Detoxification

Written by Liz Ernst for Living Vegan Magazine 
All rights reserved

                                      Detoxification

Unfortunately, too many people eat a standard American diet, which is high in acidic foods. Acidic build up in the body interferes with healthy circulation and cell regeneration, and it is why so many Americans have come to accept being sluggish, overweight, and prone to illness and depression. Through their diets, many individuals are simply surviving with a pH balance that is not acidic enough to trigger serious health issues, but enough to cause a build-up of toxins that prevents them from realizing how energetic and healthy their body is meant to feel.

So how does one undo years of poor eating habits and ease the body back to a state of healthy balance and well-being? The trick is to stop surviving and commit to living with a program of detoxification that includes a diet filled with alkalizing foods, plenty of water, and moderate exercise to get your body back to its proper pH level.

The best way to start the detoxification process is to first understand the body’s pH and the influences that cause it to lose its naturally healthy balance. The primary culprit in a pH imbalance is acid, the levels of which are determined by the foods we eat.

Acidosis is a condition that occurs when the body’s pH becomes too acidic. Too much acidity can create an internal environment that is less capable of absorbing essential nutrients and minerals, which in turn reduces the cell’s ability to repair itself, leaving the body weakened and vulnerable to disease.

The body’s natural pH balance is a perfect regulator for normal bodily functions and the ability to combat disease. In a healthy person, an adequate pH balance works to maintain appropriate alkaline reserves, so the body is prepared in an emergency. When excess acid (acidosis) must be neutralized unexpectedly, the body will call upon these reserves to do the job.

A healthy body maintains adequate alkaline reserves to meet emergency demands. But when excess acids must constantly be neutralized, our alkaline reserves are depleted, leaving the body in a weakened condition.

Unfortunately, acidosis is all too common in today’s highly stressed, improperly nourished population. Lefty unchecked, acidosis will deplete the body’s natural alkaline reserves and prevent the body from detoxifying naturally, which can lead to serious medical issues.

Below are ten easy ways to balance your body’s natural pH:

1. Drink plenty of water. If you’re not sure how much “plenty” is, you’re not alone. The age-old standard of “10 glasses per day” is not the ideal measure for water intake to balance your body’s natural pH. Instead, figure on consuming about seven ounces of water per 10 pounds of body weight. For example, if you weigh 125 pounds, you need to drink 87.5 ounces of water daily, which translates to about 21⁄2 liters.

1. Eliminate coffee and soda from your diet. These two culprits are so highly acidic, any measures you take to raise your body’s pH to natural, healthy alkaline levels will be undone. If you don’t want to completely eliminate coffee, try cutting back to one cup per day. You can find low acidic coffee in health food stores or possibly the natural foods aisle of your grocery store.

2. Eliminate dairy products from your diet. Cow’s milk is known to produce large amounts of mucus in humans, and many people who drink cow’s milk because they think it is healthy may not realize the signs of intolerance or allergy, which actually increases acid wastes within the body. Leave the cow’s milk for the cows; get your protein and calcium from tofu (one cup a day is acceptable on a pH diet), beans, dark leafy greens, sea vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Orange juice is an excellent source of calcium too. .

3. Avoid or eliminate sugars from your diet. When it comes to sweetening anything, refined sugar is second only to artificial sweeteners in acidic levels that lower the body’s natural pH. Try reducing or even eliminating sugar and artificial sweeteners from your diet; instead use honey, dried fruit or agave nectar as a sweet and healthy substitute.

4. Eat vegan. Red meat, lamb, and pork are highly acidic and produce an abundance of metabolic waste. Try to eliminate or reduce your overall meat consumption, but if you can’t give it up completely, choose organic chicken and turkey, or wild fish.

5. Eat Green leafy vegetables. Very alkalinizing. Raw greens are the healthiest and make a great salad. Green leafy vegetables like spinach, collard and mustard greens, turnip tops and kale are highly alkalinizing, as are complementary foods such as tomatoes, celery, cucumber, cauliflower, cabbage, onions, and carrots. Keep a fresh bowl of these high alkaline goodies at all times, and snack with abandon.

6. Eliminate processed and refined foods from your diet. A critical component to healthy living, the diet that is free of foods made with white flour (including bread, cakes, pasta, muffins, etc.) and preservatives, colorings and other additives is the diet that nurtures the body’s disease-fighting systems. If you’re new to eating unprocessed foods, a good rule of thumb is to look for labels with a short ingredient list, and ingredients that you recognize.

