After 42 years of living I discovered a breakdown in my health that would lead to looming threats of 2 recurring type cancer cells and a diagnosis of chronic illness because of a weakened immune system or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Before understanding my health issues I utilized years of medicinal therapy using pharmaceuticals and surgical procedures throughout life. Eventually after much prayer and petition to the Creator and Healer I found healing and restoration through faith, food, supplements, natural remedies and homesteading. I currently maintain health by remaining faithful, homesteading (growing my own, meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables) and referring back to healing practices as symptoms occur. I also do annual detox maintenance due to regular exposure to toxins found on our planet that continue to complicate my health at times. Following is information I learned during my healing process. I utilized Gerson Therapy and The Makers Diet books to better understand illness and healing methods.
Our bodies are continually going through a cleaning process. The intestines, liver, and kidneys all are working hard to remove toxins from the body. These toxins come from the environment, stressful situations and what we consume such as food and medications. Environmental toxins come from the things we touch, breath and things that enter through openings in the body (foreign objects). Toxins are also produced in the body when it is stressed. Adrenalin, hormones and organic substances are produced in the body in order for it to survive short-term stress. Most of us do not have emergencies that require this burst of energy very often, instead we face ongoing long-term daily stress. Many lack the knowledge of how to reduce such stress or why it should be reduced. Constant mild/moderate stress causes the body to produce low amounts of toxins like a constant drip. This situation creates further stress on the thyroid, immune and digestive system becoming an on going hindrance in the body’s ability to remove toxins and heal. The food we eat contains toxins especially if it is processed, produced with GMOs and sprayed with chemicals like herbicides and pesticides. If the body is flooded with toxins it is unable to properly filter them and the waste products build up and cause problems. Detoxing practices flush them out so they can no longer pose a threat. Medications including supplements require the body’s attention and must be sorted out according to the body’s needs. If the body is unable to digest properly much of medications or supplements consumed are wasted or build up in the body causing confusion in the cells. Detoxing the blood and boosting the liver’s ability to do its job restores the immune system and the body as a whole.
Medicinal therapies using multiple pharmaceuticals or Chemotherapy drugs fill the body with toxins. Healthy cells can be damaged by prescribed drugs and radiation treatments. These therapies create toxic buildup in the body. X-rays, mammography, tomography and nuclear medicine flood toxins into the body that can lead to cancer if they are unable to be removed. Radiation treatment for cancer causes cancer cells to become toxins and also is a toxin that must also be removed from the body. When these nauseous substances are unable to leave the body they back up the systems. This overload problem causes symptoms in the body like inflammation, fatigue, stomach bloat, joint pain, headaches, muscle aches, poor memory, a suppressed immune system, foul body odor and bad breath.
There are ways to help the body remove toxins and avoid toxic overload. These practices can cause a healing reaction with symptoms similar to the symptoms of toxic overload as the toxins are flushed out. It is recommended that all mentioned practices be approved by a physician if suffering from a medical condition.
Daily Sleep/Rest and Hygiene Routine.
Be in bed from 10pm-6am when healing the body. Resting is best done at night in a calm environment and healing takes place best when the body is at rest.
Wash regularly. Toxins come out of the body through the skin. Regular washing prevents reabsorption. Toxins enter the body through the body’s skin and entry ways; keeping clean by rinsing areas throughout the day reduces the ability for the toxins to gather and force themselves in. Wash face and hands regularly, rinse nose and wipe out ears. Take care to clean after bathroom breaks. Clean open wounds and do not pick scabs; cover as needed. Apply shea butter or coconut oil to dry skin.
Daily prayers for healing and thanksgiving help heal the Spirit that suffers in the sickness of the body. Scriptures offer hope and understanding about a restored and abundant life. Quiet time with the Creator and fellowship with believers restores the soul and body.
Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:8-15)
Juicing
When experiencing illness, injury, disease, medicinal therapies (antibiotics) or chemotherapy, the body may have a very hard time digesting food. and juicing is one of the best ways to get needed nutrition into your body.
Fresh Cold Pressed Juices: Cold pressed juicers allow the preservation of the most healing properties in fresh juices. The Norwalk Juicer and Pure Juicer are on the high-end and offer an easy two-step process where the food is ground and then it is pressed in a cloth/bag. The press creates a juice with no pulp in it allowing the body to absorb all the healing elements with little digestive effort. The next best option is the Champion Juicer for grinding only and purchasing a seperate hydraulic press. On the low-end the centrifuge juicer. This juicer will greatly eliminate the healing properties desired for the detoxing processes requiring perhaps twice as much juice to get the job done. Ultimately this will cost more because you must buy more food.
