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Welcome to the website for Jim Chialtas, L.Ac., and Laurel Acupuncture Clinic of Functional Medicine, located in San Diego.

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1/20/11

Group Detox Post: A place to stay connected while detoxing together

Hi Everyone,

I am posting this blog entry for all those involved in the group detox that will be starting January 22nd and going through January 28th. We had a great pre-detox meeting last night and I was glad to see most of you there. And I was also glad to see a couple of you doing some networking yourselves! That is one great thing about getting a group of people together for a good cause. Get healthy and get connected!

So now down to business... In your kit you will have all of the products that you will need for the week. And you will also find the booklet with tons of info on how and when to do what. Check pages 22 and 24 for foods and the schedule. We discussed this last night as well, but if you have any questions along the way please feel free to either contact me directly or use the comments function on this blog post. That way we can all see the questions and my answers. And please if you find something cool share it with us here as well! Things like food ideas/recipes are really great. And if you are on Facebook get onto my Fan Page (Jim Chialtas L.Ac., Functional Medicine) and you can read through the posts from last years group under the Discussions tab. Check out the posts by Erin. She shared some recipes that were really great!

Lastly, there are several of you who were wanting to start the first two days of the cleanse with a lemonade fast. This last part of the post is a description on how to do this. For those of you who are not interested in this more advanced detox concept, just keep your first two days totally vegetarian and follow the protocol for the rest of the program...

The Lemonade Fast
During the first two days you will still drink the morning and evening shakes from your kit and will be taking the Alpha Base Foundations Caps. But during these first two days ONLY, you will not be eating any other food. Instead you will be sipping a lemon and/or limeade sweetened with grade B maple syrup. There is really no exact recipe for this drink it is to taste only, just make up a bunch for the whole day.
To make it you will just juice the lemons and/or limes in water or a dilute green tea. Using the green tea can help with appetite control so consider using it. Then add the syrup to taste. It is very important if you go this route to sip the drink every 15 minutes. Just take constant sips all day long. Drink and pee, drink and pee... That will be your day while doing this. Doing this will actually lead to a very stable blood sugar. Just don't get lazy and skip sips! That will lead to a low blood sugar state and you will start to feel bad. If you absolutely must eat something pick one veggie like steamed fresh green beans for example and only eat a few at a time.
After two full days of the morning and evening shakes, Alpha Base Caps, and the lemonade drink you will start the plan of days 3 - 7 where you bring back in the foods on the good list as well as the shakes, Alpha Base & PhytoCore caps twice a day. Oh, and remember to drink a lot of water through this. We want to pee that stuff right on out of us folks! Try to shoot for half of your body weight in ounces. I weigh approximately 160 pounds so I will shoot for 80 ounces of clean (not bottled or tap) water per day.
I think that about does it. Happy cleansing! And keep checking this post for comments.
Sincerely,
Jim Chialtas, L.Ac., MTCM

19 comments:

  1. When you say, "clean (not bottled or tap) water", where do you get water like that? Thanks!

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  2. Hi Soapylove (and for those of you who do not know... that is my wife!). Good question, and you are not even joining us for the cleanse!

    By clean water I really mean filtered tap water or from one of he neigborhood water stores that process and filter the heck out of it for you. If you don't have an account with a place like this they also sell by the gallon.

    Locally in the North Park area is the Water Lady.

    Thanks Deb!

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  3. Jim, thanks for your superb presentation last night and for organizing this cleanse.

    I have not yet had time to read the 50 page booklet. However, given the other things that I am in the midst of, I don't think that I will have time to read it, digest it, and arrange to participate in a cleanse starting on Saturday. However, you said that a number of other people were interested in participating, but were not able to attend last night, and that you thought you might do another cleanse in a month.

    If so, I would like to participate in that cleanse. I can probably bring three more people. I have asked one, who said yes. I will be seeing another one tomorrow. I would like to invite her and her mother to participate. I prefer to know whether you will be doing another cleanse in a month, and, if so, the date, before inviting two more people.

