Healthy Skin Tips

Our skin is the largest organ we have and connected to our digestif system. A gentle but good cleansing program will help clear you skin as well as your over organ.

They are a lof of cleansing programs available. I like this one because it is simple and does not require any drastic changes in the diet but a few adjustments.

Spring:  The Best Time to Cleanse and Detoxify 

Spring is the season of regeneration, growth and renewal. Like no other time, the spring of the year gives us one of the absolute best opportunities to improve our health. As part of nature, we have access to the power of the spring. And by riding this seasonal wave, we can use this time to enhance and speed our process of healing. 

So, how do we ride the wave?  Spring Cleansing. 

We can’t bring in the new until we throw out the old.  More specifically we can’t revive our bodies without cleansing our cells, tissues and organs of accumulated toxins, debris and infections.  And the spring of the year is one of the best times to do it. Traditional Chinese medicine described this spring phenomenon 5,000 years ago. The Chinese physicians observed that the major organs of detoxification—the liver and gall bladder—reached the height of their activity (with some of the best therapeutic results) in the spring.  

Chinese medicine is right about this seasonal mystery of nature; this secret of spring cleansing. I have personally done dozens of cleanses, and supervised thousands of others.  Invariably, the best results are in the spring. (Fall is second, and the absolute worst time is winter. I have done many summer cleanses and they are always ho-hum.) 

In our culture, the liver and gall bladder system is the most overworked and the most in need of help.  It is rare to find a new client that has a balanced liver and gall bladder system. In fact 80% of new clients start with a toxic, overloaded liver and gall bladder.  And virtually everyone with chronic illness needs significant work on these organs. 

But working on the liver and gall bladder at the right time, will return the greatest reward in improving our health.  And now, the spring, is the right time to do this work. 

The rest of this newsletter will give you a better idea of my model for successful spring cleansing. It includes an example of the kind of diet required during the two week cleanse process, some lifestyle change suggestions, as well as information about how and why all of this works.  It also gives you important information about how to do, and how not to do a cleanse. 

Cleanse and Detoxify:  But do it Safely! 

Cleansing or “detoxification” is a complex subject. First and foremost you must be aware that a cleanse program, done improperly, is worse than no program at all. Unfortunately, I see far too many people who undertake vigorous detoxification programs and end up worse off than when they started. This is needless. It can be avoided with correct preparation and guidance.

Successful Detoxification =  Good “Drainage” 

The key to a good detoxification program can be summarized in one word: Drainage. This concept, emphasized in European Biological Medicine tradition, is simple but often missed, (especially among many health care professionals). It is this:  Detoxification won’t be successful unless toxins are removed from the body (in stool, urine, and sweat), as fast as they come out of storage (from the tissues into the blood.)  This concept is extremely important to understand. 

Think of it this way:  Imagine you are about to clean a house that has been lived in but not cleaned for 30 years. There is clutter and trash everywhere. Where do you start? First: Open all the windows and doors. Second: Clear wide paths to the exits. Third: Throw out the superficial debris. Lastly you work on the older, stored garbage.  

The exit doors of the body are the organs of excretion; the bowels, kidneys, liver, gall bladder, lungs, skin and lymph. We open these first and we keep them open during the entire detoxification process. If we don’t, we pay. 

Poorly designed detoxification programs, (like juice fasting or herbal and/or chemical “chelation therapies”) do exactly the opposite:  They mobilize all of the older, stored garbage first, and give little or no attention to the organs of excretion.  The results are unpleasant and damaging as huge amounts of stored toxins are liberated into the bloodstream, with no way to get exit the body. These toxins eventually settle somewhere else in the body.  At best you have wasted your time and energy.  Often you are further behind then when you started.  So how do you insure adequate drainage and achieve a successful cleanse?   

Good Drainage Requires Adequate Energy 

Our drainage organs, like every other organ and tissue, need energy to work. So the first necessity for good drainage is to have good energy.  

Those of you who have been clients for a time know that your winter program is partly designed to build your vital energy reserves. If you have been successful in building your vitality, then you are now in position to take best advantage of the spring cleanse.

But you also need to make sure that you have good energy throughout the cleanse. Maintaining sufficient energy with superb drainage gives the best result. These are the  

principles that must be followed. In my spring programs I accomplish this for you with diet, lifestyle change suggestions, and a tailored supplement program that finds the right balance of Energy, Drainage, and Detoxification. 

