Detoxification is a method of removing and ridding the system of toxic substances. These poisons might originate from food, your surroundings, as well as other chemicals that result in an unusual malfunction of our bodies. Without proper system cleansing, toxins can adversely impact the whole anatomical and cellular structure. The kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymphatic system and skin also work to rid the body of toxins. But if the body’s organs are compromised, toxins won’t be adequately filtered out.

Here are some methods of naturally cleaning and detoxifying toxic substances from your system. At least once a month is mandatory, but the frequency depends on the amount of toxins in your body.

* A fast will serve to allow organs time to recover. However, this is not to imply that you should stop eating and drinking. Water ensures proper hydration. Start your morning by drinking 1-2 liters of water with a dash of lemon and a small portion of pure honey. Pace yourself when drinking since you won’t be able to dink 2 liters continuously. It sounds so basic, but it’s shocking the number of people who do not drink water every day. This ensures that you rid yourself of the toxins so you’ll feel more energetic and less sleepy.

* Do not consume white bread, rice, or wheat bread. This creates more stomach acid, leaving you with a greater appetite as a result. Between meals, you can squeeze fresh juice instead. Use one type of fruit at a time. Don’t combine them as there might be a bad reaction between all of them and chemicals could result that may upset your intestines.

* Mashed potatoes can be consumed at lunchtime along with veggies prepared by steaming. Brown rice is another choice for those who like rice in their diet. Brown rice varieties are good for the body’s digestion. It helps with our bowel movements which results in relief of stomach ailments like constipation. They also suggest root crops. Don’t forget that vegetables, fruits, water, brown rice, root crops and herbs are nature’s gifts to us. Therefore make sure you use them.

* Steaming can be performed as another part of your detoxification ritual. A different method of doing this is to use ginger and lemon grass, bringing 5 to 10 cups of water to a boil and squeeze lemons in it. A rice cooker appliance may be substituted for an actual steamer. It is advised to do the boiling while seated in a chair wrapping yourself with a blanket, just leaving your head exposed. Once the water comes to a boil, the steam process begins, causing skin to sweat. About 15 or 20 minutes is sufficient for eliminating toxins from the complexion. The ideal time to do this is at night since the sweating might make you sleepy.

* Feeling stressed is also detracting to proper health. This will stimulate your body to disperse your system with stress hormones. These hormones release adrenalin power to be victorious in a race or reach a deadline, but might create a huge amount of toxins, and decrease the liver’s detoxification enzymes. Thus, in addition, you should clean out the things that are causing you stress when you detoxify your system. Thus you should banish stress by focusing on good feelings instead.

The detoxification takes just a week’s time. You might experience that your taste buds, skin, and bowel movements have improved during this time period. If you can really continue on with nature’s benefits, then, it is guaranteed that you can avoid going to a doctor.

What are phobias and do they truly provide a cause for concern? Often people will say that they are afraid of something, but how does that translate into what is a medical condition?

Phobias are irrational fears that can limit a person’s ability to interact in the world normally. Individuals who suffer from phobias realise that the fears are irrational, but are somehow still unable to overcome the fears. Many people who suffer from this type of disorder will change their lives to avoid being put into situations where their phobias would come into play.

Perhaps you have heard of an individual that begins to hyperventilate when they are in an enclosed space. This person is suffering from claustrophobia, the fear of being trapped in a small space, which causes panic to overcome the individual. This person will begin to suffer physical symptoms if they are not removed from the situation immediately. The person may begin to shake uncontrollably, begin to sweat profusely, compact his/her body to take up less space, hyperventilation is yet another physical reaction that can lead to the eventual fainting of the individual.

Every person has something that they are afraid of, but when does this fear become a phobia and why? The sad truth is that there is no real answer to why we all have fears. Often fears are related to experiences we have had during our lifetime. A person who was bit by a dog may have a healthy respect for dogs and may in fact have a fear of coming into contact with dogs in the future. Some individuals have a fear of dogs, but have never interacted with the animals before, since the person didn’t have a negative experience it points to a phobia. Individuals who suffer from phobias often try to talk themselves out of their fears; they feel that the fear is unwarranted if not altogether unreasonable. No amount of telling them that they should not be afraid will cause the fear to go away, in fact often the more a person hears how irrational their fears are the more entrenched the phobia becomes.

