The Top 5 Fruits for Cleansing and Detoxification

Not only are fruits healthy, but they also add that certain delicious sweetness to any detox food recipe. If you want the best results, here are the top 5 fruits that any cleansing and detoxification diet needs:

Lemons and Limes

These bitter-tasting fruits have antiseptic properties which can help you remove putrefied bacteria from your intestines. Lemons and limes also help your liver, digestion and help you lose weight, according to Whole Body Detox. The reason behind such good effects is the ingredient called liminoid, which is found in both fruits. Detoxification can be most effective by drinking the juice of either with warm water to start your day.

Cranberries

According to Whole Body Detox again, Cranberries are great for detoxification because of their abilities to fend off urinary tract and kidney infections. They are also filled with antioxidants and hippuric acid which acidifies your urine. They also regularize your gastrointestinal area because they are natural probiotics. Eat it regularly for obvious reasons that it is the most detox-friendly fruit, but if it's not in season, unsweetened Cranberry juice will do.

Apples

Apples are nutritional powerhouses. They are a good source of cleaning your liver, gallbladder and colon because they are naturally high in fiber. The United States Nutrient Data Lab says that one apple is packed with goodness in only 81 calories. It contains pectin, a soluble fiber, which helps prevent plaque buildup in your blood vessels. It also contains the insoluble fiber cellulose, which helps your digestive system add bulk to move waste quickly. Apples are also rich in calcium, iron, phosphorus and potassium, as well as B-complex Folates and Vitamins A and C.

Cherries

The Tart Red Cherry is known to reduce inflammation in the body's joints and is high in antioxidants called Anthocyaninm, which makes it red. A bunch of these cherries can heal you fast and cleanse your joints. They can also heal gout by lowering uric acid and soothing your joints. This helps in reducing oxidative stress, which is created by free radical formation. Cherries also contain beta carotene 19 times that of blueberries and strawberries. Go ahead and eat a lot of cherries.

Figs

Figs are high in calcium, potassium, vitamins A, C, E and other vitamins that can cleanse your whole body especially the immune system. They are sweeter than other fruits but as said, high in potassium so they can help control blood pressure. Figs are great to battle the imbalance of hypertension due to a high-sodium-low-potassium diet a lot of people have.

8 Ways That You Should Know Of To Detoxify The Body

Cleansing diets and fasting programs are not necessarily a modern trend. Different people and societies have been using different means to detox themselves, or to cleanse the bodies for many hundreds of years. Some of the doctors urge their patients to fast in order to clean their minds and bodies. Toxic or polluted food systems, water, air, and the environment makes cleansing the liver, the colon, and other organs of the body very important.

Over pollution can cause deleterious effects on immune systems, a situation which makes an individual highly susceptible to various chronic degenerative diseases like cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease and more.

The body cannot stay healthy without an efficient and effective detoxification that needs to occur in the lymphatic system, kidneys, intestines, skin, liver, lungs and other areas. Although the body is good at detoxification, the process can become overwhelming because of toxins generated from the water, air, food, pharmaceutical, over-the-counter drugs or other sources. There are several ways of keeping the body clean after the detoxification program, including:

· Eating fiber

It is advisable to consider eating plenty of fiber, which includes organically grown fresh vegetables and fruits and brown rice. Some of the excellent detoxifying foods include beets, artichokes, radishes, cabbage, chlorella, spirulina and seaweed.

· Take vitamin C

Taking vitamin C helps the body to produce glutathione which as a liver compound that plays an important role in driving away toxins.

· Eat herbs

Seek to protect and cleanse the liver by consuming herbs such as milk thistle, burdock and dandelion root. One should also consider drinking green tea.

· Emphasize positive emotions

Make sure to transform stress by placing more emphasis on positive emotions

· Drink water

Consider drinking at least 2 quarts of water every day.

· Visit a sauna

Consider sweating in a sauna to eliminate wastes through the process of perspiration.

· Breathe deeply

Breathing deeply helps with the circulation of oxygen through the system.

· Try detoxifying foot baths or spas

Try removing toxins through the pores by trying detoxifying foot baths or dry-brush your skin.

Everybody needs to detoxify at least once every year. A whole body cleansing or a short program is generally safe. An effective detox program can assists the body to clean up by resting the organs of the body through fasting; stimulate the liver to get rid of toxins from the body; promote the elimination of toxins through the skin, kidneys and intestines; improve the circulation of blood; and to refuel the body using healthy nutrients.

5 Easy-To-Do Methods to Clean the Colon

The colon deals with the wastes products after digestion. Rarely do people think about it and the care it needs to carry out its functions. It is important to keep the colon clean as an important aspect of maintaining a healthy body. Many ways can be used to ensure a healthy colon. These are a few of the methods.

