DETOX DIET AND SUPPLEMENTS
What you don’t eat is actually more important than what you do eat during a detox program. In fact, the best detox diet of all is to eat nothing. The basic dietary strategy for detox is to totally eliminate all acid-forming foods and beverages and to consume only small amounts of a few simple alkalizing items that provide the basic mix of essential nutrients required by the body when it is in detox mode. By keeping the diet as simple and sparse as possible, digestive wastes are reduced to a bare minimum, and the enormous amount of energy and the vast number of enzymes that our bodies normally burn up to meet the constant, complex digestive demands of our daily diets are diverted instead to detox duty. The less food you eat and the more water you drink, the faster and more efficiently your body detoxifies and repairs itself.
On the other hand, some nutrients actively assist the detox process, so whatever you choose to eat during a detox program should be selected to provide precisely those elements. The most important nutritional elements the body needs to purify the bloodstream and detoxify the tissues are enzymes, minerals, trace elements, and vitamins. Animal protein, fat, refined sugar, and starch, which constitute about 90 percent of the calories most people in the Western world consume these days, not only are useless for detox purposes, but also actually block the cleansing process as well as produce large amounts of acid wastes and putrefactive sludge. These items, therefore, must strictly be eliminated from a detox diet.
Short of fasting, which remains by far the best way to detoxify the body, the dietary approach to detox includes four basic strategies. First and foremost is to abstain entirely from eating or drinking anything that acidifies the blood and tissues. The next step is to design a detox diet based on just a few simple, unrefined plant-source foods that alkalize the blood and tissues while also providing the basic nutrients the body needs to support the detox process from start to finish. Third is to select a variety of special supplements made entirely from natural sources to assist and accelerate the detox process by providing pure, concentrated forms of essential nutrients and alkalizing agents. Fourth is to reduce calorie intake as much as possible, to decrease production of digestive and metabolic wastes and conserve energy and enzymes for detox rather than digestive purposes.
ACID ABSTINENCE
“The longest journey begins with a single step.” The first step in the direction of detox is to abstain completely from eating or drinking anything that produces an acid reaction in the digestive tract and leaves acid residues in the blood and tissues. This step should be taken a week or more before you start your full detox program. Some processed foods, such as refined sugar and starch, as well as many chemical food additives, have addictive properties similar to drugs when consumed in large amounts over long periods of time, and it is much easier on the body to withdraw these items from the diet gradually, rather than stopping suddenly. Leaping abruptly from a highly acidic state of toxemia into an alkaline state of intensive detox can produce unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. By starting to abstain from all acid-forming food and drink a week or more before implementing the main parts of your detox program, you give your body a chance to adjust incrementally to the rigors of the alkalization and detoxification process.
First and foremost, you should eliminate all animal-source food products from your diet during detox, including meat, eggs, and dairy products. All animal products are extremely acidifying to the digestive tract and bloodstream, and they also produce highly putrefactive protein wastes in the bowels. Cancer cells thrive on animal proteins and multiply rapidly in the highly acidic environment they create in the body, while worms and parasites flourish in the toxic sludge they leave glued to the bowel wall. By eliminating all acid-forming animal products from your diet and taking additional measures to alkalize your blood and tissues, you starve any cancer cells that may be developing in the body and rob them of the acidic environment they require to multiply and form tumors. In light of the pandemic spread of cancer throughout all segments of society today, this preventive strategy against cancer is a primary goal of any detox program.
Animal-based foods require a tremendous amount of energy and enzyme power to digest and process, far more than plant-based foods. If you eat meat and dairy products while trying to detoxify your blood and tissues, there is simply no way your body can muster the extra reserves of energy and enzymes it needs to cleanse and repair itself. Rather than using these reserves for detox functions such as dissolving developing tumors, dismantling damaged cells, and destroying dangerous microbes, your body will be forced by your diet to divert most of its energy and enzyme power to digestive duty to process the complex proteins and heavy fats in animal foods, and to deal with the putrid acid wastes they produce in the digestive tract. This high-energy drain defeats the very purpose of detox and should be strictly avoided.
Another category of food that should be deleted completely from the diet during detox is refined starch, especially white flour products such as bread, pasta, and pastries. These items are highly acid-forming and burn up a tremendous amount of energy and enzymes to process. Moreover, since they provide absolutely nothing of nutritional value to the detox process, they should be totally cut from the detox diet. All highly refined food products that enter the human body stripped naked of their essential nutrients must borrow the missing nutrients from the body’s reserves to complete their nutritional profiles so that they may be properly digested and metabolized in the body. Consequently, eating highly refined, processed foods actually robs the body of the essential nutrients it needs to support the detox process.
The most hazardous dietary item of all in terms of its acid-forming, nutrient-robbing properties is refined white sugar. Refined sugar, or “sucrose,” acidifies the bloodstream faster and more severely than any other food on earth, and by far the worst offender in this category is the sugary sweet, fizzy “Acid Bomb” known as the soft drink. One 12-ounce serving of Coke, Pepsi, or a similar soft drink delivers straight to the bloodstream a sugar fix equivalent to about 9 teaspoons of refined white sugar. That sugar spike instantly acidifies the bloodstream to the extreme point that, without an immediate emergency response from the body, it would kill you in a matter of minutes. To counteract the sudden radical rise in blood acidity that a glass of sweet, carbonated soda causes and to reestablish a viable balance in blood pH before you drop dead, you’d have to quickly drink thirty-two glasses of alkaline water. Of course, nobody drinks thirty-two glasses of alkaline water after each serving of a soft drink. Instead, to prevent death by acidosis, the body reacts swiftly by drawing huge amounts of organic calcium from the bones and teeth and pouring it into the bloodstream to neutralize the excess acids and to restore alkaline balance quickly. Calcium is the body’s most potent alkalizing agent and one of the most essential elements required for detox. If you consume soft drinks and other refined sweets during a detox program, not only will they continuously acidify your blood and tissues when you’re supposed to be alkalizing them instead, they’ll also drain away all your vital calcium reserves, and force your body to leach additional calcium from your bones and teeth to combat the constant influx of acids. This defensive response to excess acidosis in the bloodstream has become one of the main causes of osteoporosis, particularly in America, where people consume an astounding average of fifty-three teaspoons of refined white sugar per day, much of it in the form of carbonated soft drinks.
It is not just the sugar in soft drinks that makes them so dangerously acidifying to the blood and other bodily fluids. The carbonation in soft drinks is produced by forcing carbon dioxide gas into the sweet liquid and sealing it under pressure, so that when the can or bottle is opened, the gas is released as fizzy bubbles. As we already know, carbon dioxide is a waste product of human metabolism and a primary contributing factor to blood acidosis. To make matters even worse, the active ingredient in most of these fizzy, sweet soft drinks is phosphoric acid, which has an extremely acid pH value of 2.8. Since human blood must maintain a slightly alkaline pH of 7.35 at all times—and even small fluctuations can cause severe reactions—dropping an “Acid Bomb” of sugar plus carbon dioxide plus phosphoric acid into your stomach causes a constant, rapid drain on your body’s calcium resources. If you drink this stuff while trying to detox, its strong acid-forming properties will prevent your blood and tissues from ever reaching the degree of alkalinity required for the body’s detox and healing mechanisms to switch on and function. Instead, your blood and tissues will remain in a constant state of acidosis. Rather than cleansing and repairing itself, your body will be forced to fight a running biochemical battle just to keep your blood pH from dropping to critically dangerous levels.
