Lessons from the Miracle Doctors
Chapter 13
CLEANSING YOUR LIVER AND BLOOD
Detoxifying Your Liver
Our liver is the primary filter of our body. Good health is impossible without proper function
of the liver. Unfortunately, over time, we so abuse it and so overtax it that illness is the inevitable
result. As part of a program to rebuild and repair the liver, we must:
>Remove all the excess fat from the liver
>Get bile flowing freely again
>Eliminate toxic waste that our livers have filtered out
>Dissolve and pass out the accumulated gall stones that are stored in our livers.
>Regenerate the damaged and destroyed cells of the liver.
Next to the skin, the liver is the largest organ in the body. In many ways, it is the most important organ in the body, and the last to be considered when it comes to health. In addition to being large, the liver is also a complicated organ involved in at least 200 separate functions. Generally speaking, the liver performs a vital role in regulating, synthesizing, storing, secreting, transforming,
and breaking down many different substances in the body. Specifically, some of these include:
>Regulation of fat stores
>Cleansing the blood and discharging waste products
>Neutralizing and destroying poisons
>Protein metabolism,including manufacturing of new body proteins
>Metabolizing alcohol
>Managing chemicals and drugs in the blood
>Aiding the digestive process by the production of bile
>Helping the body resist infections by producing immune factors and by removing bacteria from the blood stream
>Storing vitamins, minerals, and sugars
>Production of quick energy when needed
>Controlling the production and excretion of cholesterol
>Maintaining hormone balance
>Regenerating its own damaged tissue
The liver is so important to our well-being that many healers maintain that most diseases cannot develop in the body (that, in fact, no form of cell degeneration can occur) if the liver is functioning in an efficient, healthy manner. Conversely, an unhealthy liver is very likely at the root of most serious health problems.
So What Harms the Liver?
>Too much protein in the diet. Protein metabolism is especially taxing on the liver since it is the liver which must metabolize complex proteins into simple compounds. The greater the consumption of protein, the greater the stress on the liver.
>Too many simple carbohydrates in the diet. The body converts excess simple carbohydrates into triglycerides, which are then stored in the liver as fat. The more fat stored in the liver, the harder it is for the liver to perform its full range of normal functions.
>Overeating. Too much enzyme deficient food stresses the liver.
>Drug residues. Virtually all of the drugs that we take (medicinal, recreational, chemotherapy, whatever) are processed, purified, and refined in the liver—in preparation for elimination from the body.
>Alcohol causes inflammation of the liver's tissue. Once the liver is inflamed, it can nolonger filter, which causes it to plug up with fat and become even more inflamed. If we consume enough alcohol, we overwhelm the liver's ability to regenerate itself, and the net result is cirrhosis (or hardening) of the liver.
>Toxins, heavy metals, and pesticides. Everything we breathe, eat, and absorb through our skin is purified and refined in the liver.
>Lack of exercise forces the liver to do the elimination work that should be done by the lungs and the skin.
>And of course, there's always liver disease such as chronic Hepatitis C.
What Are the Symptoms of Liver Dysfunction?
>Digestive problems
>Constipation
>Low energy output
>Allergies and hay fever
>Arthritis
>Diabetes
>Hypertension
>Obesity
>Infertility
So What Can Be Done About It?
Fortunately, your liver has an astounding ability to regenerate itself—if you give it a chance.
Giving it a chance means two things:
>The Don'ts
In Chapter 6, we discussed the elements of proper diet. Well, they particularly apply in terms of the liver. You need to eliminate (or at least cut back) the liver stressors in your diet. The sicker you are, the more cleaned up your diet needs to be. If you're suffering from serious liver problems, a raw juice diet may be required to give your liver time to regenerate.
>The Do's
Several times a year, you need to do an herbal detox/flush of your liver. A low level cleanse using betaine hydrochloride and pancreatic enzymes is also helpful.
You need to regularly include nutritional support for the liver. Look for formulas that contain milk thistle, dandelion root, the perennial herb Picrorhiza kurooa,[1]and artichoke or beet leaf.
And Finally, a Word About the Gallbladder
The poor gallbladder. Guilty by being found at the scene of the crime, it is the frequent target of the surgeon's knife. Gallbladder removal is one of the most frequently performed operations in
America.[2]
Understand, the gallbladder is not responsible for the production of gallstones. The liver is the culprit—or rather what we do to the liver. The gallbladder is merely a holding area for bile to be used in the digestion of fats and oils. But if our diets are too high in the wrong kind of oils, if we have allergies to dairy and eggs, low levels of stomach acid, too little fiber in our diets, stress, if the liver is not functioning properly, etc., etc., etc., why then the bile produced in the liver (a mixture of cholesterol, minerals, bile salts, pigment, and lecithin) is of a type and consistency that tends to quickly harden into "stones" before it can be passed out of the gallbladder.[3]
Removing the gallbladder does not remove the problem; it merely removes the symptoms. Yes, it's true that after gallbladder removal you're unlikely to suffer from further gallstones. But on the other hand, you've now traded one problem for two new ones:
1. Since you never corrected the underlying problem of imbalances in the liver, these problems will just continue to get worse—eventually compromising the liver itself.
2. By removing the gallbladder, you also remove its regulating effect on bile. That means that bile is continually dumping into your intestinal tract when it is not needed, and is available in only minimal amounts when it is needed. The net result is chronic digestive problems and probable long-term nutritional deficiencies.
Far better than removing the gallbladder is a seasonal liver/gallbladder flush combined with a periodic liver rebuilding program.
Liver/Gallbladder Flush
By cleansing the liver, we're talking about inducing the liver to purge all of the fats, old cholesterol deposits, gallstones, poisons, drug residues, and toxic waste stored therein. Probably nothing else you do (including even the bowel cleanse and detox) will make a greater difference in your overall health.
[1 Picrorhiza has been shown to protect liver cells from the many degenerative changes that would normally becaused by a variety of liver toxins. It appears to be particularly useful in treating both alcoholic liver damage and chronic viral hepatitis.]
[2 Over a half-million gallbladders are removed each year in the United States.]
[3 Women, incidentally, are four times more likely than men to get gallstones.]
Note: It is vital that you do a colon cleanse before doing the liver cleanse. When the liver dumps, it dumps through the bile duct and out into the colon. If the colon (the drain pipe if you will) is plugged, the waste backs up into the blood stream and can make you feel extremely ill. This is the reason that the "Miracle Doctors" always start with the colon detox. It's the prerequisite for all the other cleanses in the body—and, of course, can also produce dramatic healings in its own right.
The 5-Day Cleanse
This is the Liver/Gallbladder flush recommended by Dr. Richard Schulze—and is the one most people should opt for. It is done in the morning on an empty stomach for 5 days.
First thing on rising, drink 8 ounces of pure water to flush your digestive tract.
