Detoxification: How & When (Pt. 2)
Part 2: Diet, Nutrition, & Fasting
Written & Edited by: Dr. Andersen
In Part 2 of our three part series on detoxification we will delve into likely the most amendable factor you can employ to take health & healing into your own hands… How & what you choose to eat. Where diet generally refers to the foods you typically consume, nutrition goes on to specify the content & quality of the food itself. This includes things like carbohydrates, fats, & protein, as well as vitamins & minerals, phytonutrients & antioxidants, & even the energetic, life-promoting elements present in various foods & food groups when grown in accordance with nature. In addition, we’ll explore the many types of fasting opportunities available to us that afford the body digestive rest, allowing it to focus its efforts on cellular detoxification & rejuvenation.
Diet & Nutrition
What you choose to eat significantly impacts your body’s ability to function properly & maintain equilibrium. This entails the basics like consuming adequate carbohydrates, fats, & proteins, as well as vitamins & minerals to supply your various systems with the foundational nutriment required to operate in a coherent & intelligible manner. It should also be obvious that one wouldn’t want to add toxins to a system if the goal were detoxification.. and this is where the quality of the food you eat is equally, if not more important than the actual food itself. For example, commercially-produced, genetically-modified food raised on synthetic fertilizers & sprayed with chemical herbicides & pesticides obviously deviates from Nature’s natural processes. These unnatural actions & fabricated conditions weaken the inherent Vital Force, the Vis Medicatrix Naturae or “Healing Power of Nature”, within the plant itself & the food it provides, rendering it deficient in the essential light energy that animates & sustains all that is life (ie. astral body, bioplasma field, energetic body, etc), that which permeates, organizes, & orchestrates the neurology, physiology, & biochemistry of you and every other living being. Further, exposure to these toxic chemicals burdens the consumer with heavy metals & pollutes the water that makes up 70% of the Earth & all life by volume, but 99% of every molecule in the human body. These harmful amendments applied to plants & transferred to the animals who eat them has been shown time & time again to both impede one’s ability to maintain physiologic equilibrium via hormonal dysregulation & microbiome disruption, leading to all forms of chronic, degenerative disease by disrupting detoxification, elimination, & metabolic pathways, as well as the resultant bio-accumulation & toxemia that ensues. We don’t mean to alarm anyone, but there may be cause for concern if you are regularly consuming any of these noxious foods or the animals raised on them.
Choosing fresh, local, & organic produce is undoubtedly one of the best choices you can make to support healthy detoxification, overall health, & general well-being on a daily basis. Not only are you sparing your body the burden of introducing deadly, “forever” chemicals that are extremely difficult to remove, you are providing it with food that actually feeds your body & mind in the way Nature intended it. To speak to the energetic quality & vitality of fresh, local, & organic foods, as they alone provide the elements responsible for driving the detoxification pathways that result in health & wellness, fresh, raw, ripe fruits & vegetables, & their freshly-squeezed juices, are at the top of that list. Next, would be raw+soaked nuts & seeds, & raw ocean-/shellfish, as well as olive oil which maintains its radiance for up to six years, whereas butter & all other dairy products are good for only about 10 days after production. Then comes naturally-fermented products like kombucha, jun, kimchi, & sauerkraut. Finally, bringing up the tail of the foods that supply radiance & help us to thrive, not just survive, are cooked foods like freshly-cooked vegetables, whole grains, & ocean-/shellfish. Of course, no list would be complete without detailing the foods which yield no energetic value, including all packaged, processed, & refined foods/beverages, land animals & their products, alcohol, chocolate, coffee, poultry, tea, & tobacco. Every body is unique & requires different quantities of each of the above types of foods for sure, but no body shines if consuming primarily chemically-ridden, genetically-modified foods or items from the bottom of the energetic list taken from The Secret Life of Plants described above.
