WARREN KING, L.Ac.

My 10 day cleanse

     As it has been at least 10 years since I have done a fast or cleanse of more

than 3 days I decided that it was time. During a fast or cleanse, the organs

don’t have work on processing food and can instead clean out their storage

of toxins. There is also spiritual reasons to fast, when we stop taking in

nutrition on the physical, we start absorbing energy from the spiritual

levels, and a high spiritual consciousness is attained.

     For the first two days I juiced pineapple and diluted the juice half with

purified water and ate fresh pineapple. I drank water as well. At the end

of the second day the pineapple started to slightly irritate my mouth. There

was only a little hunger that the juice and fruit would mostly assuage.

Days 3 began with 2 cups of water with the juice of one lemon and 1/4 tsp of

sea salt. Days 3 and 4 I only drank orange juice diluted half with water and

ate 3-5 oranges a day. On the night of day 5, I blended 1/3 cup of olive

oil with 12 ounces of orange juice. This was much more palatable to drinking

the olive oil straight which I had once done, and which made me avoid all

olive oil for years afterwards! The olive oil is supposed to contract and

cleanse the gallbladder. Many report myriads of small green stones coming

into the toilet the day after doing this, this happened to me last time, but

not now.

     My consciousness was definitely lifting. I noticed nature as being totally

alive, I could sense all the trees in the neighborhood at once and felt

their suchness or beingness without all the mental chatter that usually

blocks direct perception of reality.

     Day 5 was the most difficult as I just fasted on water and had some hunger

and mostly just rested.

     Days 6 and 7 was just on apple juice diluted half with water and eating

apples, grapes and pears. I also had 1/2 cup of pomegranate juice on most

days of the cleanse.

     Days 8 and 9 were on fresh made carrot juice. I also ate apples and pears.

To the carrot juice I added fresh parsley and the juice of chinese and savoy

cabbage from my garden. After reading books on the lives of stars, I

meditated more deeply than I can remember. I felt the mind of God

penetrating all the galaxies of the universe and felt they were all floating

within me and I within them.

     On day 10 I added steamed greens (chinese cabbage, bok choy and 3 types of

kale) from the garden along with some homemade fermented vegetables. Lunch

was greens in miso soup. In the evening I had some homegrown lettuce, celery

and leeks with olive oil and apple cider vinegar.

     I think everyone could use some sort of fast or cleanse. Short ones every

year and longer ones every few years. I feel that breast cancer and prostate

cancer could be prevented with a 10 day cleanse like this one every year.

During this cleanse I also took herbs and homeopathics that open the kidney,

liver, intestines and lymph to detoxify.

     If you ever feel an inner prompting to do a cleanse or fast I would be glad

to make a custom made plan just for your body.

In Eat Right for Your Type, the author, Dr. Peter D’Adamo suggests that digesting and absorbing food is different for each blood type and eating foods that are incompatible can cause inflammation, metabolic impairment and disease. One major factor in this process is that many foods have protein molecules called “lectins”, and each body interacts with them differently, depending on blood type.

The four blood types are O, A, B, AB. Type O is the oldest blood type and therefore the diet includes a large amount of meat and few grains, legumes and beans. Type A came about as people started planting and harvesting their own food so the diet includes a larger amount of grains and vegetables and less meat. As Type O and A peoples migrated to new environments, blood Type B appeared and the diet that works best B’s is a balance of meat, grains, vegetables and dairy. Blood Type AB is the most recent type and is the result of the intermingling of A and B blood types. The AB diet includes significant amounts of seafood and cultured dairy.