There are literally hundreds of phobias, with new phobias being reported every day. A few of the more common phobias include:

· Aerophobia the fear of flying

· Claustrophobia fear of enclosed spaces

· Acrophobia fear of heights

· Hemophobia fear of blood

· Social phobia fear of being judged in public, e.g. public speaking

· Agoraphobia fear of venturing outside one’s own home, therefore a fear of public and/or open spaces.

· Arachnophobia – fear of spiders

· Photophobia fear of light

· Triskaidekaphobia fear of the number 13

· Ophidiophobia – fear of snakes

· Nyctophobia – fear of the dark

The battle waged against phobias can be long and involved due to the fact that phobias are chronic in nature. All is not lost; people have been successfully treated for phobias and have been able to resume their normal lives. Besides determination, professional help is often required in order to defeat the irrational fear that is ruling the person’s life.

If you feel that you may be suffering from a phobia, you may wish to investigate phobias more deeply. Speaking with your doctor may be the best option if you feel that phobias are affecting your life in any way shape or form.

1. Select better foods
2. Move!
3. Drink water
4. Open the channels of elimination

Let’s start with the word “responsibility.” When you see that word, do you feel empowered or fearful? When you think of taking responsibility for your health do you hear/see, “one more burden”?

With the correct understanding, taking responsibility for your health could give you a feeling of empowerment. If you are aware that you are already accountable for your choices and their consequences, either through great health or through sickness, then you already know that you are responsible and accountable. (Incidentally, saying you don’t have a choice, is a choice.)

Now, for many people, any one of the following will make a significant difference in how they feel. What you may realize as you read this, is that all these steps go hand-in-hand for increased health. Good food, conscious movement, enough of the proper fluids and elimination equals a healthier human being. Simple!

1) Select better foods.

a) The best way, of course, is to take your own food whenever possible. That way, you know the quality and, depending on where you buy it, how long it’s been around, whether it was shipped or grown locally, when it was harvested, the amount of processing, etc.

b) Choose more raw foods. The less processed, the better.

Heating and processing destroy the nutritive value of the foods. The more live or living (sprouted) foods you eat, the more enzymes (which help the digestive and all other processes) and the more nutrition. My experience is, that when the body is nourished, there is not so much craving for poorer quality foods, caffeine, nicotine, etc. The Chinese have a saying, which I’ll paraphrase: “Focus on the good to eliminate the bad.” This is the only body you have. Why continue to be responsible for its de-generation when you can be responsible for its re-generation?

For instance, it doesn’t take much more, if any, time to select foods from the produce area of your supermarket than it does from the rest of the store. After you learn how to prepare them, you will find that it takes less time to do that and to sit down and eat, than it does to order take-out or delivery. If you get your family involved in slicing and dicing, your benefits will increase even more as you will possibly open some channels of communication.

I would suggest getting a book on raw food preparation so that you can learn to create more than just a run-of-the-mill salad. My favorite at the present time is “The Raw Gourmet” (rawgourmet. com) by Nomi Shannon.

For example, with sprouted sunflower seeds or almonds, you can make a pate. With many other vegetables and a juicer, blender and/or food processor, you can make raw soups, entrees, desserts, dips and dressings. I can make a raw pie in approximately 30 minutes using almonds, figs, dates and raisins for the crust (you can use many combinations if you don’t like these particular seeds and fruits), then top with peaches, apples, pears, berries, mango or any other fruit in season.

c) The less animal products the better.

In this country, we get way more protein, less fiber and nutrition than many other less “advanced” nations.

With the “high protein” diets again running rampant in this country, expect to see more people having kidney, liver, gall bladder, stomach cancer, heart, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, stroke and digestive disorders. A woman I know recently came into an establishment I was in, and was bragging about having lost 15 pounds in two weeks. Naturally, all the women’s ears turned to find out her “success” story. She said she was on a high protein diet where she could eat all the meat, eggs, dairy, etc., she wanted. Not being able to keep myself out of this, I said something to the effect that, it’s not a program you can live on. She stated it had worked for her mother for 25 years. I asked if her mother was still alive. No. And how old was she when she died? Sixty-five. And from what did she die? (Had to be massive heart attack, stroke or kidney failure.) It was the first, possibly complicated by the latter.