Live juices help flush away toxins by cleansing, energizing, and regenerating the body. Add ginger, turmeric, cranberry, cabbage or lemon to juices to enhance detoxing and reduce inflammation. Leave the peel on the ginger and turmeric. Use a citrus juicer for the lemon as the peel has flavonoids that can complicate the detoxing process. Juice should be consumed immediately. Green drinks are healing for about 20 minutes other juices for 5 hours in sealed containers or for 24 hours if sealed as air-tight as possible and refrigerated.
Carrot & Apple Juice
Apples help maintain order in the intestines and they are great detoxifiers. Carrot juice is a super nutrient, with lots of beta-carotene in a natural form that fights cancer cells. Beta-carotene is turned into vitamin A by the body. There is no risk of overdosing from food-derived beta-carotene but there is if you take vitamin A supplements. The body will only make what it needs from the vitamin A foods we consume. Manufactured supplements do not allow the body to determine when there is enough because it skips part of the digestive processes that signals the body to stop the uptake processes. Carrots are also high in minerals and when they are juiced all their nutrients become more accessible. It is especially good for the liver, skin and eyes. When this juice is consumed alternately with leafy green juices they greatly increase the body’s healing abilities.
Equal part carrots and apples (8-12 oz each)
Tart apples are preferred: Granny Smith or Fuji if unavailable use McIntosh, Ida, Red Pippin and lastly Gala.
Large orange carrots
1 large carrot = 1 large apple (roughly)
Soak apples and carrots in water with splash of distilled vinegar for 10 minutes.
Rinse and brush apples and carrots, do not scrub.
Do not peel apple or carrot.
Remove core and seeds from apple with an apple corer.
Cut ends off carrot
Alternate carrots and then apples through the juicing process. The juice should be consumed as soon as possible.
It may be kept for 3-5 hours for healing purposes if you seal a glass jar properly with little air in it.
How to seal: Pour the freshly made juice in an 8oz glass jar over a sink and let it overflow slightly and then place on the lid on top of jar. Slowly twist on the lid over the sink as it should spill out as you screw the lid on. When there is no space for oxygen at the top of the jar, the break down of nutrients is hindered due to lack of oxygen.
Green Drink
This juice is mostly lettuce (preferably Romaine if limited in variety)
Escarole lettuce 1 or 2 leaves
Red leaf lettuce 3 or 4 leaves
Green leaf lettuce 3 or 4 leaves
Endive 1 or 2 leaf
Romaine 2 to 3 leaves
Watercress leaves up to 6 leaves – no more than 6 leaves
Red cabbage 2 or 3 leaves
Beet tops 2 to 3 leaves
A quarter of a small green pepper
Swiss chard 1 to 3 leaves
Red chard 1 or 3 leaves
1 medium green apple (Granny smith preferred)
Soak produce in water and distilled vinegar for ten minutes
Rinse all thoroughly and put in spinner to remove excess water.
Cut off bottom of stems of chard or any fibrous leaves.
Alternate leafy greens with other ingredients while juicing
Drink immediately or with in 20 minutes for healing purposes.
Cranberry Lemonade Recipe
- Glass gallon jar
- Safe, clean, spring water or distilled water
- 1 cup of organic cranberry juice, not from concentrate
- 3 organic fresh lemons
- A citrus juicer
- Liquid stevia
- Liquid cayenne
Fill the jar to about 85% capacity with spring water (or distilled water). Squeeze the lemons and pour the juice into the water. Add cranberry juice. Add stevia to taste and then add cayenne to taste. The amount of cayenne is “to taste”, but the more the better. If you can’t get cranberry juice that is not from concentrate, get the reconstituted kind. Do not get any kind of cranberry juice that has any other ingredients like sweeteners or other juices. Sip throughout day.
Detox Baths: Hot Epsom salt (2 cups) baths help the body to eliminate waste. Hot water opens the pores, allowing perspiration. toxins are pushed out and nutrients such as magnesium and sulfate from the salts are absorbed. This absorption helps to generate enzymes that clean up the body.
To boost the detoxing affect add ¼ cup fresh grated ginger, ¼ cup mustard powder, and ¼ cup baking soda to your Epsom salt bath. This will open pores of the skin and further aid in eliminating pain and toxins. The baking soda helps neutralize the effects of radiation and protects the skin and hair from the salt in the water.
1-cup sesame oil, 1-cup Sea salt and 1 cup Epsom salt added to a bath is great for de-stressing the body.
1-2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar in hot bath water helps neutralize odors in the body and heals the skin.