ALKALINE À LA CARTE
The basic purpose of a detox diet is to provide a highly alkalizing, totally nonacidifying source of nutrition that supports the detox process while producing as little waste as possible in the body and requiring the least amount of energy to digest. Everything consumed during detox should specifically assist in alkalizing the body, purifying the bloodstream, and detoxifying the tissues, while also helping to eliminate acid wastes and toxic residues through the excretory organs. All of the manifold symptoms of blood and tissue toxicity, such as chronic headaches and body pain, joint and tissue inflammation, bloating and swelling, indigestion and constipation, liver congestion and nervous tension respond quickly to a wellplanned detox diet, which not only provides symptomatic relief but also helps eliminate the root cause of all these conditions, which is toxemia.
The twin pillars of the detox diet are fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. These foods must not only be fresh but also be organically grown and free of chemical pesticides, genetically modified varieties, and irradiation. Any fruit or vegetable that has been genetically modified, irradiated, or grown with chemical pesticides and fertilizers is useless for detox purposes. Such food is not fit for daily human consumption, either. On the other hand, fresh, organic produce is a pure and potent source of alkalizing elements and antioxidant factors, as well as a source of essential nutrients, all of which assist the detox and healing process. Fruits have primarily cleansing and purging properties, while vegetables are mainly curative and regenerative. Both are highly alkalizing, produce very little waste, and don’t require much energy and or many enzymes to digest. Together, fruit and vegetables provide the full spectrum of nutritional and therapeutic elements required to detoxify and repair the body.
Fresh fruits are such a pure and simple form of food that most of them require no digestion whatsoever in the stomach. Instead, they move quickly into the duodenum, where they dissolve and release their nutrients for quick assimilation into the bloodstream within half an hour of ingestion. If there is any other food digesting in the stomach when fresh fruit is eaten, however, the fruit must back up and wait until the other food has been processed before it can move on through to the duodenum. During this delay, the ever-present bacteria in the stomach feast on the fruit, metabolizing its nutrients and causing the fruit and everything else in the stomach to ferment rather than digest, producing toxic acid wastes and intestinal gas and upsetting the entire digestive tract. Fruit that would normally alkalize, nourish, and cleanse the body thus becomes a source of acidosis, toxicity, and indigestion instead. Therefore, the basic rule regarding fruit is, “Eat it alone or leave it alone.” Some vegetables, especially when eaten raw, can take up to three hours to digest due to their high cellulose content, and therefore fruits and vegetables should always be consumed separately from each other. In a detox diet, for example, vegetables may be included with the main meals at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and fruits may be eaten as snacks in between meals.
First, let’s take a look at the vegetable section of the detox menu. The best choices in vegetables are those that actively cleanse and heal the body, alkalize the blood and tissues, and deliver optimum nutrition at minimum digestive cost. Such vegetables include sweet potatoes, yams, squash, pumpkin, carrot, beet, cabbage, celery, parsley, and all dark leafy greens. These items are rich in organic carotenes, which rank among the most powerful dietary healing factors. Such vegetables also include other elements that are specifically beneficial in supporting the excretory functions of the liver, lungs, kidneys, and bowels. Garlic, ginger, and onion also have potent cleansing and curative properties and may therefore be included in the detox diet to spice up the taste of otherwise bland vegetables.
Vegetables may be prepared three ways for consumption during detox: as a clear broth of boiled vegetables; as fresh-cut vegetables cooked by steaming, stewing, or stir-frying; and as freshly extracted raw vegetable juice. Note that raw vegetable salads are not recommended during detox. The cell walls of raw vegetables, especially those with high cellulose content such as lettuce, celery, and carrots, are very tough and require a long time and a lot of enzyme power to digest before their nutrients can be released. Not only does this waste a lot of precious energy on digestion but it also delays delivery of nutrients and other healing factors into the bloodstream, thereby slowing down detox. For detox purposes, raw vegetables should only be consumed as freshly extracted juices in which the cell walls of the vegetables have been crushed to release all the nutrients and healing factors in a fluid form that swiftly enters the bloodstream without requiring much digestion.
Clear Broth
Clear vegetable broth is a good choice for people with stomach ulcers or weak digestive systems because the stomach and bowels need not process the bulky solids and waste products of whole vegetables. While the cooking process destroys the enzymes and some of the vitamins, all the essential minerals and trace elements are retained and easily assimilated, and these are the most important nutrients for detox purposes. Since clear vegetable broth requires no digestion in the stomach, it may be sipped in small amounts throughout the day or taken along with other cooked vegetables at meals. You may also stir a spoonful of organic miso paste into a cup of hot vegetable broth to increase its nutritional and therapeutic value, as well as to aid in digestion. A recommended combination of vegetables for preparing clear broth is given in the section on “Recipes and Formulas” (see page 304).
Cooked Vegetables
Vegetables may be cooked by steaming, stewing, or stir-frying. The only seasonings that should be added to the vegetables are a bit of sea salt, some chopped ginger root, and a clove or two of garlic or some chopped onion, if desired. Sea salt provides the full spectrum of minerals and trace elements to complement the primary nutrients in the vegetables and to assist in their digestion and assimilation. Ginger root is a strong alkalizer and also assists digestion, while garlic has potent antibacterial and tissue-cleansing properties and is one of the few dietary sources of the trace element selenium, which the body requires to produce its most powerful antioxidant enzyme. Onions also contain a variety of useful elements for purifying the blood and detoxifying the tissues.
Because The Tao of Detox is not a cookbook, we’ll simply review the basic methods of preparing vegetables for use in a detox diet rather than discuss detailed recipes. We will leave the cooking style to your own culinary imagination.
Steaming
You can steam pumpkins, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and beets together in the same steamer. Simply cut them into large chunks, including the skin, and steam for twenty to thirty minutes. Leaf vegetables only require a few minutes to steam. If you wish to season the vegetables with sea salt, ginger, and/or garlic, add those items during the last minute of cooking.
Cut all vegetables into bite-sized pieces and place them in a large cooking pot. Add sea salt, ginger, and garlic, if desired. Add enough water to completely cover the vegetables. Then bring to a boil, cover with a lid and simmer slowly over low heat for thirty to forty-five minutes. Stir occasionally. Add extra water if the mixture gets too dry. A good combination includes pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, cabbage, and celery, with some chopped parsley and spinach thrown in during the last five minutes of cooking. Pumpkin has mild laxative and diuretic properties, which helps support the excretory functions of the bowels and kidneys during detox.
Stir-frying
This method is definitely the best way to cook fresh vegetables to preserve their fresh flavors and crisp textures, as well as their nutritional value. The high heat softens the cell walls of the cellulose and cooks the vegetables just enough to make them easy to digest, while the short cooking time prevents their crispy textures from wilting and their bright colors from fading. When stir-frying vegetables, chopped ginger and garlic may be added to the pan together with the vegetables, but the salt should be added only at the very end of the cooking process. Root vegetables such as carrots, yams, and beets are not very suitable for stirfrying, but squash, pumpkin, and celery as well as all green leafy vegetables lend themselves very well to stir-fry cooking. It is best to use only olive oil for stir-frying, because it provides the most beneficial forms of essential fatty acids and does not produce an abundance of free radicals at high cooking temperatures, as most other oils do. Good choices for stirfried vegetables in the detox diet include spinach, kale, mustard greens, cabbage, bok choi, bamboo shoots, and watercress. Watercress supplies abundant amounts of organic sulfur, calcium, and magnesium and has particularly potent blood-purifying properties. If your kidneys and bladder are ailing and need a cleansing alkaline flush-out, try stir-frying some tender fresh asparagus with ginger, garlic, and sea salt. Asparagus is one of the most powerful natural alkalizers in the vegetable kingdom. It flushes so much acid waste from the blood and kidneys so quickly that you can smell the ammonia in your urine within half an hour after eating asparagus. If you prefer, asparagus may also be steamed for two or three minutes, rather than stir-fried.