    Is this cleanse recommended for people with candida?

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  4. I may have made a mistake in my question. I meant to ask whether the master cleanse is recommended for people with candida.

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  5. Hi Paul,
    Thanks so much for the nice words about our meeting. And sorry that you will not be able to join us this time around. At this time I don't have anything officially planned for next month, but I would be happy to do something for a group of 4 - 5 people. Let's talk in person about a smaller group. We can work something out.

    As for a candida scenario, I would not personally recommend the lemonade drink fast. Candida loves sugar and these people generally feel awful when eating sugars and carbs. My hunch here is that they wouldn't be able to stick to it due to the negative reactions that would probably ensue.

    Hope that helps!

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  6. Hey Jim, its Blake! :)
    Just had a quick question; are kombucha and Udo's oil allowed during any part of the cleanse?

    Thanks so much! So excited for the cleanse!

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  7. Hi Everyone! Welcome to Day 1 of our group detox program! I started my day off with my Shake and a half of an avocado at around 8am this morning and I am only now starting to feel hungry. Not bad. I happen to have a protein bar that qualifies for all the ingredent lists so I plan on eating that here soon to tide me over until lunch. I will probalby make for myself a big salad. Hope you all are having a great morning. It is Saturday so get yoruselves out somewhere pretty for a walk. And pound that water!

    Blake... Yes I say go ahead and have those things. I don't see anything wrong with the Udo's oil, and the Kombucha is so good for you in so many ways that it will ofset the caffeine that it contains. But I say just not a lot of the stuff.

    Take care, and I will check in again tomorrow.

    -jim

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  8. Good Morning All... Day 2 begins. I started my morning off with a shake mixed with an organic banana and some frozen organic blueberries from Trader Joe's. I had that with a piece of gluten free Bron Rice Bread also from Trader Joe's with some almond flax seed butter on top. I think that I will sip on some herbal tea after my morning shower. Nice and full, and ready for my day!

    Food tip: If you haven't been to Trader Joe's yet go and get some of the Gluten Free Brow Rice Bread. It is really yummy but needs to be toasted. TJ's is also a great place to find things like hummus which makes a great dip for veggies!

    For those of you who are doing the 2 days of the lemonade fast, one more day! Then food awaits. :)

    Happy cleansing!

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  9. Hi Jim,
    It's Eden. On some of these recipes listed in the booklet, they ask for organic canned black beans, kidney beans, etc. I thought we were suppose to stay away from all canned food. Is this correct? Or can we use organic canned beans for most of these recipes?

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  10. Hi Eden,

    Thanks for the question. I would love it is you all could soak and cook your beans from a raw source, but certainly go ahead and use the organic canned beans. It will be fine. Really what I am concerned about is the canned fruit which is loaded with syrup. Just make sure that you rinse the beans really well and enjoy!

    -jim

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  11. Day 3 - Good morning. I just mixed up my shake with some Organic Blueberries an Organic Banana and a handful of Organic Spinach with a splash of rice milk and some green juice.
    So far I am feeling pretty good. I did notice an increase in some sinus congestion these last two days. Could be the detox or it could be the wind outside. But look for things like this. They may be part of the experience. And they should clear in a day or two.
    Anyone have anything to share today? I will post a yummy recipe a little later today that you can eat for a dinner. Hope to hear from you!

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  12. Hi All,

    Here are some links to recipes that my friend Erin left for the group last year. Hope it helps!

    Here is the website Delectably Free with the gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, egg-free recipes.
    http://delectablyfree.com/

    vegetable broth:
    http://naiadsoaparts.blogspot.com/2010/02/7-day-liver-cleanse-day-1.html
    Indian style Lentils with spinach:
    http://naiadsoaparts.blogspot.com/2010/02/indian-style-lentils-with-spinach.htm

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  13. Hey everyone! So happy to have had some solid food today :)
    I had organic quinoa with some curried lentils today with an organic apple for lunch.With one of my shakes I added some organic rice milk,organic blueberries and organic mango's. Very delicious!

