Natural Detoxification and Recipes
This info is gleaned from David Crow’s “Medicinal Plants” class and Tamara Wolfson’s “Kitchen Medicine” class
A common misunderstanding about detoxification is that everyone needs to detox aggressively due to the presence of so many toxins in our food and environment today. We may mistakenly attribute fatigue, pain and/or symptoms to a general overload of toxins when what would be more helpful, at least at first, is to increase our nutrition so that our bodies’ natural detoxification systems can work well.
Our bodies detox naturally every day!
During sleep, the liver cleans our blood.
During exercise, our circulation is stimulated and we sweat out toxins.
High quality veggies and fruits are naturally detoxifying.
Simple herbs and spices are naturally detoxifying.
Meditation helps to detox the mind.
Many kinds of body work help the body detoxify: acupuncture, chiropractic, massage….
In the context of the Home Pharmacy, there are safe, gentle and effective dietary and herbal programs that increase our nutrition and support natural detoxification.
Simple Cleanse – try incorporating some or many of these naturally detoxifying practices into a 1 week cleanse:
Remove sugar and all processed foods and allergens from your diet
Remove unhealthy fats, hydrogenated and trans fats
Eat organic
Drink half your weight in ounces of water
Remove bad bacteria, fungi, parasites and yeasts with berberines, wormwood, caprylic acid, garlic, oregano oil
Support rebuilding of intestinal walls with fermentations, slippery elm, marshmallow, glutamine, collagen powders, and bone stocks
Take omega-3 fish oil or flax oil, eat sprouted nuts and seeds, and use unheated olive oil and avocado oil
Eat vegetables and lots of them… 9 cups a day with 1 cup of fermented veggies
Exercise, sweat and move the blood
Support liver with the following recipes
Recipes to support natural detoxification:
~ Artichoke Spinach Dip
2 artichoke hearts
2 cups spinach leaves
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1⁄4 cup olive oil
1⁄2 tsp sea salt
(option: 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese)
Preparation:
Bring a pot of water to a simmer with 2 tablespoons of sea salt and 1⁄2 a lemon.
Cut the base of the artichoke off and submerge it in the water using a plate to keep the artichoke submerged under water. Simmer 25 minutes until a knife inserted into the choke comes out clean.
Remove, cool and clean leaves and hair from the choke.
Place ingredients in a blender with all other ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy. Serve with any vegetable or bread. Delicious served with endive leaves.
~ Dandelion Tea
Fill your jar with 3 tablespoons dried dandelion flowers, root and leaf or for fresh tea, place leaves and flowers into a quart jar filling up the jar until 3⁄4 full.
Pour 1 quart of boiling water over the jar and let steep.
For light tea, strain after three minutes.
For a medicinal cleansing drink, let steep overnight, strain and drink throughout the day.
Additions: lemon, mint, clover flowers, nettle and honey
~ Beet Kvass: Fermented Beet Juice
1 quart glass jar
2 large organic beets, washed and chopped
1⁄4 cup whey (this is the enzyme rich liquid found in milk after curdling…I use the liquid from Strauss whole milk plain yogurt.)
2 teaspoons sea salt
Filtered Water
Non-Dairy Alternative: Add 2 tablespoons of salt to beets and omit the whey
Preparation:
Place beets and whey in the glass jar, cover with spring water that you have dissolved your salt into to make a brine solution.
Place a weight on the beets to prevent them from rising to the surface of the jar. You want the beets to be submerged two inches below the surface of your solution.
Cover with a clean towel and allow the mixture to ferment on your counter for 3-14 days depending on how warm it is in your kitchen and how strong you wish your fermentation to be.
The warmer the kitchen, the quicker the fermentation process. Jiggle the jar daily to disrupt the surface forming organisms.
After fermentation, strain beets, cover and place in refrigerator. You can eat your beets as pickles and drink your kvass. Feel free to add dill or lemon for flavor.
You can use this liquid to start your next batch of kvass too. If you do this, add 1⁄2 cup of liquid to your new batch.
~ Nine Herb Soup
3 cups leeks, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ghee or butter
1 quart vegetable or chicken stock
2 medium potatoes, diced
2 cups celery root, diced
1 cup each of nine different herbs: nettle, watercress, spinach, parsley, celery tops, chives, dandelion leaves, sorrel, dill
1 / 2 cup heavy cream or coconut milk
Sea salt/pepper to taste
Sour cream or yogurt with chives for garnish
Preparation:
Into a hot, three-quart soup pot, melt ghee and saute on low heat your leek and garlic until the alliums are caramelized.
Add stock and deglaze the pan.
Add the potato and celery root and simmer for 20 minutes until soft. Add all your greens. Simmer 3-5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add cream and blend with a stick blender.
Pour into bowls and garnish with spoonful of sour cream and chives.
~ Russian Borscht
3 quarts beef stock
4 large beets, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium celeriac root, cut into 1 inch pieces 4 carrots chopped
1 onion, diced
8 cloves of garlic, diced
2 large potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small savoy cabbage chopped
4 oz tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1⁄4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons ghee
Sea salt/pepper to taste
Sour cream or yogurt and dill for garnish
Preparation:
Into a hot, five-quart soup pot, melt ghee and saute on low heat your onion and garlic with your bay leaves until the alliums are clear and translucent.
Add in the tomato paste and dissolve into the onions scraping the bottom of the pan to collect all the flavors that may have accumulated from some caramelization followed by adding your beef stock.
Add the beets, potatoes, celeriac root, carrot, and cabbage. Simmer for 45 minutes until all your vegetables are soft. Season with salt and pepper and add your lemon juice.
To serve, place in bowls with a spoonful of sour cream and a garnish of fresh dill.
~ Wild Fermentation: Nettle Ginger Beer
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root with the skin on
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons dried nettle leaf (Mamaki is in the nettle family and grows here in Hawaii)
Sea Salt
Preparation:
Take a quart size jar and clean with very hot soap and water. You may want to dip it in boiling water to destroy as many microbes as possible that may interfere with your fermentation process.
Place ginger, agave, lemon and nettle or mamaki leaves in your jar.
Fill the jar 2/3 full with filtered water. Do not use tap water as it contains chlorine which will kill your starter.
Cover with a cheesecloth and rubber band and let stand out on your counter in a warm place for the next 3-7 days.
When you see bubbles on the surface of the liquid and it fizzes when you stir it, it’s finished. Strain, bottle and store in the refrigerator.