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Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections and Gut Health

Most people living in modern societies suffer from an excess of Candida. Like bacteria, we all have fungi cohabiting within us. Anyone who is chronically ill is dealing with an abundance of Candida. While more and more people are beginning to realize this, most of the protocols and supplements sold to repair gut function and balance flora are not getting people well. We will address the reasons for this, but first let’s get a better understanding of what Candida is, and why we at OLM keep harping on it as if this microbe is the foundation for all disease.

Contents

Candida, Yeast, Mold, Fungus, 101

Yeast is a fungus that grows as a single cell. They look like translucent crisped rice cereal under a microscope.  Mold is fungus that grows in multicellular filaments called hyphae. Fungi is the plural form of fungus, so, for instance, if we’re talking about Candida albicans we call it a fungus. If we’re talking about more than one specific kind, it’s fungi.

Candida is a genus of yeasts. There are nearly 20 different strains with different qualities peculiar to each species that we know of. Candida is the most common cause of fungal infections worldwide. Many different species of Candida are found in our gut flora, most commonly the C. albicans. Other fungi are also found in our gut. Any protocol that addresses Candida properly addresses all fungal overgrowth. Though they mean different things, often times within medicine the words Candida, fungus, and yeast are used interchangeably. Mold, on the other hand, is not generally used synonymously with the latter. Generally, when health practitioners speak of mold, they are referring to environmental exposure, like from a moldy home, for instance.

Black mold and other mold exposure should also be treated by an anti-fungal protocol. Black molds and other molds do not directly cause Candida overgrowth, but anything that depletes the immune system for a long enough period of time will lead to Candida overgrowth.

Candida albicans

Candida albicans is a polymorphic fungus. This means that it can grow in several different forms. When the gut is good and healthy, there will most likely be some Candida in the form of yeast (the little rice crispy looking fellows). Candida is usually a commensal, or symbiotic, organism but can become pathogenic when it becomes filamentous. Other types of Candida we are familiar with so far that can cause infection in humans include Candida tropicalis, Candida glabrata, Candida parapsilosis, Candida krusei, Candida lusitaniae, and Candida auris. For these intents and purposes, we’ll just be referring to any overgrowth of Candida, which will address all fungal infection.

Candida albicans is found in over 70% of the population, and due to inaccuracies of testing, this percentage is likely much higher. If we include all kinds of Candida, one can guess it’s much closer to 100%.

Symptoms of Candida Overgrowth

  • Athlete’s foot
  • Diaper rash
  • Itchy crotch
  • Itchy vagina,
  • Yeast infections
  • Funky discharge
  • Body Odor
  • Digestion problems
  • Gas, and bloating
  • Seasonal allergies
  • Food allergies
  • Any other allergies
  • Thrush or a white tongue
  • Itchy ear canals
  • Sugar cravings
  • Addictive tendencies
  • Insomnia
  • Severe mood swings

Read more about Candida Overgrowth Symptoms.

Is Candida Contagious?

Transmission can occur with direct contact, and in some cases, indirect contact transmission may be possible. In other words, Candida is contagious, and sex is a likely way for this to occur, but the body has to be susceptible to receive the transmission of infection, which usually means a weakened immune system and plenty of sugar to feed the infection.

Pathogenic = Mold, Hyphae Fungus, Filamentous Growth, Virulent Candida, the Mycelium Form

There is yeast, there is the pseudohyphae form, and there’s the hyphae state. The yeast form of Candida is ovoid-shaped (translucent rice crispies). The hyphae form, (long visible chains, threads, or filaments, mold that grows in a thread), is what causes the big problems, but the yeast form of Candida is believed to play an important role in the spread of Candida. Then there is the pseudohyphae form, which is not very well understood, other than being an intermediate form between yeast and hyphae. Differences in pH, temperature changes, carbon dioxide levels, and starvation, as well as other complex feedback loops, can trigger yeast to convert to the hyphae form.

Candida can change back and forth between its different forms depending on its needs at any given time, which is one of the many reasons it is able to adapt and survive in such a wide variety of conditions.

Crazy Scary Candida Facts

Why does candida make us sick, and why is it so damn resilient?!?!

Candida mutates and develops resistance towards treatment. It has been found that Candida Albicans has the ability to rearrange its genes and adapt to many methods of eradication that may be used against it, including antifungal medications, oxidative stress, and temperature increases.

When Candida has access to the bloodstream (which happens with a leaky gut), it can colonize in the sinus cavities, glands, and organs in the body, including the skin and the brain.

The cell wall of Candida is made up of mostly sugars and proteins. One of the sugars that make up the cell wall of Candida is called beta-glucans. Beta-glucans are also used as a structural building block for Candida biofilm. The beta-glucans can stimulate and suppress the immune system of the host.

Candida can bind to certain hormones, altering their shape so they’re no longer able to fit into their target hormonal receptors. This is one way Candida can manipulate the endocrine system and disrupt hormonal balance.

A healthy gut has a healthy biofilm made up of beneficial bacteria with a little bit of yeast. Healthy biofilm has a beneficial symbiotic relationship with our body. Candida also develops a biofilm.

Candida biofilm is the resilient, gelatinous matrix that Candida creates around itself when it colonizes tissue around the body. This biofilm allows Candida to grow while protecting it from the immune system. In other words, Candida uses its biofilm to suppress or activate the immune response of the host to adjust its environment.

Some Candida proteins look similar to gluten protein molecules, which also look similar to the proteins that make up our thyroid. This causes autoimmune disease.

Candida needs an alkalinity to survive. When it finds itself in an environment that is too acidic, like your gastrointestinal tract, Candida will release ammonia to raise the PH of the environment.

An abundance of Candida causes anxiety, depression, ADHD, and other a plethora of other mental health disorders. The toxins released by Candida can impair neurotransmitter production and neurotransmitter function an disrupt brain chemistry. Your thoughts, feelings, moods, and your way of seeing the world can be profoundly influenced by Candida.

Yeast needs energy. Sugar supplies this energy. If oxygen is low or non-existent (like in the middle of a ball of dough, or inside much of our body), yeast will produce carbon dioxide and ethanol, also known as alcohol.Alcohol levels can be so high in the body that the individual may actually be drunk, fail a breathalyzer test, and experience a hangover after the sugar is used up.

Byproducts of Candida – Candida Toxins

Byproducts of Candida also include uric acid and acetaldehyde. Excessive uric acid can lead to kidney stones, gout, and metabolic acidosis. In other words, while Candida loves an alkaline environment, it can cause the body to be extremely acidic in the blood and all over the body outside the Candida biofilm.

The carbon dioxide that yeast produces can damage the nervous system and the cardiovascular system.

Acetaldehyde is a neurotoxin that affects your brain, nervous system and every other internal organ. It damages red blood cells which it reduces the capacity of blood to carry oxygen.

Acetaldehyde combines with two key neurotransmitters in the brain, serotonin and dopamine. Together they form tetrahydro-isoquinolines, which closely resemble opiates in structure and function. Tetrahydro-isoquinolines cause an opiate-like high. This is one of the causes of sugar addiction that occurs with Candida overgrowth, and the tetrahydro-isoquinolines also fuel addiction to alcohol and other drugs and addictive behaviors.

Candida Die-off

Candida Die-Off is also called the Herxheimer reaction. When many fungal microorganisms like Candida are destroyed at the same time a bunch of those previously mentioned toxins will be released immediately and will need to be processed by the body. For an already over-taxed body, a Candida detox can sometimes push the body too hard, causing serious illness. This isn’t common, and should not stop anyone from ridding their body of fungal overgrowth, but it is advisable to take things relatively slowly or to address the die-off issues with the right supplementation regimen.

Candida Causes Leaky Gut

Candida increases zonulin levels, the substance that controls the tight junctions between enterocytes in the gut, which leads to weaker junctions and the development of leaky gut. Candida filaments also penetrate directly through the wall of the gut lining and contribute to leaky gut in this manner as well.

A gut filled with Candida causes the body to not digest anything properly, which increases toxicity and nutrient deficiencies.

What this means is that when Candida takes on its hyphae form in the gut, it will soon open up the gut, allowing food to pass through the gut wall undigested. This leads to celiac disease and a host of other problems. When the body sees foreign proteins (proteins that were not completely broken down during digestion), the body sees a foreign invader. A leaky gut also gives the Candida and other pathogens access to the bloodstream in order to colonize anywhere and everywhere.

You should be able to see why it is absolutely imperative for anyone who is dealing with a leaky gut to avoid gluten. And if you host disease, you have a leaky gut.

Potential Causes of Candida Overgrowth

We like to consider stress as a huge factor with diseases, but I feel we give stress way too much credit. Take PMS for instance. When the endocrine system is of subpar health, women suffer from extreme emotional swings tied to their biological cycle. It should be noted that men have a sort of “PMS” too, and are just as susceptible to hormonal outbursts, and in my opinion, more so. My point is that hormonal mood swings are an indicator of poor hormonal health. We know how much hormones affect our day-to-day decisions and our ability to cope ins stressful situations. Now picture trying to make it through life with a severely unbalanced hormonal system. It’s not the stress that kills us, it’s our ability to cope with it. And poor choices in stressful situations often beget more stressful situations.

It’s sugar. That’s the primary cause of Candida overgrowth. In the two decades I’ve been studying Candida, and hundreds of people I’ve spoken with who suffered from an abundance of Candida, sugar was always the cause or was at least fueling the problem. Other toxicity issues will need to be addressed, and often times it was one major toxic event that precipitated an illness, but health will not be restored unless sugar is radically reduced in the diet, and virtually all refined sugars are eliminated. See more on diet below. I doubt any of the following would accurately be the one and only “cause” of most people’s fungal abundance, but the following issues will at the very least exacerbate the Candida overgrowth.

Acidity and Alkalinity

Many have heard that acidity equates to disease, and alkalinity equates to good health, but it’s not that simple. Candida likes alkalinity. An alkaline environment of the intestinal tract favors yeast growth. Candida overgrowth needs increased alkalinity in the digestive tract in order to switch to its virulent fungal form. Strong stomach acid promotes better digestion and it kills or inhibits pathogens.

Antacid medication is an important risk factor for Candida overgrowth. To make matters worse, researchers have also found that Candida can control the pH of its environment. When necessary, Candida produces and releases ammonia. Ammonia is alkaline in nature. The ability of Candida to produce ammonia ensures its survival.1

Potential Nutritional Deficiencies

Mineral deficiencies are more likely to lead to Candida overgrowth, though the most virulent cases almost always seem to come sometime shortly after prescription antibiotic usage. These deficiencies do not seem to cause Candida, but they do exacerbate the problem, and Candida overgrowth does lead to mineral deficiencies. Low stomach acid can also lead to mineral deficiencies with calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, iron, copper, and zinc.2

Iron or folic deficiency may facilitate an invasion of Candida albicans in some individuals, but studies don’t show a significant enough correlation to indicate that these deficiencies will cause Candida overgrowth, at least not alone.3

Magnesium and molybdenum break down the toxic metabolites of Candida albicans. Acetaldehyde is the most well known of these toxins. With a magnesium or a molybdenum deficiency, our body is unable to remove acetaldehyde from the body. The toxins promote cell decay which feeds the Candida lifecycle (pathogens love two things: sugar and decaying or dead cells).

Candida can also prevent us from assimilating minerals. With a gut filled with fungi and other pathogens, the proper breaking down of minerals (and proteins and other nutrients) does not happen. Obviously, this opens the door to an extensive list of autoimmune diseases.

B vitamins, including pantethine (B5) and biotin (B7), are often cited as supplements that inhibit Candida growth, but there are also studies that indicate Fungi feeds off of these and other nutrients. To supplement with such specific nutrition when the gut is in such disarray is a fool’s errand.

A deficiency in calcium and magnesium, can lead to and exacerbate sugar cravings. Supplementing with these minerals can help. Though we are rarely deficient in glutamine, supplementation with it does help eliminate sugar cravings.

Copper has a fungicidal value in the body’s tissues. Copper compounds are used commercially as sprays on vegetables, as algicides in swimming pools, etc. Having too much copper or not enough copper in the body can disrupt gut flora and other nutrient balance.

Improper fat digestion or a diet lacking in healthy fats can also help Candida to flourish. Short-chain fatty acids have fungicidal properties. A healthy body synthesizes appropriate protective fatty acid compounds.

Heavy Metals, Hormones, Pharmaceuticals, GMOs, Pesticides, Antibacterial Soil, and Other Toxins

Toxic compounds kill beneficial bacteria if for no other reason than that they’re toxic. Pesticides, herbicides, and GMOs designed to kill microbes will do the same thing inside humans once digested. Inhaled steroids used to treat asthma have also been shown to cause oral candidiasis, which makes one wonder what happens in the gut with steroid use.

People with mercury fillings are often subject to Candida outbreaks. Tiny particles break free, and mercury vapor is released that we then inhale and swallow. The body doesn’t just slough off the mercury. Its molecular structure is so similar to selenium, which the body needs, the cells snap it up as if it were a beneficial mineral. In the gut, mercury creates an environment that is not friendly for beneficial bacteria. An overgrowth of “bad bacteria” and Candida results.

