Kick Arse

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Follow these easy steps to detoxify your body from the inside-out.

Do you experience the following?

o low energy levels
o Recurrent headaches
o Muscle aching & weakness
o Chronic fatigue & lethargy
o Depression, anxiety &/or mood swings
o Nerve pain & numbness
o Recurrent colds & flu
o Infertility
o Poor concentration
o Digestive problems
o Sleep disturbance, insomnia

If the answer to more than two of these questions is yes, then you may need to consider cleansing your body from the inside-out, by following a detoxification programme.

Toxicity means how poisonous a substance is. One of the body’s defence mechanisms against toxic substances is to store the harmful chemicals in your fat cells. This actually means that these poisons can be stored in our tissues for many years, thus becoming an ongoing source of ill health.

We are all exposed to toxins daily through the environment and through the natural process that is made in our bodies when our diet is not clean. Environmental toxins include: metals, chemicals, hormones, bacterial and microbial toxins that are present in the air, water and food that we consume. Toxins made in our body include hormones and other chemicals. Hormones are produced in our body and chemicals are produced by bugs in our digestive system which eventually enter our bloodstream.

We are exposed to toxins every day:

Internal Stress Sugar Free radicals Bad gut bugs Maldigestion	External Alcohol Air pollution Cigarettes Ffood chemicals (additives, colourings) Pain solvents, formaldahydes Pesticides Radiation Traffic fumes Water (chlorine, flourine)

The effects they have in our body are:

Short term	long term
Allergies Constipation Diarrhoea Fatigue Fever Vomiting PMT Poor memory Gut ache Headache Nausea Muscle aches & pains Indigestion	asthma autoimmune diseases bone loss (osteoporosis) chronic fatigue syndrome dementia (alzheimer’s) recurrent infections psoriasis impotence & infertility eczema heart disease

The average human eats 25,000 kg of food over a lifetime!!

With this amount of food, the body is taking also a large supply of “junk” food or food that is not so healthy for you, and is forced to run your body and remove the waste products. What a load or pressure we constantly force into our bodies! No wonder the greatest gift you can give your body is to improve the quality of your diet.

However there are as many diets and dietary recommendations available at the moment as there are meals for you to try them in. Most people don’t know where to start.

Below is a summary of some key points to consider when going on a Detox eating plan:

• fill your refrigerator with fresh vegetables and where possible buy organic. The more greens you consume, the better the detox effect. E.g broccoli.
• Avoid packaged foods as much as possible
• Eliminate foods containing artificial flavours and colours. Also avoid flavour enhancers such as MSG (621), as well as foods containing hydrogenated fats and stabilisers. Check the ingredients list on the food labels.
• Avoid high amounts sodium, salt and sugar.

Sugar can be in the form of: glucose, sucrose, fructose, maltose, lactose and honey.

Aim for less than 15 g of sugar per serve.

• read the ingredients list to ensure that the food does not contain high amounts of saturated fat, additives and gluten.
• fresh vegetable juice is beneficial whilst you detox.

It is a good idea to own a juicer. Try the following:

Juice carrots, apples, ginger, fresh beetroot, celery, lemon.

• It is best to consume soy milk that is made from whole
• Soy beans (not isolate) and which is low in sugars and free from preservatives. Good quality brands include: Vita Soy or Australia’s Own. If you would prefer rice milk, then both Vitasoy and Australia’s Own produce are both good brands.
• drink only filtered/purified water.
• Cereal grass i.e wheat & barley grass(see below)

Cereal grass is a high-chlorophyll food which are available in powders and tablets. Commercially these usually appear as either wheat or barley grass (greens). People with allergies to wheat are almost never allergic to wheat or barley greens in their grass stage!

Compared to spirulina & chlorella, cereal grass is faster at cleansing toxins in the body. Its strong digestive properties help those with liver toxicity, slow digestion, and gastro-intestinal inflammation.

Cereal grass also helps with arthritis, constipation, rheumatism, to name a few. It is best taken upon rising, before breakfast.

Chinese medicine recognizes certain common foods as toxin neutralizers. Add the following foods to your diet & experience a gentle detox. effect:

• tofu
• millet
• mung beans
• aduki beans
• black soybeans
• Swiss chard
• Radishes
• Turnips
• Figs (only 1-2 per day)
• Apple cider vinegar

Vinegar is best taken in the form of apple cider, which is mixed a teaspoon at a time in 1/3 cup of water. Best to be taken upon rising in the morning to strengthen digestive imbalances.

Your shopping list:

Vegetables – all vegetables and salad greens are allowed except potatoes.

Fruit – all berry fruits plus pineapple, kiwi, and plums

Meat, fish, eggs and poultry – choose only organic! (avoid pork, processed meats such as sausages, salami, bacon, smoked fish)

Dairy – avoid cow’s milk, cream, cheese and dairy

Only consume rice milk, soy milk (see above for brands)

Pulses & legumes – all beans, especially mung beans, black soybeans and aduki

Beans. All peas.

Avoid – baked beans and peanuts!

Grains, breads & cereals – avoid wheat products i.e white bread, wholemeal bread & wholegrain bread, pasta, noodles, biscuits, cakes, wheat wheat based cereals that are highly process in sugar (check the package labels)

Consume only – spelt bread, rice cakes, gluten free products, Brown rice, amaranth, LSA mix, lecithin granules.

Nuts & seeds – all nuts & seeds in moderation. Avoid peanuts!

Hot drinks – all herbal teas. Avoid coffee, black tea, milk and sugar!

Sauces & dressings – avoid all processed commercial dressings!

Olive, linseed & flaxseed oil is good.

Lemon, apple cider vinegar, tahini, natural chilli sauce, natural soy sauce, natural tomato paste.

Herbs & spices – all fresh herbs & spices are good.

Kathryn Avramakis (OMD) is a health and fitness specialist. She is a registered Doctor of Chinese Medicine and a world title holder in figure bodybuilding-Miss Figure Universe.

Kathryn can be contacted at www.kathrynavramakis.com.au (watch out for my new website being launched soon!)