An hour later, in a blender, mix up 8 ounces of any fresh squeezed citrus juice (fresh squeezed apple juice or grape juice with all the sediment will work too), one lemon, 1 clove of garlic (increase by 1 clove each day), 1 tablespoon of olive oil (increase by 1 tablespoon each day), and a piece of ginger (about 1-inch long) along with 8- ounces of pure water.
Drink it down and follow with a fresh juice chaser to clear your mouth.
Fifteen minutes after consuming this drink, follow with 2 cups of the liver/detox tea. It is also important to take 2 droppersful of the liver/detox tincture 3-6 times a day while on the 5-day cleanse—and continuing after until the bottle is gone.
The Detox Diet
It is extremely beneficial to incorporate a 2-day raw food and 3-day juice fast into your 5-day cleanse.
> Day 1
During the morning (after your cleansing drink and stopping one hour before lunch), eat all the live fresh fruit or vegetable juice you want. Beet juice is especially good. Do not mix your fruit and vegetable juices together, and feel free to dilute your juices.
For lunch you can have more diluted juice, or a raw vegetable or sprout salad. Absolutely do not use bottled dressing. Make your own dressing from fresh olive oil and lemon or apple cider vinegar and any fresh herbs and spices you of your choice. If you are hungry throughout the day, feel free to snack on fresh vegetables or juices.
For dinner eat fresh fruit or fruit juice or fruit smoothies.
> Days 2-4
After your morning flush, drink diluted juices and herbal tea throughout the day—as much as you can drink. Try to consume 128 ounces during the day.
Also recommended throughout the day is to consume cups of potassium broth. Potassium broth takes advantage of the fact that the outside of a potato is one of the highest plant sources of potassium. Take the peelings (1/4" to 1/2" including the skin) of several potatoes. Do NOT use the inside. Add other well chopped vegetables to taste including carrots (with skin), celery , whole beets (including greens), fresh parsley, and lots of onion and garlic (up to 50 cloves).
Simmer for 40-60 minutes in a covered pot using clean filtered water. Strain out the vegetables, cool and drink the broth. Refrigerate leftover broth in glass containers in the refrigerator for use over the next 2 days.
> Day 5
Same as Day 1
30-Day Cleanse
Eat 1 cup of freshly grated beets mixed with olive oil and lemon for 30 days straight.
Daily use of the liver/detox tea and tincture is also required.
What Can You Expect?
If you are so inclined (and you should be) you should examine what you deposit in the toilet.
Look for "stones." The bile from the liver gives some stones their pea green color. But also look for black stones and red ones and brown ones. And look for stones with blood inside them.
During the course of a cleanse, it's not uncommon to pass some 2,000 of these stones. Be glad. The more you pass, the healthier you become. You may also find untold numbers of tiny
white cholesterol "crystals" mixed in with the waste.
The Liver/Detox Tea & Tincture
The use of an herbal tea and tincture along with the flush is essential.
The Tea
The tea helps with the flushing process itself, but also helps minimize any discomfort or nausea. The key herb in the tea is dandelion root, one of the strongest herbal lipotropics known. That
is to say, it flushes fat deposits from the liver. Other herbs that you will find in a good detox tea include things like ginger, clove, cinnamon, burdock root, and horsetail.
Incidentally, some of the other herbs used in a good liver/detox tea (such as uva ursi, parsley root, and juniper berries) are also extremely beneficial to the kidneys.
Two cups of the tea should be consumed fifteen minutes after drinking your citrus and olive flush. But several cups can and should be consumed throughout the day. In fact, consuming the
liver/detox tea as a regular part of your diet is a pleasant and tasty way to continually optimize your health. (Feel free to sweeten the tea with honey or real maple syrup as desired.)
The Tincture
The tincture is crucial in that it contains herbs that help the liver to rebuild and regenerate itself. A secondary benefit is that it will significantly reduce the liver's release of LDL cholesterol. The key herbs include milk thistle, dandelion root, the perennial herb picrorhiza kurooa (sometimes called kutkin, or "Indian milk
thistle"), and artichoke or beet leaf.
The liver/detox tincture is also a good place to include the antiparasitic herbs such as wormwood and black walnut. Along with the garlic that you are taking with the liver flush, this will
drive virtually any parasite from your body.
Take 2 droppersful 3-6 times a day (depending on your level of illness and your level of discomfort) until the entire bottle is gone.
The Blood
Our blood is filled with many impurities including everything from an overabundance of fats and cholesterol, to toxic heavy metals. These must be removed from the blood for optimum health.
The idea of blood cleansing goes back to the middle ages; and, when you think about it, the concept of "cleaning" the blood probably resonates with today's medical establishment about as
well as bloodletting and philosopher's stones. Nevertheless, it works—and what's more, it even makes sense.
The concept that we eventually overwhelm our body's ability to remove all of the toxins from our blood is not really too hard to imagine, especially if we actually think about what it is we eat
and drink. Does anyone really believe that the body is capable of removing the waste created in a life of eating high-fat fast-food burgers, french fries cooked in beef fat, countless large colas containing 32 teaspoons of sugar, and cream-filled donuts boiled in lard and packed with hydrogenated oil and sugar filling. Then, to top it all off at the end of the day, a half pound of beef jerky
and a bag of pork rinds, accompanied by a six pack of beer just to teach the liver a lesson?
Okay, so maybe you don't do all that. But remember, what you do do, you do day after day, year after year. Eventually:
>Your blood can no longer remove everything you throw at it. It becomes "toxic" and thick—burbling like sludge through your arteries.
>The quality of your blood (cells and plasma) is compromised by the quality of the food you eat. Your blood totally replaces itself every 120 days. How can you possibly expect to be building high-quality blood on a diet of pepperoni pizza, beer, and twinkies?
Eventually, you need to correct the problem on multiple levels, or face long term degenerative illness.
>You have to do a general cleaning of the blood
>You have to remove all of the heavy metals and excess cholesterol
>You have to address the issue of blood pH
>You have to eat the right kinds of food and supplements so that your body can beginproducing, once again, healthy blood.
CLEANSING THE BLOOD
There is no secret as to which herbs cleanse the blood. Despite what medical doctors may think, the efficacy of these herbs has been proved over several hundred years. Just because medical
science doesn't yet know why these herbs work as blood cleansers, doesn't mean that they don't. They do. Any good blood cleansing formula will contain some, or all, of the following
herbs: Red clover blossoms, Burdock root, Chaparral, Periwinkle, and Goldenseal.[1]
The Chelators
Over 300,000 bypasses a year are now performed in US hospitals, at well over $40,000 each. It works out to something like $15 billion dollars a year spent on coronary bypasses. At least 5%
of the patients die from the procedure; even more die not long after from complications such as stroke. But what the heck, it's a small risk and a small price to pay since there's no alternative. Right?
