Bottling Day 2 of Garden of Life's RAW Cleanse

Perhaps you read about the probiotic mouth-swishing part of Garden of Life's RAW Cleanse in my yesterday's blog entry. After the 45-second swishing and just prior to yesterday's breakfast -- a freshly made green apple and lemon juice, I took three of the Organ Detox capsules that are designed to naturally detoxify the organs and GI Tract. Then, I took the remaining three capsules for the day with lunch, which was a blueberry, banana, Maca smoothie.

"Organ Detox is the second step in the RAW Cleanse experience, supporting normal removal of environmental toxins and pollutants from the body, as well as internally generated waste by-products.....This antioxidant, enzyme and amino acid rich formula supports healthy liver biotransformation and excretion of environmental toxins (and their metabolites) normally introduced into the body in small amounts." ~Garden of Life®

After taking the final three capsules at lunch, the next RAW Cleanse step wasn't until about an hour before bed. While that stage is my least favorite part of the cleanse, it's oh so good for the body, because it's the Digestion & Elimination stage. The only reason I say it's my least favorite part is because of the taste of the green powder that needs to be mixed with water or a low-sweet juice. HOWEVER, thanks to Charlie's tip to hold my nose and chug, well, there's no taste at all until I let go of my nose. Then, I just quickly grab some water to wash away that final taste. (Hmmh, maybe Garden of Life can turn this powder into capsules. I think I will suggest this to them. :-)) In any event, the result of this daily stage of the cleanse is well worth the not-so-good taste, because it's nothing like starting the day with a great release of toxins. :-) It really helps set the tone for the day, because the fresher and lighter the body feels, well, the fresher and lighter the day.

For instance, it's still early this morning...my husband and son are still asleep...and already I've done my probiotic swishing, had some wonderfully cleansing quiet prayer time with prayers from PrayerGoddess.com, done a bit of yoga (including my favorite headstand to refresh the brain), written a thank-you note inside of a card and delivered it to an associate, worked on an idea for The Vegetarian Muse, did some produce shopping and have unpacked the mangoes, avocados, papaya, cucumber, coconut, kiwi, strawberries and bananas I purchased. I know my son will awake asking for his favorite strawberry, banana smoothie, so now I'm prepared. Plus, yesterday, we had the sweetest mango we've ever tasted, and I'm thinking he's going to want that today, too, since he says he's upping his raw eating today. At 14, he's well aware of when his body needs a bit of cleansing, so he takes some all-raw or mostly raw days here and there. I wish he'd take more of 'em, but I'm happy and proud of his conscious efforts.

Okay, folks, I still need to take the first three Organ Detox capsules for the day with breakfast. So, off I go to do that. What's for breakfast? Cucumber, green apple, lemon juice.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Happy Cleansing,

Penny

Photo: Me pictured for Life's Journey Yoga & Wellness

Bottling the 45-second Probiotic Swish

RAW Cleanse™
The Ultimate Standard in Cleansing & Detoxification
For those looking for the ultimate cleanse experience, RAW has always represented the standard. RAW Cleanse from Garden of Life features uncooked, untreated and unadulterated ingredients that are designed to support your body’s natural digestive and detoxification systems.† ~ Garden of Life®

When I first did Garden of Life's 7-Day Raw Cleanse, I had planned to document the journey, but other tasks and such apparently took the place of that intended journaling. Today, however, I'm kicking off a new month repeating this cleanse, so here's my second chance to share some notes along the way.

The cleanse kicked off this Sunday, August 1 morning with swishing Toxin Defense in my mouth for about 45 minutes. This powder-like substance part of the cleanse is "a unique combination of oral and intestinal probiotics that work in the mouth to help inhibit harmful toxins from traveling further into the body." In the cleansing kit pictured above, there are seven packages of Toxin Defense to be taken each morning....for seven days. I shake the package a few times to be sure all of the mixture is collected at the bottom, and then I cut the package's top, pour into my mouth, add a good sip of water, and get to swishing. You may feel a few chunky parts at first, but the swishing quickly helps break it all down. Once you swallow, you'll notice a fresher-feeling mouth blended with that healthy feeling of knowing that deeper health started brewing beyond the mouth once the Toxin Defense was swallowed.

"This 'point-of-entry' defense contributes to overall immune function and promotes microbial balance in the gastrointestinal tract for proper digestion and elimination. The clinically studied intestinal probiotic contained in Toxin Defense helps to support healthy bowel function, elimination and a health gut-associated immune system." ~Garden of Life®

The Garden of Life's "suggestions while cleansing" are:

•Drink at least the recommended 64 ounces of filtered water each day.
•Eat fresh fruit, vegetables particularly crucifers and bitter greens (such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, endive and radicchio), seeds, nuts and lean protein- organic whenever possible, with wild caught fish. Note: I'll be doing all or mostly raw-vegan food.
•Increase your healthy fat intake by adding 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon each of organic coconut oil, flaxseed oil, cod liver oil and olive oil per day to your diet.
•Keep high allergen foods, such as dairy and wheat products to a bare minimum.
•Eliminate caffeine, tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages.
•Eliminate added sugar, refined flour, processed foods and fatty food with trans fats.
•Eliminate skin care products with ingredients you can’t pronounce.
•Use natural cleaning products.