1. Diet

Diet is basically a key step to the health of the whole body. When it comes to the colon, it is of no exception. Eating a well-balanced diet is not enough for a healthy colon. You need to add on foods that are rich in fiber. Vegetables, fruits, legumes and some grains are sufficiently rich in fiber. They provide roughage that is necessary to add bulk to the waste formed after digestion, forming soft stool that is easy to excrete. This makes it easier for the colon to work. Taking a lot of water also helps in maintain a healthy colon.

2. Colonic irrigation

This is also called colon hydrotherapy. Water is pumped into the colon and this helps remove all the wastes in the colon. This will leave your colon empty and will be able to effectively excrete all other wastes products. This will flush out even some intestinal parasites and the accumulated toxins.

3. Enema

This is a simple method of colon cleansing. It can be done in the hospitals or even at home. Warm soapy water is put into the colon. This mixes with the already form stool, making it loose and easy to be excreted. This method has become to be a more effective method in treating simple constipation.

4. Herbs and dietary supplements

Some herbs have been found to be an effective method of colon cleansing. They are derived from the natural leaves and trees that are around us. They are found in various forms including pills and liquid supplements. They also add some nutritional value, as they add vitamins and minerals.

5. Pills

Some tablets that are effective in colon cleansing have been produced. They contain the necessary products for cleaning the colon. They also reduce weight, therefore killing two birds with one stone. They are made to either improve gastric motility or soften the bulk of the feces.

Cleaning your bowel is something easy and necessary. It can be done on a monthly basis when using other means of cleansing, but it is an everyday activity, engineered by watching what you eat. The above are some of the methods that are available and effective.

How to Go About Detoxifying the Body

Avoiding toxins is proving impossible in today's environment. Some of the toxins found in humans include uranium and dioxins. Other toxins include mercury from fish, off-gassed chemicals derived from new cars and plastic shower curtains and pesticides from produce grown conventionally. Therefore, a proper cleansing can prove helpful to the body. A simple detox needs to be integrated into an individual's lifestyle to give the best results.

Where to begin

The process of detoxifying starts by eliminating alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, saturated fats and refined sugars, all of which generate toxins in the body. They also act as obstacles to the healing process. It is also important to consider minimizing the use of chemical-based household cleaners as well as personal healthcare products (like cleansers, toothpastes, deodorants and shampoos) and consider substituting these with natural alternatives.

Another factor responsible for undermining perfect health is stress. Stress triggers the release of stress hormones into the system. Although these hormones can offer the desired "adrenaline rush" to meet deadlines or win a race, too much of it creates toxins, slowing down the detoxification enzymes available in the liver. Therefore, it is advisable to consider detoxifying the body. Meditation, yoga and qigong are some of the effective but simple ways of relieving stress by resetting the mental and physical reactions.

The most effective detoxifying programs

There are several detoxifying recipes and programs, based on an individual's needs. Some of the programs require a 7-day schedule because it takes the body time to cleanse the blood. Some of the programs involve a two-day fasting on liquids followed by a properly planned 5-day detoxification diet to enable the digestive system to have some rest. Supplements, exercise, herbs, hydrotherapy and dry skin brushing are administered to enhance circulation.

Another detoxifying program recommends a 3 to 7-day juice fast. During this time, fresh vegetable and fruit juices and water is taken to offer an effective process of releasing toxins. Other popular natural body cleanses and detox programs include: Drinking water only one day every week and a cleansing supplement package that contains minerals, herbs, vitamins and fiber.

Ways of detoxifying the body

· Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily

· Take vitamin-C, which plays an important role in helping the body to produce glutathione, a compound found in liver that seeks to drive away toxins

· Eat lots of fiber, including organically grown fresh vegetables and fruits and brown rice. Some of the excellent detoxifying foods include beets, artichokes, radishes, cabbage, spirulina, broccoli, seaweed and chlorella.

Detoxification - How I Got Into It

A month ago, a very close friend invited me to his place for dinner. While waiting for the other guests to arrive, we had the usual chatter about petty things. Ultimately, it led to his current medical problems and how he is coping with it through detoxification.

I sat upright in my chair as I heard the word "detoxification." My friend is super conservative and I thought he would never have anything to do with anything outside of traditional medicine when it comes to his health.

I've heard of detox (short for detoxification) so many times from people who are looking for alternative ways to stay healthy and have money to spend for it. But my daughter, being a doctor, doesn't want to hear of it. And never could I think of a very good reason why my friend, knowing him, would go for it.

So let me share with you detoxification from a skeptic.