The majority of fungal conditions or chronic infections should be considered a conscious adaptation of the immune system to an otherwise lethal environment by heavy metals. Mercury suffocates the mechanism and can cause respiratory intracellular cell death. So the immune system reaches a compromise: Grow bacteria and yeasts that can bind large amounts of toxic metals.” – Dr Dietrich Klinghardt

Some doctors specializing in Candida treatment have reported that they have discovered clinically that 98% of their patients with chronic Candida also had mercury toxicity.” – Dr. John P. Trowbridge

Mercury vapors from dental fillings play havoc on the body through a host of means, the least of which is to feed the bacteria, fungi, and yeasts that thrive on mercury. Mercury will promote the growth of Candida, though as it absorbs the mercury, it thereby protects the system to a certain extent from its toxicity – until they are saturated then they begin to re-release the mercury in organic form. Mercury fed Candida become more and more virulent and eventually penetrates the intestinal walls and invades the cells. These fungal microorganisms become quite at home in the cell, and can easily be considered a principle characteristic of cancer.” – Dr. Mark Sircus

Endocrine disrupters interrupt hormones in ways that Candida find beneficial. Candida binds to certain hormones, altering their shape so they’re no longer able to fit into their target receptors, making these hormones inactive. Candida likes estrogen. Too much estrogen helps support Candida in a variety of ways. Candida also produces a waste product that, in the human body, mimics estrogen. With enough Candida in the body, the endocrine system can lower the acidity of the digestive tract, the urinary tract, and the reproductive systems. Candida can effectively raise the pH level in parts of the body to make it more alkaline the way Candida likes it, creating a feedback loop. Other areas of the body quickly get too acidic, promoting more disease.4

Antidepressants alter gut function. Antidepressants that influence the neurotransmitter serotonin are particularly egregious.  NSAIDs can damage the entire intestinal tract. NSAIDs often damage the mucosal lining of the stomach (causing ulcers) and the small intestine.5

Toxic compounds don’t have to reach the gut to cause problems. Toxins damage our cells just like they damage microbes when we breathe toxins in or absorb the compounds through our skin. The pathogens will come to feed off of the damage. We could go on endlessly about how all of the most talked-about toxic compounds reak havoc in the gut and the immune system, but it’s all the same. They do damage to the body and they strain the immune system which puts the body out of balance and leads to infection. Think of infection as the garbage men. It’s their job to consume the garbage, the damage, the decay of our bodies. If we have a lot of damage to feed infection (or too much sugar), the infection takes over the body, and the damage its presence ensues helps to feed its own cycle.

Supplements, Herbs Used For Killing Fungal Infections

  • Activated Charcoal: Binds with positively charged things in the gut, like Candida in its pathogenic form, and many of the toxins it produces, which then gets defecated out of the body. (more on activated charcoal)
  • Astragalus: A potent antimicrobial that also is anti-inflammatory, boosts the immune system, slows tumor growth, helps prevent and reverse diabetes, and more.
  • Berberine: This plant-root alkaloid extract has confirmed, potent antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-fungal properties.
  • Biotin: With the presence of the B vitamin, biotin, it is said that yeast is unable to change into its mycelium form. On the other hand, there are some studies that suggest Candida can feed off of biotin.
  • Black Walnut: Studies have shown that black walnut can effectively kill canker sores, herpes, and syphilis sores. The husks of black walnuts have potent anti-fungal powers; more powerful than many prescription drugs. Fungi and parasites thrive in an acidic environment.
  • Caprylic acid: A the fatty acid in coconut which contains antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties. Coconut or coconut oil by itself does not have very strong antimicrobial properties.
  • ChlorellaIt’s not an anti-fungal, but Chlorella is negatively charged like charcoal and has a host of other benefits that counter Candida symptoms. Chlorella also helps remove heavy metals and limited amounts of positively charged Candida from the blood.
  • Cinnamon: A potent natural antifungal with tons of other health benefits. Read more on cinnamon.
  • ClaysLike activated charcoal, bentonite clay can bind with Candida and heavy metals and other positively charged items to pull them out of the body through defecation.
  • Cloves: This strong smelling spice contains some of the same compounds as oregano oil. Studies have shown that cloves contain powerful antimicrobial and anti-fungal compounds.
  • Cranberry: There is nothing better for a urinary tract infection than unsweetened, unadulterated cranberry juice. Click for Recipe.
  • Diatomaceous Earth: Often called DE for short, this supplement is another negatively charged chelator (like charcoal and bentonite clay, but not as effective in that way), that also kills pathogens, but Candida biofilm protects itself well from DE. More on DE.
  • Enzymes: Hemicellulase, protease, and Cellulase have been shown to break down the cells walls and the biofilm of Candida. These must be taken within a protective capsule that will break apart in the gut and not the stomach acid. More on enzymes.
  • GarlicAllicin, a compound in garlic, has antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties, and garlic helps strengthen the immune system. Read more about garlic.
  • Goldenseal: A popular herb that has been used by Native Americans for hundreds of years, with potent antimicrobial activity, including some pretty decent antifungal properties.
  • GoldenrodGoldenrod is antifungal, diuretic, diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant, astringent, antiseptic, and carminative.10
  • Magnesium: Breaks down the toxic metabolites (byproducts) of Candida albicans. Read about homemade calcium and magnesium here.
  • Molybdenum: Also breaks down the toxic metabolites (byproducts) of Candida albicans.
  • Mushrooms: Fight fire with fire, and fungi with fungi! Many mushrooms produce natural anti-yeast factors to prevent other fungi from taking over their turf. The reishi mushroom is well known throughout the world for its plethora of health benefits, including powerful antifungal properties, but there are many other mushrooms that help clean the gut as well.
  • Lemongrass: Lemongrass oil is the most powerful antibacterial and antifungal essential oil.
  • Neem: This plant’s properties include immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycaemic, antiulcer, antimalarial, antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic.
  • Oil of Oregano: This extract is very well known for its ability to kill off pathogenic activity, and there are plenty of studies that demonstrate its efficacy.
  • Olive Leaf Extract: This extract is known for killing fungal and pathogenic bacterial infections without harming healthy bacteria. I suspect this is because it’s weak and doesn’t penetrate biofilm.
  • Pau D’Arco: Also known as Lapacho, this supplement has received worldwide attention in recent years due to the numerous studies proving its amazing health benefits including the ability to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria and difficult fungal infections like Candida.
  • ProbioticsMost everyone knows to take probiotics to fight yeast infections, but make sure the probiotic is of quality. Lots of cheap probiotics break down in stomach acid and the ingredients end up actually feeding yeast. Also, able to pass through stomach acid and into the gut where it needs to be to do its job. Taking probiotics with antimicrobial supplements will reduce the effects of both.
  • Spirulina: For purposes of Candida killing, it works just like the other aforementioned algae, Chlorella. Check out How to Grow Spirulina at Home
  • TurmericTurmeric is a potent antimicrobial herb with proven antifungal properties and a host of other amazing health benefits. Check out How to Optimize Curcumin.
  • Undecylenic acid: This fatty acid is six times more effective than caprylic acid. It’s been shown in studies that Candida cannot build a tolerance for undecylenic acid, which probably makes it the most potent Candida killer on this list.
  • Wormwood: This is a potent antimicrobial’s active ingredient is Artemisia, and it is better known the world over for its ability to kill parasites.
  • Zinc: helps with protein digestion, enzymatic reactions, energy production, antioxidant functions, and it is imperative for proper mineral balance. It’s common to see a zinc deficiency in a Candida laden body.

The Best Anti-fungal Supplement Products Available (that I know of)

I’ll bet someone is going to ask why I don’t mention colloidal silver. I don’t think it’s good for you, I’ve never found it particularly helpful, and I just don’t trust it. But to each their own; you can find tons of very intelligent naturopaths who are much more educated than I am who will vehemently disagree with me on colloidal silver.

SF722

If you’re on a budget and can only afford one supplement, SF722 is my first recommendation. SF722 is undecylenic acid. The gel tab is derived from Bovine, so vegans beware.

Undecyn

Undecyn combines undecylenic acid with betaine HCl (very acidic) and berberine. Some use both, as the formula provides differing avenues for absorption of the undecylenic acid which may be more or less effective depending on the body’s state at any given time.

Abzorb

Abzorb is one of my new favorite supplements and one of the few I personally take regularly. On an empty stomach, Abzorb is a potent probiotic and a systemic enzyme. That means the capsule breaks open in the gut, not the stomach. If, on the other hand, you take Abzorb with food, you’ve got a potent digestive aid with enzymatic activity and beneficial bacteria to help break down the food and populate the gut with beneficial bacteria. It’s a fine probiotic, with potency I can attest to, but there are much more potent probiotics available as well, which many like to use in conjunction with Abzorb, though for most people this would likely be overkill. It wouldn’t hurt to use both, but it may be a waste of money.

MycoPhyto Complex

Then there’s a mushroom complex that I would take every day if I were a wealthy man. This formula contains turkey tail, reishi, maitake, blazei, and cordyceps. The health benefits of this supplement are too many to list.

Gastro-Cleanse

The Gastro-Cleanse contains psyllium husk, activated charcoal, goldenseal, chlorophyll, apple pectin, and 50 million lactobacillus acidophilus specifically designed to accompany the antimicrobials.

Candida Complex

The Candida Complex includes calcium undecylenate (candida killing fatty acid), Pau d’arco, a very potent enzyme blend, and berberine.

Berberine

And then there’s the straight berberine at 500mg per capsule. That’s a potent dosage, and one I don’t recommend for long-term, as the gut would not likely be able to build up a healthy ecosystem with such a powerful antimicrobial continually bombarding the system.

MicroDefense

The MicroDefense gives you olive extract, sweet wormwood, clove powder, and grapefruit extract; all good stuff to help balance the gut, but the company is owned by Nestle, so buyer beware. We’re looking for an equivalent that we can carry.

Anti-Fungal Diet and Supplement Protocol

Here are three articles I put together on diet. This is indicative of how my family eats every single day.

We start off with cranberry lemonade and a huge salad every morning. For lunch, we sometimes do a smoothie or we snack on some nuts and/or fruit or we just finish our massive 11-cup salads. For dinner, we always cook from scratch, which takes preperation and time, but it gets easier. Rice and beans, quinoa, lentils, millet, oatmeal, and amaranth are common staples for our cooked meals. We add lots of raw vegetables and herbs to our dinners as well, for instance, the rice and beans go great with chopped tomatoes and avocado, diced onions and garlic, and shredded turmeric and ginger. Eat raw herbs and cooked herbs together for maximum health benefits.

This is truly a lifestyle, not a diet, and it’s one we live every day. You may not need to go to this extreme to rid your body of disease, but I find that most who are dealing with chronic illness need to take it this far, at least for a few months.

The salads are the most important part of this protocol. More than supplements, more than anything save getting enough water, the salads are imperative. Eat lots of it. Make sure they are diverse with at least 15 different vegetables and herbs. If you could see what packing your gut with salad does to your ecosystem under a microscope, you’d understand why I’m so passionate about them. There is nothing more beneficially life-changing than developing a salad habit when the salads are big and diverse and homemade. They do more than any supplement or any other food to clean the intestinal walls of filth and develop a beneficial gut ecosystem.

The cranberry lemonade helps keep the kidneys and liver working optimally. These organs typically get sluggish quickly when lots of Candida are killed. If salads are #1, this cranberry lemonade is #2, and supplements are a distant #3.

For those with very serious gut issues, legumes and grains will be a no-no for the first few weeks at least, but when enough salad has been consumed, the gut should be able to reap many benefits from cooked foods like the dinner meals aforementioned.

Sweet fruit should be severely limited, and for the very ill, avoided until the gut is working better. Grapefruit, cranberry, avocado, lime, and lemon do not fall under this category.

Juicing with fruits is not much better than refined sugar, so don’t make the common mistake of thinking a fresh-juice fast is going to get you well.

Now that diet is covered, here’s the supplement part:

SF722 – 5 capsules three times a day, once on an empty stomach, the other two times with or without food.

Abzorb – take two capsules with harder to digest meals, and also take two on an empty stomach twice a day, like early morning and late night.

For anyone on a tight budget I recommend putting the money to food, and if affordable, add Abzorb and SF722. That’s enough with the right diet to eliminate fungal overgrowth in almost everyone. There are some who work or live in environments that constitute more environmental stressors on the body, and therefore need a lot more help. There are also many living in areas of the country where the healthy food selection at the local grocery store is sparse. I recommend more supplements and growing your own food in such a case. And I recommend growing your own food for a hundred other reasons as well.

If you’re someone who needs more supplementation or, like me, you just tend to prefer overkill, here’s a step-by-step protocol that includes all of the previously recommended supplements, and a bit more to address Candida die off and healthy defecation.

Each day has two supplement routines that are repeated. Each supplement routine has an objective.

Optional Supplements include:

MycoPhyto Complex

Clean and Populate with Good Guys:

On an empty stomach, early morning and late night

Antimicrobials, Kill the Bad Guys:

With  meals, three times a day

Also, take absorb with any food that is difficult to digest.

Protocol

6am – Clean and Populate With Good Guys

Start with Abzorb and a big glass of cranberry lemonade and the other aforementioned optional supplements.

9am – Antimicrobials, Kill the Bad Guys

Salad time! The MycoPhyto Complex company recommends to take on an empty stomach, but I like to take it with salads and smoothies too.

12pm – Antimicrobials, Kill the Bad Guys

Homemade Smoothie Time! If you’re extremely ill you may need to wait on the smoothies and just double up on the salads for the first week, but I’ve found that many people who were suffering from a plethora of ailments and having trouble recovering responded very well to pineapple smoothies. Pineapple smoothies (made with fresh pineapple), like the ones I have recipes for in the above link, pack a massive amount of enzymes and can help break down a lot of junk in the gut, while delivering large amounts of nutrition. But, smoothies have plenty of sugar, so it’s a good time to repeat the supplements from 9am.

Use pineapple, coconut water, water, cranberry juice, or if you can withstand some sugar try granny smith apple juice, but don’t use sweet fruit juices for smoothies. Always add as many vegetables and herbs as you can.

3pm -Week 1 – Antimicrobials, Kill the Bad Guys

3pm -Week 2 – Populate With Good Guys

6pm – Antimicrobials, Kill the Bad Guys

Dinner time! Everything from scratch, nothing pre-made in any way, all whole food ingredients.

9pm – Populate With Good Guys

Finish off the night with probiotic support and leave them alone for the night to do their thing.

Three More Supplements to Consider – Die-0ff, Heavy metal Detox, & Bowel Movements

If Candida die-off is a concern be sure to drink plenty of cranberry lemonade and I also recommend adding Total Nutrition Formula and the Intestinal Detox. Here’s a recipe to make your own Total Nutrition. This way you’ll get bentonite clay, charcoal, chlorella, spirulina, and more, which are all great for mitigating the die-off effects of a Candida detox, and they also chelate heavy metals.