Well, not exactly. As it turns out, there is an alternative that's so effective that in countries such as New Zealand, it's against the law to perform a bypass unless this alternative has been tried first. This treatment is called chelation therapy, and it could save hundreds of thousands of lives a year. Unfortunately, it costs just a fraction of what a coronary bypass or angioplasty costs. In other words, since chelation therapy would cost the medical establishment billions of dollars a year, it's not surprising they don't use it.
Chelation therapy has two pronounced effects on the body.
1. It chelates (or claws) onto heavy metals such as aluminum, lead, and mercury (particularly those located in the cardiovascular system) and pulls them out of your body.
2. By removing heavy metals from the body, chelation therapy significantly reduces the production of free radicals in the blood stream and the consequent scarring of the arterial walls.
The net result for most people is a dramatic improvement in the health and condition of their cardiovascular system. If you're in an advanced state of coronary disease, you should seriously
consider tracking down a doctor who specializes in EDTA chelation therapy.
Note: chelation therapy is not for everyone. It involves going to a doctor's office for a series of approximately 30 four-hour intravenous "drip" sessions. In addition, although it costs a fraction
of what bypass surgery costs, it is not inexpensive—usually running a little over $2,000 for the complete set of 30 sessions. On the other hand, if you are not in an "advanced state," there is an
even easier alternative.
[1 Poke root is one of the greatest blood cleansers, but the FDA has made it difficult to find any formulas that actually incorporate poke root.]
Oral Chelation
Oral chelation is not as quick as chelation therapy, Nevertheless, given a little time, it can do an extremely effective job at cleaning out the blood. Oral chelation formulas are usually based on one of two key ingredients:
> Most formulas are based on EDTA. EDTA works great when administered directly into the blood stream through standard chelation therapy, but it's usefulness when taken orally is open to question. There are some studies that indicate that there may be
less than 5% absorption when taken orally.
> There's really only one oral chelator that's "proven." It's relatively expensive and difficult to handle, which is why you rarely find it (at adequate dosages) in oral chelation formulas. It's cysteine. Oral chelation formulas based on cysteine need to provide a
good 750 mg of cysteine[1] in a day's dosage. The tablets also need to be protected from the air since cysteine oxidizes easily and turns black and smelly when exposed to air. Keep in mind, however, that oral chelation formulas with cysteine have a couple of problems that need to be addressed.
High doses of cysteine can cause kidney stones to form; therefore, the chelation formula must include adequate amounts of vitamin C (about 4,000-5,000 mgs a day) to prevent the formation of kidney stones.
> Also, there is a risk when high levels of cysteine are used that the body will convert it to homocysteine—not good for the heart. High levels of the B vitamins (particularly folic acid), however, will prevent conversion of the cysteine to homocysteine.
Two Low-Cost Chelation Alternatives
> An interesting low-cost alternative may have recently emerged. Initial studies indicate that fresh cilantro may be extremely effective in helping flush heavy metals out of the blood. Taking 400 mg of cilantro a day can pretty much clean heavy metals out of the
body in just 2-3 weeks.[2] Dr. David Williams has a great recipe for cilantro pesto in his June '98 Alternatives newsletter.
Process one cup packed fresh cilantro and six tablespoons of olive oil in a blender until the cilantro is chopped. Add one clove garlic; a half cup almonds, cashews, or other nuts, and two tablespoons lemon juice. Blend to a lumpy paste. (Add a little hot water if necessary.) Eat a couple of teaspoons a day for three weeks to
clean out the heavy metals. Repeat 2 or 3 times a year. Be careful; it tastes incredible and is addictive. (Note: the pesto freezes nicely, so you can make several batches at once.)
> The other chelator is malic acid. Malic acid is found in fresh apples and apple cider vinegar. Malic acid is particularly useful in removing aluminum from the body.
[1 As a comparison, the yolk of one egg contains about 250 milligrams of cysteine. But in an egg the cysteine is offset by all the other essential amino acids in the egg.]
[2 This can be determined by tracking the rise and fall of heavy metal levels found in the urine when fresh cilantro is consumed over a 3-week period.]
Balancing pH
Our bodies function in a very narrow range of acid/alkaline balance (pH). Our blood in particular is very sensitive to these changes. Ideally, blood pH should be slightly alkaline at about
7.45. If it varies by even as little as a few tenths of a point, severe illness and death may result. Unfortunately, most of the food we eat is highly acidic (meat, dairy, sodas, alcohol, cooked grains). In the end, it becomes too much for our bodies to handle. If we don't correct the problem by "alkalinizing" the body, disease, sickness, and death are the inevitable result.
What is pH? It's simply the measurement of the acid/alkaline balance of anything.
>On the pH scale, water is neutral and rates a 7.0 on the scale.
>Acids (such as hydrochloric acid and citric acid) are rated as numbers less than 7.0. The further away from 7.0 the number is, the stronger the acid. Cow's milk at 6.5 is slightly acidic; Soft drinks at 3.0 are strongly acidic; and stomach acid at 1.5 is highly acidic.
>Alkaline substances include everything that rates above 7.0 on the pH scale. Again, as with acids, the further away from 7.0 the number, the more alkaline the substance. Blood at 7.45 is slightly alkaline; pancreatic juice in your intestines is strongly alkaline at 8.8, and baking soda at 12.0 is highly alkaline.
Your body has a whole bunch of different pHs that it has to maintain. Your saliva is slightly alkaline. Your stomach is strongly acidic. Your intestines are strongly alkaline. Your urine is acid.
But of all the pHs in your body, the most crucial is your blood. If your blood pH deviates even 5/10ths of a point from its normal pH of 7.45, death is likely. Considering the importance
of pH to the body, it's well worth discussing a little further how it affects the body, and how we can help maintain the proper pH levels in our own bodies.
The importance of pH really boils down to two things:
1. Enzymes. We've already discussed the importance of enzymes. They control every single metabolic function in our bodies, and they are integral to our immune system. As it says in Anatomy and Physiology by Anthony and Thibodeau, "Enzymes function optimally at a specific pH and become inactive if this deviates beyond narrow limits."
2. Oxygen. Every cell in our body requires oxygen for life—and to maintain optimum health. To put it simply, the more acid the blood, the less oxygen is available for use by the cells. Without going into a discussion of the chemistry involved, just understand that it's the same mechanism involved when acid rain "kills" a lake. The fish literally suffocate to death because the acid in the lake "binds up" all of the available oxygen. It's not that the oxygen has gone anywhere; it's just no longer available. Conversely, if you raise the pH of the lake, oxygen is now available and the lake comes back to life. Incidentally, it's worth noting that cancer is related to an acid environment (lack of oxygen). The higher the pH (the more oxygen present in the cells of the body), the harder it is for cancer to thrive.
