Detoxify Smoothie (from Paleo Smoothies)
1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries
1 pear, cored
1/2 avocado
1 cup baby kale
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk form a carton (not a can)
1 tbsp raw honey (optional)

Honeydew and cucumber
1/2 honeydew melon, peeled, seeded and sliced
1 whole cucumber
1 handful of fresh mint leaves

Enjoy every sip!

To taste life’s fruit, sometimes you have to go out on a limb                                                                                               —Unknown

Week 5 – Vegetable juicing

Freshly-juiced vegetables can be a flavorful way to get in your daily dose of important vitamins, minerals and live enzymes. Incorporating some raw food or drink into your diet allows you to ingest some of the micronutrients that would otherwise be destroyed by the cooking process. We have spent 4 weeks eating only cooked vegetables so nowThis point on our journey is the perfect time to wake up your relaxed system with live vibrant foods.

Vegetable juice is easily absorbed since it is already “pre-digested” for us. This is important especially for those of us who are trying to heal our intestines. If we only eat foods that wear down the intestinal lining, it is difficult to move forward on our journey. One benefit of juicing is that you can add a wider variety of vegetables to your repertoire since the less-than-popular varieties can be blended and hidden somewhat behind the flavors of well-loved varieties. Just remember that vegetable juices do not constitute a complete meal as they contain virtually no amounts of protein and fat.  A great time to drink fresh vegetable juices is before a meal when your stomach is empty. Doing so provides you with healthy enzymes. They also make wonderful mid-meal snacks as they are energizing and will help you get through long afternoons.

If possible, use organic vegetables for juicing. Otherwise, follow the advice from the Day 7 – Local and organic post: https://dailyablutions.wordpress.com/2015/02/07/day-7-local-and-organic/ . Get your juicer ready, prepare your veggies and get started. I use a Champion Juicer which has a horse of an engine. With all vegetable juices, it takes some experimentation to find combinations that work for you. Celery and cucumbers are fairly user friendly. I also recommend adding one or two varieties of leafy green vegetables such as kale or spinach. You can also add beets and carrots but keep in mind that they are fairly sweet so a little goes a long way. Get creative and colorful.

To make the juices more palatable feel free to add flavorings such as raw ginger, fennel or cilantro. Limes or lemons, while actually fruit, can also be added as the acid really cuts the bitterness of some of the leafy greens and adds a delicious zing to the juice. You do not need to peel them but organic is best in that case. Providing you used organic vegetables, you can save the pulp for other uses such as thickening soups or incorporating them into other foods such as paleo muffins or paleo pancakes.

It is best to drink your juice as soon as it is made since it is highly perishable. If you need to store it, do so in glass jars of an appropriate size so there is minimal air at the top to reduce oxidization. Juice can be stored for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator, keeping in mind that the nutrient content decreases with time. Start a new habit of juicing enough so that each member of your family can get a cup a day of this healthy liquid. Get the kids on board by letting them help you carefully feed the vegetables into the juicer. They will be more willing to try what they have had a hand in making.

Here are some combinations to get you started:

1 golden beet
2 carrots
3 celery stalks
1/2 cucumber
2 leaves of kale
1 inch piece of ginger

4 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 handful of spinach
1/2 lemon
1 handful of parsley

2 cups tomatoes
1 celery
1 cucumber
1 handful of spinach
Pinch of sea salt
Dash of pepper
Dash of tabasco (optional)

4-5 carrots
1/2 lemon
2 kale leaves
1 cucumber

1 cucumber
3 sprigs of fresh mint
1 handful of spinach

Experiment and have fun 🙂

Drink your vegetables!          –Unknown

Day 28 – Heal and seal

Some of you began this cleanse with the sole purpose of cleaning out your body and getting things back on track. Congratulations! Your cleansing journey is nearing the end and you have a lot to be proud of, we all do. I hope that you will take some of the habits we have discussed and make them your own.

Several others have long-standing intestinal issues that will require a longer term commitment for proper healing. Most people are surprised to learn that it can take up to 18-24 months (or more) to properly heal and seal the intestines of a person with severe gut issues (leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome, or other). Most gut issues began in infancy when we were weaned from breast milk (if we were lucky to have breast milk) and introduced to solid foods so the problem is not new by any means. This makes it easier to understand why healing is such a long process.

The first time I did this very cleanse, I did a little more complicated version and I did it for 8 weeks. At the end of it all, I stayed with an eating plan that did not include any grains except the occasional serving of basmati rice here and there. I still do not eat many legumes and only enjoy dairy on an occasional basis. I know it is doing me well because when I test it by eating certain grains, the usual bloating only appears if I eat them repeatedly over a couple of days. I test this every few months to see my progress. When I first began, I was sensitive to all grains including quinoa, oats, rice, corn and of course wheat. I was also sensitive to all dairy, eggs and even chicken. I was getting bloated after just about every meal. Eight months later, I can happily eat chicken and eggs, occasional dairy, and even grains if I keep it to once in a long while. Every day my gut gets healthier.

Over the next few weeks to months, I will continue to ingest foods and supplements that heal and slowly re-introduce other foods as I am ready. For those of you who want to continue on the journey of healing your intestines, you will have me right beside you 🙂

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.                           —Dr Seuss

Day 27 – In good hands

I would be remiss if I did not post an article about the benefits of chiropractic care. Being a chiropractor is more than a profession for me, it is my way of life. Most every decision I make about the health of my family and of myself is influenced by my education as a doctor of chiropractic. Not only that, Patrick and I met and decided to share our lives together while becoming chiropractors and it is where we became parents for the first time.

Most people associate chiropractic care with relief of some kind of pain such as headaches or back pain. In fact, the true origins of chiropractic have little to do with pain alleviation. The founders of this profession were more interested in how the nervous system was affected by disruptions in movement of the spine and other articulations. Because the brain and the nervous system controls and coordinates all organs, structures and functions of the human body, it is in everyone’s best interest that the communication between these structures remain viable.

A chiropractor’s role is to promote an optimal dialog between the brain and the body and vice versa. Using hands, a chiropractor restores movement and removes interference to the nervous system. By doing so, the body is able to function at its best and move toward homeostasis and the brain is able to receive all the activation that it relies on. With regular chiropractic care, your health is in good hands.

The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.                                      —Thomas Edison

We never know how far reaching something we may think, say or do today will affect the lives of millions tomorrow.                                                                  —BJ Palmer, developer of chiropractic