Regular detoxing - a healthy relationship with food

Today is Day 1 of my Master Cleanse for October - so I didn't do much of any cooking and no eating for me until 12 days from now. The first day of any MC, I always spend sipping only water or herbal teas. 

I will start with the MC juice either tomorrow or Tuesday. I really enjoy this little clean out and besides my body takes a couple of days to adjust into detox mode. That's when the real work begins, not that it hasn't already!

I can honestly say I don't know how everyone doesn't live like this - my body gets a good clean out, repair, replenishment and healing takes place on every level and I always feel great after a cleanse. But, my house gets a clear out too, the kitchen will be reorganized, tidied and sorted and much more. 

Careful planning and thought goes into where things should be, creating better flow and ease of food preparation as well as finding better ways to store my kitchen gadgets. I really enjoy the down time -- for those who have been following along with my other detoxes, this is truly a creative time for me!

So, today has been enjoyable, I started in this morning and have not really stopped yet - even the windows were done today. It was such a beautiful sunny day (for the most part) that we were able to accomplish a lot.

The same with these past few weeks - I have been putting a lot of effort into concocting new recipes and revamping some old ones to suit our needs here. I have made some lovely dishes and played around quite a bit in the kitchen. 

Some of my favorites have been Rosemary Lamb Cobbler, Sheeps Cheese & Duck Egg Pie and my very own homemade dandelion coffee (we dug up dandelion roots, roasted them and made our own coffee). 

It just seems that whatever is made with love and from the spirit of wanting to have a healthy relationship with your food - tastes so much better!

April

Coconut balls and dandelion coffee - a favourite around here! 

Here's what I am 'eating' right now during my cleanse...

A few of you have been asking, exactly what am I eating or drinking during a Master Cleanse - what gets taken in and how much. Well, today I thought that I would post this for you, here is my recipe and an explanation of why it is different. 

Today and for 9 days during a Master Cleanse, I drink a tea mixture with lemon juice, maple syrup and a tiny bit of black pepper. I mention drinking it only 9 days because the first full 24 hours I only take in water or straight herbal tea.

Starting with day 2 - I make litres of water, herbal tea, juice of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and a pinch of ground black pepper. Throughout the day I might drink over 2 litres of this but not usually much more than that. 

April's Master Cleanse ingredients

I also drink water with this and late at night some herbal tea, lots of liquid coming in but not overdoing it either. I also sip this during the day, I don't drink large amounts in one go, unless I am outside in the sun and working etc.

These particular ingredients I have found over the years since I have been regularly detoxing, are important for a couple of reasons. First, the water must be natural well or spring water, not stored in plastic bottles or treated in any way. You are gently flushing your tissues to remove toxins, this is not the time to introduce more of them.

Secondly, lemon is a natural cleaner, it is alkaline once in the body and has a host of positive benefits on internal organs. Lemon promotes and enhances;

• immune system health
• cleaning of internal gut tissue
• stimulates the liver 
• aids digestion
• contains Vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and phosphorus 
• aid weight loss

And much more. I use organic lemons to remove toxic debris, keep my tea/juice as clean as possible and not slow down my detox in any way. 

The single biggest difference in my methods of detoxing and what I recommend for people is to use herbs in the recipe. Herbal teas (which can be a few of many that are gentle) are a natural way to balance, regulate and improve body function while you do your cleanse.

I have always used herbs and it was a natural follow on for me to include them in my Master Cleanse formula. Of course, I also grow, harvest and make many of my own herbs for the teas - so I know exactly how they are handled and of course they are pesticide free. 

Lastly, I include a small pinch of black pepper as opposed to the cayenne in the traditional recipe mainly because I know the detrimental effects of Night Shades on health and spirit, but also because I do not particularly feel that cayenne pepper is particularly healing. Many people have problems with it.

Black pepper has several beneficial properties such as working as a mild diuretic, encourages the body to sweat (helps eliminate toxins), digestive aid, breaks up congestion and cleans the taste buds in the mouth. I like it because it has a nice energy and use an organic whole peppercorn which we grind. 

During a Master Cleanse such as I am doing right now, this is what I drink every day until I am finished. Each day that I do this I feel more and more like myself, I love my fasting days nearly as much as my food days and my life has dramatically changed for the better as a direct result of following The Pagan Diet - Food, Fast & Feast.

Remove the toxins, free yourself

April

Sunlight shining through the Master Cleanse juice - Juice Angel!! 

Water is Life

I don't know if I could ever say enough about water - it is everything for us here as humans and I have changed my life as a result of it. Today is the start of my 10 day Master Cleanse for August, the last one that I committed to doing and of course, I am thinking a lot about water.

In the last few years I have gone to great lengths to find clean sources of water for drinking and cooking whenever we have not had access to a well in our house. Where ever we go, we bring our own water and I think that I started a trend (amongst Nutrition students) years ago by using only glass jars for my drinking water. 

When I completed my masters thesis, the only topic that interested me and I wanted to study, was water - so I ended up undertaking a research project on the bottled water industry. At the time it had reached a peak and was then in decline because of the ban on plastic products in some areas. 

My interest in water has not waned, but has only gotten stronger over the years since. Now with following and living The Pagan Diet, water is a huge component of detox and cleansing, while real water makes an enormous difference to the taste of your cooking and the nutrition in food.  

Of course, I make a distinction between tap water (or any other form of treated, bottled and commercial water) and water that comes directly out of the ground, which to me is real. There is simply no substitute for clean untreated water in your diet and for your body in general.

Water has many interesting properties as well and I believe makes our food taste far better when we use water that is living. Even the bible mentions 'living water' - which to me has come to mean alive with minerals and nutrients from the earth and not processed in the manner of tap water. 

So, why is water so important? First of all, we can live perfectly well for quite some time without food, however we cannot live without water. It makes up more than 66% of our body cells and perhaps as much as 73% of brain tissue. 

Athletes (remember the recent Olympics?) build up muscle cells which store even greater amounts of water necessary for hydration during training and competition. Breast milk for human babies is also nearly 88% water - showing us how much of a vital substance this is for all growth and development. 

Water is the Universal Solvent (for those of us doing regular detoxes and Master Cleanses) this fact tells the story of all that water means for us. More substances are dissolved in water then any other. This is why we take showers with water and not any other liquid! LOL 

Water cleans our bodies inside and out - loosening up embedded debris, toxins and pulling out built up by-products of digestion and metabolism. I would never even consider drinking anything other then the cleanest water, right out of the ground. 

So, for the next 10 days, I will be drinking my Master Cleanse juice, which is mostly water, while I allow my body to empty out another layer of toxins, clean up, balance and heal. 

Following a 'processed food free' lifestyle also includes removing sources of manufactured water which is full of chemicals, medications, pollutants and other contaminants. All sources of toxins must be considered here if we want to do this properly and clean up our bodies. 

Perhaps it's time to take action where water is concerned in your life?

April

Water droplets collect on Lady's Mantle in my garden