Detoxification, traditional medicine:

It is "the initial stage that allows a person to stay clean," so says Dr. Nora Volkow of the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

It is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism; the decontamination of a person from poison ingestion using antidotes like dialysis or, in severe cases, chelation therapy - the application of agents to remove heavy metals, e.g., lead, arsenic, mercury and others from the body.

Detoxification, alternative medicine:

Detox, to an alternative medicine practitioner, is the "cleaning of the blood" by removing toxins in the liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymph and skin through a variety of methods, i.e., diet, use of food supplements, herbs, dry-skin brushing, hydrotherapy, electrical or electromagnetic treatments, etc.

These, they claim, help the body's natural cleaning process by allowing the organs to rest through fasting, stimulating the liver to remove toxins from the body, promoting toxin elimination through the intestines, kidneys and skin and by improving blood circulation.

Their points of contention:

For alternative medicine, detoxification is the removal of toxins in our body from the food that we eat.

Traditional medicine scoffs at the idea because it has never seen toxin accumulation in healthy kidneys and liver.

Detoxification, in alternative medicine, is an almost real-time process while traditional medicine says that the body must be allowed to remove these toxins the natural way and pace. Hastening it is bad, not good, for the body.

Traditional medicine is an accumulation of knowledge built through thousands of years backed by countless, solid researches.

Alternative medicine is relatively new, given birth by people who saw a business opportunity from the health-consciousness market that has steadily grown the past few years.

My friend got into detox (against the recommendation of his doctor) for cellulitis, a skin infection caused by bacteria. It hospitalized him for three days, where he was given a good dose of very potent antibiotics.

In front of the guests he testified of having been cured of his disease.

Was it the detox or the residual effect of his antibiotics?

It's hard to tell except that he has been talked into becoming a user and a distributor of some detox products. He lost his cellulitis but he gained a business venture he is ill-equipped to handle, much more get away from.

I am a retired engineer and a fitness buff. I keep my lights burning by writing.

I write about life, happiness, health, relationship and sex taken from my experiences in life.

Come and visit me at http://www.joespulpbits.com.

What You Need To Know About Detoxification

Detoxification (detox for short) has been around for thousands of years. From the ancient Greeks and the ancient Indian tradition of Ayurveda to the Native Americans, they all believed that toxins were the fundamental cause of disease; that being the case, they developed cleansing and purification programs to detox the body. Likewise, for centuries, religions like Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have used fasting as an element of body, mind, and spiritual cleansing in their practices.

Fast forward to the 21st century; our modern world is more toxic than ever. Our detox organs (liver, kidneys, colon, lungs, and skin) are constantly bombarded by environmental toxins, residues from drugs, chemicals and preservatives in foods, heavy metals, radiation, electromagnetic fields, and many other toxins. No wonder detoxing has become the "in" thing to do and there are gazillion detox products, cleanses, and diets on the market.

Buyer beware! Many of these are no more than marketing scams that do nothing to help you detox your body. In the following, we will discuss some of these quack products and practices and what you should look out for when it comes to detox. Lastly, we will look at what you can do to improve your body's detox function, 24/7.

Beware Of These Detox Scams

Without doubt, dangerous toxins seem to be lurking everywhere in our modern world. However, many extreme detox products, cleanses, or diets which claim that they will rid your body of toxins, give you more energy, and melt away pounds of fat are not for real. Some are even outright dangerous. A few, at best, are just temporary solutions for the long-term problem of having a poor lifestyle and bad eating.

Before we go into how to truly detox in a healthy manner, the following are some detox scams that you should definitely be aware of.

Detox foot-pads

These pads were originated from Japan. You stick them to your feet overnight and they supposedly draw toxins out of your feet, turning the pads brown. The reason they turn brown is because they contain wood vinegar powder, which always turns brown when exposed to moisture, such as a sweaty foot.

Detox foot-baths

They go by many different names but they all use the same modus operandi. You place your feet in a bowl of water to which a bit of salt is added. A small electric current is passed between two electrodes immersed in the water, which soon becomes quite discolored. The color, of course, is not from the purging of toxins but from electrolytic corrosion of the metal electrodes made of iron, nickel, and copper, all of which decompose into colored ions. By-products of the electrolysis process produce bubbles of hydrogen and chlorine gases (both are dangerous in confined spaces) and sodium hydroxide, which further dramatizes the so-called detox process.

Detox cleanses or diets

The most famous is the Master Cleanse, also known as the Lemonade Diet. You drink 6-12 glasses of water mixed with maple syrup, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper throughout the day along with laxatives twice a day, while no other food is consumed. The singer Beyonce did the Master Cleanse for 14 days and quickly dropped 20 pounds for her role in Dreamgirls but she regained all the weight soon after and in interviews, warned dieters away from the cleanse.