What people don’t realize is, all live foods contain protein. If you eat a variety of live foods and their juices, it is virtually impossible to not get enough protein. The only people who don’t get enough protein in their diets in this country would pretty much have to be on a mono (one food only) diet, anorexic or bulimic, or live on pastries and sodas.

d) Add more raw juices

Sorry to say, but most juices you will find in health food stores have been heated. This kills most nutrients and enzymes. Yes, they are better than sodas, yet, if you are looking for the highest nourishment possible, get a juicer and juice your own. Even with the worst quality juicer and even if you save the juice for a few hours (although you “should” drink it immediately), you’ll be receiving more nutrition and enzymes than from a bottled drink. As far as juice bars go, frozen is better than heated, although you still don’t know the quality (is it organic or unsprayed? how long has it been around?) of the fruit or vegetables being used.

I like to juice first thing in the morning although whenever you can is, of course, best. As I have a high-quality juicer, I can keep my juice for (they say) up to five days. Depending on the juice, I would never keep it longer than three days and usually drink it in two. I make about 4-5 quarts at a time, which saves time as I only juice 2-3 times per week instead of every day. There are faster juicers, yet they heat and oxidize (add more oxygen to) the juices, thus making them bio-energetically unavailable in a short while which means they should be drunk very shortly after making.

2) Move!

The second thing is to move! An aerobic exercise along with conscious movement is ideal.

I understand many people have very physical jobs, yet that is usually not enough. My father was a construction worker. His expertise was in paving and excavating. He moved a lot while doing hard, manual labor, yet died of a heart attack at the age of 50. Part of the problem was he was a “meat and potatoes” man. Even though he received a handful of vitamins from my mother every day, it obviously was not enough. (FYI — vitamins are inorganic substances that the body does not recognize. The body was made to eat organic substances or live and living foods).

By conscious movement, I mean yoga and qigong (chi kung or chi gong). (By the way, t’ai chi ch’uan is a form of qigong, so it is included here). After walking or some other more strenuous exercise, slow, conscious movement is extremely beneficial. It slowly stretches the already warmed muscles, and connects the body/mind/spirit to bring a peaceful awareness. It can also eliminate some otherwise not-so-healthy habits.

One of my t’ai chi ch’uan students once mentioned to me that t’aiji was interfering with her smoking. She had gone from two packs a day to a 1/2 a pack without even thinking about it.

Now, if you knew some short chi kung forms, and instead of lighting up, you did one or two movements, inhaling and exhaling, what do you think might happen? A couple of nice things about qigong are, you can do it anywhere and you don’t need to wear any special clothing.

Physical movement also assists the body in moving the organs, which include the lymph glands. As the other pumps in the body, besides the heart, the joints need to be moved so they can assist in siphoning off the toxic residue that is collected in the lymph.

3) Water, water, water

Most people are now aware that they should drink water, yet I very often work with people who obviously aren’t drinking enough. For instance:

I called a woman a while back and she told me she couldn’t get out of the house because her hip was hurting so badly. I went to her home, had her lay on her stomach preparing to do some bodywork. As I put my hand on her left kidney, I asked what side was hurting. Her left. I asked how much water she drank a day. Her answer: “Oh, the usual.” Which is? “Well, I drink a pot of tea in the morning and that’s it.” She also told me she hadn’t had a bowel movement in three days.

Tea, coffee and anything else that contains caffeine is a diuretic — meaning it draws the fluid from your system. She and many like her are dehydrated. If you have a sensation of thirst, you are already dehydrating.

The best water to drink is distilled. If you aren’t willing to purchase a distiller or drink from the plastic bottles then get a good reverse-osmosis filter. With the worsening quality of our city water and the additions of things such as fluoride, it is imperative that you filter any water you get from your faucet.

4) Open the channels of elimination

Things that shut down the channels of elimination might include; deodorant soaps, antiperspirants, lotions, not enough water, cosmetics, meat (which contains no fiber) and lack of movement.

Many people don’t realize that the skin is a third kidney and also functions as a third lung. It is the largest organ in the body. Why would you voluntarily stop its functioning any more than you would the natural function of any other organ?