You can take the Total Nutrition Formula with the smoothie or sprinkle it on the salad (or choke it down with water), and take the Intestinal Detox anytime throughout the day as directed.

If you’re not defecating easily and at least twice daily, I also highly recommend the Intestinal Cleanse. It kills parasites and moves the bowels better than anything else on the market that I know of, by far. I recommend taking it with the antimicrobials.

Conclusion

Also, any doctor who tells you that raw foods are a bad idea when dealing with Candida does not understand gut health. If you can’t digest raw foods, the supplements will help you develop a gut ecosystem that can. Take it slowly if need be, but there’s no getting around the raw foods. They are a must for good health. If I were to eat McDonald’s right now, I would have a very hard time digesting it. I don’t have the proper bacteria for digesting fast food because I don’t eat it. What you eat dictates what microbe you have. The most beneficial bacteria in our gut is bacteria that likes the healthiest foods. And it makes sense; nature wouldn’t work well any other way!

On the other hand, I also do recommend cook foods as well. There are nutritional benefits to cooked foods, and it is very difficult and expensive for most people to get enough calories and nutrients from raw food alone. The way I look at it is, cooked foods sustain, raw foods heal. But it’s a little more complicated than that, as many cooked foods have healing benefits as well.

Recommended Supplements:
Sources:
  1. The #1 Cause of Mineral and Protein Deficiency – Body Ecology
  2. Serfaty-Lacrosniere, C., Wood, R. J., Voytko, D., Saltzman, J. R., Pedrosa, M., Sepe, T. E., & Russell, R. R. (1995). Hypochlorhydria from short-term omeprazole treatment does not inhibit intestinal absorption of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium or zinc from food in humans. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 14(4), 364-368.
  3. Nutritional deficiency in oral candidosis – NCBI
  4. Candida & The Endocrine Factor – Puristat
  5. PMS and Candida Overgrowth: The Dangers of Estrogen Dominance – Body Ecology
  6. Can Digestive Enzymes Assist in Controlling Candida Overgrowth? – Body Ecology
  7. 15 Fascinating Facts About Candida You May Not Know – Holistic Help
  8. Candida albicans – Microbe Wiki
  9. How Does Sugar Affect Yeast Growth? – Science & Plants for Schools
  10. Health Benefits of Goldenrod – The Herbal Academy
  11. The Candida Mercury Connection – PES Detox Systems



How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

The soles of your shoes, the fabric of your clothing, your contact lenses, your chewing gum, your phone, food containers, mattresses – all are made with plastic. It’s everywhere. It’s in our salt and it’s in our water. Plastic may be the most insidious and enduring product we’ve ever produced.

While plastic improves our daily life in countless ways, it is also suffocating our planet and causing catastrophic pollution, much of it hidden and microscopic. Just how bad is it?

Bottled water samples were collected and analyzed by scientists over a ten-month investigation. The study analyzed 259 bottles from 19 locations in nine countries across 11 different brands and found an average of 325 plastic particles for every liter of water being sold.

In one bottle of Nestlé Pure Life, concentrations were as high as 10,000 plastic pieces per litre of water. Of the 259 bottles tested, only 17 were free of plastics, according to the study.” – Drinking Bottled Water Means Drinking Microplastics

This study comes just after a damning study of plastic found in sea salt brands was published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports. Theyanalyzed seventeen commercial salt brands from eight different countries on four continents for plastic particles. They found plastics in all but one brand.

Contents

BPA’s Replacement, BPS, Likely No Better

BPA is the starting material for producing polycarbonate plastics. We found out it leaches into the ground and water and causes all kinds of problems. Of course, the manufacturers denied and lied until the mounting evidence was incontrovertible. Then BPS was developed, and was a favored replacement; they thought BPS was more resistant to leaching. But BPS is leaching. Nearly 81 percent of Americans have detectable levels of BPS in their urine. Once it enters the body it can affect cells in ways that parallel BPA.

Microplastics, Endocrine Disrupters, and the Environment

Microplastics are most likely, to varying degrees, already in all of our drinking water and in all of our bodies. Microplastics absorb toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases and release those chemicals into animals that consume it, like fish and humans who eat those fish. Experts say since these fibers have been found in most of our water supply, they have to be in our food as well. From fish to organic vegetables, microplastics are everywhere. At this time, there is no known way to completely filter or contain them.

Plastic waste doesn’t biodegrade. Instead, it breaks down into smaller pieces of itself, down to the nanometer scale (one billionth of a meter). Science knows that particles of this size migrate through intestinal walls and travel to lymph nodes, glands, and bodily organs.

Plastic is toxic. It has been proven to cause cancer. Plastic toxicity weakens the immune system, metabolism, and affects people’s skin, weight, behavior, and much more.  Plastic particles will leach into food and drink and is also absorbed through skin and lungs. Plastics leach endocrine disruptors, meaning plastic screws up our hormonal system.

Most plastic products, from dishes to plastic bags to food wraps, have been proven to release estrogenic chemicals. These chemicals are endocrine disrupters that act like the sex hormone estrogen, according to a study in Environmental Health Perspectives. Excessive estrogen, estrogenic chemicals, and other endocrine disruptors have been linked to cancer, fertility problems, male impotence, heart disease, and many other conditions.

Endocrine disruptors (EDs) are chemicals that mimic our own hormones. They bind hormone receptors and disrupt the body’s normal hormonal actions. Endocrine disruptors may cause a more powerful response than the natural hormone would have or a diminished response. In some cases, they cause a completely different response than its natural counterpart would have created. EDs are typically measured in parts per trillion, which is indicative of the fact that very small amounts can have a disrupting effect on us. EDs are very stable. They don’t break down quickly. This is, in large part, why they are in so many products. They also get stored in our fat cells. They tend to stick around for a long time.

The dangers of plastics have not been studied adequately, and the plastic industry has no desire or intention of doing so. A study looking into the effects of BPA on rat testicles found that lipoic acid exerted antioxidant effects that can protect against BPA damage. In the study, BPA was shown to reduce testosterone, testicular weight, protein content, antioxidant activity, and beneficial enzyme activity, while damaging the mitochondria. Fetal exposure to BPA has been associated with obesity, altered reproductive function, and cancers later on in life. BPA was accidentally discovered to be carcinogenic when medical researchers came to find that rats were getting cancer during a study for something else.  They found out that it was caused the BPA in the water bottles. And now we are supposed to trust BPA free plastics?

How to Avoid Plastic Toxicity

Many manufacturers have stopped using BPA to harden plastics, replacing it with “BPA-free” alternatives like the most common replacement, BPS (Bisphenol S).

Our research showed that low levels of BPS had a similar impact on the embryo as BPA. In the presence of either BPA or BPS, embryonic development was accelerated. Additionally, BPA caused premature birth.” –Nancy Wayne

You probably can’t avoid plastics. Even if you go to another planet plastic is going to take you there and contaminate that ecosystem. But you can limit plastic consumption and keep your body in a homeostasis state that detoxifies itself at all times.  And the good news is that with the right diet and a healthy body, BPA and BPS can be flushed out of your system quickly, some say within 24 hours. A properly working body can process and dispel a lot of toxins. An unhealthy body rids itself of toxins at a slower rate than the toxins are consumed and produced.

Ways to Limit Plastic Contamination & Plastic Use

  1. Keep your home clean, and vacuum regularly
  2. Filter tap water
  3. Always avoid artificial fragrances
  4. Stay away from warm or hot plastics, don’t even breathe near them
  5. Avoid canned foods
  6. Avoid conventional personal care products like shampoos, soaps, moisturizers, makeup
  7. Avoid conventional and big-ag produce (pesticides and herbicides have plastic residues)
  8. Cook your own foods using whole-food ingredients
  9. Stop using plastic straws, even in restaurants
  10. Purchase food, like cereal, pasta, and rice from bulk bins and fill a reusable bag or container
  11. Use paper or your own reusable shopping bags, bulk goods bags, and bring your own mesh produce bags (FYI: I suspect that many paper bags contain BPA and BPS)
  12. No more chewing gum, it’s made of plastic
  13. Buy boxes and glass instead of plastic bottles whenever possible
  14. Use a reusable bottle or mug for your beverages or coffee and soda refills (but you don’t drink that crap, do you?)
  15. Boycott any restaurant that still uses styrofoam – Why is that still a thing?
  16. Use matches or invest in a refillable metal lighter – avoid the plastic disposable ones
  17. Eat real, whole foods – fresh foods equates to less packaging and less previous plastic contact
  18. Don’t use plasticware ever, bring your own if need be
  19. Use cloth diapers – disposable diapers are extremely toxic to the environment and your baby
  20. Make your own cleaning products
  21. Pack your lunch in glass containers and reusable bags.
  22. Use a razor with replaceable blades instead of a disposable razor
  23. Find other disposal products that can be replaced by their non-disposable counterparts
  24. Avoid seafood
  25. Avoid cheap supplements and be wary of sports supplements

Also, Avoid BPA receipts!

Did you know that some receipts contain 250 to 1,000 times the amount of BPA typically found in a can of food?  If that isn’t scary enough, BPA transfers readily from the receipt to skin and cannot be washed off. Different types of receipts contain varying levels of BPA. If you aren’t sure whether or not a merchant uses BPA in their receipts, either ask directly or let them know early in the transaction that you will not need your receipt. Gas station receipts are particularly notorious for containing huge amounts of BPA.” – Home Maker Chic

How to Detoxify Plastic Byproducts

To eliminate BPS, BPA, and other plastic residues from the body, one must  first and foremost, make sure your gut is not leaking! A healthy gut microbiome will breakdown toxins into inert substances. See How To Heal Your Gut for more on that.

The second most important thing you can do is consume lots of salads like these. Incidentally, salads are part of building a healthy gut microbiome. A large salad with 15 different vegetables and herbs will chelate toxic chemicals from the body while providing nutrition and feeding a healthy, diverse microbiome.

Also, eliminate heavy metals and other toxins as well. Toxins tend to disrupt the endocrine system. The endocrine system is your hormonal system (click to learn more), which includes glands like the thyroid, adrenals, and the pancreas. Heavy metal toxicity and other toxins will also inhibit the body’s ability to detoxify other chemicals including plastic residue.

Most people living on a modern, refined diet suffer from candida overgrowth, and consequently, a leaky gut. Ingesting pesticides, GMOs, antibiotics, alcohol, and other toxic foods kill our natural, beneficial gut microbiome. The refined sugars and flours we ingest feed the microbes that survive our toxic lifestyles. These microbes thrive in our toxic bodies because they feed off of simple sugars and weak cells. They also feed off of plastics, heavy metals, and all kinds of toxins. And they are not the microbes that optimize our health. THe best gut bacteria just happen to like the healthiest foods. Nature wouldn’t work if it were any other way.

The diet I recommend may sound extreme. It’s the same diet I advocate for those suffering from cancer, diabetes, depression, any other autoimune disease or infection, or for those who just want to detoxify. If you are sick, no amount of supplements will fix that. But with the right diet, supplements will radically speed up the process of getting well. If you want to live life disease free, save the following articles:

Even if you’re not feeling ill in any way, detoxifying plastic or anything else is done best with raw, fresh vegetables. The right salad will chelate heavy metals, BPAs, BPS, and more, all while replenishing the minerals we need. Garlic, parsley, cilantro, and many other foods show promising chelation properties, but their effects alone are weak. Thr trick is to combine many healthy foods with their many health benefits for a holistic approach. Taking a few cloves of garlic a day will not significantly reduce levels of toxins any more than taking a supplement. In other words, don’t underestimate the importance of the right diet. It must contain a wide variety of fresh, whole foods.

Supplements for BPA and BPS, Heavy Metal Detox, and Other Endocrine Disrupters

Without a proper diet, the right supplements will work, but only to a certain extent, and only for a little while. On the other hand, supplements taken with a healthy diet can radically speed up healing time.

Plastic Detox Supplement Stack

With a proper diet, the following is probably overkill (but if the budget allows it…):

Keep reading for an explanation of these supplements:

Probiotics

1.) Get thee some probiotics – pronto. I’m not talking celebrity endorsed yogurt here. Chose fermented foods like kimchi, natural sauerkraut, and kefir. A refrigerated, concentrated probiotic supplement helps. Drink kombucha. Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus casei were found to extract BPA from the blood of mammals and were excreted out through the bowels. That is very good news!

Beneficial bacteria strengthen the gut and help break down chemicals like BPA so they can be cleared out. As a bonus, they break down pesticides, another major endocrine-disruptor, and other toxins as well. Probiotics are becoming well known for breaking down endocrine-disruptors and other toxins in the body.

My recommendations (pick one depending on the budget):

  • Syntol AMD (powerful probiotic with prebiotics and enzymes)

Activated Charcoal (AC)

Chelators are small molecules that bind very tightly to metal ions. Activated charcoal is proven to attach to heavy metals including beneficial macrominerals, so mineral supplementation is recommended when consuming activated charcoal, though this can be mitigated with a healthy diet like as mentioned above.

Activated charcoal is highly negatively charged. It seems to bind with positively charged particles. Pathogens typically have a high positive charge associated with them, and so do plastics. Activated charcoal filters have shown to remove BPA from water, but I don’t see any research on its ability to filter BPA from the body, but I think it works.

My recommendation:

Bentonite Clay

Like activated charcoal, bentonite clay is negatively charged. Unlike charcoal, bentonite clay provides minerals and other nutrients to the body while it sucks out toxins, as it helps repair the intestinal tract.

My recommendation:

Diatomaceous Earth (DE)

Another chelator, and much more. Any self-respecting eco-friendly health-nut has a bag of food-grade DE somewhere. Take it with water to kill pathogens in your gut, and use it outside or indoors for pest control.

Food grade DE is approximately 80-85% silica. Life cannot exist without silica. Most people are silica-deficient.

