I am on a cleanse. It is not just any cleanse either. It is a crazy good one. Well it is not too crazy for me, but it is stretching my culinary boundaries. I will start with what I can eat. Vegetables, Protein, Fruit, Olive Oil, Spices, Coconut.
Not included is grains, beans, dairy, nuts, nightshades, vegetable oils, seeds, sugar and high glycemic fruits. That is the food part. There is also a supplement part of this cleanse. The whole program is called Repair and Clear by Apex Energetics. It is 6 weeks long. I have 4 more to go.
I have cheated a few times; eggplant, salsa and raw coconut sugar sweetened chocolate. Mostly I am doing well on it. My twin sister Danielle who has her own awesome blog Heal Hashimotos is also on the cleanse. It is the most effective gut repair cleanse I have ever found. For people with autoimmune disease, a cleanse like this is a MUST. My sister has Hashimotos Disease and has treated it completely naturally, and like all autoimmune diseases, hers started in her gut.
The cleanse goes in three stages. The first is boosting the immune system with glutathione recyclers, nitric oxide dampeners, and targeted trans-form Resveratrol and Curcumin therapy as natural immune suppressors (read: you might reconsider the crazy drugs that can have massive long term effects on your immune system that doctors prescribe for AID).
The second stage of the cleanse is the gut portion. I take a supplement that is a broad spectrum herbal blend to kill parasites, viruses and bacteria while taking probiotics to repopulate the gut flora. Also a l-glutamine powder to repair the gut mucosa. If you have a long standing gut infection caused by bacteria, parasites or viruses, you will never effectively repair your gut. And my disclaimer here is that working with a skilled practitioner can help you test your gut and diagnose a long standing infection that is like chinese water torture on your immune system function.
The third stage is the liver stage that works to remove cellular debris in the intestinal tract while also clearing and supporting the liver.
It is an expensive cleanse. But, it is tailor made for those who need very pure supplements without any worry of inflammatory ingredients with truly the best delivery system possible. And because diet is the biggest piece of medicine we give ourselves, it is a strict anti-inflammatory diet so that healing can happen at a faster pace.
So what have I been eating? Ha ha. Not much! Well yes I have, but it has been more boring than usual. For breakfast I eat organic sausages. For lunch I eat an avocado and apple or a salad. For dinner I am making soups, roasted chicken, meatloaf, roasted vegetables and today I made the salad in the photo above.
In other news, I am here to report that embodying the spiritual practice "there is nothing that happens in my life that is not for my upliftment" is a wonderful way. Hard work. Tearful. Soulful. Loving. I am continually faced with loving what is in front of me. This helps me immensely in my nutrition practice having compassion for others, and with my pressed juice business. What appears to knock us all off kilter does, but my mind's interpretation that what I am experiencing as suffering, is continually being dismantled by trusting my life.
Cabbage Salad with Dill and Lemon
makes 4 servings
Dressing:
2 small avocados
2 Tbls water
1 big pinch salt
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbls olive oil
2 Tbls fresh lemon juice
zest of one lemon
Blend in blender until completely smooth and silky. Set aside
Salad:
2 heaping cups small head red or green cabbage (napa is great too)
1/2 cup fresh dill
1 meyer lemon (regular lemon is fine)
Slice cabbage very finely.
Roughly chop fresh fennel.
Slice 6 very (very!) thin slices of fresh lemon (with skins and all) and roughly chop into 1/2 inch pieces.
In a bowl, add 1/2 cup of avocado dressing to the sliced cabbage. Toss very well. Add a small pinch of salt and toss again. After the dressing is coating all of the cabbage, toss in the dill and fresh lemon pieces. Be careful not to toss the dill and lemon in too much so you can keep the pieces looking bright and fresh and not overly coated with the avocado dressing.