Deodorant soaps clog the pores as do antiperspirants and lotions containing lanolin. The skin was given to us as a fragile coating to protect the rest of our organs, bones, muscles, etc., and as a viable elimination organ. We are the only animals in the universe who intentionally stop the natural functioning of our organs.

If, when you perspire, your perspiration is yellow, you aren’t getting enough water. Perspiration is the same chemical structure as urine. If your urine is yellow, your perspiration will probably be the same.

When you use an antiperspirant, you are stopping the function of the skin to eliminate toxins. The underarms (as is the groin) are a major lymph area and this area is made for the elimination of toxins that don’t come out through other eliminatory channels. Stopping this channel puts you in danger. Most antiperspirants contain aluminum, a suspected carcinogen and cause of Alzheimer’s. You are placing this poison right into the lymph, which are supposed to be eliminating there, not absorbing, yet have no choice as you are stopping the elimination process by blocking the outlets (pores).

You needn’t become rigid about these things in order to have better health. As a matter of fact, it would be better to eat a pepperoni pizza than carrot sticks if your mind and emotions are creating tension and anxiety with what you are doing.

Talking with Mrs. Collier I was introduced to the concept of “warm lines” as opposed to hot lines. She explained, “I’ve worked on ‘hope lines’ or ‘warm lines’ – like a crisis line. One of the principles that successful lines have worked on is if the person said that they wanted to be talking about feeling suicidal they have the right to talk about that, they have the right to do anything short of actually dying – holding a gun, a bottle of pills …They still operate on the principle that the person is choosing some help.” The essential difference between a ‘warm line’ and a hot line is that the latter is connected to the police whereas the former is not. On a warm line people just listen to you.

Another facinating concept that Mrs. Collier described to me was the “advanced directive” which is putting in writing how you want to be handled when incapicated and who you want to speak on your behalf. She emphasized that recovery requires networking with friends, and other psychiatric survivors. The advanced directive tries to eliminate incarceration in hospital and has the goal of getting the survival through a crisis without the use of force.

Well, how about thinking of it as not being self centered, but being “self caring”. Don’t feel that you are feeling sorry for yourself. A friend I have recently met, with a chronic illness herself, expresses this as “entitlement to grief”. I love that, because they are our feelings, and even ones that are born of sadness and grief, we are entitled to them. It is important to feel these emotions. Feelings of anger, hurt, fear, frustration, and even just simply sadness, get buried deep within us, because we feel they are inappropriate to talk about or share with others. This issue comes up from time to time at our support group here, as well as at an online MS support group I facilitate.

Well, I can tell you from experience, and have been told by others far wiser than I, that the feelings you keep inside and never deal with, or even acknowledge, are the feelings that will end up causing you and others more trouble than you can imagine.

Now I’m not saying every negative thing we think or feel can be validated. I’m just saying that these feelings can’t be kept inside. You have to bring them out, really examine them from all angles and deal with them as needed. Work through them, discard the ones that are a waste of energy to harbour, and then really feel the ones that are born of real issues and problems that aren’t going to go away. Understand the way you feel, the reason you feel that way, and if at the end of the day, these are real legitimate feelings that can’t be dismissed, understand there is a place in your heart and soul for them. But don’t just leave them there, unattended, to fester and take over. Share them, vent, and get them out in the open. That is the only way to keep your spirit healthy. It would be naive to think we can cope with everything in our lives, adding a chronic illness like MS to the mix, and not be legitimately “down” and angry, from time to time, about the heavy load we carry.

Find the right people and places to open up. Of course, we can’t go around talking to everyone we see about these things. If we aren’t constructively dealing with our negative feelings, then I guess it does come down to just complaining. But if you talk to the right people, you are dealing in a positive way. You are exercising your “entitlement to grief” and you are doing it in a “self caring”, not a self-centered way. There is no better place, than in a support group setting, or with close and understanding people in your life.

Quite often it seems that unless people have experienced the challenges you face, that they can’t really understand, and sometimes that is true. It’s not their fault in any way. It’s just the way it can be. That is why support groups are so effective. Everyone there can relate to having the same feelings at one time or another. Everyone there wants to hear about your fears, your problems, because maybe they can help, and they probably share those very same thoughts! Talking with people who experience the same things can be great, because, other than the fact that misery loves company, just maybe they can offer suggestions on how to fix the wrong or if not fix it, offer ways to cope. And, there’s a very good chance that if you share with someone now, down the road, someone else will need a shoulder, and you’ll be there with yours.