7. A grapefruit a day. Grapefruit is a wonderful natural alkalinizer, high in water and contains some of nature’s most potent natural detoxifiers. Add a grapefruit to your daily diet, but forego adding sugar. The best way is to peel it like an orange and eat the segments, as it’s the very thin skin between each segment that carries the detoxifiers.

8. Find a way to reduce stress. Include a stress-reducing activity into your everyday routine, whether it is something as simple as deep breathing or meditating, or something more ambitious like yoga or Tai chi. Stress lowers the body’s resistance to disease, wreaks havoc on natural pH levels, and accelerates aging. 

10. Activity is essential in keeping your body healthy. Thirty minutes daily of any           moderate exercise – walking, bike riding, or any aerobic activity will do. Work         up a sweat; exercise enhances blood circulation, and sweating helps flush out         acidic waste and other toxins.

You don’t have to jump head on into all ten steps at once. Try implementing just one step at a time each day, and you will have a better chance of successfully incorporating all of them into your lifestyle.

Detoxification through healthy living is not something you can learn overnight, but you can learn, and in fact, it becomes easier with each step mastered. As you get to know more about balancing your body’s alkaline levels through natural methods, and you begin to feel better each day, you will be thrilled with the results.

The Benefits of Alkaline Water

When you consider the fact that the body is made up of 70-percent water, it makes sense that our bodily fluids maintain an optimum pH balance. To give you an example of how critical the pH balance is, consider this: blood must maintain a pH of 7.365. Now imagine what would happen if that pH was even slightly changed to a 7 pH, making it just a bit more acidic. The result would be catastrophic, as you would quickly slip into a coma, poisoned by your own blood, and die.

When your body’s pH is too acidic, the body has to compensate and will expend high levels of energy to achieve a proper pH balance.

If you’re wondering how our bodily fluids become acidic, consider the fact that most modern diets are acid forming, and our own bodies produce acidic waste. Other parts of the body are working hard to remove the acid byproducts and can be overworked just trying to keep up with the acid production.

Alkaline water can help maintain your body’s optimum alkaline pH, and relieve the stress on your system – the kind of stress that hastens the aging process and causes weight gain.

There are a few ways to bring your tap or distilled water to optimum alkaline levels. Start by purchasing a pH testing kit to determine your base acidity level. These kits usually contain strips of paper that will change color when placed in water, according to the pH levels. Make sure the kit you choose includes a color chart that describes each color as it relates to the pH scale.

Water is naturally a 7 on the scale, but impurities in the water tend to tip the scale toward the left (more acidic). The ideal pH level for pure drinking water is an 8 or a 9, which is achieved through alkalizing the water.

1. Get a good quality water ionizing machine. A good quality ionizer will change the pH in your drinking water, no matter how acidic or alkaline it is. An ionizing water machine can restructure your water at the molecular level by creating smaller molecule clusters that improve your body’s ability to hydrate. Ionizers also change the Oxidation Reduction Potential of alkaline water, which means the water you drink, after ionization, makes it more beneficial for your body to use.

2. Try a water distiller. Water distillers are available in many sizes and price ranges and are easy to find in any store that carries kitchen appliances. Distillation purifies the water by increasing the temperature to boiling, which removes bacteria. A distiller will provide you with water that is slightly more alkaline, but its main objective is to eliminate toxins and purify the water.

3. Purchase a reverse osmosis water filter, which is also easily available at any local home appliance or hardware store. Also known as a hyper filter, the reverse osmosis filter uses a very fine membrane to filter toxins and elements from the water, which also leaves the water alkalized.

4. If you’re traveling or need to alkalize water in a pinch, the juice of one or two lemons will provide a natural alkalizer. The more juice you add, the higher the alkaline level you will end up with. Another quick trick is to add 1/8 teaspoon (600 mg) of baking soda to an 8-ounce glass of water to achieve alkalinization. Even easier, you can purchase pH drops from a health food store or online that will make your water alkaline.

The benefits of drinking alkaline water are tremendous. Your body is better able to rid itself of acids in the form of toxins and fats that cause aging.

Vegan Detox Diet

We already know that toxins from unhealthy diets, combined with pollutants in the environment accumulate in the body, and can be cleansed with a detoxification diet.