According to Dr. D’Adamo, the best foods for each type are as follows:

Type O: meat, fish, vegetables, fruits

Type A: vegetables, tofu, seafood, grains, beans, legumes, fruit

Type B: meat (no chicken), dairy, grains, beans, legumes, vegetables, fruit

Type AB: meat, seafood, dairy, tofu, beans, legumes, grains, vegetables, fruit

 For much more information and resources go to:

http://dadamo.com/

The Dark Side of Unfermented Soy

Writings about the soybean date back to 3000 B.C., when the Emperor of China listed the virtues of soybean plants for regenerating the soil for future crops. His praises centered on the root of the plant, not the bean. These ancient writing suggested that the Chinese recognized the unfitness of soybeans for human consumption in their natural form. Now 5000 years later, we are once again catching on to the anti-nutritive qualities of the soybean, and realizing that the only soybean worth eating is one that has been fermented.



The key to releasing the nutrients of the soybean has been known for thousands of years.

About 1000 B.C. some smart person in China discovered that a mold, when allowed to grow on soybeans, destroyed the toxins present and made the nutrients in the beans available to the body. This process became known as fermentation and led to the creation of the still popular foods tempeh, miso, and natto.

A few centuries later, a simpler process was developed to prepare soybeans for consumption. After lengthy soaking and cooking, the beans were treated with nigari, a substance found in seawater. The end product was tofu. During the Ming dynasty, fermented soy appeared in the Chinese Materia Medica as a nutritionally important food and an effective remedy for diseases.


Unfermented soybeans contain potent anti-nutrients.

In their natural form, soybeans contain phytochemicals with toxic effects on the human body. The three major anti-nutrients are phytates, enzyme inhibitors and goitrogens.
These anti-nutrients are the way nature protects the soybean plant so that it can live long enough to effectively reproduce. They function as the immune system of the plant, offering protection from the radiation of the sun, and from invasion by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. They make the soybean plant unappetizing to foraging animals. All plants have some anti-nutrient properties, but the soybean plant is especially rich in these chemicals. If they are not removed by extensive preparation such as fermentation or soaking, soybeans are one of the worst foods a person can eat.

Unfermented soy has been linked to digestive distress, immune system breakdown, PMS, endometriosis, reproductive problems for men and women, allergies, ADD and ADHD, higher risk of heart disease and cancer, malnutrition, and loss of libido.

Groups most at risk of experiencing negative effects from the anti-nutrient properties of soy are infants taking soy baby formula, vegetarians eating a high soy diet, and mid-life women going heavy on the soy foods thinking they will help with symptoms of menopause.



Soybeans contain high levels of phytates

All legumes contain phytate (also known as phytic acid) to some extent, but the soybean is particularly rich in this anti-nutrient. Phytate works in the gastrointestinal tract to tightly bind minerals such as zinc, copper, iron, magnesium and calcium. It has a particularly strong affinity for zinc, a mineral that supports wound healing, protein synthesis, reproductive health, nerve function, and brain development. It is believed that people living in developing countries are shorter than those in developed countries because of zinc deficiency caused by eating too many legumes. There is also evidence that mental development can be negatively impacted by a diet high in phytate.

In most legumes such as other varieties of beans, soaking is enough to break down most of the phytate content. However the soybean requires that the enzymes be released in the fermentation process to reduce its phytate content to the point where it becomes fit for consumption. This means that fermented soy foods like miso and tempeh have the lowest levels of phytate and are the best choices for anyone wishing to eat soybean products. Tofu is also a good choice, as long as care is taken to replenish loss nutrients.

Whole soybeans, soy milk, soy chips, soy protein isolates, soy flour and all the other myriad of products made from processed soybeans and advertised as health foods have much higher levels of phytate and are not worth eating.



Unfermented soy products are rich in enzyme inhibitors.

When food is eaten, digestive enzymes such as amylase lipase and protease are secreted into the digestive tract to help break it down and free nutrients for assimilation into the body. The high content of enzyme inhibitors in unfermented soybeans interferes with this process and makes carbohydrates and proteins from soybeans impossible to completely digest. When foods are not completely digested because of enzyme inhibitors, bacteria in the large intestine try to do the job, and this can cause discomfort, bloating, and embarrassment. Anyone with naturally low levels of digestive enzymes such as elderly people would suffer the most from the enzyme inhibiting action of soy.