Bottling Cleansing & Detoxing

I've found the perfect topic to reawake my Bottling Health blog with! And since I haven't blogged here in a long while -- be warned, folks...I've got lots to say! :-)

As I wait for Grassroots Natural Market in Fleming Island to open today so that I can go there and purchase a "health gem" that I learned about last night, I'm feeling like the excited child at Christmas. I even awoke at about 5:00 this morning, propped my head up and glanced over at the clock with the hope that it was almost time for Grassroots to open...only to later learn that the one closest to me is actually closed today! :-(

In any event, the "gift" that has my cells jumping for joy is the news I discovered last night in Extraordinary health™ magazine about "the world's first RAW cleansing and detoxification program" created by Garden of Life®. I mean -- I know, I know -- if we eat a 100 percent and largely varied raw-vegan food diet the way my dear friends, Jinjee and Storm do at TheGardenDiet.com, the food, alone, could be our overall cleansing and detox program. This couple and their children maintain optimum health with no supplements or supplemental cleansing programs; however, I'm still on my journey to Jinjee and Storm's level of raw eating. But, since I try to eat a high amount of raw food, I would say that for the most part, I stay aligned with cleansing and detoxing on certain levels.

I get many compliments about my skin, so I'd say that my body is doing a pretty good job with its cleansing process. However, I would also say that the last time I DEEPLY detoxed -- I mean, taking-wheat-grass-shots-daily-for-10-days-and-colonics type of deep -- was when I did the 10-Day Healthy Lifestyle program at The Living Foods Institute in Atlanta three years ago. I just haven't detoxed to that degree since then and am sure that I am not covering ALL of the detoxing bases with my food. So, just as I was feeling it's time for a major cleansing and detox experience again, I came upon the information about the Garden of Life's RAW program. Doesn't God ALWAYS deliver right on time?!

And to think I wasn't even going to bring home the literature that had been placed in shopping baskets for customers at Grassroots. After unloading my basket the day I recently shopped there, I had planned on leaving the reading material at the bottom of the basket as to not bring additional paper into my home. (I'm striving to be a minimalist with paper and things.) In any event, at the checkout counter, I suddenly remembered I needed one more food item (God's timing again!), and when I darted to the isle to collect it, Lance, the manager at Grassroots who was tallying up my goods and packing them, put the literature in my shopping bag.

So, last night, of the three magazines that Lance sent home with me, I decided to first peruse Extraordinary health™. Once I began seeing the words "raw" this and "raw" that, well, those who know me well will know that I began delving more deeply into the text. I soon fell "in love" with this resource for various reasons, including finding the Garden of Life's 3-in-1 cleansing and detoxification program well-explained on two full pages. Intuitively, I knew this was to be the 7-day cleansing and detoxing journey I was to do. Now!!! As the saying goes, "Don't put a question mark where God puts a period," so I'm not questioning it but rather....just doing it.

***So, stop by this blog over the course of the next 7 days to find out how the 7-days cleanse is going for me.

Which companies will you support?

I realize that more and more companies are popping up these days with convenient raw food and products. Sounds like a good thing, right? But, so I'm told, even the integrity of some of these companies is questionable (so beware!). However, there was an intuitive feeling I got about the energy and effort that the Garden of Life® is putting into their RAW offerings...AND...I like that they even take the time to produce a magazine loaded with varied insights about their business...AND...I see that a friend of mine, Paul Nison, raw food educator, is part of the Garden of Life® team, so that also helps make me trust this company even more. The editor of Garden Life's Extraordinary health™ magazine, Jordan Rubin, also founder and CEO of Garden Life®, comes across like the friendly neighbor next door. I read his words and trust what he's telling me/us about his company that wants to transition us from average health to EXTRAORDINARY health™.

Now that's the type of health I want. Don't you? And, even through my flaws, I believe I can attain it. And, you can, too!

On that note, a few more hours before the Grassroots in Five Points opens today (about 30 mins from me), and then I'm there, to get this "1-2-3" cleansing program that I'll be kicking off tomorrow with! I love that this program first focuses on oral health via the oral probiotic, S. salivarius, and then organ detox via ingredients such as raw chlorella (a green algae), and then digestion and elimination via ingredients such as "RAW food-chelated magnesium" that allows for naturally moving bulk from the intestines as opposed to forcing it out as some other products do. The "RAW Digestion & Elimination" powder product in this RAW program also provides omega-3 fatty acids and fiber, and some of you will know I've been promoting that via Mila, another all-raw product I love.