In addition, here is a list of detoxifying & inflammatory-mediating foods, as well as those to avoid, when trying to cleanse:
Favor Alkaline foods & beverages: Always choose an Organic & mostly Vegan Diet - Avocados, Beets, Berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc), Burdock root, Carrots, Citrus fruits (lemon, lime, orange), Cruciferous vegetables (arugula, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, horseradish, kale, mustard greens, radishes, turnips, wasabi), Dark leafy greens (collards, dandelion greens, kale, spinach, swiss chard, etc), Fatty wild-caught fish (anchovies, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines, sea bass, tuna), Garlic, Ginger, Green tea (esp organic matcha tea), Legumes (all beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc), Nuts & Seeds (almonds, walnuts, chia, flax, hemp, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower), Olive oil, Turmeric, Whole grains (buckwheat, brown rice, millet, oats, quinoa)
Avoid Acidic foods & beverages: Animal meats/products (esp overcooked meat, pasteurized dairy, etc), Chocolate, Dairy, Eggs, Fatty/Fried foods, Gluten/Wheat, Hydrogenated/Saturated oils, Peanuts, Processed & Refined foods/grains/sugars (esp processed foods & drinks), Tomatoes, Alcohol, Caffeine (coffee, black tea, soda, energy drinks, etc), Rx/Recreational drugs, Tobacco products, Artificial anything (flavors, sweeteners, etc), Late night snacking (avoid any calorie intake within 2-3 hours of bed time)
Fasting
Fasting is a practice as old as time itself, a natural cleansing process bred into the fabric of our very being. Over millennia, fasting has evolved from an adaptation to food scarcity into harnessing the power of intentional fasting that promotes health & healing. Our body, mind, & spirit, in its infinite wisdom, focus that innate healing propensity to where it's needed most when we afford ourselves digestive rest. That rest can be through calorie-restriction, which most people associate with the word “fasting”, or by eating a clean, organic, whole-foods diet while focusing on a simple single-food or meal plan (ie. mono-diet) for a short period of time.
Calorie-Restriction Diets
Calorie-restriction has revealed many benefits over the last 30+ years, including improved metabolism (ie. increased energy efficiency/production), increased longevity (ie. longer average life spans), & delayed onset of age-associated diseases (ie. cardiovascular, cancer, metabolic, neuro-degenerative, etc)... and the benefits don’t stop there. Fasting improves brain function, focus, & mood, it boosts digestive, heart, & immune function resulting in decreased infection, inflammation, & pain, & promotes healthy, lasting weight loss by increasing human growth hormone (HGH) production, insulin sensitivity, & blood sugar control, as well as normalizing hunger cues. With a roster like that, it’s a surprise more people haven’t hopped on the train to “healthy-ville!”
There are three main categories of calorie-restriction diets that will be discussed in order of difficulty, but first a list of absolute contraindications for undertaking a calorie-restriction diet:
Severe or untreated cardiac (heart), hepatic (liver), renal (kidney), or thromboembolic (blood-clotting) disease
Type 1 Diabetes
Severe eating disorders or cachexia (underweight or wasting disease)
Cancer with cachexia (common in later stages of cancer’s progression)
Finally, before considering any type of calorie-restriction diet, a disclaimer - *All types of fasting should only be done under the guidance & supervision of a qualified healthcare professional to assure the intended outcomes & safety of all involved participants.
1) Fast-Mimicking Diets (FMDs) - Beginner*
The FMD has gained much popularity with the work of Professor Valter Longo, PhD from the University of Southern California (USC). His non-profit company, ProLon (short for Pro Longevity), donates all proceeds to researching methods that promote longer human life spans. The data gathered from his 20+ years in research have revealed much of what we know about fasting today.
FMDs are 5-day nutritional meal programs that put your body into a fasting state even though you’re still eating. Initially, FMDs are done for a minimum of five consecutive days, once monthly, for at least three to six successive months to retrain your metabolic system to run more efficiently, & by getting into Ketosis (fat-burning & toxin release) & Autophagy (cellular cleansing, regeneration, & renewal) on each individual fast. After the initial metabolic reset period, it is recommended to do an FMD once every three to six months thereafter. We recommend an FMD at every change of season to adequately cleanse the body & mind’s accumulation from one season and properly prepare it for the next.
