It's Spring! A Great Season for Detoxing

The first day of spring starts the new year in a lot of cultures, and many festivals are celebrated around the world this time of year.  Spring is a time of rebirth and revival; the transition between winter and spring.  Here in the U.S., we look forward to shedding winter coats and boots, stepping outside for the warmth of the sun, opening windows for fresh air, and embracing a general sense of "spring cleaning".

For me I use this season as a time to "spring clean" my digestive system.  By March, I am ready to purge winter eating; goodbye to Super Bowl sausage cheese dips, glasses of red wine, Valentine chocolates, and every other comfort food that kept me going for a couple months. 

Spring is the best time to do a cleanse. Your body is primed and ready for a rebirth, a reboot so you can carry it through all summer and into the fall. Cleansing the liver,  the master of metabolism, filters blood to remove toxins that come from air, food and water and even through the skin. If overloaded, all the processes get stuck. The toxins accumulate in the blood causing illness. If you notice break outs, generally feel fatigued, sluggish, or bloated then your liver needs some cleaning up.

Last year I followed a 28-day detox that was basically a macrobiotic diet- heavy on the greens, juicing, minimal animal, lots of beans, minimal fruit, no alcohol or processed foods.  I felt great, slept well, lost my winter weight, and the detox served me well in transitioning to warmer days and lighter foods.  I vowed I would continue this ritual every spring.

This year I am changing it up a bit.  While the rigidity of the above-mentioned detox was great for a first time detoxer that didn't want to go hardcore (have you heard of the lemon juice/maple syrup/water detox?), I was looking to go easy on my digestive system but keep within my busy life.  So this year, I did an  "eliminate all processed food, no refined sugars, no alcohol, high quality whole foods" detox.  Basically how I eat 85% of the time, but for 28 days, I am eating this way 100% of the time.

If you'd like to try the detox I did last year, I followed the book "Cellular Cleansing Made Easy" by Scott Ohlgren.  Besides being a great detox program, it was a wealth of knowledge for learning about food choices and how they affect our bodies and the importance of eating minimally processed foods in preventing disease.  He also has a website How Health Works.  I lurked on the member forum alot while I was doing the detox.  It was interesting to read other people's experience and helpful tips.

Not willing to (or afraid to) do a fast,  cellular cleaning, or eating whole foods 100% of the time?  Try to incorporate into your daily life these basic tenaments for a just-as-effective (and hopefully life changing) "detox".  It's more about minimizing all the toxins found in our food and environments.  It's painless, I promise!

1. Eat whole foods and choose organic fruits and vegetables.
2. Eat lean, organic meats and dairy and preferably grass-fed beef or lamb.
3. Eat seafood known to be low in contaminants such as PCBs and mercury.
4. Avoid vinyl and PVC.
5. Avoid processed foods and chemical additives.
6. Limit canned foods or choose those from makers who don't use bisphenol-A, such as Eden Foods.
7. Use glass or ceramic for food storage.
8. Filter your home drinking water.
9. Use less-toxic cosmetic and personal products.
10. Avoid furniture and electronics treated with flame retardants.
11. Buy less-toxic household cleaners or make your own.
12. Vacuum at least once a week.

Check out this chart for the best whole foods for detoxing:

Everyone is Irish on March 17th!

I popped into Trader Joe's to buy my corned beef for St. Patrick's Day even though I have not one ounce of Irish green in my blood.  The cashier, however, reminded me that on March 17th "Everyone is Irish!".

With that so-true sentiment, I thought I would write a little of what exactly IS St. Patrick's Day?  Why green beer, rivers of green, and entire cities shutting down to celebrate.

St. Patrick, or the "Apostle of Ireland," actually started out in the pagan religion. While not much is known about his early life, as many of his life's details were lost to folklore, letters from St. Patrick reveal that he was captured in Wales, Scotland, or another close area outside of Ireland and taken to Ireland as a slave. Years later, he escaped and returned to his family, who were Romans living in Britain (he is not even Irish!), going back to Ireland for mission work after finding a place as a cleric and then Bishop within the Christian faith. He was born around 460, and by the 600s, he was already known as the Patron Saint of Ireland.

His religious feast day is celebrated on March 17th, the day he died in the 5th century.  The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. St. Patrick's Day falls during the Christian season of Lent, when Irish families would attend mass in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Abstinence from drinking during Lent was required of many Catholics, but they were allowed to break the fast during St. Patrick's Day; hence, one cause for the day's association with drinking heavily. Breaking Lent's fast on meat and dancing, likewise, resulted in feasting on Irish bacon and meats and cabbage and festivities revolved around dancing.


When was St. Patrick's Day First Celebrated in the U.S.?

St. Patrick's Day was first celebrated in America in 1737, organized by the Charitable Irish Society of Boston, including a feast and religious service. This first celebration of the holiday in the colonies was largely to honor and celebrate the Irish culture that so many colonists had been separated from.

Why are the Irish Associated with the Color Green?

The holiday was originally associated with the color blue. It's thought that the shift to green happened because of Ireland's nickname "The Emerald Isle," the green in the Irish flag and the shamrock, or clover.  Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn as early as the 17th century. During the Irish Rebellion of 1798, an uprising against British rule in Ireland, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on March 17 to make a political statement.

There is also a political association here in the U.S.  Most first Irish immigrants to the U.S. were largely Protestant but as the Great Potato Famine hit Ireland in 1845, close to 1 million poor and uneducated Irish Catholics began pouring into America to escape starvation. The Protestant Irish initially shunned them but when they realized the Irish, both Protestant and Catholic, represented a large voting block, they organized themmselves and were commonly referred to as the "green machine", an important swing vote for political hopefuls.

