Month: August 2013

A few hours ago, I realized that I hadn’t made bean soup in a long time.

Initially I thought about making some type of bean soup this evening, but I knew that wasn’t happening…

My nephew is staying with us for a few days. He and my daughter have been keeping me busy.

Even though I’m not making the soup today, I can still prepare right? I decided to soak the beans overnight (even though you don’t need to with a pressure cooker) and pressure cook them tomorrow morning. Soaking the beans will reduce the cook time by about five minutes?

While I’m unsure of the type of bean soup I’ll make I know it’s going to be creamy and definitely spicy. Garlic and ginger will definitely be added to the bean soup, but it’s open season to what else will be tossed into the mix.

 

Even though I’m physically ready for a water cleanse, I thought I’d do a bit more preparation to make sure I’m mentally ready for my upcoming water cleanse.

I’m actually looking forward to the water cleanse. I haven’t done one in a while and I think it’s time. Based on the wonderful experiences I’m seeing with candida, or should I say, the reduced symptoms I’m experiencing now? The white coating on my tongue has drastically reduced. The small rash I developed because of candida is going away. I’ve also seen candida expelled when I have had bowel movements. Much of that reduction I can definitely attribute to the garlic enemas. Naturally, I think I’ll see even more results with a water fast since I’ll be starving the candida.

I’m unsure how long the water fast will be, but this one won’t be longer than seven days. I’m slowly easing into the cleanse by eating mainly raw foods. I’ve taken a few pictures of what I ate, yesterday evening and this morning, hopefully I’ll get a chance to post the pictures some time today. After the raw foods I’ll transition to freshly juiced vegetables and fruits before moving into a water cleanse.

Water cleanses are nothing new to me. A few members within my family, such as my grandmother and great aunt, did them throughout their life.  They’re both dead now. My grandmother died when she was 93 and my great aunt passed away at the age of 98.

One of my friends, when she first met me, was shocked at the amount of alternative things incorporated into my daily lifestyle. She mentioned that most people within Westernized cultures tend to shy away from trying approaches that are centuries old. I smiled and told her that I’m not most people.

I do a lot of research about whatever I do to my body. Additionally,  I’ve have amazing examples of people who actively incorporated ‘alternative remedies’ into their lifestyle.

The past few days I’ve been thinking about doing a water fast…

 

And while some will recommend prepping yourself by setting aside days to ‘eat healthy’ before going on a water fast. Well, there’s really no reason for me to wait, since the only things I mainly consume is whole foods.

I’ve done a few water fasts. I don’t do them for weight loss. I’m not overweight. I have found that liquid fasts have been a nice way to give the digestive system a break and in some cases, they’ve been very effective at healing minor ailments. I’ve also read accounts of them used to heal major issues. 

 

 

Of course I’m including one of April Goodwin’s videos. She’s very informative and I love her energy.

 

I’m also including one of lifegenerators videos, not necessarily for his talk about water fasting. I just really enjoy hearing him talk about how he deals with negativity. I agree with him, negativity directed at you can be a chance to grow. I also agree, that at times, we can bring a lot of negativity on us.

 

Will I be doing enemas while water fasting? You better believe it! Most likely my enema of choice will be a simple water enema. I will add a few teaspoons of sea salt to ensure that my body’s electrolyte balance stays normal.

I’ve done water fasts before, I remember a few times some the third or fourth day wasn’t so great, but afterwards it was smooth sailing.  I now wonder if some of the discomfort I felt could have been eliminated if I’d included enemas into my fasting routine. Enemas would have definitely added my body in flushing out the toxic waste that my body was dumping as I gave my digestive system a break. It’ll be interesting to see if the first few days will be different since I’d be adding enemas. We’ll see…

Will I start a water fast within a few days? Oh, I might… physically I’m definitely ready, I just have to make sure I’m prepared mentally.

Where does my food come from? The majority of it’s grown in our acre garden. Yes, I’m truly blessed.

Anyone that knows me, or checks out the foods I write about online
knows that I mainly eat whole foods. I try to eat as close to a foods natural source as possible.

 

In many ways it would be much easier for me not to do this, but I figure a few extra minutes is worth the effort. When I watch the video, I don’t view this as ‘progress.’

For the record, I’m definitely not against animal consumption but I do think the level it’s done today is unnatural. I say the same thing about vegetables and fruit. Don’t even get me started on the empty calorie food items that are passed off as ‘food.’ But you know what, for those who want to eat that way, that’s there choice.

I must say that I’m fortunate that I do have the ability to purchase animal products from small local farms.

I’m not a coffee drinker…

But I regularly use coffee enemas.

I’ve found the benefits from them to be well worth the coffee bean purchase.

 

I do like natural remedies, but like anything else, I’ll research (and in some cases) try them out before making a decision. I don’t blindly believe something works, just because it’s ‘natural’.

But coffee enemas had some validity since it’s been used in Gerson therapy as an alternative way to treat cancer since the 1920’s.

Some of the health claims for coffee enemas are…

• Aids in eliminating toxins from the liver. This seems to be valid, since endoscopic studies do show that coffee enemas does increase bile output.
• Aids in healing the colon and stimulating peristalsis.

The “aids in healing the colon” really caught my attention since I had suffered chronic constipation ever since my appendices ruptured (and was removed) in 1992. After the surgery (even while eating a high fiber diet) it wasn’t uncommon for me to go weeks without having a bowel movement. That definitely wasn’t normal!

 

I tried herbal laxatives but those weren’t always effective for chronic constipation relief. Also, I had to take way more than the recommended dose to get my bowels to move. If the recommended dose was two I would be taking at least six.  You want to know something?  Within a few weeks after introducing coffee enemas into my natural health routine, I started having normal bowel movements. I don’t take them as often as when I was trying to get my digestive system back on track but just like the garlic enemas,  I take them a few times each month.

I included the above video done by April Goodwin of  I Keep Smiling. I love this women’s positive outlook on life.

 

Resources:

Scientific Basis of Coffee Enemas