Raw Vegetable Juice
To extract juice from fresh raw vegetables, use a proper vegetable extractor that can press the juice from the vegetable cells under high pressure, extracting the essential fluid content and discarding the fibrous pulp. The great advantage of raw juice is that it retains all the potent, active enzymes from the vegetables, which are destroyed by heat in the cooking process. Raw juice also preserves all of the vitamins and other essential nutrients in vegetables and delivers them into the stomach in a ready-to-assimilate fluid form that requires no digestion. A glass of raw vegetable juice is the perfect complementary beverage for a detox meal of cooked vegetables; the juice provides the active enzymes and vitamins missing from the cooked vegetables, and the cooked vegetables provide the fiber removed from the juice.
Vegetable juices may be taken individually or blended in various combinations to provide specific therapeutic benefits to particular organs, glands, and other tissues by virtue of their natural pharmacodynamic affinity for specific parts of the body. Many good books are available these days on raw-juice therapy, and many health spas now feature special “juice bars” where guests can enjoy their “Happy Hour” over a carrot and beet cocktail rather than a beer or whisky. A few tried-and-true vegetable juices for detox are briefly introduced below:
Carrot
This is perhaps the single most valuable vegetable juice for detox purposes. It cleanses the liver of stale bile and the coagulated toxic residues that accumulate there year after year as a result of eating chemically contaminated foods and wrong food combinations. Carrot juice provides abundant supplies of organic sulfur and chlorine for tissue cleansing purposes, calcium and magnesium to support the detox process, and natural carotenes, which provide strong antioxidant activity. Carrot is also the best base juice for blending special combinations with other juices.
Beet
Beet juice is a potent cleanser of the liver and lower bowel. It also nourishes red blood cells, increases their capacity to carry oxygen, and helps regulate menstrual cycles in women. Beet juice is quite strong and therefore only 2–4 ounces, combined with 6–8 ounces of carrot and/or other juices, should be taken per serving, and no more than 8 ounces (1 cup) should be used per day.
Celery
Celery juice is an excellent source of organic sodium chloride, which has strong cleansing and alkalizing properties and helps cool down the whole system. It is also a rich source of magnesium, which is required to produce alkaline enzymes for detox purposes. Celery juice is an effective remedy for disorders of the nervous system, including insomnia and nervous tension. Celery’s nervine properties help keep body and mind relaxed and at ease during detox. A glass of fresh celery juice in the morning is a very good way to soothe a hangover after a night of drinking, which is something that hopefully won’t happen during a detox program. This remedy, however, can come in handy in daily life, should such a situation arise.
Parsley
Parsley, like asparagus, is a powerful alkalizer with strong affinity for the kidneys and bladder. In addition to its potent kidney- and bladdercleansing properties, parsley juice soothes and reduces inflammation in the urogenital canal and detoxifies the liver. Parsley is a rich source of organic calcium and magnesium and it helps purify the blood. In combination with carrot juice, parsley nourishes the eyes and improves vision. Parsley juice is strong medicine and should be taken only in combination with other juices, such as carrot juice. Don’t use more than 3 ounces a day.
If you have access to freshly extracted wheat-grass juice, or if you’re equipped to prepare it at home, include 2–3 ounces a day in your detox diet, combined with carrot and other juices. Wheat-grass juice is the ideal detox food. It provides fresh organic chlorophyll to purify the bloodstream and build strong blood; it alkalizes the blood and tissues; it contains the full range of essential amino acids, minerals, and vitamins required for cellular regeneration; and it is brimming with active enzymes.
Breuss Vegetable Juice
This juice recipe is used in the cancer treatment developed by Dr. Rudolf Breuss, an Austrian naturopath whose program has helped over forty-thousand people cure themselves of cancer. It also serves as an excellent therapeutic blend for general detox purposes. To make enough juice for one day, put the following vegetables through a good juice extractor, then strain the liquid through a fine sieve or cheesecloth to remove all sediment. Combine 10 ounces of beets; 3½ ounces of carrots; 3½ ounces of celery root, 2½ ounces of potatoes, and one ounce of white turnips (Chinese radish). You may drink a glass of this juice as part of a detox meal, or sip it slowly, an ounce at a time, throughout the day as part of your detox diet. Breuss Vegetable Juice is also produced in bottled form by the Biotta Company of Switzerland. Made only from organic, chemical -free vegetables that have been cold-pressed to preserve all the vital nutrients, enzymes, and other healing factors, this exceptional product is a pure, living vegetable juice that retains the therapeutic benefits and nutritional value of fresh, raw juice. Juice is a very convenient way to take your vegetables during detox. In fact, two glasses per day of Breuss Vegetable Juice, either homemade or bottled from Biotta, is sufficient to provide all the nutritional support and alkalizing factors required during a detox program.
Fresh fruits are the other mainstay of the detox diet, but not all fruits are suitable for detox purposes. The best choices for internal cleansing are citrus fruits and semisweet fruits from temperate climates such as apples, pears, watermelons, black cherries, and black grapes. Tropical fruits such as mangos, pineapples, bananas, and litchi have a very high content of fruit sugars and tend to overheat the system; the only exception is papaya, which facilitates detox and is particularly cleansing to the digestive tract owing to its rich content of active protease (protein-digesting) enzymes, which dissolve partially digested proteins and mucoid matter in the intestines. All fruits included in the detox diet should be organically grown and totally free of pesticides and other chemical sprays. In addition, only fresh fruits should be eaten. Do not substitute dried fruits. As a result of the dehydration process, dried fruits contain much denser concentrations of fruit sugars and far fewer enzymes than fresh fruits. Therefore the body must spend its own energy and enzymes to process dried fruit. Fresh fruits, which are over 95 percent water and contain their own active enzymes, virtually digest themselves.
Three ways are recommended for eating fruit during detox. One way is to extract the juice and strain out most of the pulp. This process renders a very pure, highly alkalizing nectar that is easy to absorb and that reaches the bloodstream quickly. A second way is to use a blender to make a “fruit smoothie,” but without adding any milk, yogurt, soy milk, honey, or any other ingredients. Use only fresh fruit and pure water. This produces a drink in which the juice is blended together with the pureed pulp. It provides an excellent source of hydrated fiber for the digestive tract. The third way is simply to eat the fruit whole, with or without the peel. The peel of fruits such as apples, pears, and grapes contain many valuable nutrients and healing factors, but they must be very well chewed in the mouth before swallowing to extract those nutrients, and the fruit must be certified organic to avoid poisoning yourself with the chemical sprays used on most commercial crops.
Many people are confused regarding the role of citrus fruits in maintaining proper pH balance in the stomach and bloodstream. Citrus fruit juices are very cleansing to the stomach and digestive tract and help dissolve impacted mucus and putrefactive wastes, but if you measure the pH value of any citrus juice with litmus paper, you’ll find that it falls decisively into the acid range. The pH value of a food outside the stomach, however, does not determine whether it has “acid-forming” or “alkaline-forming” effects within the stomach. What counts is how a particular food reacts with the digestive juices and other foods in the stomach after it is eaten, and whether it acidifies or alkalizes the bloodstream after it has been digested. In the case of citrus fruits, if they are eaten on an empty stomach and allowed to pass unobstructed into the duodenum, they become highly alkalizing and very beneficial for internal cleansing and detox. However, if you drink a glass of orange or grapefruit juice with a meal of toast, eggs, pancakes, and/or cereal—as millions of people do every day when eating a modern Western-style breakfast—the citrus juice, unable to pass into the duodenum, sits on top of the other food and quickly ferments, preventing the proper digestion of everything else in the stomach and turning it all into a frothing, fermentive stew that causes gas, forms acid wastes, and increases tissue toxicity. To gain maximum benefit from citrus fruits’ cleansing and alkalizing properties, and to avoid their acid-forming reactions with other foods, they should always be eaten separately from any other foods, including all other types of fruit.