Soybeans can block production of thyroid hormone

Soybeans have a high content of goitrogens, substances that can block the production of thyroid hormone as well as cause goiter formation. Low thyroid activity plagues women in America, particularly middle-aged women. Thyroid hormone stokes the cellular furnaces, known as mitochrondia. When thyroid production is low, energy levels as well as body heat are also low. Low thyroid level is what makes old people move so slowly and seem like every action is a huge chore. Low thyroid means the action of the heart is reduced, resulting in lack of oxygen to the cells, a prime condition for cancer.

Genistein, an isoflavone found in soybeans, can also block thyroid production. Phytate can accentuate these effects because it binds up zinc and copper, leaving little of these important minerals available to make thyroid hormone.

A transport protein called GLUT1 is shut down by genistein. This protein sends glucose into the cells where it is used to generate energy. Slowing the transport of glucose means less energy production not only of thyroid hormone, but of every other action in the body.

Another way in which soy isoflavones reduce energy in the body is by inhibiting tyrosine kinases, enzymes involved in the transfer of energy from one molecule to another. These enzymes drive cell division, memory consolidation, tissue repair, and blood vessel maintenance and regeneration.

It is this action of regulating cell division that made genistein a popular substance for fighting cancer. When research on this anti-cancer effect of genistein became know, the soy industry feverishly developed products that would appeal to Western women looking for genistein. In the middle of all this excitement, little attention was paid to how the energy reducing effects of genistein lowered cellular energy in normal cells.

The benefits of genistein come at a high cost

Women have been encouraged to use high genistein soy products to alleviate symptoms of menopause and as a guard against bone loss and breast cancer. But given the full range of effects of genistein in the body, high consumption could result in age-related memory loss. Commercial soybean products offer genistein levels as high as 20 to 60 mg per serving. Asians are presented as an example of the benefits of eating soybean products because their incidence of breast cancer and osteoporosis is low. However, the Asian diet of fermented soybean products such as miso and tempeh includes only around 5 mg of genistein a day.

Genistein slows the growth of blood vessels to tumors, another action that makes it popular as a cancer fighter. However, it has the same effect on blood vessels serving normal cells. Eating a regular diet high in genistein could result in the starvation of healthy blood vessels, resulting in a reduced supply of oxygen to cells, setting up a cancer promoting situation.

In a graphic example of how genistein slows cellular energy, a study found that eating high levels of it slowed hair growth by 60 to 80 percent

A decade ago a study of 8,000 Asian men showed that those consuming the highest amounts of tofu had smaller brain size and nearly three times the rate of senile dementia as those who ate the lowest amounts. These results suggest that eating foods high in isoflavones such as soy protein isolates may accelerate the aging of the brain.



Fermentation releases nutrients and transforms soybeans into nutritious food

People filling up their shopping carts with raw or cooked soybeans, soy milk, and other non-fermented soybean products do not realize that the isoflavones they contain will not be available to their bodies. Most of the isoflavones in soy products are bound to carbohydrate molecules called glucosides. In this form genistein is actually called genistin. It is fermentation that transforms genistin into genistein. Many products in the U.S. do not distinguish between genistin and genistein on their labels.

Even with fermented soy foods, a little goes a long way. The nutrients found in miso, tempeh, and natto can be beneficial in the moderate amounts found in the typical Asian diet, but have the potential to do harm in higher amounts. In China and Japan, about an ounce of fermented soy food is eaten on a daily basis.

When fermented soy foods are used in small amounts they help build the inner ecosystem, providing a wealth of friendly microflora to the intestinal tract that can help with digestion and assimilation of nutrients, and boost immunity.