The truth is you cannot detox your body in seven days, or even 70 days, no matter what you do. Quick-fix cleanses or diets may seem appealing but they are a waste of money and effort and may even do you more harm than good.

When you do this sort of cleanses, you drastically reduce your calorie intake and you lose weight quickly, but it is primarily water weight. A lack of nutrients during "detoxing" can make your body eat into muscle for energy, slowing your metabolism. Once you go back to eating, most people regain the lost weight plus a few extra pounds of fat because of a slower metabolism.

Juice fasts

While there is nothing wrong with going on a juice fast for an occasional day or two, it is definitely not recommended for any longer period. Here is why:

Prolonged fasting tends to slow down metabolism and potentially lead to more weight gain afterwards.

Unless you are juicing from organic fruits and vegetables, you run the risk of dumping more toxins into the body.

Fruit juice is a concentrated source of sugar without the fiber. It can cause blood sugar to rise and fall rapidly. Some people will not feel good drinking juices on empty stomach. If you are diabetic, pregnant, or nursing, never do a juice fast.

If you vary the juices you drink, you will get a full complement of many vitamins and minerals along with a rich supply of carbohydrates. However, you are still lacking in two vital macronutrients - protein and fat. Without sufficient protein, your body has no raw materials to build new tissues. Without fat, your brain, skin, and hair will suffer and you will not be able to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins, like A, D, E, and K.

Your liver relies on vitamins, amino acids (building blocks of protein), and other nutrients to do its job of detoxification. By going on a juice fast for multiple days, you are not detoxing because your liver is not getting the amino acids it needs to move toxins out of the body.

Some people claim that fasting give them a "high". That is only because the body releases endorphins, a natural painkiller, in response to the perceived stress of starvation.
Do We Really Need To Detox?

Our detox organs in the body have been designed to handle toxins on a continual basis, 24/7.

The liver converts toxins into compounds that are eliminated through the bile and urine.
The kidneys separate the substances that the body needs from harmful or unnecessary ones, which they eliminate.
The colon eliminates solid waste from the body.
The lungs release carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere.
The skin gets rid of soluble waste through sweat.
However, we do live in a world where our atmosphere and food contain increasingly more toxic chemicals. So when we talk about detoxing for health, we are, in fact, looking at how efficiently our detoxification systems are working. There is no single study that shows our bodies can efficiently eliminate 100 percent of all toxins. As a matter of fact, there are many studies showing that environmental chemicals are being stored in human body tissues. Toxic levels of some chemicals have been linked to numerous health issues, including cancer.

How To Detox More Efficiently?

The ability of our detox organs to detox efficiently depends on multiple factors:

Genetics
One's individual toxic exposure
Availability of nutrients essential for the detox process
Lifestyle
There is nothing we can do about our genetics but beyond that, it is, to a huge extent, within our control.

1. Reduce your toxic exposure

Don't overload your detox organs so that they can do a more efficient job in eliminating the toxins. Educate yourself about the least toxic choices when it comes to buying food, personal care items, and household cleaners. Consider the quality of water you drink and air you breath in.

Food. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers 60% of herbicides, 90% of fungicides, and 30% of insecticides to be carcinogenic. Therefore, always buy natural, unprocessed, and organic. Avoid pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, and GMOs. Limit sugar and alcohol consumption. Reduce your intake of rancid omega-6 fats from refined vegetable oils.

Water. Drink plenty of clean, spring or filtered water, about 8-10 eight-ounce glasses for a 150-pound person. If you exercise or sweat a lot, you need to drink more. It is normal to be urinating every 1-2 hours. Water moves dead cells and waste products to the capillaries, then transport the waste by the lymphatic system and bloodstream to the kidneys for elimination. If you are chronically dehydrated, your detox capability will be compromised.

Food containers. Store food and water in glass containers or only plastic bottles with the following designations: #2HDPE, #4LDPE, and #5PP. Never microwave foods in any plastic containers as dangerous chemicals from the containers may leach into the food.

Indoor air. Breathing in carcinogenic airborne chemicals can be hazardous to health. Avoid as much as possible freshly painted rooms, new carpet off-gassing, dryer sheets, air fresheners, chemically-scented candles, aerosol sprays for hair, and furniture polish. Always have fresh air circulation indoor. Use air purifiers as needed to clean the air of dust, molds, allergens, and chemicals.

Personal care items. There are thousands of chemicals used in personal care products but few have been tested for safety. Putting chemicals on your skin is far worse than ingesting them, because when you eat something, it must go to your liver before entering your blood stream, giving your body an opportunity to detoxify substances that could be harmful. When you put chemicals on your skin, they are absorbed straight into your bloodstream, lymphatic system, and your internal organs without filtering of any kind. By all means, avoid personal care items that contain parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate, petrolatum, mineral oil, and artificial colors. Use a natural toothpaste that does not contain fluoride because its long-term exposure increases risk of lowered childhood IQ and thyroid disorders.