Why are Rivers in Many Cities Dyed Green?

The practice started in 1962, when city pollution-control workers used dyes to trace illegal sewage discharges and realized that the green dye might provide a unique way to celebrate the holiday. That year, they released 100 pounds of green vegetable dye into the river–enough to keep it green for a week! Today, in order to minimize environmental damage, only 40 pounds of dye are used, and the river turns green for only several hours.

Why is the Shamrock Associated with the Irish?

The symbol of the shamrock, which is the symbol of Ireland, is used for St. Patrick's Day as it comes from the story of St. Patrick using the shamrock to illustrate the Holy Trinity. The three-leafed plant coincided with the Pagan religion's sanctity of the number three and also contribute to the root of the green color theme.

Other Fun St. Patrick's Day Facts:

• There are 34.7 million U.S. residents with Irish ancestry. This number is more than seven times the population of Ireland itself.

• Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick’s Day dish. In 2009, roughly 26.1 billion pounds of beef and 2.3 billion pounds of cabbage were produced in the United States.

• The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place in the United States on March 17, 1762, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City.

• Sixteen U.S. places share the name of Ireland’s capital, Dublin. With 44,541 residents, Dublin, CA, is the largest of the nice, followed by Dublin, OH, with 39,310.

• Irish soda bread gets its name and distinctive character from the use of baking soda rather than yeast as a leavening agent.

No St. Patrick's Day is complete without traditional Irish foods.  The History Channel's vast collection of articles and videos on St. Patrick's Day also included a link to classic Irish recipes.  The Whole Meal also has a slow cooker version of Corned Beef and Cabbage (why I was in Trader Joe's as this is what I make!), as well as a recipe for Irish Stew and Colcannon, Ireland's most popular potato recipe.

So now that you know all about this popular holiday celebrated all over the world, don your best green, cook up some great Irish food, maybe drink a green beer and attend your local St. Pat's Day festivities. 

Surprising Foods That Cause Inflammation and Others That Prevent It

My BFF texted me an article from Well+Good that she thought would be a good blog post and she is right!  Six Inflammation Foods No One Talks About addresses the recent attention in the general medical community about inflammation in the body.

The article points out that temporary inflammation when your body's white blood cells and chemicals fight off injury or infection is a good thing but chronic inflammation is a different situation.  Chronic inflammation happens when the body can not resolve acute inflammation and damages the body.    It is the source of many, if not all, diseases including cancer, obesity, Alzheimers,  heart disease and even acne.  Stress, lack of exercise, smoking all can trigger inflammation but dietary choices play a big role.  Take carbohydrates for example-the chemical reaction between sugars and proteins produce pro-inflammatory compounds called AGEs (advanced glycation end products).

While the main culprit is sugar (I'll address that pandora's box another time) Well+Good's article pointed out lesser known offenders including, surprisingly, some popular vegan choices and sugar alternatives.  Click on the link above to get the full scoop.

On a more positive note, here are the top ANTI- inflammatory foods that have the uncanny ability to squelch inflammation:


Dark Leafy Greens: Collards, kale, Swiss chard, spinach, to name a few, contain powerful antioxidants, flavanoids, Vitamin C and carotenoids that protect against cellular damage.  Cook them, eat them raw and juice them (here is my favorite green juicing drink).

Tea:  While all teas, black, green, white, count, Matcha green tea really packs a punch with over 17xs the antioxidants of wild blueberries and 7xs more than dark chocolate.

Blueberries: They rate pretty high of all fruits and vegetables in antioxidants and are lower in sugar than most fruits.

Spices:  Liberally season your food away with the likes of cloves, ginger, rosemary and tumeric which are the top anit-inflammatory spices.  Other spices that make the grade include allspice, cinnamon, oregano, pumpkin pie and apple pie spice blends, sage, thyme, marjoram,

Animal-based Omega-3 Fats: These are mostly found in fatty fish like wild Alaskan salmon and other fishes.  Omega-3 fats can also be found in walnuts, flax and hemp.

Fermented Vegetables: Yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, miso, kimchi, pickles all help your gut flora which is important for a well-functioning immune system (and that well functioning immune system staves off chronic inflammation).  Fermented foods also rid the body of toxins like heavy metals and pesticides, both contributors to inflammation.

Asian Mushrooms: Shiitake and other Asian varieties of mushrooms are rich in compounds that inhibit oxidative stress.  They are easy to add to soups or stir fries.

Garlic:  The Mediterranean cultures and other older cultures have known the power of this vegetable.  Well know for its anti-viral and anti-fungal properties, garlic has been shown to have its therapeutic properties in sulfur, specifically allicin.  The acid produced by allicin reacts faster with dangerous free radicals than any other known compound.


The best way to address and/or prevent  inflammation is to focus on eating a whole foods diet that regularly includes the above-mentioned foods.  Eating mainly whole foods also has the benefit of crowding out the foods that do cause chronic inflammation, i.e.;  highly processed carbohydrates such as white bread, chips, crackers, cookies, fast foods many of which also contain inflammation-promoting refined sugar and partially hydrogenated vegetables oils and shortenings.

To help keep you focused, check out Dr Weil's  interactive Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid that is a great reference tool in choosing the right anti-inflammatory foods.

Now that you are armed with lots of information on the bad guy, chronic inflammation, go kick all those dreaded and debilitating diseases to the curb!