Dr. John Lee, author of several books on the health of women, recommended that women wishing to consume soy production eat only miso, tempeh, natto. Tofu can also be eaten provided it is accompanied by fish or some other protein source and some seaweed or kelp to replenish bound minerals. Eating small amounts of these foods will provide the cancer protective effects of genistein without causing the other potential problems of genistein. Dr. Lee recommended avoiding genistein and isoflavone supplements, and soy protein isolates.

If a child eats conventionally grown produce, will it affect his or her health? Recent research revealed that pesticides do show up in the urine of children after consuming non-organic foods. Though the study did not look at whether or not some of the chemicals stay in the tissues and cause damage, other research says they do.

Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle and Emory University in Atlanta, headed by Chensheng Lu, tested urine samples from 21 children in the Seattle area who ate conventionally grown foods and then ate similar organic varieties for five days, before returning to seven more days of conventional foods. To be extra certain, the organic foods were tested and found to be free of chemicals.

Urine samples were collected twice daily for a period of 7, 12, or 15 consecutive days during each of the four seasons. It was found that levels of organophosphates, a family of pesticides resulting from the creation of nerve gas agents in World War II, could be identified in the urine during the time conventional produce was eaten. Within eight to 36 hours after switching to organic versions, the pesticides in the urine disappeared.

Previous studies have found a correlation between pesticides and neurological problems in the brains of rats. Dr. Theodore Slotkin of North Carolina’s Duke University has written up the results of several such studies. He found that brain development and behavior were both negatively impacted after exposure to organophosphates, especially chlorpyrifos, one of the pesticides in the recent study.

Andrew Schneider, writing in the Seattle P.I. quotes Lu, who says “more research must be done into the harm these pesticides may do to children, even at the low levels found on food… In animal and few human studies, we know chlorpyrifos inhibits an enzyme that transmits a signal in the brain so the body can function properly. Unfortunately, that’s all we know.

“It is appropriate to assume that if we – human beings – are exposed to (this class of) pesticides, even though it’s a low-level exposure on a daily basis, there are going to be some health concerns down the road,” said Lu, who is on the Environmental Protection Agency’s pesticide advisory panel.

We do know that toxins affect children differently than adults, as they are still developing and are thus more fragile neurologically. Some pesticides contain potent neurotoxicants, which work by disrupting an organism’s nervous system. There are studies which have found that exposure to pesticides affects growth and neurological development. So it would seem very likely that ingestion of pesticide residue in young children especially would lead to negative effects on health and development. At the very least, there must be an effect to the liver and kidneys for the extra work they are forced to do.

Consider what a teacher’s curriculum guide from Yale University states:

“-A young child’s renal system is not fully developed. For example, a newborn’s kidneys are immature compared to an adult’s, making it more difficult for the infant to eliminate toxic waste. This can lead to a greater buildup and increases their vulnerability.

-A young child’s brain, nervous system, immune system, and other organ systems are still developing and are therefore most susceptible to abnormalities and malfunctions.

-When children are exposed to toxins, there is more time for resulting damage to occur than when adults are exposed. To elaborate, if a series of events have to occur before the toxic effects of chemicals present, then it is more likely that those events will occur someday if the children are exposed early in life as opposed to exposure much later.

-Due to the rapid cell growth in children, they appear to be more susceptible to some carcinogens than adults are.”

Because of such concerns, the Food Quality Protection Act required that by 2006, the EPA was to complete a comprehensive reassessment of the 9,721 pesticides permitted for use. They were to determine safe levels of pesticide residues for all food products.

Even though this law’s passage resulted in a lowering of pesticide amounts applied to foods intended for children, many critics still consider the levels too high for safety. The other concern is that there are no restrictions on imported foods.

This effect was born out by the study, as higher levels of pesticides were found in the children’s urine in the fall and winter, when consumers rely more on imported fruits and vegetables.

Other critics point out that because of this and the EPA’s too lenient restrictions, more needs to be done. They state that it only makes sense to strengthen the limits on such exposure to pesticides at a time when children are evidencing more behavior, learning and neurological problems.

