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Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. In case you enjoyed all the great food that goes with the season just a little bit more than you intended, I thought it would be helpful to focus this month on some simple, natural ways we can help out our digestive system and liver (the liver is part of the digestive system but I think it deserves to be looked at separately). You'll see that simply including certain foods in your diet can be really beneficial to both the liver and the rest of the digestive system. This can include formal cleansing but it certainly doesn't have to. Find out more below...
These newsletters will help you make better choices for better health. The choices that you make today can either have a positive or negative impact on your overall health. Begin by choosing better. It is a step toward longevity.
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How You Can Help Your Digestive System
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Fibrous fruits and vegetables are among the most effective foods for cleaning out your digestive system. They don't just clean, they can also curb your appetite and make it a lot easier to cut down or cut out high calorie foods, and give your digestive system a chance to function optimally.
The top detoxifying vegetables are broccoli, broccoli sprouts, spinach, kale, asparagus, bok choy, watercress, radish, cauliflower, artichoke, garlic. Mung beans are extremely easy to digest, and absorb toxic residue from the intestinal wall. The best fruits are avocado, tomato, watermelon, guava, berries, lemons, oranges and limes.
 Seeds and nuts are recommended, including flax seed, pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, chia, and sunflower seeds.
Herbs and spices - You can steep herbs in water to make teas, and include spices in your cooking. Fennel can reduce bloating, gas and heartburn, while ginger is an effective anti-inflammatory. Ginseng boosts immunity and helps the body deal with stress. Mint soothes your digestive system and nutmeg helps restore regular bowel activity. Turmeric (or curcumin) helps cleanse your liver and boost your immunity.
Fermented foods are gaining recognition for their benefit to gut health, immunity and the elimination of damaging bacteria. They improve uptake of nutrients from other food, and improve digestion of foods you may have difficulty with including high fibre foods. Good options include yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, pickled vegetables and miso. Probiotics are also very helpful (See Supplements section).
Avoid refined carbohydrates including food containing sugar and refined flour. Avoid processed foods.
Drink plenty of water. The more hydrated you are, the fewer toxins will stay circulating in your body. Water is always important, whether or not you're making additional efforts to cleanse. It reduces hunger, improves digestion, improves bowel function, increases immunity and improves your metabolism. Water and herbal tea are the beverages of choice for detoxing. Eight, 8 ounce glasses is the minimum you need. As I've mentioned before, divide your weight in pounds by 2, and that's the number of ounces you should drink to a maximum of 100 oz.
Catch up on sleep. Seven to 8 hours of good quality sleep a night is necessary for the other efforts you're making to be of maximum benefit.
Be physically active! Nothing works as well in a sedentary person - to get the most out of any other measures you incorporate, you need to be physically active. Physical activity is very important for weight control and bowel health. Please see our newsletter of July 2015.
Learn to manage your stress. Stress results in the release of hormones that increase inflammation, which can interfere with all your other efforts. Meditation can be very beneficial. For more information, see our newsletter of March 2013.
Avoid obvious environmental toxins. Don't tolerate second hand smoke. Avoid polluted air as much as you can. Eat organic foods whenever possible. Avoid foods that are commonly genetically modified unless they are specified as organic, including canola oil, soy and corn.
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The liver is our personal detoxification system, or vacuum cleaner, but sometimes it can use some help, especially if we've been causing it to work harder than usual over the holidays. Think of liver detoxification as an 'oil change' - your car needs fresh oil to function well, and your liver needs some care too.
The liver supports weight loss because it helps to create and process enzymes called lipase that digest fats. When we eat poorly, the liver makes more fat to store the toxins and keeps us overweight.
The liver also:
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stores vitamins and iron
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converts stored sugar to usable sugar when the body's sugar levels fall below normal
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produces bile which is needed to digest fats
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breaks down hemoglobin as well as insulin and other hormones
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destroys old red blood cells.
Probably the leading health risk to the liver is the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) from consuming too much sugar. It's definitely more common than fatty liver disease due to alcohol consumption.
Much of what we've already seen is good - and bad - for the digestive system is also good or bad for the liver.
 Foods that cleanse the liver include: garlic; onions; beets; carrots; leafy green vegetables; cruciferous vegetables including cabbage and Brussels sprouts; tomatoes; avocados; apples; alternative grains such as quinoa, millet and buckwheat; green tea; citrus fruits including grapefruit, lemons and limes; walnuts; artichoke; asparagus; kale; collard greens; sesame seeds; flax seeds; fennel; ginger; basil; parsley; beans; dandelion; fish oil; olive oil; and, perhaps surprisingly, eggs. It is hypothesized that the healthy cholesterol in eggs (contrary to what we've been taught for many years) may result in the liver producing less.
You can see that green foods are highly recommended, and chlorophyll rids the body of harmful environmental toxins from toxic metals, herbicides, cleaning products, and pesticides. It also aids the liver in detoxification.
If, in addition to incorporating some of these dietary recommendations, you are interested in doing a full cleanse, please contact me for help. While I believe cleanses are very beneficial when done properly, they can be dangerous if done incorrectly. So please contact me to ensure you do not run unnecessary risks, at 613-829-0427.
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 There are a number of Nature's Sunshine supplements that can help with digestive and liver health. You can find information about these products and purchase them in our online store:
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Acidophilus-bifidobacterium
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Bifidophilus Flora Force
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Milk Thistle
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Digestive Enzymes
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Garden Essence
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YF DTX
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Heavy Metal Detox
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TIAO HE PAK
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CleanStart® Wild Berry
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Body Detox
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Chlorophyll - liquid or capsules
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CurcuminBP
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Disclaimer: The suggestions and recommendations in this newsletter are not intended to be prescriptive or diagnostic. The information is accurate and up to date to our knowledge, but we are not responsible for any errors in our sources of information.
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Ramila has the gift for curing. After only two visits, an ailment I had suffered with for years has been cured. She has gained my respect as a powerful healer. Thank you Ramila, for sharing your gifts. I am grateful to have you on my path.
- Anonymous
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