The bottom line is that a balanced pH is vital. An extended pH imbalance of any kind threatens our well-being—threatens, in fact, our very lives. Managing the pH balance of all of our bodily fluids is so important that our bodies have developed systems to monitor and balance acid-alkaline levels in every cell and bio-system.
What Affects pH in Our Bodies
As I just mentioned, our bodies have developed a system for maintaining pH balance in all of our body fluids. To understand this system better, we need to take a look at what changes pH (usually making us more acid), and how our bodies respond to that change.
> When they are metabolized, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats produce various acids in our bodies. Proteins produce sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid. Carbohydrates and fats produce acetic acid and lactic acid. Since these acids are poisonous to the body, they must be eliminated. Unfortunately, they can't be eliminated through the kidneys or large intestine as they would damage these organs.
Acid-Forming Foods
All meats, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, cooked grains, and refined sugars. (Note: probably at the top of the list in the human diet is soda pop. Not only is it high in refined sugar, which is highly acid forming in and of itself, but most soda pop contains a large amount of phosphoric acid—not to mention carbon dioxide (an end product of the acid neutralization process).
Alkaline-Forming Foods
Only fresh fruits and vegetables are alkaline-forming and help your body maintain a proper pH. (Note: even though citrus fruits are highly acidic, your body treats them as alkaline so that they are highly effective alkalinizers.)
> Since the body cannot eliminate acids through the kidneys, the way it handles them is to neutralize them with the minerals sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Of these, calcium is the most important. Now, here's the key to the whole deal. Your body makes use of a priority system if there are not enough available minerals
to neutralize all of the acids present.
Blood is at the top of the pack. Your body will steal minerals from anywhere and everywhere before it will let your blood go too acidic. Remember, even a slight deviation in blood pH results in death.
Saliva is at the bottom of the pack. Saliva is the first place your body steals minerals from to balance the blood. That's why pH testing saliva provides an early warning system for when you are becoming too acidic. At optimum health, your saliva will test at 7.45. At 6.5-7.0, you'll find yourself frequently succumbing to colds and sickness. At 5.5 and lower, you can pretty much count on the fact that major disease has already taken hold. Virtually, all cancer patients test strongly acidic on a saliva pH test.
Unfortunately, your saliva just doesn't contain that big a reserve of minerals so you soon run out. That places your bones next on the priority list. Surprise, your bones are your body's prime mineral reserve. That's right, if your diet is too acid forming (too much meat, dairy, carbohydrates, and sugars), your body will begin
leaching calcium from your bones to balance the pH and avoid death. In effect, your body says osteoporosis is preferable to death.
How Can We Help?
> Change your diet. Follow the guideline laid out in Chapter 6
>In addition, there are several special alkalinizing agents available.
Your health food store has alkalinizing teas or drops available.
There is a machine from Japan that will "micronize" your water. What it actually does is take your tap water and divide it in two. One stream is acidic and can be used for washing and cleaning. The other steam is alkaline and is used for drinking. It works really well. Unfortunately, it's really expensive—about $1,200.
One of the best alternatives is to simply magnetize your water. Applying a magnetic field to a pitcher of water for a short period of time will make it more alkaline. It also offers the added advantage of lessening the surface tension, which makes the water wetter and more usable by the cells of your body.
General Recommendations
Liver
> LIVER/GALLBLADDER FLUSH. A liver/gallbladder flush 2-4 times a year (even more often if ill)to eliminate any accumulation of liver fat, toxins, and incipient gallstones ismandatory .
> LIVER REBUILDING TONIC. In addition to flushing, you need to regularly partake of a liver rebuilding tonic. Such a tonic does three things. Herbs such as milk thistle stimulate the liver to rebuild itself. Picrorhiza kurooa serves to protect the liver. And herbs such as dandelion root, barberry, artichoke, and beet leaf are lipotropics that help to clean the fat out of the liver.
> Regular consumption of fresh apple/beet juice is profoundly beneficial to the liver.
> Note: never do a liver cleanse without first cleaning out the colon to provide an outlet for the toxins released by the liver.
Blood
> CLEANSING. 2-4 times a year (even more often if ill) you need to go on an herbal cleansing of the blood.
- Note: never do a blood cleanse without first cleaning out the colon to provide an outlet for the toxins released by the blood.
> Oral Chelation. 3-4 times a year for a period of 2-3 weeks at a time, use either:
-Cilantro pesto as described earlier in the chapter.
-Malic acid tablets.
-If you want, you can also use one of the low-level oral chelators on the market.
>Alkalinize or Die.
-Cut way back on acid-producing foods such as meat, dairy, sugar, soda pop, refined grains, etc. Add alkalinizing foods to your diet.
-Drink water that has been magnetized. Magnetizing raises the pH by almost one full point.
-One final thought on pH. It really makes sense to test the pH of your saliva on a regular basis as a touchstone of your overall health. You can pick up pH paper specifically designed for this purpose at most health food stores. Make sure you test in the morning before brushing or eating as these things can temporarily alter the pH in your mouth. Just spit out a couple of times into the sink, then onto the pH paper. Ideally, your pH should be about 7.45. If it tests below 7.0, you should get aggressive in terms of alkalinizing your body.
> Fasting. There are any number of books on fasting to help guide you through the process. The principles of fasting are simple.
-First, when you deprive your body of food, your body begins to consume itself to survive. Being geared to self-survival, your body chooses to consume damaged cells and toxic cells first, saving the healthiest for later.
-It takes a tremendous amount of energy, and puts a tremendous strain on your body's organs, to process food. (Check your heart rate after eating a large meal and observe how exhausted you feel.) When you fast, your body diverts that energy to repair and rebuilding.
-No matter what medical doctors may say, the process works. In fact, a simple thought that should clue you in to the necessity for periodic fasting is the fact that human beings are the only animals that eat when they're sick. Think about that for a moment. Have you ever observed how dogs or cats, for example, stop eating while they're recovering. They intuitively understand the healing power of fasting. There are three levels of fasting worth considering.
- The pure water fast. This is the most powerful, but also produces the most toxic side effects. I do not recommend it unless you have a great deal of experience in fasting or are working directly with a qualified healer.
- Juice fasting. Fasting on fresh juices helps smooth out many of the negatives of fasting.
- Spirulina or Chlorella fasting. Even gentler is supplementing your juice fast with spirulina or chlorella throughout the day.
The one thing you need to be careful of while fasting is the build up of ketones in the body. Make sure you drink large amounts of water to flush the ketones from your body.
One final note on fasting. In Chapter 3, we discussed the herbal colon-activator formula that provides both cleansing and healing to the entire gastrointestinal system. It's highly recommended that you use such a formula while fasting to accelerate removal of toxins from the colon. If not, you will have to take a colonic or an enema every day.