According to Schneider, Lu does not believe children should only eat organic. For Lu’s family, which includes two sons, about 60 percent of the diet is organic. “‘Consumers,’ he says, ‘should be encouraged to buy produce direct from the farmers they know. These need not be just organic farmers, but conventional growers who minimize their use of pesticides.’”

To help consumers make choices as to which foods to buy as organic, the Environmental Workers Group produced a ranking. In this list, the higher the item is ranked, the lower the amount of pesticides to be found in that item. So if a family can only buy some organic produce, the priority would be peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines and strawberries, etc.

The Full List: 43 Fruits & Veggies

RANK FRUIT OR VEGGIE SCORE

1(worst) Peaches 100 (highest pesticide load)

2 Apples 96

3 Sweet Bell Peppers 86

4 Celery 85

5 Nectarines 84

6 Strawberries 83

7 Cherries 75

8 Lettuce 69

9 Grapes – Imported 68

10 Pears 65

11 Spinach 60

12 Potatoes 58

13 Carrots 57

14 Green Beans 55

15 Hot Peppers 53

16 Cucumbers 52

17 Raspberries 47

18 Plums 46

19 Oranges 46

20 Grapes – Domestic 46

21 Cauliflower 39

22 Tangerine 38

23 Mushrooms 37

24 Cantaloupe 34

25 Lemon 31

26 Honeydew Melon 31

27 Grapefruit 31

28 Winter Squash 31

29 Tomatoes 30

30 Sweet Potatoes 30

31 Watermelon 25

32 Blueberries 24

33 Papaya 21

34 Eggplant 19

35 Broccoli 18

36 Cabbage 17

37 Bananas 16

38 Kiwi 14

39 Asparagus 11

40 Sweet Peas-Frozen 11

41 Mango 9

42 Pineapples 7

43 Sweet Corn-Frozen 2

44 Avocado 1

45 (best) Onions 1 (lowest pesticide load)

Note: A total of 44 different fruits and vegetables were ranked, but grapes are listed twice because they looked at both domestic and imported samples. – Pesticides in Produce by Environmental Working Group

I think anything above a 28 score should be eaten organically.

I have recently been asked why I recommend that many people should avoid or minimize nightshade vegetables in their diet. The main nightshade plants we use are potato, tomato, eggplant and bell and hot peppers (and tobacco). Nightshades refer to a group of plants that supposedly do their growth at night but may also refer to the narcotic qualities that these “Solanum” plants have, tobacco being in the same family. The main toxic substances found in nightshades are solanine, glycoalkaloids and alkamines. The greenish color found on many potatoes indicated solanine which is a toxin that is linked to rashes and other skin diseases. Glycoalkaloids cause red blood cells to self-destruct in vitro and alkamines contribute to nervous disorders. These substances have been linked with kidney stones, calcium depletion, nausea, abdominal pain and swelling, loss of red blood cells, ulcers, jaundice, rashes, muscle wasting, breathing difficulties, trembling, drowsiness and paralysis and is most famously connected to rheumatoid arthritis. Being expansive or yin in nature they make on crave animal products, especially dairy and red meat.

Nightshades have an interesting history, they were discovered being used by the Incas in Peru by the Spanish conquistadors in 1530. They had an elaborate process in preparing the peanut sized potatoes before they were considered edible. They would soak them in water the freeze them in the cold mountain air. Then they dried them in the sun and rubbed off the skin by waling on them barefoot until they turned black and hard as stones. They then soaked them for three to four day before being cooked in soups or ground into flour to make bread. Even today in Italy red peppers are often salted, burnt to a back crisp, the skins and seed removed and then cooked further before being considered edible!

