Fruit

I absolutely love the fall. My favorite time of the year hands down. The cooler weather, the changing colors, the time for reflection and rest. It’s a beautiful time of the year. There’s just one problem – I can’t find my favorite fruit – the Watermelon. Yes – I love watermelon. In the summer, you can find anywhere from 4-6 watermelons on my kitchen floor just waiting for more room in the fridge. I juice about 3-4 watermelons a week during the hotter months. And that’s not to forget the watermelon that I actually eat. Plus my dogs love it too. Nothing hydrates like a juicy watermelon. Much more hydrating that water (that goes for fruit juice in general), but even more so with watermelon. The cost is crazy affordable too. I can make about 1 gallon of juice from a medium sized watermelon. At roughly $4 – $5/per watermelon, you can bypass the $8-10/glass of cold-press juice at the “boutique juiceries” (as I like to call the abundance of juice spots that charge a small mint for 16 oz of fresh juice). But anyway! The only solution I have found is to ask the produce manager at my favorite grocery store to special order some for me. Most times they can get them, but through November – February it’s even hard for them to hunt good watermelons down. Okay! Now that I’ve let myself whine a little bit and properly vent, I can quietly go make some apple juice. Happy Detoxing!

According to statistics, one third of people who make New Year’s resolutions will break their promises to themselves by Valentine’s Day. What a downer! What is a resolution, really? In my opinion it’s a catch all for recognizing that we want to achieve something. A little more of this or maybe a lot less of that. Perhaps, we want to explore some new interests or actively seek out something or someone. Regardless of these singular goals, the source of it all is a personal commitment to ourselves that we are going to do something different in order to get different results – the desired results. This is much easier said, especially after the decadent holidays, than actually done. But realistically, how do we build credibility with ourselves without a mental shift? How do we create a new vision for our lives? Now that the excitement of January has died down a bit, thankfully, perhaps it’s a good time to Redefine ourselves more than make a list of resolutions to change. Maybe it’s about who we want to be and how we want to feel about ourselves? My vision for the last few years has been to be the healthiest, best version of myself. So according to people who know way more than me, I need to visualize what that will look and feel like so that I can start to create the energy that can manifest my vision. So for me, I want to feel vibrant, have bright, clear eyes, feel refreshed when I wake up, work in my purpose of helping others heal, feel energized from the food I eat, and on and on. By visualizing how I want to feel and who I want to be, the hope is to create the life that will not only encourage the change, but also support the permanent integration of that change. So, if you have already kind of, sort of forgotten your New Year’s resolution already – I say, who cares!! The odds were against you anyway. Lol! The real change is an internal shift into a brand new you. Ask yourself who do you want to be and then write it down, tell a friend, share it online, or create a vision board – just whatever feels good to you. But then visualize this version of you participating in your life every day. (Footnote: tweak vision as needed!) Believe in and visualize positive change in 2019. With your health, your finances, your relationships, etc. Redefine it by living and breathing it, then maybe the “doing” won’t be as hard. Since health is my focus – I can work with you (just email me) or I can point you to more resources that you can use on your own. But whatever you want out of your life this year, let’s avoid the resolution booby-trap and support each other in redefining our lives. Happy Detoxing Tamera at detoxyourway.com

Often times we get so eager to get on the other side of our health concerns that we are willing to try all the new things that the latest research has to offer or go straight for the most drastic change so that we can get back to our bad habits as fast as possible. We want to get to that advanced point on our path so badly, that we don’t always spend the time preparing and building the foundation to sustain the improvements that can eventually be achieved. Not only do we have to change the way we eat, but the way we think about healing and medicine. We can spend money and time on the latest tea, exercise routine, and super food, or prescription, but if we haven’t fully rooted ourselves in the basics of detoxification and health regeneration, we will still not realize our most desired goal of complete healing.   The lesson that keeps presenting itself for me to learn is that – like it or not, and despite what I want to believe, the reality is that I am still working on the foundation of my health. And many of us are. There is no short cut. And unfortunately many of us aren’t willing to accept the amount of work and commitment that’s required to build that foundation. New cells are being created in our bodies constantly. But if those cells are built with inferior material the foundation and structure will still be weak.   