Household cleaners. It is well known that commonly used household chemicals cause cancer, along with other serious health effects like reproductive and developmental problems in developing children. Use only biodegradable cleaning products in your home.
2. Eat the right diet for your body

While many leading dietary experts adopt one-size-fits-all dietary solutions, the truth is that a one-size-fits-all dietary approach simply does not work for everyone. There are, indeed, universal dietary truths, such as the danger of sugar and toxins, but when it comes to the "right" diet, there is no one across-the-board diet that works 100 percent of the time.

Although we readily accept our external physical uniqueness as fact, we are often less accepting of our biochemical and physiological uniqueness on the inside. Sometimes, our mind fails to make the link that each of us, due to our specific genetics, may need to eat different foods to properly nourish our body.

Case in point, some people need more protein and fats and less carbs in their diet to stay healthy while others need more carb and less protein and fats. Some individuals need more calcium, phosphorus, and zinc while others need more chromium, magnesium, and potassium. When you address your unique biochemical needs, you are addressing health at the foundational level. Only by doing so will you be able to balance your body chemistry, optimize energy production, and detox efficiently.

Therefore, if you know your Metabolic Type, it is essential to eat according to your type. If you don't, please contact me for the online Metabolic Typing test.

3. Healthy lifestyle

Move and sweat. Your skin is another major organ of elimination. It works in conjunction with the kidneys in water regulation. Interestingly, perspiration and urine are chemically very similar, both contain substantial amounts of uric acid, the primary waste product of metabolism. Every square inch of skin contains hundreds of pores, from which metabolic wastes and toxins are expelled along with sweat. Yet, many people do not sweat on a regular basis. Daily aerobic exercise helps circulation as well as elimination of toxins through sweat. Saunas and steam baths can also promote sweating.

Regular bowel movement. It is normal and healthy to have 1-2 bowel movements daily. Improper elimination allows deposits of fecal matter to build up on the walls of the colon or in pockets that have been previously formed, leading to accumulation of toxins. Poor bowel function may be caused by insufficient fluid intake, ignoring the urge to have a bowel movement, lack of exercise, and a diet low in fiber.

Restful sleep. All healing requires extra sleep because this is the time when your body does its maintenance and repair work. Elimination of toxins occurs primarily at night while the body rests. If you do not have enough sleep, you cannot detoxify well. Eight hours of sleep per night is preferable. Best bedtime is around 10 pm. The hours before midnight are far more valuable for rejuvenation than those after midnight.
Final Word

If you decide to undertake certain detox procedures or use any detox herbs and supplements, be aware that the detox organs, namely the liver, kidneys, colon, lungs, and skin, may functionally act as a "bottleneck" for the elimination of toxins from the body. If these organs are strong and efficient, there is no problem. But if the detox organs are weak and inefficient, a backlog of toxins can occur at the "bottlenecks". While cells may be rapidly dumping toxins into the bloodstream, the toxins are not getting cleared from the body quick enough, producing some unpleasant symptoms of detox, such as headaches, chills, nausea, gas, bloating, fatigue, body odor, constipation, diarrhea, aches and pains, and skin problems.

Therefore, the safest way to detox is:

Start with cleanses (such as liver-gall bladder cleanse, coffee enema, and colon cleanse) that help move toxins out of the detox organs into the colon or kidneys for elimination.
Build up or support the detox organs to increase their detox efficiency. This is usually accomplished with the use of herbs and supplements.
Begin the process of gathering or mobilizing toxins from cells and tissues to the detox organs with the use of detox herbs and supplements.
Before you start any detox procedures, always consult with a healthcare professional who is experienced in detoxification.

Carol Chuang is a Certified Nutrition Specialist and a Metabolic Typing Advisor. She has a Masters degree in Nutrition and is the founder of CC Health Counseling, LLC. Her passion in life is to stay healthy and to help others become healthy. She believes that a key ingredient to optimal health is to eat a diet that is right for one's specific body type. Eating organic or eating healthy is not enough to guarantee good health. The truth is that there is no one diet that is right for everyone. Our metabolisms are different, so should our diets. Carol specializes in Metabolic Typing, helping her clients find the right diet for their Metabolic Type. To learn more about Metabolic Typing, her nutrition counseling practice, and how to get a complimentary phone consultation, please go to http://cchealthcounseling.com/

How to Introduce Cultured Vegetables Into Your Meals

Food experts are talking more and more about fermented foods as potent detoxifying agents for the digestive track. They have been around for years, and were used by sailors hundreds of years ago as a way to prevent food from spoiling on long voyages. They not only were an excellent source of food, but were known even then to prevent scurvy and other health maladies. Today we are finding the true health benefits of this true super food, and we should all incorporate cultured vegetables into our diet plan. But it must be done the right way.