As with all items in the detox diet, the fewer your choices in fruit, and the more simply you combine them, the better they will work to purify your blood, detoxify your tissues, and cleanse your digestive tract. Here are a few suggestions:
Apples
Apples aid digestion and cleanse the intestinal tract. They may be eaten whole or juiced. Apple cores are very rich in pectin, which acts as a potent intestinal detoxificant. Raw apple juice usually reduces the fever and tissue inflammation that sometimes occur during detox as heavy toxins are dislodged and released into the bloodstream for excretion. Another raw apple product that may be used for detox purposes is organic apple cider vinegar. Unlike all other vinegars, which contain acetic acid and are therefore acid-forming, apple cider vinegar contains malic acid, which is alkalizing to the body. Two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with one teaspoon of raw honey stirred into a glass of warm water may be taken once or twice a day, before meals, to cleanse the stomach and balance pH throughout the digestive system. This is particularly beneficial for those who suffer from gastritis.
Pears
Pears are loaded with alkalizing elements and have a natural affinity for the kidneys, where they provide a gentle diuretic effect, cleansing the kidneys, and dissolving crystallized acid residue before it can form kidney stones.
Grapes
The best type of grapes for detox purposes are black grapes. The juice of raw black grapes is known among vegans as “vegetarian milk” because of its capacity to sustain nursing infants deprived of mother’s milk, without using dairy milk. Black grapes are particularly effective for treating constipation and gastritis, detoxifying the liver and kidneys, and purifying the blood. In Russia, entire clinics are devoted exclusively to what is called “The Grape Cure.” In the clinics, patients are fed nothing but raw black grapes for up to a full month or more. This regimen has been effectively used to cure various forms of cancer, heart disease, hepatitis, nervous system disorders, and many other serious conditions that conventional medicine often views as “incurable.” Glucose, which is also known as “blood sugar” and is the main form of sugar found in grapes, is the body’s primary metabolic fuel and is especially important for brain functions. Since grapes directly provide the bloodstream with the precise form of fuel required by the cells, they help curb the craving for rich foods that often manifests when you’re trying to restrict your diet to just a few simple items. The skins and seeds of grapes are also rich in nutrients and cleansing factors, but they must be chewed very well to release these elements for assimilation. If you don’t have the patience to chew the skins and seeds of whole grapes, you may puree them whole in a blender, which does the chewing job for you. Like all other fruits, grapes should be eaten at least one or two hours apart from vegetables and other foods. If you choose to eat nothing else but grapes for your detox diet, you may eat as many of them as you wish, from morning till night.
Citrus
Oranges, grapefruits, and lemons are wonderful alkalizers and cleansers when consumed alone, either whole or juiced. They help dissolve mucus and phlegm throughout the system, alkalize the blood and bodily fluids, and decongest the liver. Fresh grapefruit is extraordinarily rich in salicylic acid, which dissolves crystallized calcium deposits in the joints, thereby relieving arthritis. In conjunction with long-term reforms in daily diet after a few detox programs, arthritis can be gradually and permanently cured with grapefruit therapy. Citrus juice also has strong antiseptic and antifungal properties, which can be important during detox. Never add sugar or any other sweetener to fresh citrus juice because any additive will cause it to ferment in the stomach and become highly acid-forming, rather than alkalizing. As explained earlier, always consume citrus fruits and juices separately from other foods, and on an empty stomach.
Watermelon
Watermelon is an excellent internal organ cleanser, especially for the kidneys and bladder. When eaten whole, it should be cut up into bitesized chunks and chewed slowly, bite by bite, throughout the day. Alternatively, it may be pureed in a blender, including the white rind, which contains potent kidney-cleansing factors. Watermelon is one of the most alkalizing of fruits. In addition, owing to its natural affinity for the kidneys, it helps dissolve and prevent the formation of kidney stones.
Papaya’s abundant supplies of protease enzymes makes it particularly effective as a digestive aid and a detoxifying agent for bowels that are clogged with putrefactive protein wastes from excessive consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products. Papaya also stimulates secretions of digestive juices in the stomach and duodenum, and when there’s nothing else in the stomach, these digestive enzymes travel down to dissolve mucus and break down putrid waste matter in the intestines.
GRAINS AND NUTS
Almost all major grain foods are acid-forming and require significant energy and enzymes to digest. Therefore in the detox diet, grains should either be eliminated entirely, or else strictly limited. The only major grain food that is alkaline-forming is millet, so it is the best choice when grains are included in the detox diet. If millet is unavailable, the next best options, in order of preference, are spelt, barley, rye, buckwheat, or brown rice. All wheat products should be eliminated completely. Wheat not only is one of the most acid-forming grains but also is the cause of allergic reactions in many people. Both these reactions become particularly severe during detox.
Only whole, organically grown grains should be included in the detox diet. Absolutely no flour products, such as bread, pasta, and pastry, should be allowed. The grain should be washed well and presoaked in pure water for at least six hours, or overnight, then boiled for a few hours with plenty of water and a teaspoon of sea salt until it forms a thin gruel or porridge. In Chinese, this sort of watery boiled grain is called hsi-fan, literally “diluted rice,” or “congee.” During cooking, if the porridge becomes too thick, stir in another cup or two of water. Millet makes an excellent porridge, and so do barley and brown rice. An even better choice for porridge is a tasty medicinal grain called “Job’s Tears” (Coix lacryma-jobi), or yi-yi-ren in Chinese, which has diuretic properties, decongests the lungs, eliminates phlegm, and removes excess dampness from the joints and tissues. A simple recipe for Job’s Tears and Brown Rice Porridge is given in the “Recipes & Formulas” section (appendix 1, page 305).
Thin porridge made from whole grain is relatively easy to digest and provides a variety of essential nutrients, including B vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Porridge also adds fibrous bulk to the diet to facilitate bowel movements and provides carbohydrates for metabolic energy. As noted above, it is generally best to abstain from grain during detox and save the digestive energy and enzymes for internal cleansing purposes instead. In some cases, however, such as when doing a liver and nerve detox, it is good to include a limited amount of whole-grains porridge as a source of B vitamins, amino acids, and other factors of specific benefit to liver and nerve tissue.
All grains become alkaline-forming when sprouted. Sprouting transforms them into complete living foods bursting with essential nutrients, active enzymes, and energy. So freshly sprouted grains may always be included with the main meals in a detox diet.
Raw nuts and seeds are an excellent source of vegetable protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, but to digest them and extract their nutritional benefits, raw nuts and seeds must be presoaked overnight in pure water before you eat them. All nuts and seeds have a special “antidigestive” factor built into them, specifically designed by nature to prevent them from rotting (i.e., digesting themselves). That factor allows nuts and seeds to be kept unrefrigerated for a long time without decaying. However, if you eat them like that, this natural preservative factor also prevents your stomach from properly digesting them, and consequently they ferment instead, producing gas and acid wastes. When raw nuts and seeds are presoaked overnight, the water eliminates the antidigestive factor and signals the nut or seed to “wake up,” just as it would if the nut or seed were planted in the ground and watered. While soaking in water overnight, nuts and seeds come to life and release their rich reserves of nutrients and other health factors. When you eat them like this, they become very easy to digest, and all of their abundant nutritional potential becomes available for assimilation.
Like grains, however, most nuts and seeds are acid-forming in the body and should therefore not be eaten during detox. Fortunately, the only exception is the most beneficial nut of all, the almighty almond, which is not only alkalizing to the human system but also ranks as one of the very best foods in nature for human health and longevity. Almonds are one of the purest, most potent sources of the essential amino acids and fatty acids that form the “bricks and mortar” of cell and tissue construction. Almonds also provide abundant amounts of other vital nutrient cofactors, particularly calcium and magnesium—the “Dynamic Duo” of mineral elements for detox. The famous clairvoyant healer, Edgar Cayce, who successfully diagnosed and cured thousands of severely sick people, often said that anyone who eats a few raw almonds every day will never develop cancer.
