The months of October and November are ruled by the Chinese Five Element of Metal. The organs affected during the Autumn Season are the lung/skin/large intestine. This is why you may experience rashes or pustules on the skin, mucousal irritation, coughing, sneezing, etc. Our bodies are ridding itself of toxins and waste to prepare for the winter months. This is the time to think about what is not serving us in our lives and “letting go” on an emotional level and also cleansing our bodies through food and beverages.
Drinking tea (2-3x day) that has natural detoxifying herbslike nettles, dandelions,milk thistle, burdock and chickweed is essential. DeLa Terre’s Purifies Tea has all these herbs to gently detox. Also, taking a good probiotic is essential. Look for a plant-based probiotic in the refrigerated section of your health food store. You want to take these 2x a day. You can do this detox for 6 weeks if possible. The ingredients that you want to avoid are sugar, dairy, and wheat. Just three, that doesn’t sound so bad! The foods that you can eat are plentiful:
Fruits– apples, banana, mulberries, mango, unsweetened coconut. Grapefruit is highin Vit C antioxidants and can help your liver flush out carcinogens and toxins.
Vegetables: To strengthen your liver it is recommended to eat zucchini, squash, sweeet potatoes, potatoes, string beans, beets, parsley, carrots. Also include broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, onions, garlic, artichokes, dark leafy (kale, collard greens, and swiss chard, spinach) & avoid corn.
Sea Vegetables: kelp, nori wraps, dulse flakes.
Grains: rice (brown and wild), quinoa, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, whole grain oats
Beans and Legumes: split yellow and green peas, lentils
Nuts and Seeds: almonds, cashews, walnuts, sunflowers, pumpkin, sesame, chia, hemp, coconut, avoid peanuts and peanut butter, choose unsalted and raw nuts
Oils: cold pressed, EVOO, hemp oil, flax, chia, almond, avocado, coconut. Avocados are a great source of glutathione, an antioxidant which your liver uses to filter out toxins and waste.
Beverages: rice, almond, hemp, coconut milk (except canned); water, herbal tea, green tea, hot lemon water, DeLa Terre’s Purifies Herb Rich Tea. No coffee or caffeine as this slows digestion!
Sweeteners: brown rice syrup, stevia, real maple syrup, raw honey, black strap molasses
Condiments: apple cider vinegar (Braggs); liquid aminos, miso, lemons, limes, fresh and dried herbs, cocoa powder, sea salt, mustard
A great Liver cleansing beverage:
1-inch piece of ginger, sliced thinly
2 teaspoons raw honey
filtered water
1/4 teaspoon powdered turmeric
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Pinch of cayenne pepper & black pepper
Place the ginger slices in a tea mug. Heat the water in a teakettle. Pour the hot water over the ginger slices, allowing them to steep for 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Enjoy immediately.
You see that you have lots of choices! Some tips are- Only eat when you are hungry, eat light to heavy from beginning to later in the day. Some ideas for meals are:
Breakfast: Start day with a cup of hot water with a fresh slice of squeezed lemon and a probiotic supplement taken with full pint of water; followed by your choice of fresh fruit, nuts and seeds, coconut. My favorite is quinoa with fruit and coconut and a little almond milk. Can eat cold or warm, yum!
Lunch: Salad, veggie and rice wrap in Nori Wrap, veggie soup with beans/rice
Dinner: rice and lentils, vegetable stir fry with rice or millet, soup, sweet potato
Bedtime: One probiotic supplement and two to four magnesium supplement as needed, with full pint of water.
As a side note, I would like to add another important aspect of detox, namely enemas! Enema is used 1x/week during cleansing. I like using organic coffee. Why coffee, you ask? Because coffee stimulates the colon…as we all know. Just brew your organic coffee and pour into the hot water bottle with additional water to cool it down a bit. Follow steps for performing enema. You can follow with a herbal solution such as wheat grass or a solution of aluminum free baking soda (1T) and acidopholus powder (1T) mixed with distilled wate (1cup) to nourish and heal the colon wall.
Join me in gentle cleansing for 6 weeks and in doing so, you will be looking and feeling great! Of course, your skin will be luminous!