Detox diets are extremely prohibitive, and a vegan detox, more often than not, eliminates entire food groups. A vegan detox diet eliminates meat, dairy products, soy, and even honey, and since this type of diet is so restrictive, you should discuss it with a physician before you start. You will also need to find ways to get proper amounts of calcium and protein when your meat and dairy are no longer on the menu.

Detox diets should not be used as a method of weight loss; in fact, using a detox diet for weight loss can be dangerous. The whole purpose of a detox diet is to allow your body to cleanse itself of acidic food toxins, chemicals, and other poisonous compounds that accumulate in a lifetime, especially in people who don’t eat a healthy diet regularly. Detoxing is actually achieved by

eliminating unhealthy foods from your diet and replacing them with alkaline raw and organic foods that cleanse and refresh the body’s systems.

Some of the benefits of a vegan detox diet:

• The food taken in works to cleanse the liver, kidneys and lymph system by removing toxins and excess waste from the body. .

• A vegan detox diet also flushes out the intestines. It is critical to make sure water intake is a top priority all through the day, and let it work with your vegan detox diet cleanse your system of excess acidic waste. .

• Since a vegan detox diet includes plenty of fruits and vegetables you will be increasing your antioxidant intake and enhancing your body’s ability to fight off harmful free radicals. .

• The fiber contained in the fruits and vegetables aids digestion and act as a natural colon cleanse. Increased energy and a pound or two of weight loss are added perks, even though weight loss is not the intention of the vegan detox diet.

  Some detox diets call for strictly organic foods, while others specify raw foods, meaning you can eat nothing that has been processed or cooked. In any detox diet, you must not consume alcohol, caffeine, sugar, tobacco or drugs.

  Depending on your dietary habits before beginning the detox, you very well may experience withdrawal in the first few days as your body craves high-fat, processed foods, caffeine and sugar because that is what it has been fueled on for so long. Those first few days may get tough, but the benefits of sticking it out will be well worth the discomfort. Make sure to take a multivitamin throughout the detox program, since a vegan diet can be lacking in certain vitamins and minerals.

  Photochemical and Digestion

  Phytochemicals are chemical compounds like beta-carotene that occur naturally in plants. The term also refers to certain chemicals that, although they might affect health, are not considered to be essential nutrients.

  Phytochemical deficiency can cause weakened energy and reactions in the body, and can actually have more of an adverse affect that vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

  Regardless of the amount or types of vitamins you take every day, your body can not metabolize and digest them because they are not the real thing. This is why it is important to eat fresh, organic, unprocessed foods to get the serious vitamin, mineral, enzyme, and phytochemical levels you need to be healthy and feel good.

• When your vegan detox diet is planned properly, you will be eating a healthy variety of foods including fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts, and legumes.

The best sources of phytochemicals come from growing sprouts: sunflower seed sprouts, pea green sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, bean sprouts, and the like. Growing sprouts and wheatgrass have 30 times the phytochemicals available in other organic vegetables. That is because other plant-based foods, in their raw state, do not carry with them sufficient enzymes needed to digest them. If you regularly consume foods that do not contain their own naturally occurring digestive enzymes, your body can not receive the benefits of the phytochemicals.

Since the digestive system uses the most energy of all the body's systems, by bogging it down with processed and cooked foods and meat, too little energy remains to perform repair and cleansing. If you have ever felt “tired” after a meal, something we have all experienced at one time or another, you should know that it is not normal. If you are eating an 80-percent raw vegetarian diet, you will actually feel energized after a meal and get the necessary nutrition as well.

Colon Cleanse

A healthy body and mind begin with a healthy digestive system. When your digestive system is obstructed with toxins and acidic waste, the body loses its ability to absorb nutrients and disease can set in. A sluggish digestive system can lead to fatigue, acne, Candida, irritable bowel syndrome, eczema, psoriasis and many other serious health problems.

A healthy colon is critical to maintaining a healthy body. A clean diet is essential for organs to function properly. An unhealthy diet with acidic foods, over eating, and environmental toxins can cause an accumulation of mucoid plaque and toxins in the intestines, which eventually leads to the kinds of internal imbalance caused by acidic waste.

Colon cleansing is important in creating and maintaining digestive health and all over wellness. There are many different colon cleansing programs, so choosing the right one for you may take some research.