To prepare almonds for eating, use only raw, preferably organically grown whole almonds that have been shelled but not blanched. Place them in a bowl, cover with pure water, and set aside to soak overnight. Next morning, drain off the water, and the almonds are ready to eat. Peel off the brown skins, which are very easy to remove after the nuts have been soaked, because any contaminants to which the nuts have been exposed will be trapped in the skin and are eliminated by peeling them. Soaked almonds remain fresh and ready to eat all day; any leftovers should be kept in the refrigerator and may still be eaten the next day. Soaked almonds are so satisfying to the appetite, so easy to digest, and so rich in nutritional value, that including them as a staple in the detox diet makes it relatively easy to abstain from heavy, acid-forming foods such as meat, dairy products, bread, and pasta that most people normally eat as staples in their daily diets. By depending on almonds during detox, you may even grow so fond of their fine flavor and crunchy texture that you’ll start substituting almonds for some of the heavier, acid-forming foods in your daily diet.
DETOX BEVERAGES
What you drink is as much a part of your diet as what you eat, and in a detox diet, water and other liquid nourishment are particularly important. To continuously flush toxins out the kidneys and replenish all bodily fluids with pure water, you must drink at least six to eight glasses (1½ to 2 quarts) of pure, preferably alkaline and ionized, water each and every day throughout the duration of a detox program. This much water is absolutely essential for success. A glass of fruit or vegetable juice or a cup of herbal tea does not count as a glass of water just because you are drinking a fluid that contains water. Juices and teas function in an entirely different way than pure water does in the human body. Only water that is consumed “straight” can purify the blood, detoxify the tissues, rehydrate the cells, and replenish bodily fluids. Water should be consumed separately from food, not with meals, and the first two glasses should be taken immediately upon arising in the morning, before eating anything, to flush mucus and food residues from the stomach and digestive tract. Drink another glass or two between breakfast and lunch, and again between lunch and dinner, and the last one between dinner and bedtime.
Another important beverage during detox is herbal tea, which is especially supportive for various aspects of the detoxification and purification process. The teas enhance the functions of the organs and glands involved in the relief of the symptomatic discomforts of detox. Almost all herbal teas are alkalizing and have therapeutic benefits for detox. They may therefore be sipped freely throughout the day. Depending on which organs and tissues require the most attention during a detox program, you may select specific herbal teas that have what TCM refers to as “natural affinity” (gui jing) for those particular organs and tissues, such as using dandelion and milk thistle to detoxify the liver, horsetail and nettle to clean the kidneys, valerian and passion flower to soothe the nerves, and so forth. A variety of herbal teas and other herbal formulas, which may be used as supplements to help detoxify specific organs and tissues and relieve the discomforts of detox, are presented in chapter 8, “Herbal Detox.” You may include a selection of these in any detox program, according to your personal requirements.
Sage tea is generally beneficial for all detox and internal-cleansing purposes and may be included in all detox programs. Sage tea also plays a central role in the “Breuss Cancer Cure.” An old Roman proverb asks, “Why die, when there is sage in the garden?” Sage has been known since ancient times for its potent cleansing and healing properties and has been used for centuries as an effective preventive medicine against disease and degeneration. It contains factors that nourish all of the glands as well as the spinal cord, thereby helping the body to produce the hormones and neurochemicals involved in the cleansing, healing, and regeneration of the whole system. A large thermos full of hot Sage Tea may be prepared first thing each morning and taken as desired throughout the day and evening. The recipe for this excellent herbal detox tea is given in “Recipes & Formulas” (in appendix 1, page 306).
DETOX SUPPLEMENTS
To fortify the detox diet with extra cleansing and healing power, various nutritional supplements may be included to selectively assist different dimensions of the detox process, and to target specific organs and tissues for extra attention. Only supplements made from natural food concentrates and pure plant or mineral extracts should be included in the detox diet. Anything synthesized from chemicals or other artificial ingredients should be strictly avoided.
Supplements serve three basic purposes in the detox diet. They help alkalize the blood and tissues, thereby maintaining the internal “climate” of alkalinity required for cleansing and healing responses to function properly. They provide additional supplies of antioxidants, chlorophyll, carotenes, and other essential detoxifying elements. And they supply extra reserves of vital detox nutrients, especially the all-important vitamin and mineral factors that are so centrally involved in the myriad metabolic enzyme reactions that occur during detox. A few of the most useful detox supplements are briefly introduced below:
Minerals
Include some form of full-spectrum, easily assimilated mineral supplement in all detox programs. The best choice for this purpose is sea water, which may be taken straight from clean ocean waters or made from a concentrated fluid extract of pure marine minerals. Another good source is homemade bittern of Celtic or Himalayan Glacial sea salt, or ¹⁄3 teaspoon of either of these sea salts dissolved in a glass of pure water. Sea water and sea salt contain the full range of minerals and trace elements required by the body, and in precisely the proper proportions. In fact, the mineral composition and pH value of human blood and natural sea water are virtually identical.
In addition to full-spectrum mineral supplementation, the body also requires extra amounts of calcium and magnesium during detox. Calcium is the body’s primary alkalizing agent. Calcium is also needed for balanced functioning of all the major organ systems, including the nervous system. It is involved in every major metabolic reaction and is essential for new cell growth and tissue regeneration. An excellent source of this macromineral is coral calcium, which is exceptionally alkalizing and relatively easy to assimilate. Simply dissolve the powder in pure water and take it two or three times daily, with or without food.
Magnesium is a key component in a wide range of alkaline enzymes that the body must produce to conduct the detox process, and it is also a vital factor for balancing heart and nervous-system functions. Calcium and magnesium work together as the “Dynamic Duo” of detox. It is important to obtain sufficient quantities of both for either one to be completely effective. The easiest form of magnesium to assimilate is magnesium chloride, as found in the sea. An excellent source is the magnesium-rich bittern extracted from Celtic sea salt, which you can easily prepare at home as described in chapter 2. Alternatively, you may use pure magnesium chloride in fluid form (“magnesium oil”), or concentrated marine mineral extracts derived from pure sea water, which is available at many health food stores or by mail order.
Green Food
Green food refers to any purified food concentrate made from the freshly extracted juice of young cereal grasses, such as wheat, rye, and barley, or extracted from water plants and green algae, which grow on the surface of large, unpolluted lakes. These foods products are called green due to their high concentration of pure organic chlorophyll, which is one of nature’s most potent blood purifiers and tissue cleansers and is essential for any detox program. It is an interesting and significant fact of nature that, with the sole exception of a single molecule, the chlorophyll in plants and the hemoglobin in human blood have precisely the same biochemical composition. The only difference is that in the place in which hemoglobin has a molecule of iron, chlorophyll has a molecule of magnesium.
Hemoglobin is the factor in blood that is responsible for carrying oxygen. Without sufficient hemoglobin, the blood’s capacity to carry oxygen diminishes rapidly, reducing its power to detoxify and nourish the tissues. Chlorophyll builds strong hemoglobin and swiftly purifies the bloodstream, thereby supporting the entire detox process by enhancing the blood’s capacity to hold oxygen and deliver it to the tissues. As Dr. Bernard Jensen, one of the leading authorities on detox therapy, states, “Chlorophyll can speed up the rate of cleansing the bowel, bloodstream, and liver.” Since cleansing the bowel, bloodstream, and liver represents about 75 percent of the work in detox, chlorophyll is the sovereign element for getting the detox job done swiftly and effectively.