So the work must be done.   Let’s do our part to understand and practice the basic principles of detoxification. Nature will do the rest:   Acid/Alkaline: Healthy balance within the body comes down to the basic chemistry of acidity and alkalinity. To be healthy our bodies must have an alkaline environment (ph of 7.3 +/-). If you are too far below this then you are chronically acidic. An acidic body environment will result in damaged cells, cancers, tumors, inflammation, parasites, etc. Think of acid in its typical definition – something very hot that can burn, melt, distort, and harden. You don’t want anything like that going on inside you. If you are experiencing chronic or persistent health issues in the body, then you are more than likely acidic. Lymphatic Stagnation and Kidney Filtration: If you are acidic it usually comes down to two variations of the same problem: stagnation of the lymph in the body or the failure of the kidneys to adequately move the lymph to the bladder for urination. It may show up in different parts of the body based on an individual’s specific weaknesses or vulnerabilities, but it all comes down to the same thing: the acids can’t get out. The lymphatic system carries the acidic, metabolic waste to the kidneys. It is a complicated highway in the body that is 3X larger than the blood vessel network. If the lymph can’t move to the kidneys or if the kidneys can’t process the lymph out the body, the acids back up and start to burning tissue and damaging cells. Clean: To reverse an acidic environment you have to balance the body with alkaline foods (and thoughts!) and support the kidneys and the lymph system to regain their highest functionality. The foods to eat are the ones that are highest in alkalinity: Fruits and Vegetables. Fruits clean and vegetables help strengthen. For lymph movement you want to mainly clean with fruit, but strengthen at the same time with medicinal herbs and some vegetables. Amazingly for us Mother Nature made these foods easy to eat and readily accessible. They grow up from the ground or they fall off the trees for us to pick up when they have the highest nutritional value. That’s why a high fruit, raw food diet yields the best results in reversing disease. It was divinely designed that way. It can take 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or even longer to turn a severely acidic body back to alkaline, but you will feel the difference a lot sooner. The foods to avoid are the acid foods and the worst offenders are dairy, animal protein, processed foods and processed sugars. Strengthen: You can support the lungs, kidneys, liver, endocrine system, digestion/elimination system and the nervous system with herbs (nature’s first pharmaceuticals) that increase their function. I will be doing an extensive list on these herbs in the next few posts.   Back to Basics. Back to Nature. Back to Health. It can’t be avoided so you might as well get started! Happy Detoxing Tamera

Happy 4thof July! Holidays are those times when all of the things we love come together – good food and family & friends. But when you’ve decided to change your eating to elevate your health, holidays can be a little tricky. I mean, first of all, there’s just so much delicious food involved. Then you may have friends and family that are skeptical or even flat out against your choice to change your diet and detox yourself with “just fruit and veggies”. There will also be those who don’t oppose it, but just won’t understand why you aren’t drinking a beer or eating a hot dog or hamburger at the backyard barbeque. So, do decline and stay at home, bring your own food, or go and eat nothing at all and more than likely have to explain your choices? I think us Detoxers fall into Three General Categories at times like these: The person getting ready to begin their detox, the beginner that’s only a few days into their detox plan, and then the detoxer that has already gotten a week or two at least of detoxing under their belt. How you handle the celebrations depends on which one you are. 1) Just Getting Ready to Start. If you haven’t yet started your transition diet at all or if you want to go cold-turkey on a raw food, fruit or juice detox and haven’t begun yet, then I would say wait until after the holiday to start. Yep! That’s right – I’m suggesting you go right ahead and eat whatever you want (within moderation). Most will tell you not to postpone your health – no matter what is on the calendar. And I agree in theory, but I’ve been there too many times to agree with that in practice. Many people (I am one of them) need to feel like they have gotten certain tastes out of their system before making a drastic change. If that’s you too, then wait. There’s no sense in feeling like you’ve deprived yourself of a gathering with friends and all the traditions of the holiday. However, after the festivities please don’t continue to postpone your detox. Give yourself permission to enjoy the Holiday and then start your detox plan with solid commitment and without looking back. Also, if you are dealing with a difficult health condition then understand that a heavy, mucus-forming meal will probably worsen your condition. In your case delaying the detox isn’t the best solution. You may still need to sit this celebration