Next Post on Chapter 14
OPTIMIZING YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
Chapter 13
CLEANSING YOUR LIVER AND BLOOD
Detoxifying Your Liver
Our liver is the primary filter of our body. Good health is impossible without proper function
of the liver. Unfortunately, over time, we so abuse it and so overtax it that illness is the inevitable
result. As part of a program to rebuild and repair the liver, we must:
>Remove all the excess fat from the liver
>Get bile flowing freely again
>Eliminate toxic waste that our livers have filtered out
>Dissolve and pass out the accumulated gall stones that are stored in our livers.
>Regenerate the damaged and destroyed cells of the liver.
Next to the skin, the liver is the largest organ in the body. In many ways, it is the most important organ in the body, and the last to be considered when it comes to health. In addition to being large, the liver is also a complicated organ involved in at least 200 separate functions. Generally speaking, the liver performs a vital role in regulating, synthesizing, storing, secreting, transforming,
and breaking down many different substances in the body. Specifically, some of these include:
>Regulation of fat stores
>Cleansing the blood and discharging waste products
>Neutralizing and destroying poisons
>Protein metabolism,including manufacturing of new body proteins
>Metabolizing alcohol
>Managing chemicals and drugs in the blood
>Aiding the digestive process by the production of bile
>Helping the body resist infections by producing immune factors and by removing bacteria from the blood stream
>Storing vitamins, minerals, and sugars
>Production of quick energy when needed
>Controlling the production and excretion of cholesterol
>Maintaining hormone balance
>Regenerating its own damaged tissue
The liver is so important to our well-being that many healers maintain that most diseases cannot develop in the body (that, in fact, no form of cell degeneration can occur) if the liver is functioning in an efficient, healthy manner. Conversely, an unhealthy liver is very likely at the root of most serious health problems.
So What Harms the Liver?
>Too much protein in the diet. Protein metabolism is especially taxing on the liver since it is the liver which must metabolize complex proteins into simple compounds. The greater the consumption of protein, the greater the stress on the liver.
>Too many simple carbohydrates in the diet. The body converts excess simple carbohydrates into triglycerides, which are then stored in the liver as fat. The more fat stored in the liver, the harder it is for the liver to perform its full range of normal functions.
>Overeating. Too much enzyme deficient food stresses the liver.
>Drug residues. Virtually all of the drugs that we take (medicinal, recreational, chemotherapy, whatever) are processed, purified, and refined in the liver—in preparation for elimination from the body.
>Alcohol causes inflammation of the liver's tissue. Once the liver is inflamed, it can nolonger filter, which causes it to plug up with fat and become even more inflamed. If we consume enough alcohol, we overwhelm the liver's ability to regenerate itself, and the net result is cirrhosis (or hardening) of the liver.
>Toxins, heavy metals, and pesticides. Everything we breathe, eat, and absorb through our skin is purified and refined in the liver.
>Lack of exercise forces the liver to do the elimination work that should be done by the lungs and the skin.
>And of course, there's always liver disease such as chronic Hepatitis C.
What Are the Symptoms of Liver Dysfunction?
>Digestive problems
>Constipation
>Low energy output
>Allergies and hay fever
>Arthritis
>Diabetes
>Hypertension
>Obesity
>Infertility
So What Can Be Done About It?
Fortunately, your liver has an astounding ability to regenerate itself—if you give it a chance.
Giving it a chance means two things:
>The Don'ts
In Chapter 6, we discussed the elements of proper diet. Well, they particularly apply in terms of the liver. You need to eliminate (or at least cut back) the liver stressors in your diet. The sicker you are, the more cleaned up your diet needs to be. If you're suffering from serious liver problems, a raw juice diet may be required to give your liver time to regenerate.
>The Do's
Several times a year, you need to do an herbal detox/flush of your liver. A low level cleanse using betaine hydrochloride and pancreatic enzymes is also helpful.
You need to regularly include nutritional support for the liver. Look for formulas that contain milk thistle, dandelion root, the perennial herb Picrorhiza kurooa,[1]and artichoke or beet leaf.
And Finally, a Word About the Gallbladder
The poor gallbladder. Guilty by being found at the scene of the crime, it is the frequent target of the surgeon's knife. Gallbladder removal is one of the most frequently performed operations in
America.[2]
Understand, the gallbladder is not responsible for the production of gallstones. The liver is the culprit—or rather what we do to the liver. The gallbladder is merely a holding area for bile to be used in the digestion of fats and oils. But if our diets are too high in the wrong kind of oils, if we have allergies to dairy and eggs, low levels of stomach acid, too little fiber in our diets, stress, if the liver is not functioning properly, etc., etc., etc., why then the bile produced in the liver (a mixture of cholesterol, minerals, bile salts, pigment, and lecithin) is of a type and consistency that tends to quickly harden into "stones" before it can be passed out of the gallbladder.[3]
Removing the gallbladder does not remove the problem; it merely removes the symptoms. Yes, it's true that after gallbladder removal you're unlikely to suffer from further gallstones. But on the other hand, you've now traded one problem for two new ones:
1. Since you never corrected the underlying problem of imbalances in the liver, these problems will just continue to get worse—eventually compromising the liver itself.
2. By removing the gallbladder, you also remove its regulating effect on bile. That means that bile is continually dumping into your intestinal tract when it is not needed, and is available in only minimal amounts when it is needed. The net result is chronic digestive problems and probable long-term nutritional deficiencies.
Far better than removing the gallbladder is a seasonal liver/gallbladder flush combined with a periodic liver rebuilding program.
Liver/Gallbladder Flush
By cleansing the liver, we're talking about inducing the liver to purge all of the fats, old cholesterol deposits, gallstones, poisons, drug residues, and toxic waste stored therein. Probably nothing else you do (including even the bowel cleanse and detox) will make a greater difference in your overall health.
[1 Picrorhiza has been shown to protect liver cells from the many degenerative changes that would normally becaused by a variety of liver toxins. It appears to be particularly useful in treating both alcoholic liver damage and chronic viral hepatitis.]
[2 Over a half-million gallbladders are removed each year in the United States.]
[3 Women, incidentally, are four times more likely than men to get gallstones.]
Note: It is vital that you do a colon cleanse before doing the liver cleanse. When the liver dumps, it dumps through the bile duct and out into the colon. If the colon (the drain pipe if you will) is plugged, the waste backs up into the blood stream and can make you feel extremely ill. This is the reason that the "Miracle Doctors" always start with the colon detox. It's the prerequisite for all the other cleanses in the body—and, of course, can also produce dramatic healings in its own right.
The 5-Day Cleanse
This is the Liver/Gallbladder flush recommended by Dr. Richard Schulze—and is the one most people should opt for. It is done in the morning on an empty stomach for 5 days.
First thing on rising, drink 8 ounces of pure water to flush your digestive tract.
