Pampering Yourself during Detox (1) Aromatherapy Continued

Some people believe that the aroma from essential oils can heal.
Please refer to 'Emotional Effects of Essential oils' at this link.

Pampering yourself during detox will relieve of stress that has built up and affected your physical and mental state. Stress causes toxins to build up too. Using aromatherapy can help you sleep better as it put you in a relaxed state of mind.

Essential oils used during detoxification can relieve stress and relax the mind.

Essential Oil and Its Use to Ease:
Bergamot: Reduces Aggression, disappointment, anxiety, stress, anger, depression
and fatigue
Cedarwood : Reduces fear, stress, helps calm the nerves
Chamomile : Calms the nerves, relieves tension, anger, anxiety, grief, hysteria and
impatience
Clary Sage : Relieves stress, tension and mild anxiety, fatigue, impatience, indecision
and panic
Eucalyptus : Relieves cold and flu and fatigue
Fennel : Good for digestion and relieves fear
Geranium : Calms the nerves, relieves anxiety, panic and tension
Grapefruit : Uplifts tired minds
Ginger : Warming and stimulating, relieves emotional fatigue
Juniper : Calming, relieves aggression and panic
Lavender : Relieves insomnia, tension and headaches
Lemon : Relieves cold symptoms
Lime : Refreshes
Mandarin Oranges: Diuretic with sedative properties
Myrrh : Anti-inflammatory properties
Orange : Relieves stress and tension, good for mental fatigue
Rose : Eases sadness, reduce disappointments and jealousy
Peppermint: Clears the mind, good for mental fatigue
Rosemary: Helps to focus, relieves mental fatigue
Sandalwood: Warming effect, stress relief
Tea Tree: Cleanses and refreshes
Ylang-ylang: Sedative, calm the nerves

In Malaysia, you may not find all the various types of essential oils.Some of the essential oils can be found at the Body Shop, Memory Lane, Lovely Lace, RM5 shops and certain kiosks outside hypermarket like Tesco.

Pampering Yourself during Detox (1)

The detoxification period is a time when you pull yourself away from your daily routine and give yourself a break. Relax. You should detox with a mate or when the family is not around.In this way, your family or friends will not suffer from your foul moods and other side effects during the initial period. You may also not be lured to break your detox programme from external temptations.

While you are cleansing your internal systems with the right foods and juices, you could also cleanse your external body too.

Dry body brushing is a great technique to stimulate blood and lymph circulation. You could use a soft brush or a dry towel and brush all parts except sensitive areas to rid of dry and dead skin. You should start with your legs and move upwards. After brushing you should start to shower or you may want to take a warm bath with bath salts.The salts could be useful for healthy muscle function.

You cannot afford to soak in a warm bath if you have cuts or suffer from a skin condition.

Aromatherapy is another way to enjoy and help you detox. An oil burner containing essential oils is ideal to place in the bathroom while you soak in the tub.Fill the oil burner dish with water and add 5 drops of essential oil and within a short time, the aroma would spread throughout your bathroom.

You can also use the essential oil directly by dropping about 6 to 8 drops, one drop at a time, into the bath water.Don't add more. Don't worry if you can't smell, it is still working.

Your skin pores open while you enjoy your bath and will release toxins from your body and at the same time allow the essential oils to penetrate your skin.

Don't patronise saunas while on a detox as they may make you feel light headed.

More on aromatherapy in the next post.

Exercise and Detox

Are you allowed to undertake vigorous exercise while doing the detox?That is a good question. You may think that the sweat during exercise helps to get rid of the toxins faster? Well, think again.

During the initial period of detox, only gentle walking is allowed. For a 1 to 2 week detox program, you can take 2 gentle walks a week. You need a lot of rest during detox because you need to let your body restore and revive. The other forms of exercises that are recommended are tai chi, yoga and qi gong. Gentle exercise helps pump up the lymphatic system and remove wastes from the blood and body tissues. It also dissolves and eliminate crystalline acid deposits in the joints.

Effects of detox vary from person to person. Symptoms include:

• headaches
• lower back pain
• dry mouth
• coated tongue
• bad breath
• skin rashes
• nausea
• weakness
• fatigue
• abdominal gas
• palpitations
• mucous discharges
• irritability
• emotional upset
• joint and muscular aches and pains
• cold feet and hands
• vivid dreams and more.

The first 3 or 4 days is the most common time for reactions and withdrawal symptoms to surface. This is normal. You have to be persistent and carry on because this difficult period will not last. The effects of detox as stated above is a natural thing because the body is removing the toxins through all the available orifices; the skin, mouth, nose, eyes, ears and private parts. Don't give up but go on. Any unpleasant side effects will settle down.

Drink plenty of water and take frequent showers.

