Q: What are toxins, and how do they impact the body?
A: Toxins are unnatural additives and preservatives to food, water, personal care products, etc. Popular toxins include fluoride (water), Glyphosate/Round-Up (processed foods and GMO fruits & vegetables) and aluminum (popular deodorants for both men and women). Toxins impact the body by first clogging and overwhelming the lymphatic system, which is the garbage/drainage system for the body and the transport system for white blood cells (in cancer situations, it can also act as a transport system for cancer cells). Lymph does not move, it has to be move through physical activity, specific massage techniques, external detox activities like ionic foot baths, infrared sauna, etc.
Q: How long does it take to detox to the body?
A: As you begin to detox the body, you can feel great. There are layers, or rounds of detoxing, required to full flush the body. Depending on individual drive, genetic disorders, chronic illness, etc. it can take 1-3 years or longer to fully detox the body. It is not an overnight process. If someone is chronically sick, expect 1 year of detox for every decade of sickness.
Q: Do you need to detox? Isn’t that what the liver and kidneys do?
A: Everyone needs to detox their body. Due to the overwhelming amount of toxins in our food, water and personal care products, our liver and kidneys can get clogged up. And, according to the Mayo Clinic, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) — or inflammation — affects 80-100 million Americans. Of that figure, around 30 million have the nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or scarring. With MTHFR, the body does not light the pathways to and through the kidneys, so manual detoxing will always be required.
Q: What does the liver do?
A: The liver breaks down harmful substances that are then are excreted into the bile or blood. Bile by-products enter the intestine and ultimately leave the body in the feces. Blood by-products are filtered out by the kidneys and leave the body in the form of urine. And, NAFLD is emerging as the most common chronic liver condition in Western World, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Q: What is the role of the kidneys?
A: The kidneys work to ensure an adequate quantity of plasma to keep blood flowing to vital organs; regulation of osmolality, ion concentrations and body pH; excretion of wastes and toxins; and production of hormones.
Q: What are signs of liver and kidney disease?
A: The signs of disease include:
• Skin and eyes that appear yellowish (jaundice)
• Abdominal pain and swelling
• Swelling in the legs and ankles
• Itchy skin
• Dark urine color
• Pale stool color, or bloody or tar-colored stool
• Chronic fatigue
• Nausea or vomiting
• Loss of appetite
• Tendency to bruise easily
Q: Can back pain be linked to kidney issues?
A: Kidney pain and back pain can be difficult to distinguish, but kidney pain is usually deeper and higher in the and back located under the ribs while the muscle pain with common back injury tends to be lower in the back. Causes of kidney pain are mainly urinary tract infections and kidney stones.
Q: What is body pH?
A: Our liver and kidneys are our body’s main detoxification system. They help to regulate the pH in our body (healthy range is 7.25-9, so if you are below or higher than this range you should seek consultation with us or elsewhere).
Q: Doesn’t my doctor know best?
A: MDs and related medical professionals receive training from educational institutions with large donations from the pharmaceutical industry. Essentially, they have the same level of training as a pharmaceutical sales rep. In addition, they only receive approximately two weeks of training in nutrition, according to Harvard University. Often, when a patient is going through cancer they will advise pts. to eat meat, dairy and ice cream to “maintain weight,” not knowing that these foods feed cancer.
Q: What foods cause and/or contribute to cancer or chronic illness?
A: Meat, dairy and high-fructose corn syrup/processed food products will cause low body pH by making the body acidic. The body only builds from what we ingest. If we eat crap, our cells will develop and grow with dysfunction from the beginning. These three types of food will combine to create a mucus within the body, allowing cell debris to thrive.
Q: What is cell debris?
A: Cell debris would be considered uric acid, toxic bowel/leaky gut, GI bacteria, virus (which are man-made and not naturally occurring), fungus/candida/yeast or parasites. These foreign bodies enter the human body through ingesting contaminated food and water. They can also be passed on from mother to child during the gestation period of child development. Cell debris often feeds on sugar, or mucus within the body.
Q: What is oxidative stress?
A: Oxidative stress is when cell debris attacks the red blood cells (RBCs), destroying the cell membrane causing the cellular-level death. We are only made up of cells and energy, so when cells are slowly killed off, we experience fatigue, etc.
Q: What is the mitochondria?
A: The mitochondria is the brain, or the powerhouse of the cell. When the human body ingests nutrition-less food, there is no opportunity for the mitochondria to develop properly. The mitochondria acts as the protector of the cell, and also controls nutrient absorption and ATP (energy).
Q: What is the common thread among all disease?
A: High homocysteine levels are seen across all levels of disease, doesn’t matter what it is. Homocysteine is an amino acid that when not broken down by the body will attack to proteins, and attacked by the immune system. This will cause an auto-immune response commonly referred to as fibromyalgia or sciatica. Normal homocystein levels are 0-2 anything above this is a danger zone. Modern medicine tells us a “safe” range for homocysteine level is 9-15. That’s not correct.
Q: Aren’t humans omnivores or carnivores due to incisor teeth?
AL Regarding, meat the human body does not possess the digestive enzymes that carnivores do. Human incisor teeth are for biting into and chewing “harder” fruits and vegetables, such as carrots and apples. In addition, humans do not have the same digestive enzymes as carnivores, such as lions, tigers and bears. Thus, humans store what cannot be digested. Additionally, the human digestive system is a replica of the herbivore (plant-eater) system. If humans were “omnivores” or “carnivores” then humans would have a hybrid system between an herbivore and carnivore, or the same digestive system as a carnivore.