"Since many people chose to incorporate cleansing in their lives, you would think there would be a raw cleansing supplement for those embarking on a raw food-cleansing program, "says Rubin in Extraordinary health™. "The fact of the matter, however," he continues, "is that for many nutritional companies, cost and availability of effective raw ingredients is an issue. Sourcing all of the raw ingredients necessary to create a raw cleanse product is undeniably costly and time-consuming. Raw should be the ultimate standard for cleanse ingredients, but it hasn't been that way. That's about to change, thanks to a new breakthrough formula, Garden of Life RAW Cleanse."

Here's to Bottling Cleansing & Detoxing...Here's to Bottling YOUR Health!

Penny

Bottling la barefoot studio

Just hanging out in the office of la barefoot studio. I just love the energy of this place. If you haven't seen them yet, check out the tip clips I did here a few months ago.

Bottling Fall Restoration Retreat

Here's a fun Fall Restoration Retreat that Bottling Health is doing with Life's Journey Yoga & Wellness. A weekend full of living food, yoga, relaxation in nature, walking, and journaling.

Bottling the Power of Juicing

"Drinking freshly made juices and eating enough whole foods to provide adequate fiber is a sensible approach to a healthful diet. But incorporating juice into your life does so much more. The abundance of live, uncooked foods flushes your body of toxins, leaving you feeling refreshed, energized, and relaxed all at the same time." ~Jay Kordich, The Juiceman's Power of Juicing

I ran into a dear friend today who had seen my juicing Tip Clip on LaBarefootStudio.com. She inquired about a good juicer that she could purchase and mentioned that since the juice is extracted from the fiber when juicing, perhaps it would be a good idea to add Mila to the juice.

While the body definitely needs fiber and I'm a huge fan of Mila, juicing allows the body to immediately get to the business of assimilating nutrients by bypassing the process of digestion. "Ahh," the body must say. "You're fueling me without me having to digest all that food first. Yay!" :-)

Foods with fiber must undergo digestion. Juicing pushes digestion out of the equation. So, with fresh juices, nutrients immediately go where they need to go within the body. This is the reason why juicing is often the emphasis at healing retreats and such, as this process allows the body to, like I said, get right to the business of healing!

To help you better understand the science of why fiber is extracted from the juice during juicing, I'll quote Juicing Expert Jay Kordich, author of "The Juicemans' Power of Juicing" -- which has been my juicing reference book for many years.

Kordich explains:

"When we eat fresh fruits and vegetables, our bodies extract as liquid what they need from the fiber, which passes on to the lower digestive tract. For all intents and purposes, the extracted liquid is juice, containing the same elements as the juice you make in your kitchen with the juicer. By drinking juice, you are eliminating a digestive process -- extracting the liquid from the fiber -- and efficiently supplying the body with nutrients. The juicer separates the juice from the fiber so that what you drink is pulp-free and your body receives the maximum amount of nutrients in minutes."

Since "nutrients lose a lot of value soon after juicing," you get fresher juice by juicing yourself rather than getting juice from the store. Also, what you juice will not be pasteurized, therefore, you'll be consuming liquid bursting with life.

Plus, you won't add any additives or preservatives, right? :-) Of course we need fiber, so one must balance juicing with fiber-rich foods (and the whole food Mila certainly helps with that). That's why juicing and blending (fiber retained) go hand in hand for me!

Kordich says:

"I get my fiber by eating around the juicer. The juice always comes first when I am planning what I will eat."

Bottling Coconuts

See/listen to my coconut adventure at La Barefoot Studio & Market

Ahhh, indulge in the gift of coconut water while drinking it straight from its own natural cup! No glass needed, so there's nothing to wash apart from your cells with all of the vitamins and minerals found in coconut water. It's the perfect beverage for the sports enthusiast and anyone's health because of how loaded coconut water is with vitamins, minerals, calcium, and more!

Follow me along on my coconut adventure as I pierce one of the coconut's three eyes, insert a straw, drink up, and fall into coconut bliss! Want to "put de lime in the coconut?" I demonstrate that, too. After watching me do that, Rubi Jorgensen, a viewer of this tip clip on La Barefoot Studio & Market wrote: I'm "looking forward to having a coconut with some lime!!! Thanks for the great tips.....Keep them coming. Luv ya!"

Once you've pierced the coconut's eye and added lime or not, it's best to drink the beverage immediately, because when air mixes in with the coconut water, the quality of the water soon begins declining. So, for optimum taste and nutrition, don't let your coconut water sit for too long after you've pierced it. If desiring chilled coconut water, chill first and then pierce, drink up, and enjoy!

Cocotap.com has an extensive list of the benefits of coconut water.

Cheers to Coconuts!

Stay tuned to more adventures that Bottling Health and La Barefoot Studio & Market will be sharing!