out even if you haven’t started your official detox plan. 2) Beginning to Detox. If have already started your raw food, fruit fast, or juice fast detox– like in the first few days, I will suggest that you kindly decline any and all invitations that will expose you to comfort foods and things that will tempt you. In the first few days of a detox, your mind will be playing tricks on you and tell you it’s ok to eat the baked beans, chicken wings, and cole slaw. “Just a bite. It won’t throw me off that bad”. Do yourself a favor and avoid the temptation. If you’ve already made it through the first day or two of a detox – keep the momentum going. Unless you have the will of steel – the temptation can be too much. Only you know your state of mind. But I say give your mind a chance to get solidly in sync with your intentions before testing yourself. If staying away completely isn’t an option. Then a good work around would be to eat your food at home, then join the gang later for only the fireworks display. Or take a fruit spread over to the location before the cooking begins, say hello to everyone and make your excuses before the aromas from the grill get started. If the festivities are at your home and there’s no escape, make sure you have plenty of fruit and veggie options on hand. It will be tough, but you CAN do it. 3) Detox Pro. If you are at least a week or two into your detoxification plan, feeling good and determined to see it through, then you are pretty much out of the danger zone. Congratulations! That means you can be amongst all the temptation and not only resist, but not feel like you are missing out on anything. Your fruit and veggies are all you want and need. That’s the detox “high” and it’s a beautiful place to be. You now have a lot of options. Here are few suggestions: Bring Fruit to the gathering – it’s the dead of summer and it’s hot as hellfire. Since fruit is so light and refreshing, it’s easy to chill your favorite fruit, slice it up and serve it on a platter. Since fruit is often on the menu at outdoor barbeques, you’ll fit right in. No one will notice that you didn’t grab any ribs. Make a gallon or two of infused fruit water. (How amazing was the first spa that introduced us to cucumber water.) Explore all kinds of fruit combos here – grapes & apples, kiwi & strawberry, coconut & pineapple, lemon& blueberries, etc. Just slice the washed fruit in the water and refrigerate overnight. To add even more flavor and color, splash in a bit of fresh fruit juice. You’ll be the barbeque rock-star! Make your favorite raw salad and bring enough for everyone. Make sure to include the veggies that truly satisfy and fill you up. For me that’s avocado, raw nuts, sweet bell peppers, and cucumbers, but the possibilities are endless. This makes going to the barbeque stress-free and you’ll likely avoid the “why aren’t you eating meat” question. And undoubtedly, there will also be other guests that will thank you for the tastier, more filling alternative to the typical carrot and celery sticks. Again, the barbeque rock-star! So whatever you do, do it guilt-free. It’s not selfish

I received the question of what fruit helps with high blood pressure.   This is a great question and I knew this person was thinking outside of the Medical Box by asking about fruit. The good thing is that the way of True Detoxification corrects high and low blood pressure easily along with all other conditions. Live, raw foods and more specifically, the more astringent water fruits (oranges, grapefruits, grapes, lemons, limes) work the best and will move stagnant lymph or acids to the kidneys for elimination while alkalizing the body at the same time. This removes stress from the body and brings about balance. You also need to make sure your kidneys are filtering that acidic lymph out of the body via urination. This is key. The way to know if your kidneys are filtering lymph is to see if your urine is cloudy, no matter the color. If it is, then at least 1 kidney is filtering. This is hard to see looking directly into the toilet, so capturing the urine in a large glass container will tell you as well since the lymph will settle to the bottom (a little gross, I know, but effective). The longer you keep detoxifying with the fruit and vegetables, the more your kidneys will come back online if they’re off. It may also take specific herbals to help the kidneys to get going. So the whole approach of eating the astringent fruits, alkalizing the body with these fruit mainly and other raw foods, decreasing the acidic foods (meat, grains, dairy, refined sugar, baked goods, etc) as much as you can (if not remove them from your diet entirely while detoxifying), and making sure the kidneys are filtering with herbs if needed, will bring your blood pressure down. The fruit, lymph, adrenal and kidney connection: The systolic or top number (ideally 120-130) has a direct relationship to the adrenal glands – the glands that produce neural transmitters (adrenal, ephinephrine, dopamine – etc.) and provide energy to our body organs and muscles when needed. So when that number is consistently up  – there’s mainly constant stress causing adrenal exhaustion. The diastolic or bottom number (ideally 60-70) has a direct relationship to the kidneys which the adrenal glands sit on top of. It’s the kidneys’ job to