There are tons of uses and benefits of using DE. Read more: Diatomaceous Earth – Mother Nature’s Secret Weapon: What Is It, How to Use It

Chlorella

Chlorella has a well-documented history of helping remove heavy metals and other toxins like dioxin from the body expeditiously. Its high concentration of chlorophyll and fiber seems to be a big part of its exceptional detox benefits. It’s almost certain, considering the mechanism, that Chlorella (and spirulina) help pull out BPAs and other plastic residue.

Chlorella is a good source of protein, GLA, and phytochemicals, B12, B2, B3, iron, magnesium, Beta Carotene, and a bunch of powerful phytochemicals. Chlorella stimulates the growth of friendly bacteria. Furthermore, chlorella’s cell walls act to absorb toxic compounds within the intestines, restoring proper gastrointestinal pH and helping to promote normal peristalsis. And it is another chelator, as it is also very negatively charged, attracting positively charged molecules.

Phytochemicals found within Chlorella pyrenoidosa support the complex network of enzymatic reactions that drive the human detoxification system. This detoxification network involves the Phase I and Phase II enzymatic reactions that take place in nearly all cells in the body, though they are concentrated in the liver cells. Phase I detoxification reactions change non-polar chemicals that are not water-soluble into relatively polar, water-soluble compounds. The Phase I process can result in the formation of reactive chemicals that are typically more toxic than the original compounds. Phase II detoxification is necessary therefore to add chemical groups to the toxic intermediates to make them water-soluble so that they may easily be excreted via urine and/or feces. Phase I and Phase II detoxification pathways must remain functional for the removal of toxins from the body. This research focuses specifically on the Chlorella pyrenoidosa species of green algae recognized for its detoxification properties. – King Hardt Academy

Spirulina

Chlorella is green algae, but spirulina is more of a blue-green in color. These two algae have a lot in common. Chlorella’s green hue demonstrates that it’s richer in chlorophyll than spirulina, and chlorella is said to have stronger detoxification properties. But spirulina is an even better source of protein, and it offers iron, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, calcium, potassium, zinc, and a host of microminerals.

My recommendation:

Related: Total Nutrition – Make your own Homemade Multivitamin and Mineral Formula

Enzymes

Digestive enzymes break down food. Metabolic enzymes, also known as systemic enzymes, break down foreign proteins, fibrin, and other toxins, and they clean the blood of impurities. Consider the ramifications of this. Probiotics and enzymes together help breakdown nearly everything in the gut that doesn’t belong. Read more about systemic enzymes here.

My recommendation:

Indolplex – DIM

Diindolylmethane (DIM) is naturally present in cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. It helps metabolize estrogens and hormone-disrupting estrogen mimics. Indolplex is a dietary supplement that contains a patented, bioavailable form of diindolylmethane.

My recommendation: 

Calcium D-Glucarate

Calcium glucarate (calcium d-glucarate, calcium saccharate) supports the glucuronidation detoxification process.

Glucuronidation is a major metabolic reaction, and mainly takes place in the liver, for disposal of a variety of endogenous (such as TH) and exogenous substrates (such as PCBs).

Comprehensive Handbook of Iodine, 2009

Calcium glucarate is naturally found in fruits and vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables. Calcium glucarate helps rid the body of toxins and excess hormones while it protects our cells from carcinogens.

My recommendation: 

Conclusion

My family and I do avoid it as often as we can. Years ago, I spent considerable time trying to completely eliminate plastic from my life. I found that my overall environmental footprint went up a little. Plastics make things so easy and convenient that sometimes it just doesn’t make any sense to do without it. I’m careful, but plastics don’t scare me. The body can handle a remarkable toxic load when the diet is right. I trust my diet to eliminate the BPA, BPS, and whatever else gets in there that shouldn’t be.

That said, I cannot wait for the day when our plastics come from hemp or some other sustainable alternative. There are much better options available to us if we can just get out from under this petroleum-based economy.

Recommended Reading:
Sources:



Stop Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet

I have worked with many doctors, health coaches, nutrition consultants, and other various health professionals who are baffled with a client’s inability, or their own inability to get over certain health issues. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the problem is sugar. We eat so much sugar! But it’s not just sugar. If you’re struggling with your health, and you feel like you’ve learned so much about health but still are unable to reach homeostasis, take a look at these common mistakes people make with their diet.

Contents

Juice

The sugar within a whole apple will not feed pathogenic gut flora or spike most people’s blood sugar when eaten as an apple. Apple juice, on the other hand, is a refined sugar. Juicing removes fruit sugar from its natural state, which is inside the fruit, surrounded and bound with fiber. If the juice gets hot enough the enzymes are getting destroyed too.

Must Read: How To Heal Your Gut

How to Juice For Health

Use a slow juicer to preserve enzymes and other delicate nutrients. Drink immediately; don’t store it. Use vegetables and herbs. This will not be that refreshing burst of sweetness fruit juicers are accustomed to.  Spinach, lettuces and other lighter leafy greens make for a pretty easy transition. Kale, cabbage, and collards can be difficult to work with (or drink) depending on the juicer and their palate. Try adding them in slowly. Personally, I cannot make collard work to save my life, but I’ve grown accustomed to kale and spinach.

Related: How to Optimize Curcumin Absorption – With Golden Milk Tea Recipe

Cayenne, turmeric, garlic, ginger, and cinnamon are a healthy juicer’s best friend. The herbal antimicrobial properties and some other factors help balance out the effects of the sugars from juicing.

Related: The Best Juicer

Wheat

The food pyramid is not our friend. Meat and grain industries have influenced dietary regulations for decades. How a food pyramid is done right depends on whether one is vegan, a raw foodist, or an omnivore, but the commonality is raw vegetables as the base for a balanced diet.

Related: How to Optimize Curcumin Absorption – With Golden Milk Tea Recipe

Grain has been consumed for thousands of years, but modern wheat is making people sick. There are a few likely reasons for this, including genetic engineering through hybridization (not to be confused with GMOs), glyphosates, unnatural harvesting practices, and the way we handle the modern processing that make the food products. Many who cannot consume wheat are able to eat spelt, Kamut, Einkorn, and some other ancient grains that contain gluten, but anyone with severe gluten issues would be wise to stay away from all wheat and gluten until the gut is balanced and healed.

A proper food pyramid would have raw herbs and vegetables as the most important items, with cooked vegetables and herbs being shown as the second most beneficial, with fruit following close behind. Meat and grains are not necessarily bad for you, but they don’t do nearly as much to heal the body (unless you’re severely deficient in nutrition). Cooked vegetables, meats, and grains have many benefits and can help sustain and build our body, but raw fresh produce and herbs produce the best ecosystem in our gut which equates to a healthy body.

Gluten-Free Grains and Grain Substitutions

  • Amaranth is an ancient grain that is very easy to absorb and assimilate and is rich in protein, as well as calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. It’s also the only grain that has been documented to contain vitamin C.
  • Buckwheat is technically not a grain; this fruit seed is related to rhubarb and sorrel. It’s a good source of antioxidants, fiber, manganese, magnesium, and tryptophan.
  • Corn can be problematic for those dealing with inflammation, but it’s a much better choice than wheat for anyone who’s not feeling their best. Corn is a good source of vitamins B1, B5 (pantothenic acid), and C; folate; and phosphorus.
  • Millet, “with its many nutrients, has been shown to support the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and respiratory systems. It has the potential to protect against diabetes and cancer.” – Click to read more about millet here
  • Montina is flour milled from Indian ricegrass (which is not to traditional rice). It’s rich in protein, carbohydrates, and fiber and is typically used as an additive to primary gluten-free flours.
  • Quinoa is an ancient grain that’s very popular right now. It’s often is used in place of traditional starches, such as pasta, rice, couscous, and cereals. Quinoa is rich in amino acids, manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorous.
  • Rice. But not white rice. Brown rice contains the bran and germ portion of the kernel and is higher in fiber and other nutrients. Rice is rich in B vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, and zinc. Rice flour is commonly used for baking with gluten-free products.
  • Sorghum is an ancient millet like cereal grain that’s used in baking.
  • Teff is an ancient grain that is similar in size to poppy seeds. Teff has a nutty, molasses like flavor is somewhat mucilaginous. It’s can be eaten uncooked, as a cooked grain, or ground and added as part of the flour used in recipes. Teff is rich contains all eight indispensable amino acids, and it’s chock-full of thiamin and contains significant amounts of the minerals phosphorus, magnesium, aluminum, iron, copper, zinc, boron, and barium.
  • Wild rice is an aquatic cereal grain that grows wild in isolated lakes and riverbeds in the cold regions of North America. It contains protein, phosphorous, potassium, and magnesium and the B vitamins thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and folic acid.

And of course, there are also beans and lentils for gluten free meals. Did I miss any? Comment!

Should I Be Soaking My Grains?

Phytic acid is an enzyme inhibitor of concern for many. Studies on phytic acid reveal that the phytic acid in whole grain can block calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron and copper absorption. It doesn’t happen with everyone; some seem immune to these adverse consequences because of a favorable ecosystem of gut flora. In addition, when animal fats that provide vitamins A and D accompany whole grains the effects of phytic acid are lessened.

Despite its potential drawbacks, phytic acid is similar in some ways to a vitamin, and metabolites of phytic acid may have secondary messenger roles in cells.” – All About Phytates Phytic Acid

For those with healthy gut flora, it’s probably not necessary to soak grains before cooking. For anyone suffering health issues, soaking grains and grain flours in an acid medium at very warm temperatures reduces or even eliminates phytic acid. I don’t generally soak grains or grain like products. I also tend to eat grains with raw herbs and vegetables, and I eat more vegetables in a day than I do grains. If you consume lots of grains you may do better with soaking them first.

I do soak legumes and I typically soak most nuts and seeds. I sprout them if I can.

Nuts

Nuts and seeds have enzyme inhibitors, including but not limited to just phytic acid. That’s why they last so long. Nuts and seeds will not break down into their simplest forms during digestion when their enzyme inhibitors are present.

Our pancreas produces our enzymes. Enzymes cause chemical reactions in the body. Enzymes break things down. Enzymes break down food, clots in the blood, they remove waste, break down fibrin, break down proteins and other food components to allow assimilation of nutrients, destroy foreign proteins, destroy viruses, and they are necessary for all bodily functions. Without enzymes we’re dead. Not having enough enzymes will equate to a stroke, heart attack, or some other catastrophic failure very soon.

Our pancreas only produces a finite amount or enzymes. Enzyme inhibitors are hard on the pancreas. Our modern diets are as a whole are very unfriendly to our pancreas. Chemicals that don’t breakdown, food that can’t be properly, fully digested for any reason, and to a lesser but still significant extent, any food that is void of enzymes put a burden on the pancreas. Think of the pancreas as the clock that our life is counting down from. If everything else is as healthy as it can be, the pancreas will still, eventually, stop producing enzymes no matter what else we do. We know that the quality of food can impact our DNA degradation, and enzymes are the other big piece of the longevity puzzle.

Related: Enzyme Supplementation For Disease

The more enzymes we get from our food, the longer our body will be able to produce our own enzymes, the longer we live.

Heat destroys enzymes. Pasteurized nuts are unlikely to sprout. The few that do still have some enzymes, but most do not.

Nuts, seeds, and legumes have natural enzyme inhibitors. Some are worse for us to consume than others, but all enzyme inhibitors inhibit certain enzymes from working. This is great for nuts and seeds so that they can be stored for years without breaking down, but these enzyme inhibitors disrupt our body’s functions.

How To Do Seeds Right

Pumpkin seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, hemp seeds, pecans, walnuts and a few of other nuts and seeds are chock full of enzymes while in their raw, natural forms. Provided they are raw, chewing them well enough can mix the enzymes with the inhibitors, effectively canceling each other out, but soaking and sprouting these nuts and seeds will remove the inhibitors, turning the nuts into enzyme rich, life-giving superfoods. Other nuts, and many legumes, really should be soaked and sprouted due to the nature of their enzyme inhibitors. There’s no need to sprout flax or chia seeds.

Enzyme supplements can also help to properly digest nuts and seeds, and eating them with raw vegetables can provide extra enzymes for digestion too.

Cooking can destroy many enzyme inhibitors but does not destroy all of them. Ideally, cooked nuts and seeds should be sprouted first.

Related: Homemade, Vegan Nut Milk Recipes and More

Soaking and Sprouting Nuts and Seeds

I use warm filtered water and a pinch of sea salt. The warm water will neutralize many of the enzyme inhibitors, but not all of them. I dump the water half way into it, refill, and then dump and rinse well before use. The salt also helps to activate some of the enzymes that deactivate the enzyme inhibitors.

I soak for 12-24 hours, depending on the nut or seed.

What You Need

  • 2-3 cups of raw, organic nuts or seeds (I don’t mix them, one kind per container)
  • 3-4 cups of warm water (cover nuts +15% for expansion)
  • 1 tablespoon of salt

Instructions

  1. Place the warm water in a medium bowl or jar that accommodates 2 liters or more
  2. Add salt
  3. Add the nuts or seeds
  4. Leave uncovered overnight.
  5. If you’re not sprouting, it’s time to dehydrate them. If I’m sprouting, at this point I soak them for one more round, another 8 hours or so, and then I lay them out on a towel and leave them overnight, damp. Wait until you see sprouting, and then you dehydrate the nuts or seeds.

Here is an article that goes into more depth on how to sprout using a mason jar.

There are preferred individual soaking times, but I just tend to go by size. Bigger nuts get a little more water time.

Sprouting goes a step further reducing the levels of enzyme inhibitors and unlocking other nutritional benefits, even more. But not all seeds sprout. Pine nuts, macadamias, pecans, and walnuts will not sprout, at least in my experience. Don’t even bother with soaking flax or sesame seeds. I like to sprout pumpkin, sunflower, almonds, broccoli, alfalfa, and clover. I can’t get brazil nuts to sprout, but I always treat them as if I could. Judging by the chia pet, it would seem you could soak and sprout chia seeds.