    I was experiencing a pretty bad headache during the two days of lemonade fasting. I felt slightly out of it and had some congestion but found it went away on the third day after having a meal. I also noticed how many foods I craved. I had a very hard time being around my friends while they had sandwiches, burrito's, hamburgers and more! I do not normally eat these foods, but they seemed ten times more appetizing than they normally would. I feel quite satisfied that I didn't cave! So far so good!


    How are everyone else's daily temptations going?

    :)

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  14. Good morning everyone! It’s Eden. I was happy too, to have solid foods. As far as cravings, I was just craving solid foods. It was hard to cook the foods for the 3rd day and not be able to eat them so instead I was constantly drinking water and sipping on the lemonade to feel full.
    On the first day I did feel anxious, as if I had too much coffee. My stomach was also upset and I felt some heart burn. The heart burn went away on the 2nd day and my stomach felt a little better as well. Both days I felt very tired and I also noticed that I would feel very hungry between 2pm to 5pm.
    Today I’m starting off with a shake with organic blueberries and organic almond milk. In an hour or two I will have Brown Rice Cream with a dash of cinnamon and an organic banana.

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  15. Good Morning! I am glad to hear from you. And I am glad to hear so many of you decided to go the full way with the lemonade fast. Yes, it sure does make you appreciate solid food!

    Blake: Headaches are common and they should come and then go. This is often the case if you are drinking caffeine on a regular basis. And as for those cravings, I am with you sister. My wife has been pretty much out to get me this whole time. I was invited to meet some friends at Rubios a couple of nights ago. I had nothing. We went out for a lunch yesterday at Chcolate in Hillcrest because she has really been wanting to go. I had a green salad and some hot green tea. (She had a salad and a mozzarella & Prosciutto plate and then some amazing looking Gelato for desert.) Oh and last night after our veggie coconut curry she took the left over rice and added a bunch of milk and sugar with cardamom to make a rice pudding! Yeah it was tough. But I held fast! I am strong. :)

    Eden, All your symptoms sound in line with the lemonade fast. The heartburn is common with lemon juice. Perhaps it was a bit too strong on the lemon juice. I am glad that you are back on solid foods. You will start feeling better real soon!

    Keep up all the great work people! We are half way there.

    Bye for now!

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  16. Hello Everyone,

    Day 5 of 7... Almost there! Things should be starting to get a bit easier now, and hopefully you are feeling pretty good. How is the meal planning going? Anyone have anything cool to share?

    -jim

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  17. Another thought for the day... I have noticed today that I have broken out a bit on my upper back. This is also detox sign. Things are moving! Anyone else notice this kind of thing?

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  18. Hi All,

    I'm feeling very good today and even decided to go for a 45 minute or so bike ride up and over Hwy 52 (there is a bike path) from Tierrasanta to Santee and back. Did really well with that and enjoyed the sweat.

    We are on the home stretch now. Enjoy the last couple of days, and start to think about what food on the No No list you would like to bring back first. I am looking for gluten!

    Bye for now...

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  19. Well, today is our last day on the cleanse! Congrats for getting through it all. After tonight you get to start to bring back in the foods that we took out for the week. Remember, to really have the best shot at detecting any food sensitivities you will want to start with the food you want the most. Let's just say gluten containing foods... That first day off the program you will want to eat some toast perhaps and then even pasta for dinner. Look for anything off like stomach upset, extra bloating, perhaps sinus congestion the next day or a headache. THese are all signs of a reaction to that food. Wait a day or so and then add in the next food. Make that one dairy. And repeat your observations.

    After a program like this it is also a great time to have a look at other areas of your health. Perhaps there is a digestive concern, or a hormonal concern. Let's have a look at that. Please consider me a powerful resource for such things. I am here for you!

    Talk to you all soon!

    -jim

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