filter acids from the lymph system and take them out of the body via urination. So when that number is up your kidney’s are slowing down because of adrenal stimulation and starting to lose their ability to filter the lymph/acids. . Stressors require the adrenals to produce more neural transmitters – some for energy jolts and others for shutting down other organs (like the kidneys) that detract from you dealing with the “emergency”. An example of this is the fight or fight scenario, so this is a natural body function. But if you are constantly stressed then you are constantly having mini fight/flight episodes that will eventually decrease the lymph filtration abilities of the kidneys. So again, the lymph then backs up through out the body causing acidosis. There are other reasons why lymph backs up in the system that will affect your adrenals and systolic number as well – antibiotic medications which kill the bacteria in the lymph nodes – big no-no, mucus forming foods which cause immune responses, and steroid medications that “replace” the body’s natural production that starts in the adrenals, to name a few.   But 99% of the time, when you get the kidney’s filtering and get the acidic, stagnant lymph moving and eliminated from the body via the kidneys/urination, you will correct the problem – cancer, diabetes, high blood pressures, etc. You name it.     SO eat those astringent fruits to get things moving! So go Fight for your Health Freedom with fruit

Here at Detox Your Way, we are constantly encouraging everyone to eat more fruit as it’s not only a perfect energy source, it is also nature’s medicine and your #1 Tool for Detoxification, with even vegetables coming in 2nd place. Sugar is energy. If you avoid it you don’t get the energy you need and you’ll never feel the vitality you want. Fruit sugar or Fructose is a carbon – a simple carbohydrate. Carbon is the base chemical of this planet and our bodies and is essential to life. Mother nature created delicious fruit for us to consume not because it was bad for us, but because it supports and fuels our physical bodies! So let’s examine the miseducation of several medical myths associated with fruit sugar.   Fruit Sugar and Diabetes Many diabetics are concerned about the fruit sugar negatively affecting their blood sugar levels. But there’s no need to worry. Fruit Sugar or Fructose as a simple sugar or monosaccharide is absorbed directly into the cell wall; and therefore, does not require any insulin. That’s great news for diabetics. That means you can enjoy fruit without it doing harm. And most importantly that means that you can start detoxing with fruits to reverse the condition. There was actually a study that showed that eating fruit not only lowered your risk of developing diabetes, but also reduced complications in people who already had the condition.   Fruit Sugar and Candida Ok – so what about the fruit sugar and yeast or candida albicans overgrowth? Well, Fruit is actually beneficial in an environment of fungal or candida overgrowth. The alkalizing and cleaning/astringent properties of fruit help break up the congestion of stagnant and acidic lymph that the fungus/yeast feed upon. An overgrowth of candida can only occur when there is fermentation, toxicity, and mucus in the body from which the organism can eat and proliferate. This doesn’t occur with simple sugars from fructose because it is absorbed directly into the cell. I have a personal experience involving candida and fruit: I followed a candida diet that took out all fruit and sugar out of my diet for almost a year. During that year I was practicing hot yoga and constantly sweating out my electrolytes, which naturally occur in fruit. I was eating salmon and brown rice and broccoli for most lunch and dinners and eating boiled eggs for breakfast. Let me tell you – I honestly had the lowest energy I had experienced in my adult life!!! It was like the walking dead. I was totally depleted and acidic. I just felt weaker and weaker until one day I ate an orange and WOW! I felt the immediate jolt of energy and power. I dropped that candida health specialist that day and never looked back. And as long as I eat alkalizing fruit and vegetables – I don’t deal with candida at all.   Fruit and Cancer & Tumors There is another medical myth that sugar feeds cancer and tumors. SO NOT TRUE. Cancer is only acidic damaged cells and tumors are only accumulated, stagnated, acidic, lymphatic waste that have not and cannot be eliminated properly from the kidneys. So those kidneys need to filter out the lymphatic waste or it will back up all throughout the body. That’s these conditions exist, not because of sugar and certainly not fruit sugar. Sugar feeds all the cells of the body. That’s the way human beings were designed! And fructose is the highest, most energetic, simply processed and appropriate sugar for the human body.   Fruit Sugar DOES NOT increase your blood sugar levels. Fruit Sugar DOES NOT feed candida or yeast overgrowth. Fruit Sugar DOES NOT feed cancer cells or make tumors grow. Fruit sugar is an amazing, simple source of carbon. It is highly energetic and life-giving. Fruit above all other food groups will give your body what it fundamentally needs to detoxify and heal. So eat as much fruit as you can and feel your body get cleaner and stronger!