So, I guess what I am saying, at great length, is to “own” your feelings. Bring them out, don’t bury them. Cry when you need to. Mourn your losses as freely as you celebrate your accomplishments.
I used to think that the person who let their problems rise to the surface, was the person who would let these things get the better of them. Again, a very wise professional in the field told me it is exactly the opposite. Only by acknowledging and really feeling what is inside, can you understand and make room for these very real and legitimate feelings that are a part of you. Feelings you have to learn to live with. Only when you do that, can you find a place inside for them, where they can be a part of you, without overshadowing the great feelings you are also entitled to. The positive and happy feelings, that make life so worth living!

Tip of the Week: Add a glass of 100% juice daily to increase your intake of fruits and vegetables*. While most juices don’t contain the fiber of whole fruits and vegetables, 100% juice is packed with beneficial phytonutrients, as well as vitamins and minerals. Adding a glass of juice is an easy way to get started on the road to healthier eating.

Suggestions for incorporating this tip into your lifestyle: Instead of 2 cups of coffee in the morning, how about 1 cup paired with a glass of juice? You might want to try subbing a grape juice for that soft drink at afternoon break. Love tea? It is terrific when combined with a variety of juices. (I prefer to mix the tea with equal parts of sweeter juices—such as apple, grape, peach, and cranberry—but pick whatever juice you like. These combinations are great either hot or cold!)

. . . . . . . .

And now, this week’s discussion–

Let’s face it–most of us don’t eat the way we know we should. The excuses for this are almost endless: too little time. . .too much work. . .didn’t have it in the house. . . it costs too much. . . it wasn’t available. . . the package is too big. . . I don’t like the taste!

Unfortunately, this laundry list of excuses is not rivaled by a lengthy array of solutions. In fact, there is only one—that solution is known as commitment. If you’re serious about extending the quantity and quality of your life, commit to a healthier way of eating.

But what about supplements? you ask. Why can’t they provide the nutrition that’s lacking in a poor diet? Once again, the answer is simple—food is superior to supplements! Yes, supplements serve a purpose, but their role is that of the supporting cast—not the lead! By definition, supplements are an addition, an accompaniment—not the main course.

Food has it all. It can provide protein, carbohydrates, fat, fiber, water, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and phytonutrients–all delivered in a complex environment that is not duplicated in a pill. Furthermore, at present all of the components found in food have not yet been identified.

These unidentified elements, as well as those more familiar to us (such as fiber, trace elements, etc.) can make significant contributions to the outcomes of research studies (as well as to our health!) They present yet another reason to favor food over supplements as the body’s major nutrition provider. Supplements simply cannot duplicate the “total food package”.

In summary, a multivitamin—even a high quality one—isn’t going to make up for eating a poor diet. Commit to improving your intake by eating nutritious food—TODAY! Take a multivitamin/mineral supplement in addition to—not in place of—a healthy diet. The tip of the week (located at the top of this article) can get you started in the right direction.

*The eventual goal is a minimum of 5 servings/day.

Naturally, just brushing your teeth and flossing on a regular basis will produce cleaner, whiter, healthier teeth. But if your teeth are stained, you might want to find a solution that works faster. If your stains are caused by food, beverages or smoking, teeth whitening strips can be used every day to eliminate the stains eventually if you do not want to have your teeth professionally whitened by a dentist. Know, though, that although it can be costly, professional dental whitening is the quickest method of removing stains from your teeth.

At-home tooth whitening kits are effective against stains, and noticeable results can usually be seen within a week or two. Using at-home teeth whitening kits, along with brushing morning and night, flossing, avoiding tooth-staining foods and beverages like coffee and wine, and avoiding smoking will help you keep your teeth white.

When trying to decide which product will be best for you, consider how stained your teeth are and how your smile looks. There are many products available to help you in your quest to whiten your teeth and enhance your smile, but remember to continue your regular daily dental care and visit your dentist regularly to make sure that your teeth and gums remain in good shape.

Read more: Daily Tooth Care