Spring Program Cleanse Diet 

Here is an example of what the diet looks like (not for everyone), with a following discussion of the principles underlying the dietary choices: 

You will allow 3 days to gradually attain the following diet, (so you do not shock the body). Stay on the diet one week. Then take 3 days to transition back to a normal diet. The whole process takes two weeks.

Eliminate:  Alcohol, caffeine, sugar, maple syrup, brown sugar, heated honey, corn syrup, fructose, dried fruits, fruit juice (except as described below), baked goods, bread, pasta, chips, crackers, all dairy products, all oils (except as described below), roasted or fried nuts, soy products, diet anything, sodas. No grains except millet, rice, buckwheat, quinoa. No foods to which you have a known allergy or sensitivity, that give you gas, indigestion, or otherwise give you any discomfort, (even if these foods are listed below).  

Eat freely:  The following foods must make up at least 50% of your diet:  All non-starchy vegetables, especially the bitter, dark green, leafy types (dandelion greens, endive, parsley, beet tops, lettuces, chard, and spinach).  Also good: green and red peppers, avocados, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, and asparagus. All sea vegetables, such as dulse, kelp, sea fronds, nori, hijiki, wakame, and arame are encouraged. Vegetables may be eaten raw or lightly cooked, with a dressing of extra virgin olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar. Fresh garlic, onions, cayenne, ginger, stone ground mustard, and raw horseradish (“Bubbies” brand) may be used as seasonings. Raw, unfermented sauerkraut (“Bubbies” brand) or other raw, fermented un-pasteurized vegetables (Kim Chi) should be used ¼ cup day. Miso (from rice only) is allowed. Fresh fruits must be raw and may be used up to 2 pieces per day.  Apples, citrus, and berries are best. Do not mix raw fruits and vegetables. Fruit juice may be used as a flavoring only and no more than 1 cup per day.  Raw, unheated honey may also be used as a flavoring, up to 2 teaspoons/day. Nuts must be raw, soaked in water 6-8 hours before eating, or slightly roasted up to ¼ cup per day. Allowable nuts include walnuts, almonds, filberts, pecans, pine nuts, and hazelnuts. Herb teas without caffeine are allowed. Some dilute green or white tea may also be used. 

Minimize:  The following foods must be limited to less than 50% of the diet:  Non-gluten grains (rice, millet, quinoa, and buckwheat), beans, potatoes, starchy vegetables (including cooked carrots and beets), animal foods (including meat and eggs).    

As you can see the cleanse diet is divided into three categories:   
 

1. The “Eliminate” category. These are low-nutrient, highly toxic foods, stimulants, hard to digest foods, and/or possible allergens. They generally deplete your reserve energy and interfere with good drainage.

1. The “Eliminate” category. These are low-nutrient, highly toxic foods, stimulants, hard to digest foods, and/or possible allergens. They generally deplete your reserve energy and interfere with good drainage.
2. The “Eat Freely” Category. These are mostly cleansing foods.  They will help release toxins from tissues, cells, and organs into the blood. If you are experienced in cleansing and have built lots of reserve energy you can eat more than 50% of these foods. If you are more of a beginner you probably want to keep it at about 50-60%.
3. The “Minimize” category.  These are foods necessary to support your vital energy throughout the cleanse. These foods are not especially cleansing, except that they keep all of the organs and glands supplied with energy and therefore working optimally.  You should eat enough of these foods (up to 50% of your total diet) to feel strong and energetic throughout the cleanse.

 

Lifestyle Change:  Rest, Sleep, Cut Activities 

Another way to optimize your energy is to conserve it.  Don’t overdo exercise. Cut back on work and other activities. Minimize TV and news. Get more sleep. Take a vacation from excessive thinking, worry, and emotional reaction. Retreat into the core of your body. Take time to listen to and bless your heart, your gut, your liver. As your internal organs get some focused, loving attention they will relax and energize. And it will be much easier for them to release unresolved emotional patterns and the physical toxins that accompany these patterns. The cleanse is a great opportunity, often missed, of multi-dimensional detoxification and deep healing at every level of our lives. 

Lemon and Olive Oil Drink 

This is refreshing and synergistic drink that is a great dietary drainer of the liver, gall bladder, lymph and intestine. It thins the toxic bile in the liver and increases its flow through the gall bladder. The increased bile flow through the gall bladder and into the intestine stimulates gut peristalsis and drains the intestine. This in turn allows for an excellent drainage of the lymph. The domino affect for drainage. It is one of many possible additions to your cleanse program. 

Richard Forish CNC

Marin Health Educators Inc.
98 Graceland Drive
San Rafael, CA  94901
415.457.2505