Fasting. Come on, Really? Fasting can’t be good for you. Isn’t that kind of drastic? Only fanatics go to that extreme. I thought only those weird people that live on communes did that. What would I look like telling my coworkers I can’t go to lunch because I’m  fasting. Whatever, man! Yeah, well – real people fast. It’s not crazy or far fetched or drastic. It’s actually natural and necessary. Temporarily allowing your body to address other concerns besides digestion is good for you. It’s instinctive in nature – animals do it when sick or injured and us humans are the same – we don’t have appetites when we aren’t feeling our best. That’s when our body’s intelligence kicks in and says – “I can’t eat right now, something came in last night when that kid coughed on us in line at Target – gotta deal with that first.” So when we have major issues going on, it’s a good way to get back on track and our bodies can handle it. Luckily, there are alternatives to the traditional water fast that may be more effective and easier to fit into your current lifestyle. You still might have to tell your coworkers no thanks to lunch, but who cares. You’re on a mission Let’s look at the different ways to fast:   A Fruit-Only Fast A Fruit Only Fast is where you eat only fruit for a period of time. You can eat a variety of fruit (following the rules of food combination), but it is more detoxifying to eat one type of astringent fruit for 3, 10, 20, and even 40 days. Amazing results can occur from eating grapes alone, or oranges, or grapefruits. These are the more nourishing and astringent fruits that will yield the most detoxification. Dr. Robert Morse has mentioned several times about how he has seen several types of cancers eliminated on 35, 70+ days on just grapes.     Fruit Juice Fasting Fruit Juice Fasting means eating no food and drinking only the juice of fresh fruits. This is a higher level of detoxification since the body will require only a small amount of digestive energy. Fruit Juice fasting is good for everyone wishing to detoxify, but will greatly help those with advanced health weaknesses. A combination of fruits can be used, but combining the astringent fruits together will go deeper, faster. Grape and lime juice; grapefruit, orange, and lemon juice have been two of my personal favorites on my healing journey. I experienced a noticeable reduction of swollen lymph nodes in my armpit within 7 days using orange and lime juice. What about Vegetable juice? Vegetables in general are builders and not cleaners like fruits are. Their role comes in more so after you have cleaned yourself out and are starting the process of regeneration. So yes, vegetable juices, especially green juice is extremely beneficial for your body and helps to build it back up. In my personal experience I can tell you that the fruit juices will help detoxify you more so than green juices will. I’ve spent a few days drinking nothing but mandarin orange juice and started draining mucus from my sinuses – blowing my nose constantly. Then I had a “taste” for something less sweet, thinking that it would be a change and would still expel the mucus from my head, but after drinking some fresh, organic spinach and green apple juice, the runny nose stopped and I was no longer detoxifiying at the same speed. My advise is to start with the fruit juice. If you are detoxing too fast or really have a taste for something more savory, dabble with a few leafy greens in your juice. It will still be alkalizing to your system, so still healing, but just not as detoxifying. Just keep in mind that detoxification is the key to reversing illnesses, then your body can regenerate itself.     The Master Cleanse The Master Cleanse is a detoxification method made popular by Stanley Burroughs. Also called the Lemonade diet, it combines water, lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The book advises anywhere from 10 – 40 days and recommends fruit juice for a few days to transition back into eating a mainly raw food diet. The maple syrup has natural occurring minerals and vitamins. Lemons and limes are the most astringent, detoxifying fruits, but would be unpleasant to eat; therefore, they are perfect for juicing and the Master Cleanse.     Dry Fasting Not widely practiced, but very effective is dry fasting. It involves not eating or drinking anything for short periods of time in order to kickstart the kidneys into filtering the acidic lymph in your body that is causing acidosis/disease. Dry fasting is not for everyone. It is only recommended for people who have already been doing high fruit/raw foods, fruit fasting, or juice fasting for a period of time. Starting out with a short 12 hour dry fast is pretty doable. Then you can build up to 18, 24, and 36 hours, and maybe even 72 hours if you have really been on your fruits for while. Dr. Robert Morse has found that periods of 1-2 days at a time, at the most, are enough for most people to get the kidney’s functioning. The ideal time to have prepared for a dry fast will vary widely, depending on your conditions and length of time eating alkalizing foods. I have personally performed two dry fasts, averaging about 18 -20 hours each. I didn’t feel bad at all, but didn’t want to do much. I had been doing a high fruit/raw food diet for about 2 months before attempting it and the amount of lymph that my kidneys kicked out via my urine (very cloudy) was amazing. If you have at least a month or two of fruit-only or raw food time under your belt and would like to attempt a dry fast, start slow. Here’s how to attempt your first short