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robinb
| | Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2002 - 10:28 pm: | |
When I first started my study of liver detox, I came across a 5-day program of drinking just purified water the first day, eating just veggies the second, fruits the third, etc. Any merit to this method? |
Ingrid
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2002 - 01:23 pm: | |
I'm not sure. There is no agreement on anything where diet is concerned. No, not true: everyone agrees that organic is superior to inorganic (except retailers, but in health care, this is a given.)
Simplification has merit. The less variety there is, the easier it is to digest meals. So, the smorgasbord is the worst and the juices are probably the best. This is because the enzymes are very specific and they select what they will digest on an esoteric system of priorities understood by them.
When it comes to specifics such as water, it's harder to say. The pros and cons of distilled water fill volumes. Go to the top of a pristine mountain and hold your mouth open to catch rain before it is containerized?
Vegetables are also not just vegetables. The leafy green vegetables are more detoxifying whereas the softer, more demulcent squashes and sweet potatoes are more nourishing. Hardly anything beats artichokes for detoxification purposes, but sea vegetables are fabulous for entirely different purposes.
Fruits also are not all the same. Watermelon will flush the kidneys and cranberries will cleanse the urinary tract, but prunes work more on the lower intestines, bilberries on the eyes, and so on. Hildegard of Bingen said cancer patients should not eat strawberries; scientists feel they are very useful for breast cancer patients. I will post a list of some books on diet so people can explore this enormous field with more clarity.
Personally, I look at food a little differently from some. The biggest challenge is to determine what in Ayurveda is called "digestive power." How much appetite, hydrochloric acid, enzymes, bile, and so forth do you have? If you eat more than you can digest, you are in trouble even if the food is delicious and wholesome.
Next, you want food that is easy to digest and gives bang for the bite so to speak. For instance, tempeh is easier to digest than either tofu or meat. It is therefore a good source of protein for people who need an easy to assimilate protein that will not aggravate the tendency towards intestinal and other cancers.
Then, there is the preparation of food. Surprisingly few people know how to cook. We are seeing the third generation of canned and frozen food consumers, and this has only been made worse by TV dinners and microwave ovens. Fresh food is better than food that has lost its vitality through preservation.
I am not a raw foods advocate. Raw food has live enzymes but it is also hard to digest for some people. People who are cold and have poor circulation may do better with curry soup.
You see, it's individual and varies from season to season as well as according to symptoms.
Best wishes, |
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