First, what are some of the health benefits? The detoxification properties of cultured vegetables help to break down and eliminate toxins such as heavy metals from the body, plus provide healthy gut bacteria. By making the digestive system more efficient dietary fat is absorbed and eliminated, helping people with weight problems. This in turn helps to prevent diabetes, lowers your cancer and heart disease risk, plus improves overall mental health.

This all becomes even more important as we age. The stomach uses acid to kill disease-causing bacteria, viruses and fungi, while at the same time allowing the more acid-tolerant beneficial microbes to pass through. As we age the stomach generally becomes less acidic. This brings on a greater proportion of pathogenic microbes in the intestinal tract, causing a range of maladies that may even include dementia. This has not been proven scientifically as of yet, but we are certain of the importance of maintaining high levels of beneficial bacteria in our intestinal tract.

If you are planning to add cultured vegetable to you diet and have never eaten fermented foods, you will want to slowly bring your system up to speed. Immediately throwing too much into you system could provoke what is known as a healing crisis. This is where pathogens in your digestive track our killed off, and when they die they release potent toxins. Too many will cause an unpleasant reaction.

Starting off with just a teaspoon with a meal a day might be enough to get you started, and then add a little when you feel your system can take it. Experts say just a fourth to one-half a cup a day will be enough to have a dramatic beneficial impact on your health.

For those of us that cook, culturing your own vegetables isn't that difficult, and it stores very well. Check the internet for some interesting ideas that may interest you, but here is a simple one to get you started.

1. Select your herbs and vegetables. Organic foods are the healthiest and will work the best. Green or red cabbage should be the base of your blend, making up as much as 80%. Hard root vegetables such as carrots, radishes, turnips and beets go next. It's best to peel them, as the skins can be bitter. Add only a little peeled garlic, peeled ginger or basil, oregano, sage, rosemary or thyme. The fermentation process will concentrate their flavors, so go easy on these.

2. Chop the vegetables and place them in a vessel, submerge in water, making certain they are covered.

3. Add ¼ cup of kefir whey, making sure to leave a couple of inches at the top for expansion.

4. Cover the glass vessel and seal, leaving it on the counter top for at least three days to ferment. If a layer of mold forms along the top, just scrape it off, as it is harmless.

5. Put the entire contents in the refrigerator. It will have about a nine-month shelf life.

The 5 Most Powerful Benefits of Juicing

Juicing is a craze that has been building steam for many years, but is not more popular than ever before. Besides the fact that juicing is simply fun to do, there are plenty of potential benefits to juicing that can change your life over a period of time.

First, juicing is a great way to initiate weight loss. Most folks that engage in a juicing program will experience weight loss, and exciting prospect for most readers I am certain. As much as 80% of juicer participants experience weight loss after commencing the juicing program.

Second, increased energy and vitality is another key benefit to juicing. The increase in energy is most likely a combination of the increased nutrients and the rapid weight loss. When you are lighter weight you are using less energy to carry out your daily activities, therefore you will benefit from an increased energy availability once the weight drops.

Third, improved sleep is another great benefit that may result from juicing. Many of those who participate in a juicing plan will get better quality sleep, or improved sleep efficiency. This simply means you would require less sleep and feel more rested after taking part in a juicing plan.

Fourth, juicing can lead to an improved skin condition. Those implementing juicing into their lives commonly find they have an improvement with respect to skin conditions like eczema, dryness, excessive oiliness, and sunburn sensitivity.

Fifth, juicing can reduce the acidity level in your body. An increased acidity level in your body will provide a prime environment for harmful microorganisms and diseases. The lower the acidity throughout the body, the less attractive the environment for these harmful organisms to exist. Juicing will help lower the body's ph level.

Finally, juicers typically experience improved emotional and mental health. More than 80% of juicers report an improvement in their mental and emotional health as a result of their juicing efforts. Juice is rich in antioxidants, and antioxidants rid your body from harmful free radical damage. Antioxidants detoxify the body, and juicing delivers antioxidants in large quantities.

Is Colon Cancer Preventable?

Colon cancer is one of the top cancers and it leads in two categories, the most common type of cancer and one of the most preventable types of cancer. What does this show about us? It shows that we are quite dumb to let one of the top preventable cancers be the most common type of cancer. Moving on from this fact, we know that there are multiple ways to prevent colon cancer that will be explained all throughout this article.