An hour later, in a blender, mix up 8 ounces of any fresh squeezed citrus juice (fresh squeezed apple juice or grape juice with all the sediment will work too), one lemon, 1 clove of garlic (increase by 1 clove each day), 1 tablespoon of olive oil (increase by 1 tablespoon each day), and a piece of ginger (about 1-inch long) along with 8- ounces of pure water.
Drink it down and follow with a fresh juice chaser to clear your mouth.
Fifteen minutes after consuming this drink, follow with 2 cups of the liver/detox tea. It is also important to take 2 droppersful of the liver/detox tincture 3-6 times a day while on the 5-day cleanse—and continuing after until the bottle is gone.
The Detox Diet
It is extremely beneficial to incorporate a 2-day raw food and 3-day juice fast into your 5-day cleanse.
> Day 1
During the morning (after your cleansing drink and stopping one hour before lunch), eat all the live fresh fruit or vegetable juice you want. Beet juice is especially good. Do not mix your fruit and vegetable juices together, and feel free to dilute your juices.
For lunch you can have more diluted juice, or a raw vegetable or sprout salad. Absolutely do not use bottled dressing. Make your own dressing from fresh olive oil and lemon or apple cider vinegar and any fresh herbs and spices you of your choice. If you are hungry throughout the day, feel free to snack on fresh vegetables or juices.
For dinner eat fresh fruit or fruit juice or fruit smoothies.
> Days 2-4
After your morning flush, drink diluted juices and herbal tea throughout the day—as much as you can drink. Try to consume 128 ounces during the day.
Also recommended throughout the day is to consume cups of potassium broth. Potassium broth takes advantage of the fact that the outside of a potato is one of the highest plant sources of potassium. Take the peelings (1/4" to 1/2" including the skin) of several potatoes. Do NOT use the inside. Add other well chopped vegetables to taste including carrots (with skin), celery , whole beets (including greens), fresh parsley, and lots of onion and garlic (up to 50 cloves).
Simmer for 40-60 minutes in a covered pot using clean filtered water. Strain out the vegetables, cool and drink the broth. Refrigerate leftover broth in glass containers in the refrigerator for use over the next 2 days.
> Day 5
Same as Day 1
30-Day Cleanse
Eat 1 cup of freshly grated beets mixed with olive oil and lemon for 30 days straight.
Daily use of the liver/detox tea and tincture is also required.
What Can You Expect?
If you are so inclined (and you should be) you should examine what you deposit in the toilet.
Look for "stones." The bile from the liver gives some stones their pea green color. But also look for black stones and red ones and brown ones. And look for stones with blood inside them.
During the course of a cleanse, it's not uncommon to pass some 2,000 of these stones. Be glad. The more you pass, the healthier you become. You may also find untold numbers of tiny
white cholesterol "crystals" mixed in with the waste.
The Liver/Detox Tea & Tincture
The use of an herbal tea and tincture along with the flush is essential.
The Tea
The tea helps with the flushing process itself, but also helps minimize any discomfort or nausea. The key herb in the tea is dandelion root, one of the strongest herbal lipotropics known. That
is to say, it flushes fat deposits from the liver. Other herbs that you will find in a good detox tea include things like ginger, clove, cinnamon, burdock root, and horsetail.
Incidentally, some of the other herbs used in a good liver/detox tea (such as uva ursi, parsley root, and juniper berries) are also extremely beneficial to the kidneys.
Two cups of the tea should be consumed fifteen minutes after drinking your citrus and olive flush. But several cups can and should be consumed throughout the day. In fact, consuming the
liver/detox tea as a regular part of your diet is a pleasant and tasty way to continually optimize your health. (Feel free to sweeten the tea with honey or real maple syrup as desired.)
The Tincture
The tincture is crucial in that it contains herbs that help the liver to rebuild and regenerate itself. A secondary benefit is that it will significantly reduce the liver's release of LDL cholesterol. The key herbs include milk thistle, dandelion root, the perennial herb picrorhiza kurooa (sometimes called kutkin, or "Indian milk
thistle"), and artichoke or beet leaf.
The liver/detox tincture is also a good place to include the antiparasitic herbs such as wormwood and black walnut. Along with the garlic that you are taking with the liver flush, this will
drive virtually any parasite from your body.
Take 2 droppersful 3-6 times a day (depending on your level of illness and your level of discomfort) until the entire bottle is gone.
The Blood
Our blood is filled with many impurities including everything from an overabundance of fats and cholesterol, to toxic heavy metals. These must be removed from the blood for optimum health.
The idea of blood cleansing goes back to the middle ages; and, when you think about it, the concept of "cleaning" the blood probably resonates with today's medical establishment about as
well as bloodletting and philosopher's stones. Nevertheless, it works—and what's more, it even makes sense.
The concept that we eventually overwhelm our body's ability to remove all of the toxins from our blood is not really too hard to imagine, especially if we actually think about what it is we eat
and drink. Does anyone really believe that the body is capable of removing the waste created in a life of eating high-fat fast-food burgers, french fries cooked in beef fat, countless large colas containing 32 teaspoons of sugar, and cream-filled donuts boiled in lard and packed with hydrogenated oil and sugar filling. Then, to top it all off at the end of the day, a half pound of beef jerky
and a bag of pork rinds, accompanied by a six pack of beer just to teach the liver a lesson?
Okay, so maybe you don't do all that. But remember, what you do do, you do day after day, year after year. Eventually:
>Your blood can no longer remove everything you throw at it. It becomes "toxic" and thick—burbling like sludge through your arteries.
>The quality of your blood (cells and plasma) is compromised by the quality of the food you eat. Your blood totally replaces itself every 120 days. How can you possibly expect to be building high-quality blood on a diet of pepperoni pizza, beer, and twinkies?
Eventually, you need to correct the problem on multiple levels, or face long term degenerative illness.
>You have to do a general cleaning of the blood
>You have to remove all of the heavy metals and excess cholesterol
>You have to address the issue of blood pH
>You have to eat the right kinds of food and supplements so that your body can beginproducing, once again, healthy blood.
CLEANSING THE BLOOD
There is no secret as to which herbs cleanse the blood. Despite what medical doctors may think, the efficacy of these herbs has been proved over several hundred years. Just because medical
science doesn't yet know why these herbs work as blood cleansers, doesn't mean that they don't. They do. Any good blood cleansing formula will contain some, or all, of the following
herbs: Red clover blossoms, Burdock root, Chaparral, Periwinkle, and Goldenseal.[1]
The Chelators
Over 300,000 bypasses a year are now performed in US hospitals, at well over $40,000 each. It works out to something like $15 billion dollars a year spent on coronary bypasses. At least 5%
of the patients die from the procedure; even more die not long after from complications such as stroke. But what the heck, it's a small risk and a small price to pay since there's no alternative. Right?