An effective colon cleansing program should be done at least once a year, and with the proper ingredients and instructions, anyone can do a detox colon cleanse at home with excellent results. If this is your first time doing a detox cleanse, you will be amazed at how healthy and energetic you will feel afterward.

Before you get started, it’s important to have a basic understanding of the colon, or large intestine, which is located below the small intestine. The colon is a tube that carries all solid waste out of the body. Some studies state that an average American can carry around five pounds of undigested waste – most of it animal waste – within their colon.

If you have ever eaten meat, cheese or other dairy products and have not performed a colon detox cleanse – even if you have been a vegetarian for years – you most likely have fecal matter embedded or impacted in your colon wall.

The acidic matter that accumulates within the colon is called mucoid plaque. It is inorganic, composed of processed foods, refined foods, excess proteins, saturated fats, artificial additives, drugs and chemicals that you have consumed over the years. Although new waste is able to pass through, leading us to believe our colon is clear and healthy, the width of the colon can be as thin as a drinking straw from the buildup of mucoid plaque.

When you perform the detox cleansing program, brace yourself for what you will see exit your body. As one vegan detox specialist says, when you pass what appears to be four-foot long pieces of black fecal waste that resemble tire tread shaped like an intestine and smelling like a long-dead animal, you will see why this cleanse is so important to your body’s well being.

For best results, try a program that includes the bulking agent psyllium and liquid bentonite, both of which act to draw the toxic wastes from the intestine walls and loosen it for excretion. You will need to add a technique for purging the collected waste, which can appear in the shape of the intestine and can contain worms, egg sacs, larvae and other putrid matter. As nauseating as this sounds, you will be relieved to have this matter out of your body, and you will feel better immediately.

Many of us hold within us traumatic experiences that add to the poisons that build up in the intestine. With a proper detox cleanse, don’t be surprised when your cleanse brings with it an emotional release along with the toxin release. A properly performed detox cleanse will detoxify the body and the mind.

Think of the energy your body must expend when it is working to neutralize acidic toxins and foulness trapped within your body. Once you successfully complete your cleanse, all this energy redistributes to other parts of your body that need healing and attention. You will feel exhilarated, empowered and clear headed.

Psyllium Bentonite Shake

Take a 16-ounce container and fill it halfway with distilled or purified water. You can substitute fruit juice, for instance, apple juice or a berry or cherry juice for the water, and add one tablespoon of Bentonite liquid. Next, add a tablespoon of Psyllium husk and immediately seal with a lid, shake the mixture for three seconds and drink it right away, before the mixture has a chance to coagulate. Drink three of these shakes in a day, one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one at night.

Salt Water Detox Cleanse

The salt water detox cleanse takes care of the entire digestive tract.

Start by preparing a quart of tepid water, then add two level teaspoons of Celtic Sea salt. First thing in the morning, while your stomach is still empty, drink the entire quart of salt water. Your body will quickly eliminate the salt, and with it, your body will purge all the impurities and toxin- filled waste, and you will experience major bowel movements. When you consider the fact that salt water and blood have the same gravity, you will understand that the kidneys do not absorb the water and the blood does not absorb the salt. Drink some warm, unsalted water to assist the process. Your bowel movements will begin within a few hours, although for some they will not begin until the following day.

Skin Brushing

Skin, the body’s largest organ, takes care of a quarter of the body’s detoxification. The idea of skin brushing, which is an important part of a thorough colon cleanse, is to brush dry skin thoroughly before bathing or showering to remove layers of dead skin and eliminate toxins that rise to the skin during the cleanse. The skin must be dry when brushed and avoid sensitive areas like the face. Starting at the feet and moving up, brush all areas of the body with long strokes, brushing toward the heart. Skin brushing is a simple thing to do, and it exfoliates the skin, stimulates blood and lymph flow, and encourages new cell growth. You will be amazed at how good you feel after skin brushing.

Colonics

Colonic irrigation is a tried and true method of cleaning the colon of acidic waste, bacterial parasites, viruses, and other impacted toxins and fecal matter. Colonics are safe when performed properly, and the benefits are doubled as a colonic also draws toxins from the blood, liver, and lymph tissues and carries them to the large intestine for elimination.

There are many different “recipes” for colonics:

• Alkalizing Mineral Salts are known to restore the proper pH balance to the colon.

• Essential oils, which carry high concentrations of oxygen and produce extremely high levels of oxygenating molecules, are often used in colonics to restore structural and electrical balance to the body. An essential oil colonic creates an environment inhospitable to pathogenic organisms.