If you give a squirrel a raw nut, it will always bury it. The squirrel will only dig it up when the nut has sprouted. They have found sensors in squirrels’ noses that can identify a sprouted nut. Raw, unsprouted nuts have digestive enzyme inhibitors that prevent animals from digesting it easily. Only when it sprouts are these inhibitors deactivated. Smart squirrels!” – Diana Herrington

Beans, Legumes

Apparently, our ancestors understood this very well, because grains, beans, nuts, and seeds in their natural form were never consumed without being soaked or fermented first. It was a time-honored tradition of food preparation that kept agrarian cultures thriving. It wasn’t until food mechanization took the reigns and the processing of food became an industry, that soaking and fermenting became a dying tradition.” – Kim, Yogitrition

Do not buy canned beans. Do not trust companies to cook your legumes. Legumes can have intolerable quantities of enzyme inhibitors and dangerous types of lectins that need to be resolved with soaking (and cooking). Check out All About Lectins for more on lectins. Always soak your beans, legumes, and lentils before consuming.

Soak lentils and peas for about 5 hours, and I soak other legumes overnight.

Soy

Soy contains a few enzyme inhibitors including a trypsin inhibitor, that won’t allow nutrients to be properly digested. More than 90% of our soybean crop is genetically engineered. The GMO variety contains 27% more trypsin inhibitor. Soy should be consumed in a fermented form such as miso, tempeh, natto, and tamari sauce. Fermentation reduces soybean’s enzyme inhibitors. Sprouted soy and edamame (green soybeans) are easier to digest.

Asian women have very low rates of menopausal complaints, heart disease, breast cancer and osteoporosis. The soy industry, with sketchy evidence to support their claims, attributes this to soy being a regular part of the Asian diet. These claims, which have become widely accepted due to massive media campaigns, disregard extensive research that shows otherwise. They also disregard other dietary and lifestyle factors at play in Asian cultures. For example, there are many Asian populations that don’t eat soy as a regular part of their diet, yet still enjoy low rates of the chronic diseases mentioned. Among those who do eat soy regularly, fermented soy products are what is consumed the most. Asians aren’t downing quarts of overly-sweetened, highly-processed soy milk or popping supplements containing concentrated soy isoflavones, which has become popular in the U.S. Soy. In addition, the traditional Asian diet consists of primarily whole, fresh, natural foods including sea vegetables, which are packed with vital nutrients and one of the richest sources of absorbable calcium. They also eat a lot of fish, small amounts of meat, and little to no dairy products or processed foods—in stark contrast to the Standard American Diet, which consists of mostly processed foods high in sugar, fat, sodium, and excessive amounts of meat and zero sea vegetables.” – Family Wellness First: Nutrition

Related: Sprouting to Remove Enzyme Inhibitors

Agave Nectar

The Glycemic Index measures how quickly sugar from food enters the bloodstream. Fructose does not raise blood sugar or insulin levels in the short-term. This is why high fructose sweeteners are often labeled as “healthy.” Agave nectar’s low GI is because the sugar in it is fructose. The harmful effects of agave have little to do with the glycemic index. Glucose is an incredibly important molecule, found in many healthy foods and our bodies produce it. We need it. Every living cell does. The liver metabolizes fructose. When the liver cannot process all of the fructose it turns the fructose into fat, which gets shipped out of the liver as VLDL particles, fatty triglycerides, which raise our triglyceride levels.  Eventually, much of the fat lodges inside the liver, which can cause fatty liver disease.

Related: How To Reverse Fatty Liver Disease (Diet Plan Included)

The sugar in agave also feeds pathogens. It doesn’t take much agave to overwhelm the liver. Agave is probably no healthier than white table sugar and could be worse.

Honey

A little bit of raw honey is good for you. While there’s no scientific determination as to how much is too much, I reckon a tablespoon a day is just the right amount for those who are healthy, and far too much for those without a healthy gut.

Related: Candida, Gut Flora, Allergies, and Disease

The biggest two problems with consuming honey are:

  • It’s not always real honey, and it’s almost always pasteurized
  • People tend to cook it even when they buy raw (like when you put it in that coffee or tea)

Cooked honey loses too many of its beneficial properties to still be healthy. Honey should only be consumed raw with the natural enzymes intact.

Other Sugars

Coconut sugar, evaporated cane juice, apple juice, and brown rice syrup are all refined and processed foods. The sugar in fruit juice will have different results than the sugar in whole fruit. You can’t sweeten foods by adding sugar without the consequences of added sugar.

There are also sugar alcohols like maltitol, sorbitol, erythritol, and the most well known, xylitol. Manufacturers of xylitol market the sweetener as derived from xylan, which is found in the fibers of many plants including berries, oats, beets, sugar cane and birch. Sugar alcohols are naturally occurring substances but manufactured xylitol is another matter entirely. Xylitol can be derived from the xylan of birch trees, but xylan is also found in corn. Thanks to our tax dollar subsidies, corn is cheap. Xylitol typically comes from GMO corn to make matters worse.

Sugar alcohols do not break down like food does through digestion. The fermentation of undigested xylitol in the gut disrupts our flora. Studies have shown health issues with mice.

It appears that xylitola may be ok as a sweetener in small amounts, especially for those addicted to sugar. But it’s not healthy. It’s not at all beneficial to our bodies. And in large amounts, sugar alcohols are clearly toxic. For those sweet-tooth’ed ones looking to replace their sugar, there is not substitute without consequences. Sugar, in nature, is hard to come by. We just weren’t meant to eat foods that are so sweet.

But there is one. The holy grail for health nuts: Stevia. But even this sweetener is not without its problems. True health does not come with a sweet tooth.

Dried Fruit

Speaking of sugar, dried cranberries almost always have plenty of it. Lots of dried fruit has this problem. Why do dried bananas need sugar? Double check those ingredients. Ideally, there should only be one. We suggest making your own.

Yogurt

First of all, the whole probiotic craze negates the fact that our stomach acid is designed to kill bacteria. Most yogurt is made with weak bacteria that would be killed within the stomach before reaching the gut. “Would be…” Most conventional yogurt does not have enough of this beneficial bacteria and what little bit it did have was killed off in the processing.

Food Bars

Sugar, cooked, processed, soy and other sticky ingredients make bars a no-no for anyone trying to heal. I’ve found a few bars that I like, but they aren’t healthy. They are a treat. A much better choice than conventional food, but when you’re not well, you shouldn’t trust a company to make your food. Another common problem with healthy food bars, besides soy and sugar, is they tend to add healthy fats that are highly susceptible to degradation, like chia and flax seeds.

Smoothies

Smoothies are typically too sweet, thanks to fruit juice and lots of fruit. But smoothies can be done right if they are made at home. Check out How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies.

Packaged Health Food

The health food section of any grocery store is where the fresh produce is. That conventional, pesticide laden, perfect looking, 4 month-old apples is going to do most people a lot more good than a box of organic, all natural, free range, grass-fed, non-GMO, small farm, locally grown box of cereal. Healthy people eat lots of fresh, raw produce, and cook food from scratch. Pretenders buy their junk food in the organic section. It’s better than the conventional aisles, but it’s not healthy. Get to know your farmer’s markets and the farmers there. Grow your own. Take things one step at a time. And listen to your body. Forget the health food section, and stick to the produce and bulk sections.

Conclusion

When I do eat foods that aren’t the healthiest choices, I take Abzorb with it. It’s an enzyme and a probiotic. It works well. I use it to help digest the food and keep the gut eco system in check. It’s also useful for beans that maybe didn’t soak long enough. Also, it’s very important to get a wide variety of foods. Try a new food every day. Check out my salad recipe here. I’ll bet you’ll find a few new ones in there. Those salads are better than any supplement on the market. Good, large, diverse salads are the foundation of a healthy and powerful immune system.

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How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes

Everybody loves smoothies. I mean, who wants to eat just plain produce, right? Well, I do, but lots of people find nature’s packaging and processing of fruit and vegetables to be lacking. Or maybe vegetables aren’t sweet enough, and the fiber in fruit just ruins the customer experience of that sugar rush. Consequently, health nuts around the world have embraced smoothies as their protocol to consume all the good nutrition needed for the day in one fell swoop.

But there’s a problem.

Smoothies almost always have way too much sugar in them. We separate the fruit sugar from its fiber which decreases absorption time causing an insulin spike and a host of other issues that would not have been accompanied by eating the whole fruit. And we often use fruit juice in smoothies. Fruit juice is usually void of its enzymes too, but a slow juice press can solve this issue. Many of the healthier and nuttier health nuts throw in chia seeds, kale, spinach, and other great stuff, but the base is generally fruit juice which is, in fact, a refined sugar!

Let me repeat that statement for maximum effect.

Fruit juice is refined sugar.

This does not include cranberry, lemon, or lime juice, but most do not use these as a smoothie base.

In all my travels I’ve only come across a couple of restaurants that offer healthy smoothies, Cafe Gratitude in California and Loving it Live of Atlanta. They’re pretty good smoothies too, but they lack bite.

Bite? Yes, bite. A smoothie should fight back a little. The sweetness may feed some unsavory characters in your gut, but a good bite will correct that. Let’s get more into the bite and the sweetness issue.

It is better to sweeten a smoothie with whole fruit and use water, coconut water, or moisture-rich fruits like pineapple or watermelon. Produce should be blended on the lowest setting that can get the job done. A Vitamix will kill most of the enzymes when blending raw food at high speeds. Adding the bite is about finding the right antimicrobial herbs. We want to feed the good guys, the flora that flourishes in an ecosystem built on vegetables, herbs, and fruit. Feed your guys bad food and you get bad guys. Sugar is bad, herbs that kill pathogens are great. I like cayenne, turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon. Some have managed to work in garlic for a tasty treat though I am yet to be able to mimic such a feat. The only thing harder to make work in my smoothies is collard greens. For the life of me, I cannot make collards work!

Here are four smoothie recipes that don’t just nourish, but they also heal and help balance the gut. And these smoothies know how to wake up the senses, so they’re a great morning addition to your routine.

For a lot of the ingredients listed we have done an article on the benefits of them, so check out the links within the recipes if you’re curious. I make my smoothies to fill up a Vitamix, maybe 60 ounces or so. It makes about four glasses, or close to 8 cups.

Tart-C Blast

If my kidneys are feeling sluggish, or I think I’m fighting a virus, this is my go-to smoothie. I love tart; get ready to pucker.

Ingredients

Instructions

Peel and chop up a fresh pineapple, discard peels. Put in the pineapple with the core, blend it slowly until it’s liquid. The core of the pineapple is the healthiest part of the pineapple, but you need a powerful blender to make it work. Throw in equal parts frozen berries and cherries until the smoothie blends to the desired thickness. I do a small handful of each, and add more of whichever berry I’m feeling most, just enough to get the smoothie as thick as I want. You may need to turn up the speed, just try not to let the blades get too fast to where they can damage enzymes, which is to say blend as slow as you can to get the job done. I tend to blend it fast for a bit at the end just to get the cinnamon all the way. Now that I’m thinking about it, when it’s the bark, I need to put the cinnamon in with the ice and do a higher speed there.

The finishing touch is your turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon. I add chunks of ginger and turmeric and I break off a piece of cinnamon stick, all about a half inch in size, and throw them in. This is up to you though because these spices are strong. That goes for all of the recipes here. Mix in just enough to stretch your taste buds and build up to more.

This is an excellent smoothie for helping the body detox and repair from damage, but pineapple has a lot of sugar. I recommend taking a probiotic or SF722 with this.

Phat Raspberry Zinger

This smoothie is all about the beneficial fats. And the zing of course.

I use the water from a whole, fresh young coconut, and I scoop out some meat. How much I scoop depends on the difficulty and my patience at the time. I’ve also used a can of coconut milk before, and that tastes good too, but I like fresh and unprocessed coconut whenever I have the patience. Use a ripe avocado and fresh berries/cherries with ice or frozen berries/cherries.

Instructions

I put in the liquid first, fresh fruit second, and frozen third, with the herbs last. As before, zing it to taste – I like a nice chunk of ginger and turmeric, lots of cinnamon, and I tend to do about 10 raspberries and 10 cherries or so.

Sweet, Sharp, & Spicy

This one is weird, but I love it.

  • Whole pineapple or 1 can coconut milk
  • Mango
  • Cayenne
  • Sweet potato
  • Cinnamon
  • Lime
  • Turmeric
  • Ginger
  • Cinamon
  • Allspice? Clove? Curry?

Obviously, this is a very different smoothie depending on whether or not you go coconut or pineapple. As usual, add all spices to taste and kick up the spicy as high as you can to reap the most health benefits.

Enzymatic Tropical Heat

This smoothie is an excellent meal for detoxification and healing. You’ll likely get more enzymatic activity from this smoothie than a bottle of $50 enzyme pills.

  • Fresh pineapple
  • Papaya
  • Papaya seeds
  • Papaya leaves? (I have not tried this, but if anyone is able to, please let me know if it works!)
  • Coconut (use whole, canned, flakes, whatever you have to add coconut flavor)
  • Orange
  • Mango
  • Banana
  • Cayenne
  • Ginger
  • Turmeric

What you freeze can significantly alter the flavor of a smoothie. I will freeze banana, mango, and orange chunks for this one, or use all fresh and add a little ice to thicken it. Sometimes I just leave it un-iced; the fruit makes it pretty thick. The papaya seeds should be dried and crushed. Trying to blend them at a high enough speed when they are wet and pliable will kill the enzymes. Enzymes are why we want papaya seeds in here, and they add some spice too. It’s a little funky to me though; it takes some tweaking and getting used to for some.

Conclusion

All of these recipes are an attempt to get you to spice up your smoothies. More flavor with less sugar. More health benefit, less pretending. So mix it up. Experiment, and don’t be afraid to make something awful. Check out Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included and implement the salad and cranberry lemonade, and you’ve basically got my diet. Also, check out this list of articles.