Well, not exactly. As it turns out, there is an alternative that's so effective that in countries such as New Zealand, it's against the law to perform a bypass unless this alternative has been tried first. This treatment is called chelation therapy, and it could save hundreds of thousands of lives a year. Unfortunately, it costs just a fraction of what a coronary bypass or angioplasty costs. In other words, since chelation therapy would cost the medical establishment billions of dollars a year, it's not surprising they don't use it.
Chelation therapy has two pronounced effects on the body.
1. It chelates (or claws) onto heavy metals such as aluminum, lead, and mercury (particularly those located in the cardiovascular system) and pulls them out of your body.
2. By removing heavy metals from the body, chelation therapy significantly reduces the production of free radicals in the blood stream and the consequent scarring of the arterial walls.
The net result for most people is a dramatic improvement in the health and condition of their cardiovascular system. If you're in an advanced state of coronary disease, you should seriously
consider tracking down a doctor who specializes in EDTA chelation therapy.
Note: chelation therapy is not for everyone. It involves going to a doctor's office for a series of approximately 30 four-hour intravenous "drip" sessions. In addition, although it costs a fraction
of what bypass surgery costs, it is not inexpensive—usually running a little over $2,000 for the complete set of 30 sessions. On the other hand, if you are not in an "advanced state," there is an
even easier alternative.
[1 Poke root is one of the greatest blood cleansers, but the FDA has made it difficult to find any formulas that actually incorporate poke root.]
Oral Chelation
Oral chelation is not as quick as chelation therapy, Nevertheless, given a little time, it can do an extremely effective job at cleaning out the blood. Oral chelation formulas are usually based on one of two key ingredients:
> Most formulas are based on EDTA. EDTA works great when administered directly into the blood stream through standard chelation therapy, but it's usefulness when taken orally is open to question. There are some studies that indicate that there may be
less than 5% absorption when taken orally.
> There's really only one oral chelator that's "proven." It's relatively expensive and difficult to handle, which is why you rarely find it (at adequate dosages) in oral chelation formulas. It's cysteine. Oral chelation formulas based on cysteine need to provide a
good 750 mg of cysteine[1] in a day's dosage. The tablets also need to be protected from the air since cysteine oxidizes easily and turns black and smelly when exposed to air. Keep in mind, however, that oral chelation formulas with cysteine have a couple of problems that need to be addressed.
High doses of cysteine can cause kidney stones to form; therefore, the chelation formula must include adequate amounts of vitamin C (about 4,000-5,000 mgs a day) to prevent the formation of kidney stones.
> Also, there is a risk when high levels of cysteine are used that the body will convert it to homocysteine—not good for the heart. High levels of the B vitamins (particularly folic acid), however, will prevent conversion of the cysteine to homocysteine.
Two Low-Cost Chelation Alternatives
> An interesting low-cost alternative may have recently emerged. Initial studies indicate that fresh cilantro may be extremely effective in helping flush heavy metals out of the blood. Taking 400 mg of cilantro a day can pretty much clean heavy metals out of the
body in just 2-3 weeks.[2] Dr. David Williams has a great recipe for cilantro pesto in his June '98 Alternatives newsletter.
Process one cup packed fresh cilantro and six tablespoons of olive oil in a blender until the cilantro is chopped. Add one clove garlic; a half cup almonds, cashews, or other nuts, and two tablespoons lemon juice. Blend to a lumpy paste. (Add a little hot water if necessary.) Eat a couple of teaspoons a day for three weeks to
clean out the heavy metals. Repeat 2 or 3 times a year. Be careful; it tastes incredible and is addictive. (Note: the pesto freezes nicely, so you can make several batches at once.)
> The other chelator is malic acid. Malic acid is found in fresh apples and apple cider vinegar. Malic acid is particularly useful in removing aluminum from the body.
[1 As a comparison, the yolk of one egg contains about 250 milligrams of cysteine. But in an egg the cysteine is offset by all the other essential amino acids in the egg.]
[2 This can be determined by tracking the rise and fall of heavy metal levels found in the urine when fresh cilantro is consumed over a 3-week period.]
Balancing pH
Our bodies function in a very narrow range of acid/alkaline balance (pH). Our blood in particular is very sensitive to these changes. Ideally, blood pH should be slightly alkaline at about
7.45. If it varies by even as little as a few tenths of a point, severe illness and death may result. Unfortunately, most of the food we eat is highly acidic (meat, dairy, sodas, alcohol, cooked grains). In the end, it becomes too much for our bodies to handle. If we don't correct the problem by "alkalinizing" the body, disease, sickness, and death are the inevitable result.
What is pH? It's simply the measurement of the acid/alkaline balance of anything.
>On the pH scale, water is neutral and rates a 7.0 on the scale.
>Acids (such as hydrochloric acid and citric acid) are rated as numbers less than 7.0. The further away from 7.0 the number is, the stronger the acid. Cow's milk at 6.5 is slightly acidic; Soft drinks at 3.0 are strongly acidic; and stomach acid at 1.5 is highly acidic.
>Alkaline substances include everything that rates above 7.0 on the pH scale. Again, as with acids, the further away from 7.0 the number, the more alkaline the substance. Blood at 7.45 is slightly alkaline; pancreatic juice in your intestines is strongly alkaline at 8.8, and baking soda at 12.0 is highly alkaline.
Your body has a whole bunch of different pHs that it has to maintain. Your saliva is slightly alkaline. Your stomach is strongly acidic. Your intestines are strongly alkaline. Your urine is acid.
But of all the pHs in your body, the most crucial is your blood. If your blood pH deviates even 5/10ths of a point from its normal pH of 7.45, death is likely. Considering the importance
of pH to the body, it's well worth discussing a little further how it affects the body, and how we can help maintain the proper pH levels in our own bodies.
The importance of pH really boils down to two things:
1. Enzymes. We've already discussed the importance of enzymes. They control every single metabolic function in our bodies, and they are integral to our immune system. As it says in Anatomy and Physiology by Anthony and Thibodeau, "Enzymes function optimally at a specific pH and become inactive if this deviates beyond narrow limits."
2. Oxygen. Every cell in our body requires oxygen for life—and to maintain optimum health. To put it simply, the more acid the blood, the less oxygen is available for use by the cells. Without going into a discussion of the chemistry involved, just understand that it's the same mechanism involved when acid rain "kills" a lake. The fish literally suffocate to death because the acid in the lake "binds up" all of the available oxygen. It's not that the oxygen has gone anywhere; it's just no longer available. Conversely, if you raise the pH of the lake, oxygen is now available and the lake comes back to life. Incidentally, it's worth noting that cancer is related to an acid environment (lack of oxygen). The higher the pH (the more oxygen present in the cells of the body), the harder it is for cancer to thrive.
