Give yourself a health MOT
Checking out all the systems that make up your body’s engine may catch some problems before they become a breakdown
When I had my business in UK, I always found it simple to use an automotive analogy when talking to clients about the way the human body works.
It’s at this time of the year that taking stock of whether your major systems – digestive, renal, respiratory, pulmonary, hepatic – are working in sync makes sense, because just one system out of balance may impact on others, giving you misleading symptoms. Just as you might put cleaning agent into your car fuel to ensure smooth running, some natural supplementary cleansing for the body may often pinpoint the deeper cause of a malaise.. Most importantly, look after your gut! Your digestive system is involved in the health of the whole body, processing nutrients, disposing of toxic waste and keeping out harmful invaders.
Keeping your gut happy can be as simple as changing your morning cuppa to hot water and fresh lemon juice and putting cleansing foods like beetroot, cabbage, onions and garlic into your diet. Supplementing with active herbs not naturally found on a plate – nettles, burdock, dandelion and juniper – takes the cleanse a step further. There are too many toxins in our lives: metal particulates from fuels, pesticides on fruit and vegetables, hormones in imported poultry, plus all the chemicals in household and beauty products which are absorbed by the skin.
All these end up in the liver and detract from its functions, one of which is to metabolise fat. When the liver is overloaded with fat, everything suffers too – including managing your weight and keeping your arteries and heart healthy. Another symptom of an overloaded liver may well be low back ache, which people might refer to the doctor. But at this time of year, I’d always advise a health MOT and a week or two of toxic waste elimination first, to revitalise your digestive system and promote overall healthy engine function.
Forget the February fright word, ‘detox’ because – like ‘diet’ – it’s now over-hyped with celebrity products that are just a commercial scam. Some products are helpful, but most don’t come with a soap-star endorsement. There’s no pop idol recommending Ripple Creek Milk Thistle, but it’s my first choice to regenerate liver cells killed by excess alcohol. Find it on-line from Tigon (www.oliveleaf.co.uk or call 00 44 1664 485001).
Naturopathic doctor Jennifer Harper is clear on the subject of toxin clearance: never provoke the system into detoxing the body faster than the liver can process and excrete, because otherwise the toxins re-circulate. She suggests increasing water intake to a glass per hour. Follow this with a simple diet: no ‘white foods’, no hydrogenated fats, no convenience foods and no alcohol or caffeine. You should also include fresh fruits and vegetables in season and a milk thistle supplement. Nutritionist Lesley Kenton advises an apple fast: two to three days eating only apples … and all of the apple. More delicious than it sounds!
Dr Harper also recommends Blue Green Algae from Klamath, with high levels of the chlorophyll that is invaluable in annexing the body’s toxic metals and eliminating them (www.nutriglowexclusive.com). Chlorella has similar properties: (www.sunchlorella.co.uk ).
Finally, Castor Oil! The terrible stuff was forced on generations by their mothers and school matrons for sluggish bowels. The best way to take it is frozen and it’s one of the finest bowel cleaners going. Frozen, the dire taste is lost as the capsule melts in the caecum (intestine) and then it goes to work, loosening old food and faecal matter: expect lots of action in the bowel department afterwards! I have some stocks: contact me if you would like a few capsules to try.
Do get your body’s engine running clean and sweet; it’s surprising how well you’ll feel afterwards!
Are ‘detox products’ a waste of time and money?
Q. My wife has started on an extensive/expensive detox programme. I recently read that the chief of the FSA maintains detox products are a waste of time. What are your views? Mr M L Peyia
A. The report from the Food Standards Agency appeared in a January Saturday Telegraph. Dr Andrew Wadge was quoted as saying that the body has a “built in detox mechanism … called the liver” and that all anyone needed was drinking tapwater, getting a little exercise and enjoying some “nice home cooked food”. All good stuff in its way, but …
It’s true, some detox products are expensive and overrated. I’ve seen some disgraceful potions in local pharmacies. A functional detox product should contain at least three of the following: prune juice, dandelion, burdock, artichoke, horsetail, juniper and/or cleavers, which all stimulate the kidneys/liver to eliminate fluids/faeces and thereby toxins. However efficient the liver is, after a period of serious over-indulgence, most people also need to add liver regeneration herbs like milk thistle (from Tigon – see main article. Also available from Tigon is the detoxifying ‘Greens Flush’ with dandelion, nettle and burdock.)
A last word on Dr Wadge: this is the chap who, when the World Cancer Research Fund published evidence on probable carcinogens in processed meats, loudly proclaimed his support for the infamous ‘bacon buttie’. I rest my case!