Green food also contains the full range of essential amino acids required for reproducing cells and repairing tissues, as well all the essential vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that the body needs to cleanse and heal itself. Green food supplies all of these elements in their purest, most bio-available forms. As a nutritionally complete food as well as a rich source of blood and tissue cleansing factors, green food may be used as the sole form of nutrition during a detox program, without the need for any other type of food. Since green foods are pure, highly concentrated extracts of living plants, they’re loaded with active enzymes and they therefore can be digested without requiring any additional energy or enzymes from your body. Their nutrients are rapidly released for immediate assimilation into the bloodstream and swift delivery to the cells and tissues, which means that they produce virtually no acid wastes in the body—an obvious advantage during detox—while still delivering the full range of essential nutrients in the purest, most readily utilized form possible in any food.
Although all forms of wheat grain are forbidden when one is detoxing, the juice of young cereal grasses, such as wheat and barley, is one of the most widely used green foods for detox purposes. Such juice may be taken either freshly extracted (which requires a special machine) or in the form of dried powder pressed into tablets. One of the best wheatgrass supplements on the market today is called “Green Life.” It is made in the United States by the V. E. Irons Company as part of its line of “Vit-ra-tox” internal-cleansing products. Green Life is made from the dried, cold-extracted juices of organically grown cereal grasses, including wheat, barley, oats, and rye, and is available either as loose powder or pressed tablets. It also contains powdered extract of whole beet juice to detoxify the liver and bowels, sea kelp to rebuild the blood, and papaya enzymes to dissolve putrefactive proteins and impacted dried mucoid matter in the intestinal tract. This product contains all the elements required by the body to detoxify and purify itself, including 50,000 IU of natural beta carotene per 3½-ounce portion, almost double the amount found in fresh carrots. In addition, it contains about 25 percent pure vegetable protein, including a properly balanced blend of twenty natural amino acids, which help build new cells and repair damaged tissues.
Another excellent green-food supplement is “Barley Green,” produced by AIM International in the USA. This supplement comes in a light green powder that may be stirred into juice or water, or swallowed dry by the spoonful and washed down with juice or water. Extracted from pure barley grass, the powder is densely packed with chlorophyll, nutrients, and active enzymes in highly concentrated form.
Spirulina, blue-green algae, and chlorella are examples of green foods made from the simple, single-celled aquatic plants that grow on the surfaces of large, unpolluted lakes located in pristine mountains and forest regions. These organisms are among the oldest forms of life on earth, having first appeared about two billion years ago, when plant life still ruled the planet. Their nutritional profile includes an amazing 2 ounces of pure vegetable protein and .075 ounces of pure organic chlorophyll per 3½ ounce serving.
Like green foods derived from cereal grasses, spirulina and other micro-algae also provide all the essential B vitamins required for detox and healing, including the highest known vegetable source of vitamin B12, which is very difficult to obtain from any other nonanimal food source. B vitamins are particularly important for repairing and rebalancing the liver, brain, and nervous system. Since the normal dietary sources of these vitamins are grains and animal products, which are highly acid-forming and should be avoided during detox, green foods provide a convenient alternative source of these essential nutritional factors in a pure, potent form that alkalizes rather than acidifies the body.
Blackstrap Molasses
Natural, unsulfured molasses is one of the richest and most easily assimilated sources of essential minerals in balanced, organic form. The roots of sugar cane can grow as deep as 5½ to 6½ yards into the ground, allowing them to tap into the abundant reserves of minerals that lie beneath depleted topsoils and that are out of reach of other, shallower crops. Since mineralization of blood and tissues is one of the primary strategies in all detox programs, molasses is a convenient and effective supplement for this purpose, especially for people with long-term mineral deficiency. Molasses is also one of the best natural sources of both organic iron and copper, which is an essential cofactor for the utilization of iron in the body. This composition makes molasses an excellent supplement for building strong blood, and a good tonic for those suffering from anemia. In addition, molasses provides lots of calcium and magnesium, both of which the body needs extra supplies of during detox.
Alkaline Vitamin C
Alkaline vitamin C, or “C-salts,” is a nonacidic form of vitamin C bound to various alkaline mineral salts. C-salts can be used in large dosages without the acidifying effects produced by the more common, less expensive acetic acid form of vitamin C. Vitamin C is both a potent antioxidant and an important nutrient. Because of vitamin C’s indispensable metabolic role in the detox process, it is wise to include a supplemental source of alkaline vitamin C in all detox programs. Calcium ascorbate and sodium ascorbate are the two most widely used C-salts, and both are available in tablets or pure powdered form; the latter may be stirred into water or juice throughout the day. One-tenth ounce to .175 ounces per day of alkaline vitamin C is a suitable dosage for most detox purposes, although C may also be taken in much larger amounts for additional antioxidant activity.
Liquid Bentonite
Also known as “clay water,” bentonite is a superfine, colloidal form of volcanic ash consisting of micromolecules that are five hundred times smaller than water molecules, each of which carries a strong negative charge. These molecules saturate the blood and bodily fluids, penetrating places where even water cannot go. They act like millions of micromagnets to attract and neutralize positively charged toxic molecules lodged deep in tissues and fluids throughout the body. The neutralized toxins are then carried away in the bloodstream for excretion. A single molecule of bentonite can adsorb two hundred times its own weight in toxic wastes, and its cleansing action is entirely mechanical, producing no chemical reactions whatsoever in the body. One of the best grades of liquid bentonite on the market is the “Vit-ra-tox” label, which may be ordered by mail from the address provided in the “Suppliers” section. One tablespoon of bentonite stirred into a glass of water and taken two to three times per day, separately from food, is an adequate dosage for most detox programs, although it may be taken in double those amounts in extreme cases of blood and tissue toxicity. If you’re also using psyllium, take the bentonite as a “chaser” immediately after the psyllium.
Psyllium Seed
The ground seed and husk of psyllium (plantago ovato blond), known in India as “Flea Seed,” is by far the most effective available natural fiber-bulking supplement for clearing clogged bowels of impacted feces, dry mucoid plaque, and putrefactive food residues. No better remedy exists for chronic constipation and sluggish bowels than ground psyllium. Like liquid bentonite, psyllium functions entirely on a mechanical basis, without causing any chemical reactions whatsoever. One teaspoon of ground psyllium shaken well with about ten ounces of water and drunk down quickly on an empty stomach forms a dense, mucilaginous bolus that sweeps like a broom throughout the entire digestive tract, loosening and eliminating pockets of impacted putrefactive waste and mucoid sludge from the deep folds of the colon. Psyllium facilitates regular bowel movements, dredges the colon of dangerous toxic residues that have festered there for years, and accelerates the entire detox process. One or two doses per day on an empty stomach is sufficient when using psyllium as a supplement in the detox diet. When fasting, however, four doses per day should be taken to provide a constant cleansing action within the bowels. Always remember to drink an extra glass of water immediately after taking a dose of psyllium, and if you’re also using bentonite, add it to the second glass of water. The ground psyllium seed powder produced by “Vit-ra-tox” as part of its line of detox supplements is called “Intestinal Cleanser” and is one of the best on the market today. Another excellent variety of this important detox supplement is “Herbal Fiber Blend,” produced under the AIM label.
This product is a balanced blend of eighteen cleansing herbs combined in a base of ground psyllium. The herbs eliminate intestinal parasites, stimulate excretory functions, detoxify the internal organs, and rebalance the entire digestive system.
