Category Archives: Eater’s Digest

BUT WHY CLEANSE THE LIVER?

Your liver is a powerhouse of activity.

It’s the biggest internal organ in your body and has hundreds of functions. One key role is acting as the gatekeeper for your entire system, filtering all toxins and foreign substances from the bloodstream, breaking them down, and excreting them.

Some of the toxic substances that your liver has to contend with are produced right within your body! These include excess hormones and neurotransmitters. Other substances come from your environment ~ what you eat, what you breathe and even what you put on your skin.

You know what?

I’m sweet on you and your health.

That’s why I hosted the ‘Why Does Blood Sugar Matter’ Q&A last week and still want to take time to explore some of the top questions I receive about blood sugar.

It’s that important!

There are a host of possible causes for bogus blood sugar metabolism. Things such as:

excess or deficient release of the hormone insulin
impaired cell receptivity
under or overactive adrenal glands
compromised liver health
too much sugar or refined carbohydrates or even high glycemic foods in the diet
thyroid issues
surplus stress
and more!

I remember when I was a kid my parents would tell me that “on the inside, we’re all the same”.

What I’ve come to understand as an adult, and especially in the work that I do, is that this assertion is only partly true.

Sure, we’ve all got the same stuff inside of our bodies, or pretty much so. But the way those organs function and interact is different from one person to the next.

Your framework is different than mine.

And this is why, when it comes to food and diet, it’s really all about context.

Resolutions or absolution of resolutions.

It seems to be what all the emails in my inbox have been about for the past two or more weeks.

You too?

And while I’ve received pleas and requests for a January (detox) program this year, from all whom are ready to be resolute, I decided to hold off until the start of February for our Winter Cleanse. My personal intention is to ease into the new year with some conscious new habits, instead of leaping in with shiny new intentions (that may not stay shiny for long).

I invite you to do the same.

And to help you along, each week, leading up to the one week TrulyFood Winter Cleanse, I’ll be sharing some pre-cleanse tips and tricks so that you can create sustainable practices for the entire year ahead.

But that’s not exactly what I mean by “the grace period”, though it does indeed sound like a graceful way to ease into the new year, now that I think about it!

Did you know that your skin is the largest organ in your body?

Yet you’ve got a second skin that needs your tender loving care too. And that second skin is the tube that runs from your mouth to your anus ~ it’s your inside skin, you digestive system!

You’re likely familiar with the idea of putting aloe on your outer skin to soothe either a sunburn or an inopportune encounter with some fire ~ from the stovetop, the fireplace or your campground dinner.

But can aloe actually provide some benefits for that internal skin as well?

You bet it can!

It was over 3,500 years ago that the health benefits of aloe were first documented. But the research didn’t stop there.

It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a moment to meditate on the migration of my meals and morsels on these pages you read. But as I prepare for the EstroZen Detox, I’m deep in thought of the physiology of food. Not just my food, but hopefully yours too.

Which foods support your hormone balance and which thwart it?

It’s all a careful correspondence. And I must confess that I love delving into the nitty gritty details to customize a dietary protocol that delivers the best results possible, while also creating a blueprint you can carry easily into your everyday.

Today I want to make testament to the tea leaf ~ the green tea leaf.

But before I do, don’t forget that the EstroZen Detox earlybird ends at midnight eastern time on Sunday night! Come play with me and green tea. . .

Your teeth don’t really have a skin, do they?

Nope. They don’t.

But they do have enamel.

And, believe it or not, tooth enamel actually plays a role in your digestion. That’s right. Once again, it all comes back to digestion.

We’re nearly smack-dab in the middle of the June Detox, Body Blast: The Anti-Inflammatory Detox with Changes that Last. As is usually the case, I’ve asked detoxers to include lemon in their water throughout the day. And as is also usually the case, one of the wise detoxers has asked this question on the message board?:
Will lemon water damage my tooth enamel?

Enamel is the visible stuff that covers the crown of the tooth. It’s the stuff that makes teeth look white or yellow or gray.

What’s all this about sugar bombs?
I love when my work flows together. . . when this teaching leads to that concept and all of a sudden another piece of the health puzzle comes into crisp focus.
That’s the experience I’m having this week.
Just last weekend I taught the Immune Intensive as part of my Holistic Nutrition Lab training for health coaches. In just a few short days I’ll be co-leading the Sweet Victory Detox with superstar Canadian chef, Ricki Heller. This week I get to sit between the two worlds of immunity and sugar. I can connect the dots and find the excellent melding of the two ~ sensibility that blends as beautifully as cacao and almond butter or apples and cinnamon, leading to the purity of one of those AHA moments.
The amalgamation of the realms of immunity and sugar lead to one place: inflammation. . .
The ultimate sugar bomb.
Let’s start with inflammation
Thousands of years ago the Romans described the major components of inflammation:
calor (heat)
rubor (redness)
tumor (swelling)
and dolor (pain)

Recently I’ve had coffee brain.

No, I haven’t been drinking coffee. It’s been years since I’ve had a cup. In my younger days I worked in coffee shops and savored lattes throughout the day. Then came the years where I sought out the best quality beans, ground them fresh each morning and delicately brewed the grind in a turkish tea pot on my stovetop for the most sumptuous elixir.

But those days are long over. So why the coffee brain? Well its all a matter of chemistry.

When I was studying nutrition, and going through several years of hard-core sciences to gain a solid physiological foundation, I had a cousin say to me: That’s interesting that you think of nutrition on a chemical level. I never would have thought about it like that. (Curiously, she was studying to be a doctor at the time.)

It’s back-to-school time. In our house we’re simultaneously winding down from late summer travels as we transition into the new school year. Just this past weekend my son, Gilbert, and I returned from a week-long trip to San Francisco. We were on an urban hiking tour of the city ~ climbing the hills to Haight/Ashbury, winding our way through Golden Gate Park, exploring the busy streets of the Mission, and trekking up 24th Street into Noe Valley, where Gilbert was born.
We also had a mission of our own: hunting down all the best restaurants.

When I say “best”, I mean best for our particular dietary restrictions and our high standards of yumminess. (I chronicled our daily food journal on the Replenish PDX Facebook page.)

Though we were making sound choices, picking restaurants and/or dishes that were gluten-free, dairy-free and avoiding foods we don’t usually eat, by the end of the week we were both feeling a little, well. . . off.