The bottom line is that a balanced pH is vital. An extended pH imbalance of any kind threatens our well-being—threatens, in fact, our very lives. Managing the pH balance of all of our bodily fluids is so important that our bodies have developed systems to monitor and balance acid-alkaline levels in every cell and bio-system.
What Affects pH in Our Bodies
As I just mentioned, our bodies have developed a system for maintaining pH balance in all of our body fluids. To understand this system better, we need to take a look at what changes pH (usually making us more acid), and how our bodies respond to that change.
> When they are metabolized, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats produce various acids in our bodies. Proteins produce sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid. Carbohydrates and fats produce acetic acid and lactic acid. Since these acids are poisonous to the body, they must be eliminated. Unfortunately, they can't be eliminated through the kidneys or large intestine as they would damage these organs.
Acid-Forming Foods
All meats, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, cooked grains, and refined sugars. (Note: probably at the top of the list in the human diet is soda pop. Not only is it high in refined sugar, which is highly acid forming in and of itself, but most soda pop contains a large amount of phosphoric acid—not to mention carbon dioxide (an end product of the acid neutralization process).
Alkaline-Forming Foods
Only fresh fruits and vegetables are alkaline-forming and help your body maintain a proper pH. (Note: even though citrus fruits are highly acidic, your body treats them as alkaline so that they are highly effective alkalinizers.)
> Since the body cannot eliminate acids through the kidneys, the way it handles them is to neutralize them with the minerals sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Of these, calcium is the most important. Now, here's the key to the whole deal. Your body makes use of a priority system if there are not enough available minerals
to neutralize all of the acids present.
Blood is at the top of the pack. Your body will steal minerals from anywhere and everywhere before it will let your blood go too acidic. Remember, even a slight deviation in blood pH results in death.
Saliva is at the bottom of the pack. Saliva is the first place your body steals minerals from to balance the blood. That's why pH testing saliva provides an early warning system for when you are becoming too acidic. At optimum health, your saliva will test at 7.45. At 6.5-7.0, you'll find yourself frequently succumbing to colds and sickness. At 5.5 and lower, you can pretty much count on the fact that major disease has already taken hold. Virtually, all cancer patients test strongly acidic on a saliva pH test.
Unfortunately, your saliva just doesn't contain that big a reserve of minerals so you soon run out. That places your bones next on the priority list. Surprise, your bones are your body's prime mineral reserve. That's right, if your diet is too acid forming (too much meat, dairy, carbohydrates, and sugars), your body will begin
leaching calcium from your bones to balance the pH and avoid death. In effect, your body says osteoporosis is preferable to death.
How Can We Help?
> Change your diet. Follow the guideline laid out in Chapter 6
>In addition, there are several special alkalinizing agents available.
Your health food store has alkalinizing teas or drops available.
There is a machine from Japan that will "micronize" your water. What it actually does is take your tap water and divide it in two. One stream is acidic and can be used for washing and cleaning. The other steam is alkaline and is used for drinking. It works really well. Unfortunately, it's really expensive—about $1,200.
One of the best alternatives is to simply magnetize your water. Applying a magnetic field to a pitcher of water for a short period of time will make it more alkaline. It also offers the added advantage of lessening the surface tension, which makes the water wetter and more usable by the cells of your body.
General Recommendations
Liver
> LIVER/GALLBLADDER FLUSH. A liver/gallbladder flush 2-4 times a year (even more often if ill)to eliminate any accumulation of liver fat, toxins, and incipient gallstones ismandatory .
> LIVER REBUILDING TONIC. In addition to flushing, you need to regularly partake of a liver rebuilding tonic. Such a tonic does three things. Herbs such as milk thistle stimulate the liver to rebuild itself. Picrorhiza kurooa serves to protect the liver. And herbs such as dandelion root, barberry, artichoke, and beet leaf are lipotropics that help to clean the fat out of the liver.
> Regular consumption of fresh apple/beet juice is profoundly beneficial to the liver.
> Note: never do a liver cleanse without first cleaning out the colon to provide an outlet for the toxins released by the liver.
Blood
> CLEANSING. 2-4 times a year (even more often if ill) you need to go on an herbal cleansing of the blood.
- Note: never do a blood cleanse without first cleaning out the colon to provide an outlet for the toxins released by the blood.
> Oral Chelation. 3-4 times a year for a period of 2-3 weeks at a time, use either:
-Cilantro pesto as described earlier in the chapter.
-Malic acid tablets.
-If you want, you can also use one of the low-level oral chelators on the market.
>Alkalinize or Die.
-Cut way back on acid-producing foods such as meat, dairy, sugar, soda pop, refined grains, etc. Add alkalinizing foods to your diet.
-Drink water that has been magnetized. Magnetizing raises the pH by almost one full point.
-One final thought on pH. It really makes sense to test the pH of your saliva on a regular basis as a touchstone of your overall health. You can pick up pH paper specifically designed for this purpose at most health food stores. Make sure you test in the morning before brushing or eating as these things can temporarily alter the pH in your mouth. Just spit out a couple of times into the sink, then onto the pH paper. Ideally, your pH should be about 7.45. If it tests below 7.0, you should get aggressive in terms of alkalinizing your body.
> Fasting. There are any number of books on fasting to help guide you through the process. The principles of fasting are simple.
-First, when you deprive your body of food, your body begins to consume itself to survive. Being geared to self-survival, your body chooses to consume damaged cells and toxic cells first, saving the healthiest for later.
-It takes a tremendous amount of energy, and puts a tremendous strain on your body's organs, to process food. (Check your heart rate after eating a large meal and observe how exhausted you feel.) When you fast, your body diverts that energy to repair and rebuilding.
-No matter what medical doctors may say, the process works. In fact, a simple thought that should clue you in to the necessity for periodic fasting is the fact that human beings are the only animals that eat when they're sick. Think about that for a moment. Have you ever observed how dogs or cats, for example, stop eating while they're recovering. They intuitively understand the healing power of fasting. There are three levels of fasting worth considering.
- The pure water fast. This is the most powerful, but also produces the most toxic side effects. I do not recommend it unless you have a great deal of experience in fasting or are working directly with a qualified healer.
- Juice fasting. Fasting on fresh juices helps smooth out many of the negatives of fasting.
- Spirulina or Chlorella fasting. Even gentler is supplementing your juice fast with spirulina or chlorella throughout the day.
The one thing you need to be careful of while fasting is the build up of ketones in the body. Make sure you drink large amounts of water to flush the ketones from your body.
One final note on fasting. In Chapter 3, we discussed the herbal colon-activator formula that provides both cleansing and healing to the entire gastrointestinal system. It's highly recommended that you use such a formula while fasting to accelerate removal of toxins from the colon. If not, you will have to take a colonic or an enema every day.
Next Post on Chapter 14
OPTIMIZING YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
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