Cayenne
Cayenne is one of the most effective healing herbs on earth, and it has strong cleansing properties that greatly assist the detox process. Cayenne gives a big boost to blood circulation and balances heart functions, thereby insuring sufficient supplies of oxygen and nutrients to all tissues. In addition, cayenne stimulates the entire endocrine system, strengthens immune response, clears liver congestion, activates peristalsis and lower bowel functions, and energizes the whole digestive system. Believe it or not, cayenne is also one of the best remedies for stomach ulcers. It cleanses and disinfects the ulcers and promotes their rapid healing. On top of all that, cayenne is highly alkalizing, which makes it a perfect detox supplement, especially for those with circulatory and heart problems, stomach ulcers, and/or stagnant digestive systems. One or two capsules taken once or twice a day with a glass of warm water is an effective therapeutic dosage for detox purposes. Cayenne is most effective taken on an empty stomach, but it may also be taken with meals to buffer the heat it produces in the stomach. You can quickly quell the heat of cayenne taken between meals by eating an apple with it.
Lemon
Fresh lemon is the only food in the world that is anionic, which means it carries a negative molecular charge. This does not apply to any other citrus fruit such as lime or grapefruit, but only to fresh lemon, the juice of which must be consumed freshly extracted to retain its detoxifying anionic properties. The negative charge, combined with lemon’s strong alkalizing effects, makes fresh lemon juice one of the most powerful detoxifying supplements of all. It may be used to assist any type of detox program. Fresh lemon juice should always be taken on an empty stomach, mixed into a glass of pure water, without the addition of any sweeteners. Fresh lemon juice assists the production of bile in the liver, and without adequate bile production, it is impossible to properly digest food and assimilate nutrients. An excellent way to use fresh lemon juice as a detox supplement is to blend it with ground whole flax seed, alkaline vitamin C powder, and selected herbs to make a “Lemon-Flax Shake.” This drink may be taken twice daily, between meals, throughout the duration of a detox program. The recipe is provided in the “Recipes and Formulas” section, appendix 1, page 312.
DAILY DETOX MENUS
The dietary guidelines given in this chapter, including the sample menus presented below, are specifically designed for detox purposes, not for daily life. Since one tries to remain calm and quiet during detox, resting in a state of uninterrupted relaxation and avoiding all stress and strain that might activate the “fight or flight” response, while also refraining from strenuous muscular exertion that produces lactic acid in the tissues, the body requires far fewer calories during detox than it does in daily life. Moreover, detox requires a diet that produces minimal acid wastes and consumes minimal digestive energy, while delivering maximum nutrition and providing precisely the elements the body needs to detoxify and cleanse itself. Such a diet does not meet the requirements of daily life for an active person, because it does not provide sufficient calories to generate the energy required for an active lifestyle, nor does it contain the proper mixture of food elements the body needs for daily life. Therefore, the detox diet outlined in this chapter should only be used for the specific purpose of deliberately detoxifying the body, preferably in conjunction with other detox modalities introduced in this book, for periods of three days up to three weeks. After that, if you wish to reform your personal daily diet in ways that protect your health and prolong your life by producing minimum toxicity and providing maximum nutrition, you may adopt some of the dietary suggestions offered in the chapter “Retox Diet and Supplements” in part 2 of this book.
As a general guideline to assist the reader in composing his or her own daily menus for detox programs of three days to three weeks duration, six sample detox menus are presented for reference below. These menus are geared to various different appetites, tastes, and detox requirements, and each one focuses primary therapeutic attention on particular organs and tissues that need the most work. Feel free to mix and match the recommended foods and supplements in whatever ways best suit your own personal tastes and individual therapeutic needs, as long as you do not include any items or combinations that are counterproductive to detox and healing.
Generally speaking, the more fluid and less solid, the more raw and less cooked, the more nutrient-dense and fewer calorie-rich items you include in your detox diet, the more detoxifying that diet becomes and the more effectively it heals your body. It is important to remember that in the detox diet, “less is more.” The less you eat, the more you detox. In fact, the best detox diet of all is fasting, as we shall see in the following chapter. Therefore, please do not feel obliged to strictly follow the suggestions below when designing your own personal detox programs. Instead, use them as general dietary guidelines to help you compose menus that satisfy your own therapeutic requirements without overly offending your basic tastes in food. Once you’ve decided on a particular detox menu, it is best not to stray too far from it for the duration of your program. The simpler and more consistent you make the diet, the better it will work for you.
A few basic items should be included in all the detox menus suggested below. Most important of all is to drink at least six to eight glasses (1¹⁄3 to 1¾ quarts) of pure alkaline water each and every day, as follows: two 8-ounce glasses immediately upon arising in the morning; one to two glasses between breakfast and lunch; two to three glasses between lunch and dinner; and one glass between dinner and bedtime. Sage tea is recommended for general cleansing and healing purposes in all these detox menus, in addition to various other herbal teas for specific conditions. Some form of full-spectrum mineral supplement, such as marine minerals or Celtic sea salt, is recommended in all menus, as well as some type of “green food,” such as wheat- or barley-grass juice, spirulina or chlorella. Other supplements may be included to enhance various aspects of the detox process according to your own individual requirements.
Therapeutic Focus: General Tissue Detox
Breakfast: | Steamed Pumpkin with Shredded Ginger and Celtic Sea Salt |
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Vegetable Juice: 1 generous cup fresh Breuss Vegetable Juice or bottled “Biotta” brand | |
8–12 presoaked raw Almonds | |
Mid-Morning Snack: | Fresh Apples and/or Black Grapes |
Lunch: | Half a Fresh Avocado with Chopped Garlic, Celtic Sea Salt, and Olive Oil |
Vegetable Juice: 1 generous cup fresh Breuss Vegetable Juice or “Biotta” brand | |
Mid-Afternoon Snack: | Fresh Papaya or Watermelon Juice |
Dinner: | Spinach or Watercress Stir-fried with Ginger and Garlic Millet or Job’s Tears & Brown Rice Porridge |
Evening Snack: | Fresh Apples and/or Black Grapes |
Herb Tea: | Sage Tea |
Supplements: | Green Food, 3 times per day with meals |
Marine Minerals and Coral Calcium, 1–2 times per day, with meals | |
Psyllium Seed, 1–2 times per day, on an empty stomach |
Summary: Avocado may be eaten as it is, rather than as juice, because the flesh does not contain tough cellulose; it is a rich source of essential fatty acids, vegetable protein, and other nutrients and provides abundant fuel for metabolic energy. If arthritis is a problem, use freshly squeezed grapefruit juice rather than other fruits for the three snacks. Grapefruit is one of the best sources available for organic salicylic acid, which dissolves inorganic calcium deposits from the joints.
Therapeutic Focus: Bowels and Digestive Tract
Breakfast: | Stewed Vegetables: Carrot, Pumpkin, Turnip, Squash Clear Vegetable Broth with Miso Paste 12–15 presoaked raw Almonds |
Mid-Morning Snack: | Fresh Papaya, Apples |
Lunch: | 12–15 presoaked raw Almonds Vegetable Juice: ¾ cup carrot, ¼ cup beet |
Afternoon Snack: | Fresh Papaya, Apples |
Dinner: | Steamed Okra with Chopped Garlic, Ginger, and Sea Salt |
Half a fresh Avocado with Garlic, Sea Salt, and Olive Oil | |
Clear Vegetable Broth with Miso Paste | |
Evening Snack: | Black Grapes |
Herb Tea: | Sage Tea |
Supplements: | Psyllium seed, 2 times per day, on an empty stomach |
Liquid Bentonite, 2 times per day, immediately after Psyllium | |
Cayenne, 1 cap, 2 times per day, with lunch and dinner | |
Green Food, 3 times per day, with meals | |
Aloe Vera Juice, fresh or bottled, 1–2 times per day |
Summary: Cooked vegetables and whole, raw fruits provide plenty of natural fiber to help dredge wastes from the bowels, and okra is particularly effective for cleansing the colon and facilitating bowel movements. Miso provides a rich source of active enzymes to assist in the digestion of putrefactive wastes lodged in the bowels. Psyllium supplies additional pure vegetable fiber to loosen and eliminate impacted mucoid wastes, while bentonite adsorbs toxic particles released from the lining of the digestive tract by the psyllium. Cayenne cleanses and heals ulcers in the stomach and intestinal tract, and aloe vera juice is one of nature’s most effective digestive tract cleansers, as well as an excellent remedy for constipation and colitis.
