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By Cherie Calbom, “The Juice Lady”
It’s time for those New Year’s resolutions again.
If you’ve indulged in too many goodies or drunk too
much alcohol over the holidays, you may be feeling sluggish
and tired, or noticing that your clothes are fitting a
bit too snug. If you are planning on getting in shape,
then it’s time to de-junk your body, energize your
cells, and lose those extra pounds. I have just the plan
for you, my 7-Day, Kick-Start Liver Cleanse and Weight
Loss Program.
Many people struggle with weight gain and a sluggish metabolism
most of their lives, and go through lots of yo-yo dieting
unsuccessfully. “So why doesn’t anything really
work?” we may ask. We have been tackling the symptom
when we should be addressing the cause - weight gain is
often due to poor liver function.
Congestion throughout the body and a sluggish liver can
contribute not only to fatigue and malaise, but also to
weight gain, especially around the abdomen, cellulite,
and water retention. Eating too much fat, sugar, dairy
(mucous forming), salt, alcohol, preservatives, additives,
and pesticides causes internal congestion. And all this
stuff is hard for the liver to process.
The liver is the largest internal organ in the body, weighing
between three and four pounds, and it is also the major
fat-burning organ. When we eat the wrong foods, the liver
will actually make more fat and store the excess. When
we cleanse the liver and then eat the right foods, liver
metabolism will improve and we start burning fat. As liver
function improves, so does energy. With more energy, fitness
improves, because we have the ability to excercise more
and improve our muscle tone.
As we cleanse the body, not only will we shed excess pounds,
we’ll also lose some of that lumpy, bumpy cellulite.
Two French physicians, Meus-Blatter and Laroche, discovered
that cellulite is cause by inefficient removal of wastes
from the body. As toxic materials collect between the
cells, they are held by hardened connective tissue where
they build up to create pockets of water, toxins, and
fat that give the skin that unsightly peau d’orange
(orange peel skin) appearance. Cleansing the body with
high amounts of raw food, and especially vegetable juices,
not only helps flush away the lumps and bumps, it also
raises cell vitality.
The 7-Day Kick-Start Liver Cleanse and Weight Loss Program
is one I’ve used successfully for over a decade.
It is adapted from my book The Juice Lady’s Guide
to Juicing for Health (Avery, 1999).
The 7-Day, Kick-Start Liver Cleanse and Weight Loss
Program
For seven days, eat only a vegan diet, which means excluding
all animal products (meat, poultry, fish, dairy). Completely
avoid all sweets, soft drinks, alcohol, junk food and
tobacco. Drink no more than one cup of coffee per day;
avoid completely if possible. Make at least fifty percent
of your vegan diet raw food-salads, sprouts, fresh fruit,
veggie sticks, and freshly made vegetable and fruit juices.
Drink at least 64 ounces (eight, 8-ounce glasses) of
purified water daily. To this program add the following
foods daily:
Hot Water, Lemon Juice and Cayenne Pepper
Lemon and cayenne are excellent liver cleansers. Squeeze
1/4 of a fresh lemon in a cup of hot water and add a
small dash of cayenne pepper. Stir together and drink
upon rising.
Fresh Beet Juice
Beets are used naturopathically to cleanse and support
the liver. Drink from three to eight ounces of fresh
beet juice each day. It is best to start the day with
this juice. Because of its strong taste, it is best mixed
with milder tasting juices such as carrot, cucumber,
celery, lemon, and apple. To this mixture, I add freshly
juiced ginger root.
Carrot Salad
Place one cup of finely shredded carrots, or carrot pulp
leftover from juicing, in a bowl. If shredding the carrots,
they should be a mushy consistency; use a food processor
or fine grater. It’s easiest to use the carrot
pulp. For the dressing, combine one tablespoon extra-virgin,
cold-pressed olive oil with one tablespoon fresh lemon
juice. Whisk together. You may add more dressing, but
not less. I also like to add a dash of cinnamon to the
dressing. Pour the dressing over the shredded carrots
(or carrot pulp) and mix well.
Green Drink
Each day, preferably afternoon or early evening, drink
10 ounces of freshly juiced green drink - cucumber, parsley,
spinach, kale, celery, or any other green herb or vegetable.
You can add fresh lemon juice and/or fresh ginger root
to improve flavour.
Potassium-Rich Vegetable Broth
This vegetable broth provides important nutrients, especially
minerals, your body needs during the cleansing process.
Eat one to two cups of the broth daily.
2-3 cups chopped fresh string beans
(frozen is acceptable when fresh is not available)
2-3 cups chopped zucchini
2-3 stalks celery
1-3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
Steam the string beans, zucchini, and celery over purified
water until soft, but still green and not mushy. Place
the cooked vegetables, plus the raw parsley and garlic,
in a blender and puree until smooth. Add a bit of the
steaming water, as needed, but keep the broth fairly
thick. Season to taste with minced ginger, cayenne, vegetable
seasoning, or herbs of your choice.
Milk Thistle (Silymarin)
Take one capsule of the herb milk thistle after each
meal. Milk thistle contains some of the most potent liver-cleansing
compounds known. Silymarin, the most active ingredient
in milk thistle, enhances liver function. It has excellent
antioxidant properties that help prevent damage to the
liver.
Liver-Friendly Foods
For the seven days of cleansing, eat an abundance of
liver-friendly foods, which include: beets, artichokes,
peas, parsnips, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, squash, yams,
beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots,
cauliflower, celery, chives, cucumber, eggplant, garlic,
kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, okra, onion, and parsley.
Choose organically grown produce as often as possible
to avoid pesticides and lighten your body’s toxic
load.
Colon Cleansing
During the 7-Day Cleanse, your body will definitely benefit
from colon-cleansing in the form of colonics, or if you
want a do-it-yourself, E’s as they are called at
Optimum Health Institute (enemas). Flushing the colon
can greatly facilitate the elimination of toxins and
speed your cleansing and weight loss process.
Cheri Calbom is a Certified Nutritionist and author
who has appeared on more than 400 television and radio
programs. At the end of January she is holding a four-day
“Shape up in 2003” weekend at the Sanoviv
Medical Institute on the ocean in Baja, featuring gourmet
raw foods, a one-day juice fast cleanse, water aerobics,
and instruction. For information call 800-726-6848.
Other west coast centres that offer raw foods cleansing
programs are:
Cedar Springs
Renewal Center
Sedro Woolley, WA (360-826-3599)
Optimum Health
Institute
San Diego, CA (800-993-4325)
We Care
Desert Hot Springs, CA (800-886-2523).
For more information about “Juice Lady” juicers
call 303-670-2701.
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