During the 1600s and 1700s nightshades were grown ornamentally but not considered edible. The French thought they caused leprosy. Many in Europe thought potatoes caused hydrocephalus and general stupidity among those who ate them and their offspring. The tomato didn’t find its place in American kitchens until World War 1, before that they were believed to cause stomach cancer and appendicitis.

Some have suggested that the following groups of people avoid nightshades: people with arthritis, those on a macrobiotic diet, children with eczema, those with gastric reflux, those quitting smoking (nicotine and solanine are related), those of blood type A and B (which is half the population) and those with cystitis, lupus and psoriasis.

In the book, Energetics of Food by Steve Gagne there is a caution not just about the physical effects of nightshades but their energetic effect on emotions, mental attitude and character. Of the potato he says “It can contribute to mental symptoms of fatigue and drowsiness, scattered thinking, inability to pay attention, mental dullness, simplemindedness, blind allegiance and blind faith, as well as devotion to religious dogma and an overall dull spirit with a lack of creative thinking.” (Boy do Americans love their potatoes and French fries!)

There are some medicinal uses for nightshades however. Potatoes are supportive for conditions of tension accompanied by excess heat and dryness and can help reduce the sodium in tissues of those who have overdone salt. Tomatoes can reduce excessive fat accumulation in the body and can cool an over-heated metabolism and can calm and clear excess heat from the liver. Eggplants can help constipation and assist in reduction of abdominal swelling. It can also help balance fatty foods, especially cheeses, by thinning the blood. Peppers can stimulate appetite and digestion, and promote urination.

Eliminate the following from your diet:

Sweeteners: cane sugar, cane juice, dextrose, glucose, corn syrup, fructose, honey, maple syrup, molasses, agave nectar

Artificial Sweeteners (Aspartame, Splenda, Sweet and Low, etc..)

Fruits:

Grapes (wine)

Grapefruit

Orange

Apricot

Banana

Cantaloupe

Cherry

Coconut (oil, meal, milk, meat)

Currants

Dates

Figs

Kiwi

Mango

Nectarine

Pear

Persimmon

Plum

Prune

Raisins

Raspberry

Apple cider

Vegetables:

Potato,

Corn (corn products)

Mushrooms

Tapioca

Yams

Sweet potato

Nuts and seeds:

Almonds

Brazil nuts

Cashew

Macadamia

Peanut

Pecan

Pistachio

Sunflower seeds

Walnut

Miscellaneous:

Alcoholic Beverages

Artificial additives, colors, flavors, preservatives, sweeteners

Chocolate, Cacao, cocoa, cocoa butter

Coffee

Canola oil (rapeseed, vegetable or salad oil) in most premade and restaurant food

Fried foods

Hydrogenated oils

Baker’s yeast

Black tea

Brewere’s yeast

Caffeine

Pickles (in vinegar)

Vinegar.

Soy sauce

Grains: white wheat four product or white rice

Animal products

Aged Cheeses:

Asiago,

Bleu (blue)

Brie

Camembert

Emmental

Gorgonzola

Gruyere

Limburger

Muenster

Roquefort

Swiss

Meat: pork

Fish:

Grouper

Marlin

Mackerel

Orange roughty

Swordfish

Bass

Bluefish

HalibutLobster

Sea Trout

Tuna

Carp

Cod

Crab

Mahi Mahi

Perch

Snapper

Simplified Dysbiosis Diet: for the control of candida, parasites, bacteria and viruses

Eliminate the following from your diet:

Sugar: cane sugar, cane juice, dextrose, glucose, corn syrup

Fruits and vegetables: grapes (wine) grapefruit, orange, potato, corn (corn products)

Nuts and seeds:

Almonds

Brazil nuts

Cashew

Macadamia

Peanut

Pecan

Pistachio

Sunflower seeds

Walnut

Miscellaneous:

Alcoholic Beverages

Artificial Sweeteners (Aspartame, Splenda, Sweet and Low, etc..)