At Matrix Wellness, we are extremely grateful for the research performed at USC as well as the FMD framework it has elucidated. However, we’ve found that all versions of the ProLon FMD contain prepared foods with common food intolerances like refined cane sugar & potato, in addition to being sourced from commercially-grown produce. This is why we created the Matrix FMD, a 100% organic, vegan nutritional meal program that is free from all common food intolerances & includes additional detoxification support through Klamath Lakes blue-green algae supplementation & spirulina breakfast bars to optimize your fasting results.
2) Juice & Broth Fasts - Intermediate* to Advanced*
As mentioned in the Diet & Nutrition section above, fresh-pressed fruit & vegetable juices provide the most available, detoxifying, & energizing nutrient profile of any other food. Further, when juiced, the nutrients from these fresh, organic products are presented in the most bio-available, easy-to-digest form possible. Broth fasts offer many of the same benefits, but don’t provide the brilliance that radiates from freshly-juiced produce. However, for those who are particularly concerned about protein inadequacies associated with juice fasting, consuming the two independently during your fast will provide adequate protein with the added benefit of vibrant, freshly-squeezed, nutrient-dense nectar from the seasonal, organic, locally-sourced produce you need for its cleansing action.
Juice & Broth fasts are done for a minimum of five days, but some plans go on for 20 days or more. Doing a yearly 20-day juice &/or broth cleanse, either between the seasons from spring to summer or summer to fall, is an excellent way to revitalize every organ & tissue system in the body & mind. Then, doing a 5-day bowel cleanse or FMD three more times per year, at every other seasonal change, along with a balanced diet & lifestyle, including daily movement, stress management practice, & getting back to nature, will help to ensure prevention of any adverse condition or dis-ease from settling into the body.
Want more? Juice & broth fasts can easily be combined with herbal detox programs that specifically target the organs of digestion & detoxification… stay tuned for third installment in the Detoxification: How & When series where we’ll illuminate the many ways herbal & homeopathic preparations can support & synergize your healing experience to new heights.
3) Water-Only Fasts - Advanced*
… And finally, the water-only fast. Five or more of the most trying days in your life, and going away, one of the most rejuvenating experiences you’ll ever endure physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. Drinking only purified, structured water for a minimum of five days, the benefits of the above fasts are reached more quickly & penetrate more deeply due to the lack of any caloric intake. This allows the Vital Force full concentration to regenerate, rejuvenate, & renew your entire being, beginning where it’s needed most.
Calorie-restriction diets can be good for almost any type of acute or chronic dis-ease. Other than the absolute contraindications mentioned above, everything from fevers to lifelong afflictions find results that most would call a miracle, often termed “spontaneous recovery/remission” by allopathic medicine, when giving the body time & space to focus its healing efforts on resolving the underlying imbalance.
Mono-Diet
As the name implies, this type of fast involves eating either a single food or simple meal every time hunger arises for at least 3 days duration. The idea is simple, by giving your body only one simple food or meal to digest it simplifies the digestive process & enzymes necessary to effectively break down the food into its constituent nutrients. This is a form of digestive rest, even though there is no limit on the calories that you consume. In contrast to calorie-restriction fasting, you’ll find that you naturally choose to consume fewer calories. This is due to the fact that you’re solely allowing yourself to consume a single food or fairly bland meal that really appears appetizing only when there is actual hunger, eliminating the desire to indulge in the more emotional type of eating.
The benefits associated with mono-dieting are somewhat similar to that of calorie-restriction plans, just not as deeply penetrating or effective. Mono-diets simply don’t allow the body to enter into ketosis & eventual autophagy (ie. cellular clean-up) that are the hallmarks of traditional fasting programs. They are, however, more ideally suited to individuals that are underweight or trying to maintain muscle mass & physical performance while they fast. Furthermore, they are quite a bit easier to do on your own, especially since you get to eat as much as you want to feel full, avoiding the most common pitfall when trying to limit one’s caloric intake.
Conclusion
In conclusion, diet, nutrition, & fasting are some of the surest ways to support your body’s natural healing mechanisms & realize whole-systems health & wellness. If you’re considering whether or not fasting is right for you, we’re always here to discuss any concerns you may have. Please continue to follow along in the final installment of Detoxification: How & When, where we’ll explore herbal & homeopathic approaches to healing in body, mind, & spirit.