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Best Cooking Oils – Health benefits, Smoke Point, Which to Use and Avoid

There are so many options when it comes down to selecting which oils to use for cooking. That’s because when we talk about performance and flavor, not all cooking oils are equal. They differ in flavor, health benefits, heat constitution, performance, etc. And, it will not do you any good if you choose an oil that enhances the taste of your food but damages your body. You may wonder, “What about the health benefits then?” I’m getting there.

While choosing an oil for cooking, it is important to opt for one that remains healthy even after it has been heated considerably. As for some oils, they may be nutritious when consumed in their natural state, but the moment they are processed or cooked, they lose their nutritional value. Some oils break down quickly, loose nutritional value, produce cancer-causing free radicals and other toxins when they are heated. So, it can so happen that the oil may end up being more harmful to your health. It all comes down to what percentage of saturated and unsaturated fats the oil has.

It’s not an easy job to go scanning through the aisles of supermarkets, scrutinizing hundreds of bottles of oils and wondering which one to get. So, here’s a list of the most commonly used oils and everything you need to know about them when it comes to cooking.

Must Read: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

1. Sesame Oil – Great for Low to Medium-heat Cooking

Sesame oil is widely used by many health conscious people. It offers many benefits when it comes to health and ease of cooking due to its percentage of unsaturated and saturated fats. Sesame oil is mostly used in Asian cuisines to add flavor to curries. Being rich in fatty acids like oleic acid and linoleic acid, sesame oil enhances cardiovascular health. It reduces high blood pressure and prevents blockage of the arteries. It has antioxidants that play an important role in flushing out harmful toxins from the body, hence protecting it from harmful diseases, including cancer. As sesame oil has a high smoke point, it is perfect for deep frying or even stir frying meat or vegetables. Apart from all its health benefits and convenience in cooking, sesame oil also acts as an instant flavor booster as it has a distinct flavor. All these factors make it one of the healthiest and most preferable oils.

Must Read: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

2. Avocado Oil – Great for High-heat Cooking

Avocado oil is considered to be one of the healthiest oils due to its healing properties. It is one of the few edible oils that are not derived from the seed but from the pulp of the fruit. How good a cooking oil is determined by its smoke point. Avocado oil has a high smoke point, making it one of the top choices in cooking. It is also used in uncooked items and for seasoning salads and dips. Compared to other oils, avocado oil is high in monounsaturated fat, which is good for the heart. Studies have shown a gradual improvement in cholesterol levels with the consumption of avocado oil. The pulp of the avocado fruit produces the oil, which is rich in healthy fats, including oleic acid and other important essential fatty acids. Avocado oil has another benefit when it comes to health. It can improve the symptoms of arthritis and hence is a valuable addition to an arthritis patient’s diet.

Related: Health Benefits of Avocados

3. Ghee – Great for High-heat Cooking

Ghee, considered to be another form of clarified butter is also an essential power food. It is a stable fat for cooking and has a host of health and other cooking benefits. Apart from that, it is also good for the mind and spirit. Ghee has a very high smoke point and hence doesn’t burn up easily during cooking. It is also nutritionally rich due to its medium chain fatty acids which can be quickly metabolized by the body. Even athletes sometimes use ghee as a source of energy. Consuming ghee on an everyday basis can build a healthy immune system. If stored properly, your jar of ghee can last as long as three months to up to a year. Along with being anti-inflammatory, Ghee also reduces cholesterol. It is considered good for your nerves and brain.

4. Coconut Oil – Great for Low to Medium Heat Cooking

When it comes to medium heat cooking, coconut oil is your best option. It is decently resistant to heat due to most of its fatty acids being saturated. But it is not suitable for deep frying or high heat cooking. Coconut oil offers many powerful health benefits. It has antioxidant properties due to the presence of lauric acid, which can help kill bacteria and lower the cholesterol levels in the body. Many people believe that coconut oil can raise the body’s metabolism, making it easier to lose weight. Some have concerns that the high percentage of saturated fats may increase the bad cholesterol levels. Virgin coconut oil is a better option. It is abundant in healthy compounds that benefit anyone who consumes it.

Related: How to Use Coconut Flour

5. Olive Oil – Not for Cooking

Olive oil is considered to be one of the healthiest oils out there. It is loaded with beneficial fatty acids and many powerful antioxidants. It is a staple in the Mediterranean diet. Though olive oil is often acclaimed for its health benefits, it’s not the best oil when it comes to cooking. Despite the fact that olive oil can raise good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol levels in the blood, people believe that it is unsuitable for frying/cooking. Olive oil is full of unsaturated fats which are not as stable under heat as saturated fats. However, it can be used as a seasoning/ dressing in salads or dips and for simmering sauces.

However, the recent scandals have shown that many brand retailers have been fraudulently labeling olive oils as “extra virgin olive oil”. In some cases reports claim to find canola oil and other cheaper oils mixed in. The olive oil you find in your supermarket might not be wholesome in nutrition and may even be processed in an unhealthy environment. Hence, always check with your local seller and don’t opt for a cheaper one as it is less likely to be virgin olive oil.

6. Canola Oil – GMOs, Avoid

Another oil commonly used for cooking is canola oil. It is used for stir-frying, grilling, and even baking. It’s true that the fatty acid composition in canola oil is pretty much good. The percentage of monounsaturated fats is quite high, which is again healthy. However, it also contains trans fats and hence needs to be avoided. Canola oil is genetically modified and will become rancid quicker than any other oil. Packaged foods cooked with canola are likely cooked in rancid oil. Canola oil can lead to serious complications like heart disease, metabolic diseases, and even cancer. Despite these risk factors, canola oil is still considered to be good for cooking as it is low in saturated fat and has a high smoke point. But, even though it might have a neutral flavor and can blend with any dish, it is not the best option.

Related: How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering

7. Peanut Oil – Probably Good for Cooking, High Smoke Point

Peanut oil has a mild nutty flavor and a high smoke point and is the perfect option for cooking or frying foods. It is rich in polyunsaturated fats, which makes it healthier when used in a dish rather than being cooked. However, refined peanut oil is processed under high heat. Therefore, all the proteins are eliminated. So, it’s better to opt for the roasted aromatic peanut oil that is cold pressed as all essential nutrients are preserved. There is one exceptional risk factor associated with peanut oil. It is uncertain whether it suits everybody as most people who are allergic to peanuts may develop reactions to peanut oil as well. However, peanut oil can be quite handy to have on the kitchen shelf.

8. Sunflower Oil – May Perpetuate Inflammation 

Sunflower oil has the perfect balance of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which makes it a healthy oil for cooking. It reduces the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood, and hence, more people have begun incorporating sunflower oil into their diet. But recent research states that sunflower oil might not be as healthy as we think. One reason is that it contains no essential omega-3 fats. And therefore, it can cause issues if someone consumes it regularly as it may disturb the balance of ratio in the diet of omega-6/omega-3 fats. It has a subtle flavor and a high smoke point, which indicate it is more refined after processing. If it is repeatedly heated, it can display some dangerous chemical changes.

9. Palm Oil – Serious Environmental Concerns, Never Use Processed, Hydrogenated, Genetically Modified Stuff

Another one on our list is palm oil. The taste is considered to be savory and earthy. It can be used in many dishes for seasoning and cooking. Derived from the fruit of red oil palms, it consists mostly of saturated fats, which might pose risks to your health. But, it also contains a high amount of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which creates a good combination for cooking. Palm oil has a savory and earthy flavor and is used in many ready-to-eat foods that you find in your grocery stores. Palm oil has also reportedly been linked to several health benefits. Its strong antioxidant properties can support brain health and reduce the risk of a stroke. Repeatedly heating the oil gradually reduces its antioxidant capacity and may lead to heart disease. It has a high smoke point, so it is often used for frying or sautéeing.

Related: The Dangers of Industrial Vegetable Oils

Avoid Processed and Hydrogenated Palm Oil. In a nutshell, you want to avoid all processed, hydrogenated oils like the plague. Even the amazing health benefits of palm oil are completely negateddue to this harmful process that extends shelf life. Stay safe and keep your shelves stocked with UNREFINED, COLD-PRESSED oils!” – Dr. Axe

The palm industry is linked to serious environmental issues including deforestation, habitat degradation, animal cruelty, and human rights abuses.

Large areas of tropical forests and other ecosystems with high conservation values have been cleared to make room for vast monoculture oil palm plantations – destroying critical habitat for many endangered species, including rhinos, elephants and tigers. – WWF

How To Store Oils

To ensure that your oils don’t go rancid, you need to take care of them in the right way. Store them in a suitable environment so that they do not get spoiled. Avocado oil, palm oil, olive oil, and a few others need to be stored in surroundings that prevent them from getting oxidized. Many health advocates argue that olive oil should be refrigerated. Store all of your cooking oils in a cold, dry, and preferably dark place (not by or above the stove). Keep the bottle clean and shut the lid tightly after every use. We don’t recommend buying in bulk quantities as oils tend to have a much shorter shelf life than most realize. These precautions can help your oil last longer.

When it comes to cooking, we concentrate more on flavor than our health. Try to have a balanced approach, and you will not have to worry about visits to the doc. Most refined, processed, commercial oils pose a threat to the body. Hence, choose an organic form of the oil that has a good flavor as well as health benefits. Make sure to look at the labels closely to avoid highly processed oils. Many labels tend to be fake or make false claims about certain oils. So, opt for a trustworthy vendor and never succumb to cheaper options. Always remember, the more organic the oil, the healthier it is.

Smoke Point Cooking Oil Chart

Oil Temp
Avocado Oil 271°C 570°F
Ghee 252°C 485°F
Coconut Oil (refined) 232°C 450°F
Peanut Oil (Unrefined) 232°C 450°F
Palm Oil 232°C 450°F
Peanut Oil (Refined) 227°C 440°F
Sesame Oil (Unrefined) 210°C 410°F
Olive Oil 207°C 405°F
Canola Oil (Expeller Pressed or Refined) 204°C 400°F
Sesame Oil (Refined) 177°C 350°F
Coconut Oil (extra virgin) 177°C 350°F
Sunflower Oil (unrefined) 107°C 225°F
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You Need Sulforaphane – How and Why to Grow Broccoli Sprouts

Brain Enhancing, Fat Burning, Cancer Preventing, DIY Homemade Supplementation

It is not another drug or folk remedy. You can prevent many forms of cancer, improve gut health, establish healthy body fat composition, enhance brain function, detoxify your cells, and reduce depression with this one miracle compound.

It’s called sulforaphane, and it is naturally produced when cruciferous vegetables are damaged. We initiate the reaction that creates sulforaphane with the process of chewing, which allows us to reap a plethora of benefits that make the scientific research on sulforaphane look like a late night TV ad.

The Scientific Sales Pitch

Although there are many proposed effects of sulforaphane, let’s stick with what has been studied. Sulforaphane has been shown to prevent the growth of many cancers including breast, prostate, colon, skin, lung, stomach, and bladder cancer. The risk of common diseases like diabetes, heart disease, gastric disease, neurodegenerative disease, ocular disease, and respiratory diseases are reduced with the consumption of sulforaphane as well. Even behavioral disorders like autism have been helped with sulforaphane supplementation. And if that isn’t enough, sulforaphane has been shown to decrease fat gain and improve body composition in mice. All this is possible because sulforaphane stimulates protective and detoxifying mechanisms in the cells. This allows the cells to eliminate environmental toxins like mercury and air pollutants from the body and repair themselves from the damage caused by oxidative stress.

The Best Source of Sulforaphane

With positive and protective effects on almost every cell in the body, sulforaphane is like a health insurance policy for your cells. This compound can be found in raw or minimally cooked cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.

It is important to note that sulforaphane cannot be produced from vegetables that are cooked at a temperature above 158 degrees Fahrenheit. This is because the enzyme that helps create sulforaphane is deactivated when is heated above 158 degrees Fahrenheit.

The enzyme that helps create sulforaphane may also become less active in mature cruciferous vegetables, so it is uncertain how much sulforaphane you will actually get from mature plants. This is where crucifer sprouts save the day. Due to their increased enzyme activity, crucifer sprouts are the best source of sulforaphane. But one sprout, in particular, may provide the most sulforaphane of them all. That sprout is the broccoli sprout.

Where To Get Broccoli Sprouts

After seeing the benefits of broccoli sprouts it is tempting to add that $10 bottle of broccoli sprout capsules to your cart, but don’t let the tempting price fool you. At $10 per bottle, you are spending 20x more than if you bought broccoli sprouts in the store, and supplements can’t even guarantee that they actually have any sulforaphane or enzyme activity.

With store bought broccoli sprouts you can at least guarantee that you are getting sulforaphane in your diet. However, store bought broccoli sprouts will run you about $1 per ounce when you can easily grow them at home for the cost of ~9 cents per ounce.

With one 64 oz mason jar, a seed strainer lid, broccoli seeds, a glass bowl, and water you can grow up to 15 pounds of sprouts per pound of broccoli seeds. That means you can have a half pound of sprouts every week for over 6 months. Fifteen pounds of broccoli sprouts would cost you $240 if you bought them in the store or almost $5,000 in capsule form, and you can get them for less than $50.

How to Grow Your Own Broccoli Sprouts

Growing your own broccoli sprouts is simple and easy. It doesn’t require gardening skills, and after less than a week you can have up to half a pound of delicious broccoli sprouts for the cost of less than a dollar.

Here is what you need:

  • Organic broccoli seeds for sprouting (~$15 per pound)
  • A 64-ounce mason jar (~$10 per jar)
  • Strainer sprouting lids that fit the mouth of your jar (~$9 per lid)
  • A glass bowl
  • A cool, dark place
  • Optional: full spectrum light
  • Optional: salad spinner

Estimated yield: 3 tablespoons of seeds will most likely sprout to a half pound of broccoli sprouts in about 5-7 days.

