General Detoxification

I am often asked by clients and people I meet every day if I think detoxification programs and diets are necessary for improving overall health and my answer is yes. Your body naturally detoxifies itself every day through your digestive tract, liver and immune system but it can become overloaded with toxins and therefore unable to complete the process. 

It can be difficult as a consumer when there are so many, seemingly convenient “detox in a box” options out there, to know what really is the best for them. Everyone is bio-chemically different and using a one size fits all detox kit isn’t always the right choice. There are different levels to detoxification and I believe it is important to start out slowly so as to not overwhelm the body systems. 

Some Signs of Toxicity

·         Fatigue

·         Body odor

·         Constipation

·         Skin problems

·         Headaches

·         Depression

·         Infections

·         Weight gain/loss

·         Mucous/congestion

·         Gas/bloating

·         Allergies/sensitivities

·         And many more…….

Exogenous Toxins: Coming from outside of our bodies. Ex. Air pollution, drugs, pesticides (which kill life), preservatives, artificial sweeteners, artificial food colouring, cosmetics, alcohol, poor quality oils, smoking, tap water, paints, mouth fillings, perfumes, Teflon cookware, etc.

Endogenous Toxins: Created inside the body. Ex. Our own metabolism, improper food combining, overeating, constipation (reabsorbing toxins), parasites, fungus, etc.

Detoxifying:

The first thing to do when starting to detoxify is to reduce the amount of toxins you exposed to. Clean up the diet, consume organic fruits and vegetables as much as possible, and avoid congesting, inflammatory foods.

The second thing is to improve your body’s ability to detoxify itself with the use of nutrients and superfoods. 

Anything that supports our elimination will assist us in detoxifying, such as: drinking more water, eating more fruits and vegetables, and eating less meat and dairy products, which create congestion. There are many levels of detox from simple everyday changes to complete fasting. Dietary changes is the most gentle way to detox and cleanse.

These are the different levels of general dietary detoxification:

1.      General Detox Diet- Whole foods, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts/seeds and legumes (Nothing processed or refined).

2.     General Detox Diet Level 2- 80% vegetables (raw or steamed) and fruit, 20% gluten free grains (quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat, and amaranth), legumes, sprouts, nuts and seeds. With fresh juices and superfoods.                  

3.      Raw foods (100%) - 80% raw fruits and vegetables, 20% nuts/seeds and sprouts.

4.      Juice Fast- raw fruits and vegetables juiced through a good juicer. Can also boil veggies softly for 2-3 hrs, strain out veggies and drink to help with grounding. Herbal teas are also great for grounding as well.

5.      Water Fast- This is the most difficult fast to take on that is why it is a good idea to work yourself up to it by following the diets above first. I do not recommend this for everyone.

Fasting Setting: set aside as much time as possible for the fast, slow life down. Meditate and simplify life.

The Hering's Law of Cure states that there is an order in which the body will heal itself, so it is important to take that into consideration when detoxifying.

The Law states that healing should go:

·         From the most important organ to the least

·         From within-outwards

·         From above to downward

·         Symptoms of a chronic disease disappear in a definite order, going in reverse and taking about one month for every year the symptoms have been present.

The body can do some very weird things when detoxifying, some may experience a bowel purging, some may get headaches and others may go through an emotionally purging, dealing with long buried issues and problems. Often the symptoms experienced will get worse before they get better.  

Some Signs and Symptoms of Detoxification:

·         Headaches

·         Body odor

·         Skin eruptions

·         Abdominal “distress”

·         Fatigue/weakness

·         Fever

·         Return of previously experienced symptoms

·         Coated tongue

·         Dark urine

·         Also, an Emotional detox- need grounding activities to help get through it. 

After completing a detox you will experience a boost in energy levels, improved digestion, better sleep patterns, less water retention, fewer aches and pains and less infections.

It is important to talk to a professional before starting a detox program so that you know what would work best for you and to not overwhelm your body systems from something too aggressive. Detoxing should improve the bodily functions and not overwhelm. 

For more information about detoxification programs and nutritional consultations provided by Michelle contact The Lakeside Clinic in Barrie Ontario by email, info@thelakesideclinic.com or by phone 705-726-0923.

Dehydrated Onion Vegetable Crackers

Everybody uses or buys products that are preserved using the conventional methods, which are: canning, freezing, pickling, pasteurizing, chemical preservatives and smoking.

Dehydrating is an excellent option, it is a way to preserve the enzymes and nutrients in foods. As the water is removed the flavours are enhanced and concentrated (raisins are sweeter then grapes). A dehydrator can be used to preserve but it can also be used to create interesting and flavourful snacks.

I have been experimenting with different recipes and (homemade) snack ideas for my clients and myself. I don’t eat any grains and I try avoid any foods that have been processed, so I do not have any pre-packaged breads or crackers. The dehydrator is an excellent addition to a holistic kitchen. With the dehydrator I can enjoy nut breads, crackers, veggie/fruit chips (my favourite is kale chips) and desserts or sweet treats. 

On the weekend I made Onion and Vegetable Crackers in my dehydrator, they turned out more like flat bread and were very delicious (they didn’t last long). The recipe is below, it is very easy to follow and the ingredients are not hard to find in the grocery store or health food store. For this recipe you will need a dehydrator, a grater (I used my food processor with the grating attachment, which saved a lot of time) and parchment paper to line the dehydrator trays. Give it a try, I hope you enjoy the crackers.

Onion Vegetable Crackers

1 medium zucchini, shredded

1 large carrot, shredded

1 large onion, shredded

¼ cup olive oil or hemp seed oil

2 tbsp nut butter (I used sunflower seed)

1 cup ground flax seeds

1 cup ground sunflower seeds

½ tsp Himalayan sea salt

½ cup water

Directions:

1. Mix together the grated vegetables, oil and nut butter in a bowl.
2. Add the ground flax seeds and sunflower seeds and combine. Add the water a little bit at a time and stir until mixture has a slight paste consistency.
3. Spread a ¼ inch thick layer of mixture evenly on parchment lined drying trays and sprinkle whole brown or golden flax seeds on top.
4. Dehydrate at 145°F for 1 hour, then turn the temperature down to 115°F and continue for 18-24 hours. (Half way through, flip over, score into the desired cracker shapes and remove the parchment paper). Leave in the dehydrator until dry but still pliable for bread or leave until crispy for crackers.
5. Store in airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Enjoy!

For more tips and recipes about dehydrating or to schedule an appointment for a nutritional consultation contact Michelle in Barrie Ontario by email or by phone, 705-970-1473.