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

A Good Time to Detox in an Otherwise Toxic World

In the last 33 years the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tested for safety only 200 chemicals and banned only 5 of the more than 80,000 chemicals in commerce today. Since the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) became law in 1976, the number of chemicals in commerce has risen from 60,000 to the 80,000 mentioned above. Currently, under TSCA language, chemicals are considered safe until proven otherwise. In my opinion our Government has it backwards. If the health of the people truly came before the profits of the corporations every new chemical put into commerce would need to be proven safe before its widespread use in America and around the world. Wouldn’t you agree?

So how are we Americans being impacted by this chemical exposure? In 2009 the Center for Disease Control (CDC) released the findings of their National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) looking at 2500 participant’s blood cells, serum and urine samples. The findings were less than positive. Below are only a few examples of what was reported:

• Polybrominated diphenyl ethers are fire retardants that accumulate in the environment and in human fat tissue. They were found in the serum of all of the NHANES participants.
• Bisphenol-A (BPA) found in plastics and deemed by Canada and other countries to be a clearly toxic substance was found in 90% of the urine samples of the participants.
• Perflorooctanoic acid (PFOA) found in non-stick coatings of cookware was found in most participants.
• Another CDC study found that 97% of Americans contain the chemical oxybenzone found in sunscreens which has been linked to allergies, hormone disruption and cell damage. Approximately 84% of the 910 sunscreen brands contain oxybenzone.

So I ask you this, “Are we living in the same world that our parents lived in? And should we do the same things that our parents or grandparents did to protect their health? Should we do nothing and just hope for the best?” My sincere hunch is no. We need more than ever to take deliberate actions which work to counter the ever increasing exposures and environmental influences that are working to harm us literally with every breath we take and every bite we swallow. The reality is that we have a long way to go to change the politics behind what is happening. But what we can easily do is take better control over what we put into our bodies and how we help our bodies throw out the stuff that does not belong.

Symptoms of such toxicity could be any or all of the following:

• Brain fog / poor memory
• Allergies
• Joint pain
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Weight gain
• Ringing in the ears
• Headaches / Migraines
• Autoimmune disorders
• Skin disorders

I will be offering a group Detoxification program in late January to work with some of these concerns. This will be my second annual group program and I am very excited about it. This program will be 7 days long and involve a modified diet while on the program, a hypo-allergenic rice protein based powder packed with anti-oxidants and nutrients, and some nutritional/herbal supplements which all aid in Phase I and Phase II liver detoxification pathways. Included with this program will be an introductory meeting to discuss and solidify the understanding of the program and the reasons why it is important. There will also be an online chat in which all participants can write down their questions and/or experiences while on the program. I will be interacting with the group as a whole in this manner. The more participants the better on things like this and I will be participating as well. There is power in numbers. Let’s all help each other stay healthy!

The program is scheduled to go from January 22nd – January 28th. We will hold the pre-detox meeting on the 19th at 6:30 pm and all interested participants must contact me by January 12th to secure their spot and have plenty of time to get the products ordered. If you have any questions or want to RSVP now please contact me either by phone or email. I will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Happy New Year! And be well…