Q: Can I stay healthy by working out?
A: Of course, you can stay healthy by working out, but physical activity alone will not ensure sustainable health. It’s one piece of the pie. Other pieces include plant-based diet, a lifestyle free of toxic foods, water and personal care products, supplements, high pH water and external detox activities.
Q: Are proteins bad for the body?
A: No, they are good for the body but they must be digested. When proteins are not digested they can become toxic to the body and be converted to a fat or a sugar, which is a food source for cell debris.
Q: What are enzymes, and how to do they work?
A: There are millions of enzyme processes within the body. Enzymes are the absorption mechanism in the human body. When enzymes aren’t present, we store, and don’t absorb. As we age, we lose half of our enzyme functionality. So when we hit our 40s, 50s and 60s, we should be supplementing into the body enzymes for digestion, inflammation, fats/sugars breakdown and more.
Q: Are supplements necessary for a system reboot?
A: Unfortunately, most people do not eat nutrient-dense, life-giving foods at every meal. Often times, people spend twenty, thirty, forty years or more eating unhealthy, nutrient-deficient foods before shifting towards a healthier diet and lifestyle. A few years of wholesome nourishment can’t make up for the thousands of inadequate meals they’ve already eaten. Even as newborns, many people don’t receive optimal nutrition.
Q: Why should you avoid GMO food?
A: This type of food contains glyphosate, which is an industrial descaling agent that strips fruits and vegetables of nutrients and minerals the body’s needs to function.
Q: What are the implications of GMO food?
As to which foods will be considered genetically modified, the USDA has proposed a number of options. While some food companies and consumer groups urged the USDA to allow phrases such as “GMO” or “genetically engineered” on the labels, the agency stuck with “bioengineered,” the term used by Congress. AVOID ANYTHING LABELED “BIOENGINEERED.” Most countries around the world have strict GMO labeling laws. The U.S. does not. Great organizations to research are reference are the Non-GMO Project and EWG.org.
Q: What types of supplements should you choose?
A: Choose plant-based supplements that are whole food, cold-pressed and organic. The human body recognizes them quickly and knows what to do with them. This means faster absorption. Human blood has a similar molecular structure to that of plant blood, or chlorophyll. Hemoglobin is composed of four elements- carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. All four are organized around iron. Chlorophyll is composed of the same elements, which are organized around magnesium.
Q: What types of supplements should you avoid?
A: Gummy Supplements – The traditional gummy bear is made from a mixture of sugar, glucose syrup, starch, flavoring, food coloring, citric acid, and gelatin. The original design for each type of candy is carved into plaster by an artist, then duplicated by a machine and used to create the starch molds for the production line. Supplements with Sugar – Common processed sugar additives, such as maltodextrin, dextrin, etc. are NOT good. If any supplement label lists this ingredients then avoid it.
Q: What does a vegan diet entail?
A: Key components of a plant-based diet include avoiding processed foods and animal products, and not eating refined foods such as flour, oils or added sugars. Instead, your focus becomes eating raw and organic fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and whole grains. When food is cooked above temperature, important nutrients, minerals and enzymes are lost in the heating process. For veggies, you still want a crisp, crunch, so steaming is best. Canned fruits and veggies are always void of nutritional benefits. Follow rhythmic eating, too. It works like this: Only eat fruits in the morning (5 a.m.-noon), salads and veggies in the afternoon (noon-4 p.m.) and solid/cooked foods in the evening (4-8 p.m.).
Q: What does 80/20 mean?
A: For 80/20, still follow rhythmic eating; avoid milk-dairy products and processed foods. You can keep in lean meats, such as turkey, chicken, fishes. Try to limit red meats and always avoid raw fish/sushi, as well as pork. AVOID Clean meat—also known as lab-grown, in vitro, or cultured meat—is meat that is grown in cell culture, rather than in an animal’s body.
Q: What is the benefit of grass-fed beef?
A: Grass-fed beef is better for you. It’s much leaner than its conventional counterpart. It’s also higher in key nutrients, including antioxidants, vitamins, and a beneficial fat called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) that’s been tied to improved immunity and anti-inflammation benefits. Organic means the animal was not given hormones, antibiotics or man-made pesticides in its feed. The feed, however, is not necessarily grass but corn and soy. Grass-fed meat is different in that the animal was pasture-raised. Note that grass-fed often is organic, but organic is not necessarily grass-fed. AGA-Certified Grassfed ruminant animals are born, raised, and finished on open grass pastures where perennial and annual grasses, forbs, legumes, brassicas, browse and post-harvest crop residue without grain are the sole energy sources, with the exception of mother’s milk, from birth to harvest.
Q: Are there toxins in personal-care products?
A: Yes. Personal care products, called “cosmetics” in the law, are much more than makeup and fragrance – they include lotion, toothpaste, body wash, shampoo, deodorant and many other products that people use daily. On average, women use 12 personal care products a day, exposing themselves to 168 chemical ingredients.
Q: What type of natural cleaning products are out there?
A: Switch to natural cleaning products. Choosing natural cleaning products like vinegar and baking soda over commercial cleaning agents can reduce your exposure to potentially toxic chemicals.