Artificial additives, colors, flavors, preservatives

Chocolate, Cacao, cocoa, cocoa butter

Coffee

Canola oil (rapeseed, vegetable or salad oil) in most premade and restaurant food

Fried foods

Hydrogenated oils

Grains: white wheat four product or white rice

Animal products

Aged Cheese:

Asiago,

Bleu (blue)

Brie

Camembert

Emmental

Gorgonzola

Gruyere

Limburger

Muenster

Roquefort

Swiss

Meat: pork

Fish:

Grouper

Marlin

Mackerel

Orange roughty

Swordfish

Bass

Bluefish

HalibutLobster

Sea Trout

Tuna

Carp

Cod

Crab

Mahi Mahi

Perch

Snapper

The Fat Flush Diet by Ann Louise Gittleman

THE FAT FLUSH PLAN’s unique, groundbreaking program targets cleansing the liver – the largest, most versatile organ in the body – and the one most essential to maintaining optimal body weight. Based on a satisfying, healthful, and cleansing combination of essential fats, balanced proteins, and quality carbohydrates, this detoxifying process boosts the liver’s ability to function at its highest level, accelerating weight loss while improving your health.

Simple, safe, and highly effective, THE FAT FLUSH PLAN is an excellent way to begin dieting as well as to continue weight loss. This program can successfully break through the stubborn weight loss plateau every dieter faces, “flushing out” stubborn fat while retaining crucial nutrients.

If you need to:

Trim off inches from your hips, waist and thighs …

Smooth away cellulite…

Give your body a cleansing boost …

Create a lifestyle of healthy eating

Then, here, at last, is a diet that combines common sense and sound science, making it the perfect choice for both first time dieters and those who have had varying levels of success on other programs.

Try THE FAT FLUSH PLAN for accelerated weight loss and weight control while managing hormones and bringing out your most radiant looks! THE FAT FLUSH PLAN is the only system that uncovers and corrects the five hidden factors that sabotage weight loss and vitality: liver health, food sensitivities and resulting waterlogged tissues, fear of eating fat, excess insulin/excess inflammation, and stress.

The Fat Flush process also sets off a domino effect of health benefits:

Increases your metabolism

Gives you more energy

Helps you get a more restful night’s sleep

Stabilizes your moods


THE FAT FLUSH PLAN has three distinct phases, all created to help you lose weight and to cleanse your body, giving you new energy and vibrancy:

 

Phase 1: The Two-Week Fat Flush 
This initial two-week phase will jumpstart weight loss for dramatic results. Your shape will be transformed as pounds melt away from your body’s favorite fat storage areas – your hips, thighs and buttocks. Some individuals report up a loss of up to 12 inches during this first phase of the diet!

 

Phase 2: The Ongoing Fat Flush  
This is the next step for those individuals who have additional weight to lose but who also want to pursue a more moderate cleansing program and enjoy a bit more variety in food choices while still losing weight. Phase 2 is designed for ongoing weight loss, until you reach your desired weight or size. 



Phase 3: The Lifestyle Eating Plan 
Phase 3 is the Fat Flush ® maintenance program for lifetime weight control. This phase provides guidelines designed to maintain your healthy weight, and to increase your vitality and well-being for life.

THE FAT FLUSH PLAN also includes detailed meal plans and recipes, an ongoing weight loss program, tips on eating out, and a newly developed lifestyle program for complete detox dieting.

See  www.annlouise.com

How Intestinal Bacteria Can Cause Weight Changes

(and how sugar can change intestinal bacteria)

 

A high-fat, high-sugar diet does more than pump calories into your body. It also alters the composition of bacteria in your intestines, making it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it, research in mice suggests. And the changeover can happen in as little as 24 hours, according to a report Wednesday in the new journal Science Translational Medicine.

 

Many factors play a role in the propensity to gain weight, including genetics, physical activity and the environment, as well as food choices. But a growing body of evidence, much of it accumulated by Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon of Washington University in St. Louis, shows that bacteria in the gut also play a key role.