Step by Step Guide to Sprouting Your Broccoli Seeds

Step 1

Put 3 tablespoons of broccoli seeds in your mason jar, cover the seeds with cool, distilled water or spring water (60-70 degrees Fahrenheit), and swish the water around gently. Put your mason jar, with the sprouting lid on, in a cool dark place for 6-12 hours to allow the seeds to soak.

Step 2

Drain off the water by tipping the mason jar to let the water pass through the strainer. Take the glass bowl and rest your mason jar inside of it so that the remaining water can drain. Put it in a cool dark place for 8-12 hours to let the seeds drain and sprout.

Tip: make sure the jar is tipped enough so that the seeds can drain and have adequate airflow. The most common cause of poor sprouting is inadequate drainage.

Step 3

Rinse the seeds 2x daily and put the jar back in the bowl in a cool dark place so it can drain. It might help to set reminders on your phone.

Here’s what mine looked like 60 hours after the beginning of the first rinse:

Tip: Try not to expose them to too much light until most of them are sprouted with tiny yellowish leaves.

Step 4

After 3 to 4 days you will notice white sprouts with tiny yellowish leaves coming from the seeds. When this happens for most of your seeds, you can begin exposing them to indirect sunlight or a full spectrum light bulb so that they can start to green up. Continue to do the same rinsing process as before.

84 hours after the beginning of the first rinse:

Step 5

After a day or two of light exposure, rinse them once again, and let them drain overnight. The next morning they will be ready to eat!

After the first day of sun exposure:

The finished product, about 6 ounces of broccoli sprouts from 2 and a half tablespoons of broccoli seeds:

 

Bonus Step: How to Increase Sulforaphane content by 3.5x

Studies have actually been conducted to find out how to increase the bioavaliability of sulforaphane from broccoli sprouts. One study found that If you want to get the most out of your broccoli sprouts, you must never expose them to temperatures greater than 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit). However, if you let them sit in 65 to 70 degree Celsius (149 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit) water for 10 minutes, you can increase sulforaphane content by around 3.5 fold. The greatest increase was found at 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit) with a rapid decrease when the sprouts were exposed to greater temperatures.

To try this broccoli sprout hack at home all you need is a pot, thermometer, a glass bowl, a timer, water, and your broccoli sprouts. Put your broccoli sprouts in a glass bowl while you heat up the water in the pot until it reaches 70 degrees Celsius. Cover your sprouts with the water and set your timer for ten minutes. Check the temperature of the water that the sprouts are in every couple of minutes and add 70 degree Celsius water to the broccoli sprouts periodically to maintain the temperature between 65 and 70 degrees Celsius. After 10 minutes, drain the sprouts, pat they dry, eat them, add them to a smoothie, or store them in the refrigerator.

If that description was to confusing, check out how Dr. Rhonda Patrick hacks her broccoli sprout sulforaphane content:

How to Store Your Sprouts for up to Six Weeks

To keep the sprouts fresh and nutritious for six weeks follow these steps:

  1. Eight to twelve hours after the final rinse and drain, pat your sprouts dry and/or use a salad spinner until the sprouts are reasonably dry. Nothing kills produce quicker than refrigerating it wet.
  2. Put the sprouts in a plastic bag or container that will ensure minimal exposure to air. If they are exposed to too much air they may dry out completely.
  3. Refrigerate them for up to six weeks and eat them whenever and however you like.

Enjoy!

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How to Detoxify and Heal the Lymphatic System

We’ve all heard of the lymphatic system, but few understand how it works or why and how a properly working lymphatic system is vital to the body. The lymphatic system is a network of tissues and organs that transport lymph throughout the body. Its responsibilities include cleaning the cellular environment, returning proteins and excess tissue fluids to the blood, providing a pathway for the absorption of fats into the bloodstream, and the production and transportation of antibodies (white blood cells called lymphocytes) throughout the body to fight infection.

Our blood contains red blood cells that deliver oxygen around the body, white blood cells that fight infections, platelets that help you stop bleeding if you get a cut, and plasma.

Plasma is the liquid portion of blood. It’s a yellowish liquid in blood that suspends the red blood cells and carries nutrients and oxygen throughout the body. Plasma contains water, salt, enzymes, immunoglobulins (antibodies), hormones, clotting factors, and plasma proteins.

lymph-fluidInterstitial fluid, also known as tissue fluid, was plasma before it entered tissue. Interstitial fluid is a solution that bathes and surrounds the tissue cells.

Tissue fluid and blood are not the same, and not all of the contents of blood pass into tissue. Red blood cells, platelets, and some of the plasma proteins do not pass through capillaries. The resulting mixture that does get through is, in essence, blood plasma minus its clotting agents and some of its proteins.

Lymph was interstitial fluid before it became lymph.

Lymphatic Anatomy

Lymph CapillariesThe lymphatic system is made up of lymph capillaries, vessels, and nodes, the spleen, thymus, tonsils, Peyer’s Patches, and lymphocytes (white blood cells). Red bone marrow is also a part of the lymphatic system. We have hundreds of lymph nodes. Lymph nodes can be found all around the lungs and heart, in the gut, in the armpits and groin, and pretty much all over the body.

Blood pressure causes plasma liquid to leak into tissues, and this pressure causes excess fluid in those tissues to move into the lymph capillaries. As this fluid leaves the cells, it takes cellular waste products and used proteins with it. The lymphatic capillaries pick up approximately 20% of the fluid that was delivered to the interstitial space. The venous system picks up about 80% of the fluid in the interstitial space. The unique structure of the lymphatic capillaries permits interstitial fluid to flow into them but not out.

Blood pressure, temperature, activity of muscle and joints, diaphragmatic breathing, and pulsation of adjacent arteries all cause lymph to move up to the subclavian veins at the base of the neck. Valves and pressure keep lymph moving in the right direction. Along the way, the fluid is interrupted by lymph nodes that filter dust, cancer cells, pathogens, and other unwanted matter. Lymph nodes also produce lymphocytes (white blood cells). The spleen, tonsils, and red bone marrow help produce lymphocytes as well.

The spleen, which is about the size of our fist, is the largest lymphatic organ. It is similar in structure to a lymph node, but it filters blood, not lymph. The spleen contains two main types of tissue, white pulp and red pulp. White pulp is lymphatic tissue containing white blood cells – B and T cells. T cells attack pathogens (such as bacteria and viruses) while B cells make antibodies that fight infections.  Red pulp tissue removes old and damaged red blood cells and stores platelets. It also produces red blood cells in unborn babies and when certain diseases are present.

The thymus is both a lymphatic organ and an endocrine gland. The thymus plays a major role in immune system development, starting before birth. Unlike other organs, the thymus reaches its functional peak, and largest size, during childhood. After puberty the thymus reduces in size, replaced by fat.

Tonsils are a familiar lymphatic cluster. Their position, hanging from the mouth and pharynx, allows them to be the first line of defense against inhaled and swallowed foreign bodies and toxins.

The final goal of the lymphatic system is to recirculate lymph back into the plasma of the bloodstream. There are two specialized lymphatic structures at the end of the lymphatic system, called the lymph trunks and ducts. Lymph ducts empty lymph into one of the subclavian veins. There are two lymph ducts, the right lymphatic duct and the thoracic duct. The right drains lymph from the right upper limb, the right side of thorax, and the right halves of head and neck. The thoracic duct drains lymph into the circulatory system between the left subclavian and the left internal jugular veins.

Lymphatic trunks are large lymph vessels that made up of the convergence of many efferent lymph vessels. There are five sets of lymph trunks.

  • Jugular lymph trunks located in the neck
  • Subclavian lymph trunks located beneath the clavicle
  • Bronchomediastinal lymph trunks located in the chest
  • Lumbar lymph trunks drain lymph fluid from the legs, pelvic region, and kidneys
  • Intestinal lymph trunk receives chyle (lymph mixed with fats) from the intestines, and receives lymph from the stomach, pancreas, spleen, and the liver.

Lymphatic trunks drain lymph fluid into the lymph ducts, the final part of the lymphatic system.

For more on lymphatic system anatomy and function:

The Gastrointestinal Lymphatic System

After filtration by the lymph nodes, efferent lymphatic vessels take lymph to the end of the lymphatic system to recirculate lymph back into the plasma of the bloodstream. The intestinal lymphatic system serves vital functions in the regulation of tissue fluid homeostasis (keeping tissue properly hydrated), immune surveillance, and transportation of fats and other nutrients into plasma.

When the gut’s not healthy, the body is not healthy. A sluggish and toxic gut will slow the lymph’s ability to provide clean, infection-free blood, and fats will not as easily be absorbed and assimilated, causing weight gain and poor cellular health that can lead to an array of problems from diabetes to cancer.

Diseases and Disorders of the Lymphatic System

The lymphatic system removes infections and other toxins from the blood. A sick body is a toxic and infected (or soon to be infected) body. Arguably, most every chronic disease and every infection is indicative of an overwhelmed lymphatic system. When the system is overwhelmed, the body is overwhelmed. With any chronic illness, getting well includes improving lymphatic function.
Oedema, Edema

  • Edema, or Oedema – Swelling that results when tissues cannot drain fluid into the lymphatic system quickly enough – see image above.
  • Lymphedema – Caused by a blockage in the lymphatic system, part of the immune and circulatory systems. Lymphedema is most commonly caused by lymph node removal or damage due to cancer treatment.
  • Elephantiasis – Medically known as lymphatic filariasis, a condition characterized by enlargement of an area of the body, typically the limbs. It looks like a severe case of edema, and it is.
  • Glandular fever – A type of viral infection that mostly affects young adults. Symptoms include tender lymph nodes.
  • Hodgkin’s disease – A type of cancer of the lymphatic system.
  • Tonsillitis – Infection of the tonsils in the throat.
  • Lymphadenopathy – Occurs when the lymph nodes swell due to infections. Viral infections like measles, rubella, glandular fever, and HIV may also cause lymphadenopathy of the lymph nodes.
  • Lymphadenitis – Inflammation of the lymph nodes usually caused due to infections.
  • Filariasis – An infection of the lymphatic channels by a worm or parasite.
  • Splenomegaly – Swelling of the spleen due to a viral infection like infectious mononucleosis.
All lymphatic disorders equate to a slow moving, less efficient lymphatic system. This immediately leads to toxic blood and tissue with cancerous and otherwise sickly cells that should have been filtered out.

Symptoms of a Sluggish Lymphatic System

Humans have twice as much lymph fluid in the body as blood. Unlike the circulatory system, the lymphatic system does not have a pump. In order to move, lymph relies on blood pressure and the relaxation and the contraction of the muscles and joints. Your lymphatic system can easily become stagnant, especially when it becomes overwhelmed with toxic debris. The combination of a toxic lifestyle and lethargy is a recipe for chronic disease.

All things in nature have a natural progression. When this progression is inhibited, health deteriorates. Think of a river. A healthy river runs clean and clear compared to stagnant water. Imagine them clogged and the resulting backup. Picture an engine and car oil, and you can equate our lymphatic system to an oil filter. Imagine how sluggish and constrictive the engine would be if the oil wasn’t constantly filtered. Sluggish lymph fluid is a breeding ground for infection.

Stagnant lymph interferes with every system of the body. Because lymph cleanses nearly every cell in the body, symptoms of chronic lymph blockage are diverse. While most people prefer to identify one specific cause of a disease, there are rarely fewer than three and can often be hundreds. The point is, if the body is unhealthy, the lymph is unhealthy, too. If the body is sick, the lymph is sick, too.

Symptoms of lymphatic congestion include:

  • Rings get tight on fingers
  • Skin is puffy, showing edema
  • Soreness, stiffness, achiness in the mornings
  • Arthritis
  • Lethargic, drained, sluggishness
  • Bloating, water retention
  • Itchy skin
  • Bad skin (dryness, acne, premature aging, etc.)
  • Breast swelling or soreness with hormonal cycles
  • Brain fog
  • Cold hands and feet
  • Chronic headaches and/or migraines
  • Cellulite
  • Cancer
  • Diabetes
  • Chronic inflammation

Every one of these health concerns can be linked to other diseases as well, but any disease leads to a taxed lymphatic system, and a healthy lymphatic system is necessary to eliminate any disease.

How to Restore the Lymphatic System to Optimum Health

Doctors in Europe and in the Far East recognize the importance of lymphatic function and how it supports detoxification and every other system in the body, including the immune, digestive, and nervous systems. Natural practitioners know that poor lymph health underlies most health conditions from poor skin to cancer. By contrast, conventional practitioners in America don’t even consider the lymphatic system until a lymph deficiency shows up such as a swollen lymph node, cancer developing in a lymph gland, or obvious signs of lymph blockage. And of course, when something does go seriously wrong with the lymphatic system, western conventional doctors typically say the ailment is incurable. This is not true.

Be Careful What You Put On Your Skin

When the lymphatic system becomes sluggish it will “off-gas” through the skin. When unnatural fibers (like nylon or polyester) are worn and when chemical creams and soaps are applied to the skin, toxin release through the skin is inhibited. Much of the toxic load that should have been eliminated is re-absorbed along with some of the new toxins from the chemically laden clothes and skin products. This creates a backlog of needed detoxification.

A tight fitting bra and underwire bras will impede normal lymphatic flow. Make sure bras fit properly, and avoid underwires. Go braless whenever possible.

Wear natural fibers, and don’t put toxic chemicals on your skin. Almost every skin care product in the skincare isles is toxic. Most “all natural” moisturizer creams, and soaps are also toxic. With few exceptions (like essential oils), when it comes to skin care products, if you can’t eat it, don’t put on your skin. This also includes sunblock, deodorant, and laundry detergents.

Speaking of deodorants, they need to be all natural. Conventional deodorants, especially antiperspirants, inhibit lymph detoxification. On a side note, it’s no wonder, understanding how the body works, that antiperspirants do in fact lead to breast cancer. We need to sweat, and that sweat leads to an ecosystem of flora on the skin that can promote good health or bad health. Check out How To Make Your Own Natural Deodorant at Home

The same needs be said about toothpaste and mouthwash. Lose the toxic stuff. Check out Heal Cavities, Gum Disease, Naturally with Organic Oral Care – Toothpaste Recipes Included.