The colon is in your digestive system, right before the waste in your body goes out of your body it gets passed through the colon. This organs job is to take out salts and liquid from the waste before it is excreted. Furthermore it is close to your anal opening which makes it easy for bacteria to come in and infect the organ. This is one of the main reasons why the colon is susceptible to cancer and other diseases. Another reason is that your waste passes through it each minute. The same waste that is excreted from your body, it has the ability to contain many bacteria that is never good for your colon.

The easiest way to prevent cancer in your colon is to eat right. Eating right will help pass waste through your body at an efficient level. This also helps clean your colon and keep it from developing bacteria and other diseases that the waste might leave behind. If worst comes to worst you can always cleanse your colon through a colon cleaning diet that takes about 2 weeks to complete.

The colon cleaning diet is easy to do, cheap to implement and is effective in treating any digestive problems that you might have. In the colon cleanse diet you are allowed to eat three times a day with the meals that you consume each day containing only organic vegetables, fruits and nuts. If you must eat some sort of meat, you may have turkey and fish. As for liquids you cannot drink any alcohol, corn sucrose, or caffeine. So stick to water or even some flavored water for some taste.

The colon cleanse diet is the best way to prevent colon cancer without having to spend thousands of dollars at the doctors office. Get yourself geared towards a happier and fuller life with the diet and stop colon cancer from coming and getting you.

Top 5 Vegetables for Cleansing and Detoxification

If you want to cleanse and detoxify with the best vegetables around, here are the top 5:

Carrots

Carrots are high in beta-carotene and other vitamins that are great for cleansing and detoxification. Carrots contain a lot of beta-carotene, as mentioned which serves as an antioxidant that helps the body to fight against free radicals. It also help slows down the aging of cells and various negative effect associated with aging. They are also believed to have potent anti-cancer properties. They also help flush out toxins. According to a research done in Harvard University, people who ate more than six carrots a week are much less likely to suffer a stroke than those who ate only one carrot a month or more.

Beets

Beet juice cleanses and nourishes the liver. They also help purify your blood. Beets are high in carbohydrates which means they are a great instant energy source, but unlike processed foods which are high in carbohydrates, beets will energize your body. Beets can be regarded as body fuel. Beets contain sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron and phosphorous. They are also considered a fiber food and contain vitamins A and C as well as niacin.

Broccoli (and its Sprouts)

This Cruciferous veggie contains up to 50 times more cancer-fighting, enzyme-stimulating activity than any other vegetable. Most readers know the former, broccoli, along with other Cruciferous vegetables, has cancer prevention properties, but broccoli sprouts are better at stimulating those toxin filtering enzymes in the liver. In any case, both are great for cleansing and detoxifying your body.

Watercress

These peppery little green leaves are rich in minerals and also have a diuretic effect that helps move things through your system. It is also rich in fiber, various antioxidants, folic acid, beta carotene iron and phosphorus. It is also a good source of iodine. It has even more calcium than milk and has more iron than spinach. On top of all that, it is also rich in Vitamin C, which has an anti-inflammatory action and can help you prevent or relieve symptoms of colds, flu and other kinds of inflammation.

Parsley

A diuretic, Parsley decreases the fluid volume in your body by adding to your urine output. Parsley is naturally a diuretic and thus great for your kidneys because the added flow of fluids through them improve urine production and output makes for a great cleansing effect on your body when you flush out bacteria and germs.

Lemon In The Morning And Its Health Benefits

The debate overwater weight and detox

I would like to say that many people argue about water weight gain. They also argue about toxins in the body and say that it's a joke because the body is designed to rid our body's of toxins. I believe that you can't talk about these two topics and not touch on the acidic vs alkaline or pH balance of the body. It is no surprise that people argue about that. I say, let the body performance do the speaking, so those who want to argue must try it before they deny it. I will say that putting the lemon in water is not the total answer, but it is a good start. I believe that once a person understands how foods effect the body, they are then more motivated to change their diet.

Lemon in the morning helps to hydrate the body

Lemon in the morning helps to wake the body up and starts up the digestive track. Because you drank the lemon water to break your nightly fast before you ate, your body is prepared for the rest of the food for the day, and also helping the body to readily absorb the food into your system. It starts your body off in hydration mode instead of dehydration mode, and that helps prevent the sluggish (adrenal fatigue) from being dehydrated. Because the body is in a hydrated state, it flushes toxins and allows the adrenals and the thyroid to produce energy. The body does this by a hormone secretion called aidostene, which regulates the amount of water and sodium in the body. As you can imagine, when the body feels good and running properly, you are happy and energetic and do not become depressed for what you might think is for no reason.