Therapeutic Focus: Heart and Circulatory System
Breakfast: | Half a fresh Avocado with Olive Oil |
Vegetable Juice: ¾ cup carrot, 1¾ ounces spinach, 1¾ ounces celery | |
8–12 presoaked raw Almonds | |
Mid-Morning Snack: | Fresh Orange Juice |
Lunch: | Spinach or Watercress Stir-fried with Garlic Steamed Pumpkin with Ginger |
Mid-Afternoon Snack: | Fresh Orange Juice or Black Grapes |
Dinner: | Millet or Barley or Job’s Tears & Brown Rice Porridge |
Stir-fried Leafy Greens with Garlic | |
Vegetable Juice: 1¼ cup carrot | |
Evening Snack: | Apples and/or Black Grapes |
Herb Tea: | Sage Tea; Hawthorne Berry Tea |
Supplements: | Marine Minerals and Coral Calcium, 1 time per day, before breakfast |
Cayenne, 1 cap, 2 times per day, with lunch and dinner CoQ10, 60 mg daily, after breakfast | |
Green Food, 2 times per day, with breakfast and dinner | |
Hawthorn Berry Extract, 1–2 times per day, in warm water, between meals |
Summary: Garlic helps cleanse the blood vessels and remove plaque, while cayenne is the single most beneficial herb for regulating heart function, balancing pulse, and stimulating blood circulation. Marine minerals provide the essential trace elements required by the heart and bloodstream to regulate blood pressure, green food purifies the bloodstream and increases the blood’s capacity to carry oxygen, and raw almonds are a rich source of organic calcium and magnesium. Hawthorn Berry fortifies the heart muscle and coronary vessels and helps stabilize heartbeat, and CoQ10 has been shown to help correct imbalances in heart function.
Therapeutic Focus: Brain and Nervous System
Breakfast: | 12–15 presoaked raw Almonds |
Clear Vegetable Broth | |
Steamed Pumpkin with Ginger and Sea Salt | |
Mid-Morning Snack: | Black Cherries and/or Black Grapes |
Lunch: | Millet or Barley or Job’s Tears & Brown Rice Porridge |
Spinach or Watercress or Kale Stir-fried with Garlic and Sea Salt | |
Vegetable Juice: ¾ cup carrot, ¼ cup celery | |
Mid-Afternoon Snack: | Fresh Apples and/or Pears Black Cherries and/or Black Grapes |
Dinner: | Millet or Barley or Job’s Tears & Brown Rice Porridge Stewed Vegetables |
Vegetable Juice: ¼ cup carrot, ¹⁄8 cup celery | |
Evening Snack: | Apples and/or Pears |
Herb Tea: | Sage Tea; Chamomile Tea; Passion Flower & Lemon Balm Tea |
Supplements: | Nervine Herbal Formulas (see chapter 8), 2 times per day, between meals |
Cilantro (Coriander) Extract, 2–3 times per day, between meals | |
Gingko Biloba, 2 times per day, after breakfast and lunch | |
Marine Minerals, 2 times per day, before breakfast and dinner |
Summary: Concentrated extract of cilantro is a potent detoxifier of brain cells and nerve tissue, and it is especially effective for removing heavy-metal toxins. Gingko biloba provides powerful antioxidant activity in the brain and nerves and also increases microcirculation in the brain. The body requires B vitamins to detoxify and repair nerve and brain tissue, and these vitamins are provided by the porridge, almonds, and green food. Celery juice contains elements that calm the nervous system and relieve insomnia. Marine minerals and sea salt provide the full spectrum of essential minerals and trace elements that the brain and nervous system need to function properly, and the nervine herbal teas and extracts keep the nervous system relaxed, prevent anxiety from developing during the detox process, and promote sound sleep.
Therapeutic Focus: Kidneys and Bladder
Breakfast: | Vegetable Juice: 7⁄8 cup carrot, 1⁄8 cup beet, 1¹⁄3 tablespoons parsley |
8–12 presoaked raw Almonds Clear Vegetable Broth with Miso Paste | |
Mid-Morning Snack: | Fresh Watermelon, cut into small bite-sized pieces and eaten slowly |
Lunch: Vegetable Juice: 1 cup and 1 tablespoon fresh Breuss Vegetable Juice or bottled “Biotta” brand | |
Watercress Stir-fried with Garlic | |
Mid-Afternoon Snack: | Fresh Watermelon, small pieces eaten slowly |
Dinner: | Steamed or Poached Fresh Asparagus with Garlic and Sea Salt |
Millet Porridge | |
Vegetable Juice: ¼ cup carrot, 1 tablespoon beet, 2 teaspoons parsley | |
Evening Snack: | Black Cherries or Black Grapes |
Herb Tea: | Sage Tea; Breuss Kidney Tea |
Supplements: | Green Food, 2 times per day, with breakfast and dinner |
Marine Minerals or Celtic Sea Salt Bittern, 2 times per day, before breakfast and dinner |
Summary: Asparagus has strong cleansing effects on the kidneys and bladder, flushing out acid wastes so fast that you can smell the ammonia in urine shortly after eating asparagus. Parsley purifies and protects kidney tissues, which is especially important when the kidneys are working overtime to excrete toxic wastes. It is important to drink plenty of water when cleansing the kidneys, and better to eat more fluid foods and fewer solid foods. Eating fresh watermelon slowly produces a steady stream of cleansing elements that flow through the kidneys and bladder, detoxifying and soothing inflammation in those tissues.
Therapeutic Focus: Liver and Blood
Breakfast: | Steamed Pumpkin with Ginger and Sea Salt Vegetable Juice: ¾ cup carrot, 2 tablespoons beet |
8–12 presoaked raw Almonds | |
Mid-Morning Snack: | Black Grapes |
Lunch: Veg. Juice: | Fresh Tomato, ¾ cup Job’s Tears & Brown Rice Porridge |
Steamed Pumpkin (leftover from breakfast) | |
Mid-Afternoon Snack: | Black Grapes |
Dinner: | Spinach or Watercress Stir-fried with Garlic and Sea Salt |
Veg. Juice: | ¾ cup carrot, 2 tablespoons beet Job’s Tears & Brown Rice Porridge |
Evening Snack: | Black Grapes |
Herb Tea: | Sage Tea; Milk Thistle & Dandelion Tea; Licorice Root & Chrysanthemum Tea |
Supplements: | Bentonite, 2 times per day between meals |
Green Food, 3 times per day, with meals | |
Milk Thistle Extract or Silimarin Tablets | |
Herbal Liver Formulas (see chapter 8) |
Summary: Pumpkin, dark leafy greens, carrots, and green food are packed with organic carotenes, which are essential for detoxifying and repairing the liver. Beet juice, milk thistle, and dandelion all help detoxify and rebuild liver tissue. Since the liver filters the blood, a toxic liver means a toxic bloodstream and vice-versa, so both must be cleansed together. Black grapes help clean both the bloodstream and the liver, especially if the skins and seeds are chewed very well and eaten together with the pulp. The chlorophyll in green food purifies blood and increases its capacity to carry oxygen, while bentonite molecules actively adsorb any toxins floating in the bloodstream and transport them to the kidneys for excretion. Licorice and chrysanthemum tea detoxify and cool both the blood and the liver, and other herbal formulas may be included to amplify this effect.