 

Humans need such bacteria to help convert otherwise indigestible foods into digestible form.

 

Ninety percent of the bacteria fall into two major divisions, or phyla: the Firmicutes and the Bacteroidetes. Previous research had shown that obese mice had higher levels of Firmicutes, and lean ones had more Bacteroidetes.

 

Analyzing the genomes of the bacteria, Gordon and graduate student Peter Turnbaugh concluded that the Firmicutes were more efficient at digesting food that the body can’t.

 

Animals that have a higher proportion of Firmicutes convert a higher proportion of food into calories that can be absorbed by the body, making it easier to gain weight.

 

When the researchers transferred bacteria from obese mice into so-called gnotobiotic mice, which were raised in a sterile environment and had no bacteria in their guts, the mice gained more weight than did those receiving a similar amount of bacteria from lean mice, even though they were fed the same diet.

 

Gordon and Turnbaugh found that they could transfer bacteria from human intestines into gnotobiotic mice, which were fed a low-fat, plant-rich diet in the weeks before the bacteria were transplanted and for a month afterward.

 

After the bacteria were transplanted from a lean human donor, the colonies in the mice had a high proportion of Bacteroidetes and a low proportion of Firmicutes. But within 24 hours after the mice were switched to a high-sugar, high-fat diet, the proportions of the two phyla were reversed.

 

With time, the mice also grew fatter than their littermates who did not receive the human bacteria.

The Zone Diet, the popular diet by Barry Sears, is also commonly referred to as the 40/30/30 diet. “40/30/30″ refers to the proportion of each food group in the diet. In this case, 40% of daily caloric intake comes from carbohydrates, 30% comes from protein, and 30% from friendly fats.

The Zone Diet is all about getting into that mysterious place Sears calls “the zone.” According to Sears, this is the place where athletes perform better, where mental focus is enhanced, and life is generally a better place. Getting there is a simple matter of changing your eating patterns to reflect the 40/30/30 ratio, which, Sears argues, is the best way to stabilize blood sugar, promote general well-being, and encourage weight loss.

Why 40/30/30? What’s the rational behind this ratio of macronutrients?

The whole point of this 40/30/30 ratio is to balance two main metabolic hormones – insulin, which promotes the storing of excess calories as fat, and glucagon, which promotes the burning of fat. Sears also claims The Zone diet also promotes a positive balance of the body’s microhormones (called eicosanoids). 

As a weight loss book, “Enter the Zone”, isn’t too bad a read. Although his discussion of eiconsanoids can be boring.

If you’re going to give this diet a shot, it’s essential you read and understand chapter 7 – “Boundaries of The Zone.” In this chapter Sears maps out the entrance points to “The Zone.” It’s crucial that you know this “40/30/30 ratio” is only the mid-point of this entrance-way. You will- and this is important-have to adjust your carbohydrate intake according to your personal sensitivity to them in order to find your personal entrance to the “zone”.

The main problem for the average dieter will be finding this sweet spot (i.e. your unique entrance point to “the zone”). This is crucial to the entire plan — if you don’t find it, you won’t lose weight. And if you’re hypoglycemic or hyperinsulinemic, it’s likely that 40% of total daily calories from carbs is too much! If this is the case, I recommend you start with a smaller percentage of daily caloric intake from carbs, and increase them only if you can.

Some benefit of the Zone Diet

1. Since you are not significantly restricting any one food source in Sears’ diet, you are never totally deprived of the foods you love.

2. If you successfully find your entrance to “The Zone” you will experience slow, gradual, and permanent weight loss.

“The main purpose of this diet plan, that of balancing insulin and glucagon, is fundamentally correct!

 

He also talks about the importance of a proper omega 3 to omega 6 oil balance in the diet

All in all, I’d have to say Barry Sears’ diet is probably worthwhile buying – if, and only if, you can read it from cover to cover.