Cherie Calbom, M.S. is a registered nutritionist. She is the author of several health and diet books.

John Calbom, M.A. is a behavioral medicine specialist and psychotherapist. He is the director of Trinity Wellness Institute.

Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life

By Cherie Calbom, John Calbom

Grand Central Publishing

Copyright © 2014 Cherie Calbom John Calbom
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4555-2135-7
CHAPTER 1

The Secrets of Vibrant Health

Healthy, trim, energetic, and full of life! That’s what you can be when youincorporate the secrets of juicing, fasting, and cleansing, along with more raw,whole, organic foods into your lifestyle. You can easily make these wonderfulsteps to healing and vitality a part of your daily life. You’re about todiscover a program that really works. It’s worked for us and for thousands ofother people. It can work for you.

If you’re feeling sick and tired much of the time despite your best efforts atliving a healthy life, don’t be discouraged. I’ll help you turn that around.Maybe you’ve been struggling to lose weight and just can’t seem to get it off orkeep it off—you lose a few pounds only to gain them back, plus a few more.Or maybe you’re feeling sluggish and tired; fatigue is a constant reminder thatsomething’s amiss. Perhaps you have frequent headaches, back pain, or painelsewhere in your body. Your sleep may be disturbed; you may wake up aroundthree a.m. each night (a good indication that you need to do a liver cleanse).Or you may feel tired in the morning, even after plenty of sleep. Your digestionmay be off-kilter—you experience gas, bloating, or constipation, goodindicators that you need liver and gallbladder cleansing. Your immune system maynot be up to par, and consequently you experience frequent colds, flu,infections, or sinus problems. (Sinus problems may also be caused by a congestedliver.) All these symptoms could be signals that your body is in need of thesuper nutrition found in fresh juice and the detox programs on these pages.

Whatever your health challenges or goals may be, you can benefit from the life-giving nutrients in freshly made juice and raw foods. You can get an energy andvitality boost from short juice fasts. And, because your system may beoverloaded and overworked trying to clear out excess toxicity that hasaccumulated in your cells, tissues, and organs, you could greatly benefit fromthe detox programs in Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life.

Detoxing for Radiant Health

Research shows that the average person is exposed to thousands of toxins andenvironmental pollutants daily, more than ever before in history, and all thistoxic waste takes a toll on the body. Without a periodic program of detoxing,it’s almost impossible to stay on top of eliminating all this stuff and keepyour body in a state of health. But take heart. I’ll show you how to usejuicing, fasting, and detoxing programs to systematically clean out your cells,tissues, and organs of elimination and jump-start your health right away.

Detox programs and products are showing up nearly everywhere these days aspeople discover how they improve health. Plus, a lot of people simply feel theyare toxic and in need of help. There are books and magazines that continue topromote the newest detox plans. Numerous health spas offer special detox wraps,massages, and natural mineral springs (which promote detox). There are numerousretreats and programs that offer juice fasts, raw foods, and cleansing programsto revamp your health and vitality. Health food stores have huge displays ofcleansing and detox products. And it seems that nearly everyone we talk to aboutdetoxing has an opinion or a question about how to do it or how it will be ofbenefit to them.

Unfortunately, many products and plans either don’t work or are difficult touse. Some of the programs require little or no effort on your part; they sayjust take the pills or herbal products or try this quick-fix treatment andyou’re done—your nagging symptoms will all disappear. Keep in mind thatthere are no quick fixes. It took a number of years to get to this point, and itwill take awhile to get your health cleared up. But while it requires time,patience, and some discipline, it’s not difficult. And the rewards are huge.

Many people tell me they eat a reasonably healthy diet, get some exerciseregularly, and don’t eat bad stuff like junk food or desserts—at least nottoo often. Some people ask, “But isn’t it good enough just to eat lots of fruitsand vegetables, drink some vegetable juice, buy organic produce most of thetime, and try not to eat too much junk?” That’s a fair maintenance program, butthat’s not going to clean out toxins stored in the body.

I got a call one day from a lady looking for help for her husband, who had justbeen diagnosed with cancer. They had been on a health regimen for more thaneight years, juicing, making green smoothies, eating organic foods, exercisingfaithfully, and walking nearly every day. Then her husband was diagnosed withcancer. “What happened?” she asked. My first thought was to ask if he had beenexposed to any toxic chemicals. He had—very potent chemicals on his job.There was the key. Just juicing and eating good foods won’t clear from the bodyall the toxic chemicals that can be stored in organs, tissues, and fluids.

