Herbal and Nutritional Detox

Back on Track for a Healthy New Year:
Herbal and Nutritional Detox

by Robyn Seydel

It just wouldn't have felt like the holidays if we all hadn't overindulged a bit — the rich, delicious meals, the pies and cakes at every turn, and oh, those trays of decadent cookies!

Then all those great parties; sipping rum in eggnog or hot toddies or champagne to bring in the New Year.

Added to the usual compliment of toxins to which we are exposed every day, it's no wonder that the New Year finds many of us wanting a new body.

Utilizing good tasting foods and herbal teas (see green tea article on page 13) is a great way to detox in an enjoyable manner. After holiday bingeing the New Year is a great time to restructure dietary habits and build body systems.

Good Food, Good Health

Even small changes in dietary habits can produce a profound change.

Cutting back on animal products can quickly reduce that stuffy, mucousy feeling both in your head and in your middle.

Eating more fruits and veggies, grains and beans, and less baked flour, fried or fatty foods is an easy place to start.

Try a hot hearty soup or stew that is high in nutrients, and fiber, and low in fat.

Simply adding a dash of cayenne and lots of garlic to any stew pot will also help aid in the detoxification process.

Cayenne is a primary catalyst in the blood purification process, stimulating organs to greater activity, promoting increased cardiovascular activity while lowering overall blood pressure.

Garlic has been a mainstay for health and healing since before biblical times and long been called an "alterative," the old herbalist word for "blood cleanser."

Today we recognize garlic as a great cold and fever fighter with abilities to lower blood fats, maintain artery health, prevent heart disease, lower blood sugar levels and as a natural "antibiotic."

One milligram of its major constituent, allicin is estimated to equal 5 standard units of penicillin (Journal of the American Chemical Society) and its list of nutritional qualities includes high levels of proteins, Vitamins A, C, thiamin and important trace minerals including copper, zinc, iron, calcium, potassium, and selenium.

But perhaps its most potent ability in detoxification comes from its sulfur-containing constituent allyl sulfide.

Sulfur is found in 150 compounds in the body including tissues, enzymes, hormones, antibodies and antioxidants.

Sulfur is used by the body to produce the amino acid cysteine, a precursor of glutathion Glutathion is an important detox agent produced in the liver.

Found in all living cells, glutathion is a key antioxidant, that reduces toxic stress, decreases the effects of smoke, radiation, chemicals, drugs, and other pollutants, fights cancer, helps the body dispose of waste, is active in cellular repair, is crucial in protecting the lymph system, helps prevent oxidation of LDL cholesterol, reducing damage to arteries, and helps stabilize blood sugar.

Adding broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, kale or any other cabbage family veggie to your stew will also help as these too contain sulfur based amino acids, cysteine and cystine.

Other veggies that are good eating in the winter are the hard winter squashes with their high beta carotene content and other root veggies including turnips, rutabagas, beets and parsnips.

Sugar Detox

Most of us love sweets: indeed, sweet has become so much a part of our culture that for many of us it is comfort food, associated not only with holidays (i.e., Valentine's Day, chocolate Easter eggs, Halloween candy and the goodies associated with the past celebratory season) but with personal and societal rewards and love.

Indeed, so many of the names we call our loved ones like: sweetie, sugar plum, sweetheart, honey, sugar pie, sugar daddy and more speak loud and clear about the links between sweets and love in our psyches.

However, sweets have a dark side and overconsumption can lead to a number of diseases, including tooth decay, obesity, nutritional deficiency including protein and mineral deficiencies, anemia, immune dysfunction, hyperactivity, yeast overgrowth, mood swings, anxiety depression alcoholism, diabetes and heart disease.

For people who eat high amount of sugars, withdrawal may feel severe.

Eating a diet that is rich in whole grains and other complex carbohydrates, vegetables and protein foods can help stabilize blood sugar levels.

If handling sweets is a serious problem, even fruit should be minimized. However, for many whole fresh fruit, (not fruit juice which is highly concentrated) is a decent substitute when a sugar craving hits.

The best substitutes, however, are protein and vegetable-based, and include mixed nuts, almond or peanut butter, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, vegetable sticks, soynuts, rice cakes, popcorn or other non- sugar snacks.

Beware, however: sugar pops up in the most unexpected places (i.e. peanut butters, flavored rice cakes and popcorn, roasted nuts, etc.).

So be sure to read all processed food labels carefully and watch for sucrose, fructose, corn syrup dextrose, honey, malt syrup or other processed or artificial sugars in the ingredient list.

Nutrients that can help sugar cravings and symptoms of sugar withdrawal include B complex, Vitamin C, zinc, and the amino acid L-glutamine, which can be used directly by the brain to help reduce sugar and alcohol cravings.

Supplementing with added amounts of these can aid in the process.

Drinking 6-8 glasses of water or herb tea a day will also help.

Herbal Teas & Remedies

Using herbal teas as an internal body wash to carry off toxins works well.

There are a number of herbs that are useful here. Dandelion Root acts primarily as a blood purifier, straining and filtering toxins and wastes from the bloodstream.

Its ability to improve liver function (one of our primary detox organs) has been shown in studies in Germany and England and it has long use as an herb of first choice by the early American Eclectic herbal physicians.

In studies in Germany, dandelion showed that in human patients it uniformly remedied chronic liver congestion, and in England is used to successfully treat hepatitis, swelling of the liver, jaundice and dyspepsia with deficient bile secretion.

It acts to cause the gall bladder to contract, expelling bile, improving bile flow.

It also helps reduce bile duct inflammation, improving liver congestion and reducing gallstone formation.

Dandelion exhibits hypoglycemic effects, and contains inulin, an insulin-like principle that is thought to buffer blood glucose levels preventing sudden and severe fluctuations.

A diuretic, it improves kidney function helping the body get rid of excess water produced by a diseased liver.

And in studies in Europe and Asia it has been shown to benefit spleenic and pancreatic function. Use fresh dandelion greens in soups, stews, or salads; the root in teas.

Burdock is another good old-fashioned alterative, producing gradual changes, acting to promote the excretion of wastes in both urine and sweat, it has been shown to enhance liver and bile function and inhibit tumor growth.

Licorice Root as a treatment for liver disease and hepatitis is thought to have originated in China.

It is there that Licorice root got its name and reputation as the Great Detoxifier, and is used especially for the spleen, kidneys, liver and stomach and for its synergistic effects in a variety of remedies.

Modern research carried out at the Shanxi Medical College found that licorice root decreased the accumulations of triglycerides in the liver, increased glycogen levels and prevented the development of cirrhosis and the occurrence of experimentally induced lesions.

Red clover has been used here in America to prevent cancer for over 100 years. It is used extensively to treat gout, as a diuretic and as an expectorant.

Because it has high levels of many nutrients including Vitamins A, B complex, C, P, zinc, biotin, magnesium and selenium, it has become a dependable form of nutritive support in any degenerative disease.

To make an excellent and delicious detox tea, put equal parts of dandelion, red clover, burdock and sweeten with half as much licorice root

(Do not use licorice if you have high blood pressure or get frequent headaches, utilize stevia for sweetness instead), flavor with mint, lemon grass or lemon balm.

Pour a quart a boiling water over 2-3 tablespoons of the mixed tea.

Steep for 20 minutes to 4 hours, pouring off and drinking 2-3 cups over the course of the day, hot, cold or room temperature.

Drink this tea as an ongoing tonic for detoxification or daily for 1-2 weeks.