Water: It’s the most natural way to flush toxins out of your body. Drink at least 7-8 glasses a day, preferably purified. When the body is trying to heal it is important that it consumes and absorbs the best available water possible. Water normally enters the body through the mouth and is absorbed through the skin. Many people do not consider what is in their water that comes out of the tap or a plastic bottle. 40% of bottled water comes from the tap. Tap water must be treated with a large number of chemicals in order to kill bacteria and other microorganisms. Some of the chemicals found in tap waters in the United States are:
- Chlorine
- Trihalomethanes (THMs)
- Fluorine compounds.
- Salts of: Arsenic, Aluminum, Copper. Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Barium.
- Antidepressants
Often times the water is recycled from a water treatment facility where the local plumbing dumps its used water from homes and offices. This mixture of water contains undesirable contaminants like toxic metal salts, hormones, medicines and pesticides, as well as contaminates like chemicals or microbes from the pipes (e.g. lead, bacteria, protozoa) it flows through.
Water makes up almost 75 percent of the body and is absolutely necessary for life.
You probably know you should drink 8 to 10 glasses of this life-giving liquid per day, The quality of water is key to good health and healing abilities in the body.
There are many different options for our drinking water, but most are not all healthy:
- Tap water is municipal water that comes out of the faucets and has been treated, processed, and disinfected. It is purified with chlorine and generally has added fluoride. But one of the byproducts from using chlorine in our drinking water has been linked to cancer.
- Distilled water can be any kind of water that has been vaporized and collected, leaving behind any solid residues, including minerals. Distilled water has no minerals in it at all.
- Reverse osmosis water has been forced through membranes that remove larger particles, pollutants and minerals.
- Deionized water has had ionized impurities and minerals removed from it but not bacteria or pathogens.
All of the above waters lack essential minerals that are necessary for good health.
Mineral deficiency can lead to insulin resistance; migraines, high blood pressure, constipation and even heart beat irregularities.
Bottled Water
Bottled waters are not usually “pure” and contain or lack things:
- Dangerous toxins from plastic containers can leach into its contents.
- May be “purified” community water lacking essential minerals.
* If bottled water must be used it should be in a glass or “safe” plastic container.
The best water to drink is clean, pure, and contains naturally occurring minerals:
- Well water comes from a hole drilled in the ground that taps into a water source. A pump brings it to the surface. If there is no access to city water, then a well is usually used.
- Natural spring water and Artesian comes from water that flows up from a natural spring.
- Mineral water is from an underground source, and contains at least 250 parts per million (ppm) of dissolved solids, including minerals and trace elements.
- Artesian or spring waters come from a natural source and shipped bottling and most are processed and purified. When stored in plastics these containers may further damage the water’s nutritional benefits.
- If bottled water is used it should be from a good source and in a glass or safe plastic container.
Minerals are important for nearly every function in the body, especially the adrenals. Mineral-rich water can be one source of these nutrients, but if unavailable then home filters and mineral supplements are the next best option. There are also personal water filter straws that a person can use to drink from a naturally occurring visible water source (lake, stream). Many are good for up to 1 year.
Exercise: The ongoing rapid movement increases heart rate, circulates blood faster and causes perspiration activity, which moves toxins out of the body. It also makes you thirsty, so you’ll drink more healthy water. Rebounding (small trampoline) exercise is a great way to increase the body’s ability to detox. It is safe for people in a weakened state and many come with a bar. It is best to get one moderately priced for a healthy bounce.
Fiber: Consuming fiber from foods like beets, grapefruit, potatoes, carrots, beans (black, pinto), broccoli, sprouted whole grains cereal, almonds, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, artichokes, raspberries, bananas, peas, pears and strawberries cleans the digest tract by speeding elimination processes.
Dandelion: Dandelion is a powerful liver tonic that stimulates detoxification in the body. Dandelion tea is available at most groceries as well as dandelion greens (full of nutrients). Add the greens to a smoothie or cook them low and slow like kale or spinich. Other foods that support healthy liver function include lemons, apples, beets, carrots and grapefruit.
Therapeutic Detox Shower: Alternating extreme water temperatures increase circulation and detoxify the body. While showering turn it very hot for 1-2 minutes, then turn the hot water down (or off) and stand under the cold water for 10-20 seconds. Follow this with 1-2 minutes of hot water, then another 10-20 seconds of cold water. Repeat once more, ending with cold water, and step out and dry vigorously (If your skin is in a weakened state wait until it is healthier for this detox therapy.)
Chlorella and Detoxification
Chlorella helps purify the blood and is a particularly good detoxifying agent. This supplement helps detox heavy metals like mercury, and pesticides from the body. Its healing ability is enhanced if the correct levels of beneficial bacteria are present in the gut. Probiotics or foods like yogurt and kefir as well as prebiotics or raw onion garlic and asparagus provide just such beneficial bacteria. Sun Chlorella is and excellent brand of Chlorella.