To get rid of toxins and keep your body healthy, you need to detox itperiodically. That doesn’t happen when you’re eating regular meals all the time.Your body has to concentrate on digestion all day long. Consequently, it doesn’thave much time for cleanup and repair, let alone time to move out toxins thatare tucked away in fat cells, organs, and tissue spaces. To accomplishdetoxification, you need to juice fast once in a while and utilize the colon,liver and gallbladder, and kidney cleanses periodically. This is the best way tostay trim, fit, and healthy or to get well again. And it’s possible toaccomplish this in the real world without being overly obsessed. It can even befun once you get the hang of it.

Periodic detoxing can help you get rid of irritating toxins that do harm in thebody and stubborn fat like belly fat. The key word here is “periodic.” I’m nottelling you to live on only juices, raw foods, and herbs for the rest of yourlife, but to periodically detoxify your body with the programs in this book, tojuice most days of the week, and to eat a high percentage of your food raw. Onceyou’ve completed a detox program, you can follow up with a maintenance programof whole foods, plenty of fresh vegetable juices, raw foods, purified water,regular exercise, and emotional and spiritual cleansing. I’ll show you how tomake it work no matter how busy or complicated your life might be. And if you’reshort on funds, I’ve got many programs you can put together inexpensively.

Since it’s nearly impossible to meet your health and wellness goals withoutdoing something to counteract the influences of ever-increasing toxicity,whether it’s physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, you must tackle thenegativity with determination. Nevertheless, you don’t want to be compulsivelyregimented about food and dieting, or anything else for that matter. I’m notadvocating overdoing it to the point of making your eating habits a source ofstress or fear, which will only make you feel worse, because you’re probablyalready trying to fit a lot into your busy life. Some people tend to gooverboard on health and dieting. They become food police for themselves andothers, frequently driving themselves into a state of stress and exhaustion intheir pursuit of perfect health. This can undo all the hard work of gettinghealthy. The point of this book is to guide you toward a balanced lifestyle, bymaking juicing a way of life, helping you find short-term cleansing programsthat work for you, and providing useful tips, delicious recipes, and support tokeep you on track along the way.

Why You Need to Detox

Even if you moved to a deserted island in the middle of the South Pacific andate only organic coconuts and vegetables grown in your own garden, you stillcould not be sure you were totally safe from pollution. The air you breathemight have picked up radiation from halfway around the globe; the fish youcaught could be contaminated with mercury from a far-off shore; the water mightnot be safe to drink due to acid rain.

The reality is that we live on a planet that is polluted. The air we breathe isloaded with invisible pollutants, our food supplies are often toxic due topesticides and preservatives, and we can’t trust the water supply due to water-treatment chemicals. We are exposed to thousands of toxins and chemicals in ourhomes, yards, workplaces, and schools, on our highways, where we shop, in oursleep, and in the food we eat. It doesn’t matter how old we are, what we do fora living, or even where we live. Environmental pollution is everywhere. Thesetoxins include industrial chemicals, insecticides, pesticides, heavy metals,emissions from the burning of organic fuels, electromagnetic pollution,radiation, hormones and antibiotics used in animal farming, and food dyes,preservatives, and additives added to our food. We’re bombarded with reactivemolecules called free radicals that can damage our cells. The use ofpharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs results in side effects; moreover,these drugs can interact with other drugs and substances to cause furthertoxicity. Average people like you and me are being inundated with thousands ofchemicals whose names most of us can’t pronounce and that are invisible to us,yet inevitably they take a toll on our bodies. The assault on our bodiescontinues year after year, gradually weakening our organs and compromising ourimmune systems—our bodies’ natural defense.

Toxic chemicals affect every aspect of our bodies in some way—cells,tissues, and organs become overloaded with waste. Fortunately, we are equippedwith organs of elimination and detoxification to clear away the accumulation ofthese pollutants. But when our organs become overwhelmed with too much work, abuildup of toxicity occurs and we become more and more fatigued, mentallyfogged, and susceptible to sickness. Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing forLife shows you what you can do to assist your body in managing thisonslaught from the environment and how to choose good health habits that willstrengthen and protect you. A strong, healthy body can resist toxic overload anddisease, so there’s great incentive to become stronger, healthier, and moreresistant.

Some Startling Effects of Toxicity

Many studies and reports link environmental pollution to the state of ourhealth. Chemicals that were designed to enhance our lives were introduced intoour environment more than fifty years ago, but in the past half century hundredsof them have been shown to be either highly toxic and carcinogenic, or at leasttroublesome and irritating to our complex biological systems. It leaves uswondering what happened between what was supposed to make our lives better andwhat is instead making us sick.