• Activated oxygen, or O3, will cleanse the colon of parasites, assist in the breakdown of cholesterol, assist the liver in bile production which aids the absorption of nutrients and lipids, and reduce infection and inflammation.

• Wheatgrass colonics are considered highly beneficial, as wheatgrass is a complete protein with more than 30 enzymes, contains levels of vitamins and minerals that meet most of the maintenance requirements of the body, and acts as a powerful cleansing agent with the ability to cleanse the bloodstream and liver, neutralize environmental toxins, protect the body against carcinogens and drain the lymph system. Chlorophyll, also contained in wheatgrass, can break down poisonous carbon dioxide and release free oxygen, inhibiting the actions of disease-producing bacteria. Wheatgrass is also known to build red blood cells immediately after ingestion, stimulate healthy tissue-cell growth, and stabilize high blood pressure.

• Coffee is a popular ingredient in colonics, as is can assist in detoxification of the body through the liver. When the coffee is expelled from the body, most of the colon’s accumulated toxins go with it. Detoxifying with a coffee-based colonic is known to increase red blood cells, which distribute oxygen throughout the body.

Supplements

Many vegans believe that theirs is a perfectly healthy diet and that following a vegan diet improves digestion, provides energy and offers a lifetime of health that is not attainable through acidic processed foods and meats. There are differing opinions on whether or not vegans need to include supplements to prevent deficiencies that some claim are inherent in a true vegan diet.

Vegans must pay attention to nutrition in order to maintain a healthy balance of vitamins and minerals, particularly in the absence of all animal and dairy products.

Everyone’s body needs carbohydrates, protein, fiber, fat and other nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Vegans can be vulnerable to deficiencies in iron, calcium, protein, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids if they are not hyper-vigilant about the foods they consume.

Even without meat in your diet, it is fairly easy to consume adequate amounts of protein. Eat a varied diet that includes enough calories to stay healthy; for most adults, that means approximately 2,000 calories daily.

Some excellent sources of protein for vegans include:

 •  Beans

• Chickpeas

• Nuts and seeds

• Tofu

• Whole grains

• Leafy green vegetables

  Vitamins

  Calcium, vitamin B12, and iron can be deficient in vegan diets if you are not careful.

  Calcium can be ingested naturally from leafy greens like kale and spinach. If a calcium supplement is taken, it needs to be taken with vitamin D in order to aid calcium absorption.

  When it comes to non-animal dietary sources of B12, nutritional yeast and fortified cereals are good sources. You can choose to take a B12 supplement, or simply sprinkle your food with nutritional yeast.

  Iron can be found in cashews, mushrooms, and dried fruits. If you decide to take an iron supplement, take a vitamin C supplement along with it to aid in iron absorption.

  Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are critical to cognitive and neural function, and they are integral to heart, muscle, and eye health. Excellent natural sources of omega-3 fatty acids include canola and flaxseed oils, tofu, soybeans, and walnuts.

If you follow a vegan detox plan, make sure to maintain optimal nutrition and reap all the benefits of the cleansing program you choose.

Keep in mind that not all “healthy” foods are alkaline, but all alkaline foods are healthy and provide your body with the tools necessary to maintain a healthy, energized, and clear-headed lifestyle.

Some of the best alkalized foods include:

Asparagus, cantaloupe, cayenne, celery, dates, figs, organic fruit and vegetable juices, sweet grapes, kelp, kiwi fruit, lemons, limes, mango, assorted melons, papaya, parsley, passion fruit, pears, pineapple, raisins, seaweeds, Umeboshi plums and watercress and watermelon.

A well-planned vegan detox program can be adapted in increments, which is particularly important when it comes to changing lifelong unhealthy eating habits. Total change does not happen overnight, and you are more likely to succeed by adopting one element at a time. Eliminate sugars one day, cut down or eliminate coffee the next day. The first week may prove challenging, but stick it out – you’ll be amazed at how your alkaline balanced body is already beginning to feel.

Once you have adapted to cleaner eating, you will find it to be easy, inexpensive and safe. Within a few days your energy is restored, and by the end of the first week, your skin will be glowing. By the end of week two, you will have discovered how fantastic your body is meant to feel, everyday. You will experience, maybe for the first time in your life, complete body/mind wellness. And once you have embraced this lifestyle, you will never want to go back. 

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