Once your body has sufficiently got rid of the toxins, you will find that you feel lighter and more alert. But a word of caution. If your encounter rashes or feel dizzy, suffer severe muscle pain or headache which is not normal, do see a doctor.You may need to tailor your detox more slowly over a longer period.

When your body is fully recharged and no longer suffer from the shock of detox, you can then start on more strenuous exercise.

Why Food has to have the right pH?

It is important to eat the right balance of food. pH measures the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. Pure water is said to be neutral. The pH for pure water at 25 °C (77 °F) is close to 7.0. Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are said to be basic or alkaline.

Well, that is Chemistry we learnt in school. It can be applied in the kitchen too. To keep the body healthy, the cells and tissues needs to be maintained at normal levels. Normal levels are slightly alkaline.

Food that break down to acids are harmful as they attack tissues and damage cells.

To keep the pH levels balanced you need to take 70% alkali-forming and only 30% acid-forming foods.

Examples of alkali-forming foods are:

• fresh fruits -: citrus, melons, pineapple, mango, kiwi, papaya,
• fresh vegetables-: spinach,,celery, carrots, onions, potatoes, cauliflower,

Examples of acid -forming foods are:

• meats, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese
• bread, rice, oats, cereals, lentils, sugar, nuts

It is believed that keeping your body in an alkaline state will encourage good moods, high energy levels,good sleep quality and reduce aches and pains and headaches.

Exercise and deep breathing help keep the body in a normal pH state and makes you feel good.

I can vouch for the above because as a diabetic, I would feel great and alert when my sugar level is under control and feel sleepy, lethargic and lazy whenever my sugar levels are up .

Therefore, during the period of detox you are encouraged to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables as they can neutralize the acid in your blood.

Water is absolutely essential for healthy body function as it promotes chemical reactions, lubricate joints, and is a medium for the transport of nutrients. The function of all body systems especially the lymphatic, urinary, vascular and gastrointestinal system depend on water.

During detox, water is needed to wash out the toxins from the body. You need to drink 1.5 to 2 litres of water on normal days but during detox you may have to increase to 3 litres a day. To make the water taste better, you may add a squeeze of lemon juice.

Foods to Avoid During Detox

My previous post on 12th January, 2009 on preparing to detox had several hits lately. I am sorry for not continuing with the detox series as promised.

Please refer to the above post to refresh.

Now what the foods we should avoid during detoxification? The purpose of any detox program is to expel the toxins from your body systems. To do that, of course you should not add more toxins during the process or add anything that would prevent the detoxification from being smooth and up to expectations.

Foods containing toxins to avoid are as follows:

• chemical preservatives
• colouring and dyes
• flavouring
• additives
• artificial sweeteners
• hydrogenated vegetable oils
• processed and refined foods such as hot dogs, burgers, shashimi, salami, etc. these foods contain too much food additives, enhancers and salts.
  

(Organic foods are the better choice.)

• Cut down on red meat, wheat and dairy products as thay may contain growth promoters, hormones and antibiotics. Meat is also a source of saturated fats

( An exception is live natural yogurt, which has good bacteria that keeps the gastrointestinal tract healthy)

• Alcohol is a no no too during detox.
• Coffee
• Large doses of sugar and salt.

By now, you may be saying, 'There is nothing to eat during detox!'

Slow down. There are lots of things you can eat. It is just a matter of changing your palate.

Of course you can find healthier alternatives. Please refer to the earlier post on foods encouraged during detox.

Chilli Pickles

Chilli Pickles

After about two weeks on a 'Subway diet", I decided to make our own chilli pickles for the sandwiches.

It was easy.I first washed 5 Jalapeno peppers and about 10 green chilies and tossed them dry in a colander. I then covered the colander to prevent flies from hovering over them.

Next I boiled about a liter of water and added 1 cup of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar. I let the solution cool before pouring it into 2 separate glass jars. Pickles should be made in glass or ceramic containers and not plastic ones as the latter may react with the acidic vinegar and later leach out into the container. This is bad for health.

After the pickle solution has cooled down, I added sliced green chillies in 1 jar and the whole jalapeno peppers in the other.

The pickles are ready to be eaten after 3 days in the fridge. With our regular sandwich breakfast and dinner nowadays, my self- made pickles last for 2 weeks.

It is not advisable to keep the pickles outside the fridge and it may ferment and turn bad. The pickles I made were less sweet than the local ones sold in the supermarkets.

Next I will try to pickle garlic, onions and maybe lime. Pickles will be great pick me up during the fasting month.

I may also try my Mum's pickle recipe which include precooked spices. This type of pickle is not only popular during the Muslim fasting month but is also served at Malay weddings. It is more complicated and requires a lot more expensive ingredients.