Less than 10 percent of all the chemicals in our environment have been evenpartially evaluated for safety. It’s difficult to know exactly how many of themare actually harmful or highly carcinogenic and could damage our health, thehealth of our children, and the health of our planet. Environmental toxinsdisrupt normal metabolic functioning of the body, which over time can lead topoor quality of life, and have been linked to conditions such as chronic fatiguesyndrome, fibromyalgia, autoimmune disorders, inflammatory diseases,infertility, sexual development abnormalities, and cancer.

Better Choices for Better Health

Now that we recognize that we live in a polluted world, what can we do toprotect ourselves against this onslaught? Obviously, the first line of defenseis to avoid toxins as much as possible and build up our immune systems. Althoughwe can’t avoid all exposure to environmental chemicals, especially those that webreathe, we do have many and varied choices about what we put in our mouths andon our bodies, spray in our houses and on our lawns, use for cleaning products,and apply as cosmetics.

When it comes to water, we can use purified for drinking and food preparation inorder to avoid the hidden sources of pollution. Make sure to use purified waterfor soup, coffee, tea, and ice cubes as well. And healthy food choices aresomething we can make each and every day. We can choose whole, unprocessed,organic foods grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers. When choosinganimal products, we can look for cage-free eggs and cage-free poultry and grass-fed beef, raised without hormones and antibiotics.

“What am I supposed to do?” a friend asked in frustration. “If the world is sotoxic and there is no escape, why even try? Maybe I should just eat all thehamburgers, French fries, and chocolate chip cookies I want!” Well, that’scertainly not the answer. We can make good choices and avoid some of the moreflagrant sources of poisons, such as junk food, fried food, refined carbs, high-fat and high-sugar foods, and packaged items with preservatives. We can avoidpesticides and insecticides from nonorganic foods and from those that are madefor home and garden. We can say no to vaccinations, some of which still containthimerosal, a mercury-containing organic compound that is widely used as apreservative in a number of biological and drug products, including vaccines.(This preservative could be especially harmful for babies and children and hasbeen linked to autism, though this link is unproven. Before you get anyvaccinations for yourself or your children, make sure they contain no thimerosalor any other harmful preservatives. Why be a test case for a mercury-basedproduct?) We can avoid mercury toxicity by asking our dentists to remove allamalgam fillings (silver-colored fillings containing mercury) and replace themwith safer alternatives.

The use of pharmaceutical drugs often causes side effects that are worse thanthe conditions the drugs are designed to treat. This requires additional drugsto counteract the negative side effects of the first one, further taxing ourbodies. We can get second opinions from doctors who specialize in naturalmedicine and search for nontoxic natural remedies whenever possible. We can alsobe very thoughtful about the use of over-the-counter drugs and search outnatural remedies first. Although over-the-counter drugs are widely used, theypresent another source of toxicity.

What Happens When Toxicity Builds Up?

Most of us keep our floors swept and our clothes washed, and give our carsperiodic oil changes. We understand the importance of cleaning and caring forour possessions, but we often neglect our own bodies. Our bodies are able tohandle a certain amount of toxicity because we have immune systems and organs ofelimination designed to clean out many of these toxic substances, but they canhandle only so much before they become overwhelmed by the huge numbers of toxinsthat we encounter from the environment—air, water, and food.

The result is that substances not broken down and excreted are generally storedin the intestines, gallbladder, kidneys, liver, lymph, fat cells, and skin. Thecolon, which is designed to eliminate solid waste, can become sluggish and buildup putrefaction. The liver can get congested and be unable to properly filterthe blood. The kidneys can become overwhelmed in their attempt to excrete toxin-laden urea. As a result, our systems are unable to function properly; nutrientsare not absorbed well and poisons are reabsorbed into our bloodstreams. Toxinsare then stored in fat cells, they collect in other tissues and spaces betweenthe cells, and they clog our lymphatic systems. If the lymph isn’t moving thedebris out of our bodies, we can begin to feel sick. All this toxic buildupeventually affects our energy, mood, sleep, mental clarity, and immune function.We may feel sick, tired, and depressed. If we continue in this decline, we mayget a disease.

(Continues…)Excerpted from Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life by Cherie Calbom, John Calbom. Copyright © 2014 Cherie Calbom John Calbom. Excerpted by permission of Grand Central Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.