Lemon and lime both help with the pH balance of the body

The argument many people bring up is that lemon and lime are acidic foods. The problem with that argument is both lemon and lime are only acidic in their natural state and not in its digested state. The digested state of both lemon and lime is where it counts as to whether or not they are an acidic or alkaline food. Since we have a pH balance that must be maintained to be healthy, and lemon and lime are alkaline, they help with a boost to the immune system and also to healthy looking skin due to the vitamin C and the minerals that they contain which also helps with the energy boost naturally.

Lemon and lime are both a healthy and natural diuretic

Lemon is more of a diuretic if it is drank warm. Lemon also aids in the digestive process, which will aid in weight loss, but lemon is also a stimulant to the gastrointestinal tract. This helps with the gas bloat and the acid reflux so many of us suffer from. So how is this possible? Glad you asked. Lemon stimulates the muscle contraction in the intestine walls which helps it to keep things moving. so not only does it flush the liver, but also the colon. A sluggish colon will have lots of toxins in it that are being absorbed by the body into the blood stream. Lemons and limes are high in minerals and vitamins which help loosen toxins in the digestive tract, which allow them to contract the muscles and remove the tar build up that is flooding our blood with toxins. No wonder why we are getting sick. Its as simple as this, we are what we eat. We have heard that before. Our bodies are designed by God to only be able to handle so much garbage before it over doses like a drug or alcohol. The body naturally tries to compensate for the excess by depleting minerals from foods to eject it out of the body, but the body can only do so much with a lack of water and proper pH foods. That is the large part of what the liver does. What happens to you if you work 24 hrs a day 7 days a week for, lets say, 30 years? Do you thinks you will be tired with no rest, and as the years go, the work load becomes heavier? I think that is something to think about!

I can not speak for anyone else, but I feel like a different person after I cleanse. I drink lemon every day. I can sometimes add a little cayenne pepper (1/2 teaspoon ) into the lemon water to aid in detoxification process, about 2 times a week during a cleanse. I don't cleanse as often as I used to because I never defaulted back to eating only bad foods. I do eat some foods that are acidic. I do drink pop every now and again, but much much less then most. I maybe have a pop once a week or even less. I don't get sick very often. To me, being healthy allows me to be there for my family and to perform at work. While others are tired, I can keep going and rebound faster at an older age.

Exercise is also a key to success

We can do the things that I have mentioned, we can just drink lemon water or we can do nothing.but if we do something, we will really feel great when we put it with exercise. do it with family, friends and even play sports so it doesn't seem like work to stay motivated.

The only way for change to happen is to act on what you know!

4 Easy Ways to Maintain a Clean Colon

Our body has both an external and an internal system. The external is what we see and the internal what we cannot see or access. The majority of people are usually so concerned about the external and forget the internal body organs. Just as you clean your external body, you should also clean the internal. All the body organs should be maintained in a clean and healthy state. Let us look at how you can cleanse your colon. This be done using some simple natural ways which include:

· Eat sufficient amounts of foods

Every time you eat, the gastrointestinal tract is stimulated to start the process of digestion. The propelling mechanism called peristalsis is activated, pushing the food down the system. It becomes absorbed and by the time it reaches the large intestines. Most of the rest is water and waste products. This keeps the colon active as it will try to excrete the wastes products and absorb the water. Having a large bunch of these wastes to excrete, exercises the colon keeping it strong as compared to having small amounts of feeds regularly.

· Eat high fiber diet

It is in the colon that the remaining products of digestion are formed into stool, and then they are taken to the rectum to be stored. Fiber acts as roughage which assists the colon to convert these wastes into stool. The stool formed with a high fiber diet is usually soft and easy to pass out of the body, preventing what is known as constipation. This will ensure that the colon is not overstretched and overworked in the process of defecation. This fiber can be found in fruits vegetables, legumes and some grains.

· Empty your bowel as frequently as possible

Every time you feel the desire to go and empty your bowel, go. Delaying or suppressing the urge makes the colon reabsorb so much water, leaving the formed stool hard. This will lead to constipation which if delayed or persists can lead to the obstruction of the bowel. To avoid this, empty the bowel and keep your colon clean and healthy for long.

· Take plenty of water

Water in itself helps to remove waste products. It is also the main substance that is absorbed by the large intestines. Having plenty of water ensures that the stool formed is soft and will easily pass out from the body avoiding constipation. Eating foods rich in water can also be useful. On the same note of a healthy colon, it is important to exercise, as this maintains the health of the whole body. Take water after exercising too.

Generally, the idea behind colon cleansing is to ensure that you do not get constipation. Constipation makes the bowel less functional, which can be dangerous. The above tips help to maintain a clean and healthy colon.