Holistic Organ Health

Your body is a collection of organs that ideally work in harmony with one other. The lymphatic system keeps organs healthy, but an unhealthy organ, or many unhealthy organs, will overload the lymphatic system. Most people with a slow lymphatic system have a leaky gut. In fact, most people with any health problems have a gut that is overly permeable, allowing undigested particles, and toxins to enter the blood and lymph. See Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections for more on gut health.

The first step for almost anyone experiencing health problems should be to balance gut flora. If your body is toxic, your gut is toxic, and the microbes in there are not going to be your friends. As previously mentioned, the intestinal trunk receives the lymph from the stomach, intestine, pancreas, spleen, and liver. None of these organs will be well if the digestive system is in turmoil.

The diet for a healthy lymphatic system and a healthy human body includes far more fresh, raw vegetables than anything else. This how a healthy diet should look with the most often consumed foods listed first:

  • Raw, fresh vegetables and herbs
  • Raw fresh fruit
  • Cooked vegetables
  • Nuts, seeds, and legumes (all properly soaked, sprouted, etc.)
  • Brown rice, amaranth, quinoa, millet, oats
  • Meat

Obviously, meat is optional. Most of us do not get enough water. Clean water is imperative for lymphatic health, too.

Fungal Supplement Stack – Knock Out Yeast, Candida, Mold, Fungus

If you have a sluggish lymphatic system you’ve got Candida. In fact, that’s probably one of the main causes. The first three should be plenty for most people, but for really prominent fungal issues or for impatient people with a bigger budget I’d recommend all of these:

Lymphatic Detox

While there are supplements that help, a healthy body will not be achieved without the right diet. The right diet is the foundation of an effective detox. Check out Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included for a recipe for salads and for a cranberry lemonade that will radically improve the body’s elimination of toxins. Salads, when made right, provide a plethora of synergistic nutrition that rebuilds the body while pulling out toxins (for instance, many vegetables and herbs chelate heavy metals). The cranberry lemonade, made with unsweetened cranberry juice and stevia, will help flush and detoxify the liver and kidneys, allowing the lymph to move much more freely.

Avoid all refined, processed foods. Cook and prepare all food at home. Do not eat out until all symptoms are gone and health is restored. At home, eat salads, cranberry lemonade, and fresh fruit. Make stir-frys for dinner.

Avoid vaccines, at least until the lymphatic system is running smoothly. Regardless of your vaccine stance, vaccines are toxic and they slow lymph.

The same is true for GMOs. GMOs harm healthy gut flora, and they need to be avoided. For more on vaccines and GMOs, check out People Against…

Foods That Support the Lymphatic System

Water, while not a food, is vital to life. A lack of water inhibits lymph from flowing smoothly.

Cranberries emulsify fat, which helps break down excess fat so the lymphatic vessels can carry it away. Cranberry also helps the kidneys, which helps with overall hydration. Avoid cranberry juice that has any added ingredients, and try to get some fresh, whole cranberries to juice whenever possible.

Leafy greens are cleansing. Chlorophyll, the green nutrient that captures sunlight, has powerful cleansing properties and beneficial effects on the blood and thus on lymph fluid as well. Look for dark greens like kale, spinach, wheat grass, barley grass, turnip greens, dandelion leaves, broccoli, and mustard greens.

Garlic boosts immune function, chelates heavy metals and some other toxins, and kills harmful microbes. Anything that boosts immune function will take a load off of the lymphatic system.

Ginger reduces inflammation, and like garlic, ginger is also antimicrobial.

Turmeric is related to ginger. It also helps reduce inflammation, thins the blood, improves circulation, and is a well known and very effective cancer fighter.

Fresh produce has many different benefits for the lymphatic system and the whole body, but enzymes are critical to good health. More enzymes in the diet means more enzymes are available to the body to break down food and fibrin, which allows for easier flow of blood and lymph.

Lymphatic Supplemental Support

Systemic enzymes help to restore lymphatic transport capacity and break down undesired excess proteins that contribute to swelling and inflammation. Systemic enzymes also remove debris throughout the body that slow down circulation.

Oregano oil supports digestion and the immune system. Oregano oil is absorbed directly into the lymphatic system from the digestive tract. The powerful antioxidants and antimicrobial properties can help clear up the intestinal lymph capillaries. Oregano oil also contains terpenes that dissolve fatty sludge in the lymph system and in the gall bladder.

Burdock is a powerful multi-system detoxifier that supports the liver, kidneys, digestion, and the lymphatic and endocrine systems. According to the University of Michigan Health System, burdock a blood and lymph purifier.

Wild indigo stimulates the glandular and lymphatic systems. This herb is an antimicrobial immune system modulator and lymphagogue that helps regulate immune and inflammatory responses.

Licorice root is one of the most broad-spectrum natural detoxifying agents known to herbalists. It has been said to gently rid the body of over 1,000 known toxins.

Goldenseal and astragalus are excellent lymphatic system and blood cleansers that also boost the immune system.

Echinacea alleviates congestion and swelling in the body, and it boosts the immune system. Echinacea will ward off bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. Echinacea helps strengthen certain kinds of cells in the lymph nodes called macrophages, which are responsible for getting the toxins out of the lymph.

Aloe vera is a natural cleansing food that encourages, supports, and increases lymphatic circulation.

Prickly ash bark is a traditional Native American remedy that boosts lymphatic function, stimulates digestion, and promotes joint health.

Red clover, cleavers, manjistha, bupleurum, rehmannia, and stillingia root are popular herbs for lymph stimulation and detoxification.

Other Ways to Stimulate the Lymphatic System

Get upside down. Bounce and jostle. Just move!
inversion-table

Inversion Table

An inversion table is a padded table that allows one to invert upside down while strapped in by the feet. This decompresses joints and stimulates the lymphatic and circulatory system.

Lymphatic Massage

We all love a good massage, and a massage will help with the lymphatic system. But, a lymphatic massage specifically targets the flow of lymph in the body. With rhythmic circular movements at just the right pressure to stimulate the lymph, this kind of massage can encourage lymph movement. Lymphatic massage, when done correctly, has been proven to push up to 78% of stagnant lymph back into circulation, which mobilizes toxins for clearance, lessening the burden on the body.

Dry Brushing

Dry skin brushing is a technique commonly utilized in Ayurveda for assisting in lymphatic flow. The procedure uses a dry brush with coarse bristles to brush the skin gently towards the heart. This stimulates the sweat glands, opens up skin pores, and helps remove dead skin cells as it stimulates the movement of lymph and blood in underlying organs and tissues.

Exercise

Rebounding is the practice of jumping on a trampoline for ten to thirty minutes. This stimulates the circulation of blood and lymph throughout the body. Numerous studies have proven its efficacy, and some believe there are many other benefits as well.

Other bouncing exercises like jumping rope, jumping jacks, and dance stimulate like rebounding. A hard surface makes for a better bounce to the system, but a trampoline is better for those who need to start with exercises that are more gentle.

Squats massage and stimulate internal organs and bodily systems. Humans were meant to squat and run regularly. Our body works better when we do.

Yoga increases the flow of the lymph. Inverted positions, stretching and contracting the core, and other positions involving stretching are all very beneficial to the lymphatic system.

Running and jogging get the lymph moving. Sweating and breathing heavily also improve lymph condition. Be sure to breathe properly!

How To Eliminate Chronic Illness and Heal Lymph

Here are three articles I put together on diet. This is indicative of how my family eats every single day.

We start off with cranberry lemonade and a huge salad every morning. For lunch, we sometimes do a smoothie or we snack on some nuts and/or fruit or we just finish our massive 11-cup salads. For dinner, we always cook from scratch, which takes preperation and time, but it gets easier. Rice and beans, quinoa, lentils, millet, oatmeal, and amaranth are common staples for our cooked meals. We add lots of raw vegetables and herbs to our dinners as well, for instance, the rice and beans go great with chopped tomatoes and avocado, diced onions and garlic, and shredded turmeric and ginger. Eat raw herbs and cooked herbs together for maximum health benefits.

This is truly a lifestyle, not a diet, and it’s one we live every day. You may not need to go to this extreme to rid your body of disease, but I find that most who are dealing with chronic illness need to take it this far, at least for a few months.

The salads are the most important part of this protocol. More than supplements, more than anything save getting enough water, the salads are imperative. Eat lots of it. Make sure they are diverse with at least 15 different vegetables and herbs. If you could see what packing your gut with salad does to your ecosystem under a microscope, you’d understand why I’m so passionate about them. There is nothing more beneficially life-changing than developing a salad habit when the salads are big and diverse and homemade. They do more than any supplement or any other food to clean the intestinal walls of filth and develop a beneficial gut ecosystem.

The cranberry lemonade helps keep the kidneys and liver working optimally. These organs typically get sluggish quickly when lots of Candida are killed. If salads are #1, this cranberry lemonade is #2, and supplements are a distant #3.

For those with very serious gut issues, legumes and grains will be a no-no for the first few weeks at least, but when enough salad has been consumed, the gut should be able to reap many benefits from cooked foods like the dinner meals aforementioned.

Sweet fruit should be severely limited, and for the very ill, avoided until the gut is working better. Grapefruit, cranberry, avocado, lime, and lemon do not fall under this category.

Juicing with fruits is not much better than refined sugar, so don’t make the common mistake of thinking a fresh-juice fast is going to get you well.

Now that diet is covered, here’s the supplement part:

SF722 – 5 capsules three times a day, once on an empty stomach, the other two times with or without food. SF722 kills yeast, and if you have a slow lymphatic system you have Candida!

Abzorb – take two capsules with harder to digest meals, and also take two on an empty stomach twice a day, like early morning and late night. When taken on an empty stomach the Abzorb acts as a systemic enzyme and a probitoic. When taken with food it helps digest food. Both are great.

For anyone on a tight budget I recommend putting the money to food, and if affordable, add Abzorb and SF722. That’s enough with the right diet to eliminate fungal overgrowth in almost everyone. There are some who work or live in environments that constitute more environmental stressors on the body, and therefore need a lot more help. There are also many living in areas of the country where the healthy food selection at the local grocery store is sparse. I recommend more supplements and growing your own food in such a case. And I recommend growing your own food for a hundred other reasons as well.

If you’re someone who needs more supplementation or, like me, you just tend to prefer overkill, here’s a step-by-step protocol that includes all of the previously recommended supplements, and a bit more to address Candida die off and healthy defecation.

Each day has two supplement routines that are repeated. Each supplement routine has an objective.

Clean and Gut Populate with Good Guys:

If your lymphatic system is toxic so is your gut. In fact, that’s where the toxins are most likely coming from.

On an empty stomach

Antimicrobials, Kill the Bad Guys:

Usually with food

Also, take absorb with any food that is difficult to digest.

Protocol

6am – Clean and Populate With Good Guys

Start with Abzorb and a big glass of cranberry lemonade and the

9am – Antimicrobials, Kill the Bad Guys

Salad time! The MycoPhyto Complex company recommends to take on an empty stomach, but I like it with salads and smoothies too.

12pm – Antimicrobials, Kill the Bad Guys

Homemade Smoothie Time! If you’re extremely ill you may need to wait on the smoothies and just double up on the salads for the first week, but I’ve found that many people who were suffering from a plethora of ailments and having trouble recovering responded very well to pineapple smoothies. Pineapple smoothies (made with fresh pineapple), like the ones I have recipes for in the above link, pack a massive amount of enzymes and can help break down a lot of junk in the gut, while delivering large amounts of nutrition. But, smoothies have plenty of sugar, so it’s a good time to repeat the supplements from 9am.

Use pineapple, coconut water, water, cranberry juice, or if you can withstand some sugar try granny smith apple juice, but don’t use sweet fruit juices for smoothies.

3pm -Week 1 – Antimicrobials, Kill the Bad Guys

3pm -Week 2 – Populate With Good Guys

6pm – Antimicrobials, Kill the Bad Guys

Dinner time! Everything from scratch, nothing pre-made in any way, all whole food ingredients.

9pm – Populate With Good Guys

Finish of the night with probiotic support and leave them alone for the night to do their thing.

Three More Supplements to Consider – Die-0ff, Heavy metal Detox, & Bowel Movements

If Candida die-off is a concern be sure to drink plenty of cranberry lemonade and I also recommend adding Total Nutrition Formula and the Intestinal Detox. Here’s a recipe to make your own Total Nutrition. This way you’ll get bentonite clay, charcoal, chlorella, spirulina, and more, which are all great for mitigating the die-off effects of a Candida detox, and they also chelate heavy metals.

You can take the Total Nutrition Formula with the smoothie or sprinkle it on the salad (or choke it down with water), and take the Intestinal Detox anytime throughout the day as directed.

If you’re not defecating easily and at least twice daily, I also highly recommend the Intestinal Cleanse. It kills parasites and moves the bowels better than anything else on the market that I know of, by far. I recommend taking it with the antimicrobials.

Conclusion

To help clear out a sluggish lymphatic system, get more exercise, get a good massage, eat more produce and drink lots of cranberry lemonade. For chronic illness, a holistic approach that involves fitness, diet, and supplementation is in order.

Sometimes people seem to be doing everything else right, but their bodies won’t get healthy until they start moving. For a clogged lymphatic system, exercise may be critical to get things moving freely. For most other health issues, exercise is more of an option, one with benefits but not totally necessary. If you find your lymph system to be sluggish, you need exercise. Squats, yoga, and running help detoxify the body and get lymph flowing better. Running is particularly good for the lymphatic system. We were built to run, and don’t let any doctor tell you differently. Check out Running Without Knee Pain. Both sprinting and jogging have a host of positive benefits to lymph.

The following recommended products, if used as instructed with a proper diet, will clear the lymphatic system, strengthen the immune system, and help alleviate almost all other health issues, given enough time. The supplements are listed in order of most likely to be most important. While the time varies from person to person, most feel a huge sense of rejuvenation within 3 to 10 days on this protocol.

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