Lymphatic System

Happy Valentine’s Day! Love is in the air! And the stores, restaurants, and florists! The marketing pros encourage us to show our loved ones how much we care and appreciate them with our money. And let’s face it – it usually works! But of course we also know that one of the best ways to care for our loved ones is to first take care of ourselves to make sure we are happy, healthy, and available for them. Detoxing is a way to do that. Eating fresh fruit and vegetables, exercising, and meditation can naturally, safely help us detoxify. But even more, loving relationships have a healing effect on the body. There’s been numerous studies that show the positive health benefits of love. The up-sides include better stress management, better sleep, longer life span, and lower blood pressure. So wait – did you notice that? Both Love and Detoxification share these amazing advantages. That means Love is a Natural Detox! Simple and sweet. So Happy Detoxing and may your Valentine’s Day be filled with health, joy, and love.

Yesterday, I read that the Journal of American Medical Association found that medical treatment is the 3rd leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer, respectively. That’s very disheartening, to say the least. Here’s another scary fact. Based on a study done in England in 2014, approximately 8.4% of cancer patients died within 30 days of starting chemotherapy treatment. Meaning the “cure” for cancer killed patients faster than the actual cancer. But why? Well, the “why” is simple. The ph of chemotherapy drugs is around a 3. This is the acidity of battery acid. And it goes directly into a major artery during cancer treatment. It’s absolutely crazy when you think about it. How can a healthy body process that? Not to mention a body that is already weakened. It’s like bombing an entire building just to kill rodents, then hoping that maybe a flower and some grass will grow where the building used to be. Not only is it overkill, but the fallout is more toxic than the rats. Well, I sincerly hope that neither you nor anyone you care about ever has to face the choice of undergoing chemotherapy or any other potentially dangerous treatments. But just know that there is another way and you don’t have to wait to begin. Cancer or any dis-ease can’t survive in an alkaline environment. So work on changing the environment within your body. Modern medicine is still lagging behind Mother Nature when it comes to reversing illness. Detoxification is a powerful, natural body process that can alkalize and regenerate your body. So start by eating more alkaline foods – your raw fruit and veggies. Just increasing your fruit intake will go a long way. So Alkalize, Hydrate, Clean, and Strengthen.

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

When I had my 1stmigraine years ago I thought I was blacking out. There were bright lights flashing inside the corner of my eyes that gradually moved to fill my complete line of site. I was terrified. It wasn’t until afterward that I realized it was a classic migraine. I’ve only had about 2 that I can identify, but I am one of the lucky ones. There are some staggering statistics on people suffering from migraines and severe headaches: According to migraines.com70% of people that suffer from migraines are women; 25% of people that have migraines have more than one per week; and 47% of people with diagnosable migraine symptoms actually thought they had a tension or sinus headache. I know I have definitely complained about a tension headache while detoxing. So what in the world is a migraine really? Well, that’s a great question, because it manifests differently for everyone; but for sure – no one who has ever had one will say it’s a simple headache. They are categorized by severe head pain that is usually accompanied by other symptoms. Sometimes it’s a true stabbing pain, dull throbbing, or fireworks inside your eyes. Some people get dizzy, nauseous or completely incapacitated. The main question is how to reduce or eliminate the occurrence of migraines? Looking at it from a detoxification standpoint, the body is trying to tell us that we have an acidic condition in our head and neck region. In an alkaline and balanced state – our overall goal with detoxification – the body does not experience pains, spasms, inflammation, or congestion because there is nothing blocking the flow of energy. However, when the body is dealing with chronic pain and inflammation (internally or externally) in a certain area we can make the connection to the underlying cause of the congestion or blockage to try to reverse it. Clear the Sinuses: Try to get your sinuses drained to release mucus congestion in your head. This is easier said than done and can take time, but if your lymphatic system in your head is backed up then you will experience tension headaches, non-popping of your ears, and an increase in the discomfort of migraines. There is an intricate network of lymphatic roadways in your head and neck region whose purpose is to carry mucus and other metabolic waste away from your brain and ultimately to your kidneys to be filtered out through the urine. If you have a stiff and knotty neck then you have stagnant lymph that isn’t draining and has nowhere to go. Go ahead, right now, and feel around your neck area and see if you can feel groups of little hard knots along the tendons and muscles that run from your head to your shoulders. If you have these then the acidic metabolic waste within your lymphatic system in this area is starting to crystalize and harden. Are they more pronounced on one side than the other? This can let you know which kidney is filtering slower than the other. Kidney filtration and Lymphatic drainage can be addressed by starting to detox – with fruits mainly, and also veggies and herbs that support the kidneys (parsley, dandelion, corn silk, juniper berry, couch grass, horsetail, stinging nettle leafto name a few). Increase circulation: Get the energy moving in the head and neck region. Dr. Robert Morse recommends neural lymphatic massage (clockwise) on either side of the spine in the neck and upper back area to increase the energy flow to the nerves that connect to the brain and sinuses. You can also start doing a gentle, but frequent massage of the neck and shoulders, kneading those knotty areas (if you have them) as you go through your day to try and loosen up the crystallized acids. Exercise will also increase circulation and move lymphatic waste, but start slow and build your endurance. Yoga, walking, swimming, are all excellent and low impact. Clean the Digestive Tract: Once I started learning about detoxification, I was amazed at how the head and intestines are so closely connected. These two systems are on opposite ends of the developing embryo and are among the first to develop shortly after fertilization. It’s no wonder that a headache in the front of the head tends to indicate a stomach issue. Or perhaps you have experienced a headache after an unpleasant bout of diarrhea or constipation. This studyconnected constipation with headaches in school children. More specific to migraines – there have been studies that show the relationship between problems with the digestive system and the occurrence of migraines. According a 2006 report for BMC Gastroenterology, people that suffer with IBS are 40% to 80% more likely to also suffer from migraine, fibromyalgia, and depression in comparison to people without IBS. So with plenty of supporting evidence, a detox to help clean the digestive system would be extremely helpful. Start by mixing one teaspoon of fiber with plenty of water about 2 hrs after dinner to start pulling those toxins out. Also try one of these detox dietswith natural fiber to strengthen and clean the digestive system. Natural Pain and Spasm Control: If you can consider that at their core migraines are spasms of vascular tissue in the brain, we can superficially deal with the symptoms to help manage the immediate discomfort and pain. Try one of these: St. John’s Wort, Valerian root, cramp bark, and scullcap to name a few. Or find a good herbal blend like Dr. Robert Morse’s Spasm Calm. (FYI – I am not an affiliate for Dr. Morse’s herbal formulas and do not earn any commissions for recommending their products. However, I HIGHLY recommend that you try them!) If you are migraine suffer, consider doing a detox and trying herbs to minimize your symptoms. Also get those sinuses drained, and start a low impact and low stress exercise program. You deserve to be free of that migraine prison! Happy Detoxing! Tamera

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