RECIPE: Lovage Mayonnaise

Lovage Mayonnaise

Makes a little more than 1 c.

1/2 c. packed lovage leaves
1/2 c. unrefined avocado oil
2 large egg yolks
1/2 t. himalayan pink salt
1 t. Dijon mustard
1 T. water
 Equipment:
2 pint jars
immersion/stick blender

In one pint jar combine the lovage leaves and the oil and blend until smooth.

In the other pint jar layer the remaining ingredients in the order listed.  Pour the lovage oil on top and wait 15-20 seconds for the contents to settle (oil will rise to the top).

Insert the blender and blend, gently rocking the head to slowly draw in the oil,  until the mixutre has emulsified.  Add water if it's too thick - it should be sauce-like.

Adjust seasoning.

Serve with raw carrots or roasted veggies.  It's also DELICIOUS with grilled steak!

RECIPE: Lovage Cooler

Lovage stems are hollow and can be used as straws!

Ginger Elderflower Cooler with Lovage Straw

Serves : one

2 t. elderflower syrup (you can also make your own)
1/4 - 1/2 c. ginger tea*, depending on how strong you like it (photo on left is 1/4c., on right is 1/2c.)
1" piece of seedless cucumber cut in half and sliced into wedges
2 deep red strawberries hulled and cut into wedges
1-2 ice cubes
club soda
1 stalk lovage with long stem, stripped of leaves

On the lovage stalk, wherever there is a leaf branch attached, the stem will not be hollow.  You may need to (gently) pass a long skewer through these nodes to make sure liquid will pass all the way through.

Mix the syrup and tea in a tall glass.  Add the cucumber, strawberries and ice and fill with club soda.

Insert your lovage 'straw' and enjoy!  Add an ice tea spoon so you can eat the fruit afterwards.


* I make ginger tea by steeping fresh ginger in boiling water.  I like it strong so I use a lot of ginger.

RECIPE: Risotto w Chicken, Asparagus, Lemon and LOVAGE

LOVAGE!

I had planned to make risotto with chicken and asparagus, but while I was chopping the onions I kept smelling something delicious.  When I realized it was the lovage lying on the counter waiting to be cleaned I decided to add it, and it raised the flavor profile of the risotto to a higher level.

(This recipe, without the lovage and lemon, is delicious with Chili Orange Oil.)

If you don't know how to make risotto, there are lots of tutorials on the internet.

Risotto with Chicken, Asparagus, Lemon and LOVAGE   

Serves 4

1 cup short grain rice (I use biodynamic sushi rice)
4-6 cups water or unsalted broth (I used veal broth)
1 t. himalayan pink salt
1 large onion, diced
1 small head (yes, a whole head) garlic, minced
2 stalks of lovage about 8-inches long, washed and dried, leaves separated from stalks**
2 T. ghee
2 bunches thick asparagus, washed, ends trimmed, and stalks cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound cooked chicken, shredded
1/2 c. cream or 1/4 c. shredded parmesan*
1 small lemon

2 T. minced chives

Zest the lemon, then juice it, and reserve both zest and juice.

Measure out 1/3 cup packed lovage leaves.  Slice them into 1/4" strips.  Save the stalks to use as straws!

Steam the asparagus until just barely cooked.  I put the stems in the steamer first, and add the tops after a minute or two so the tops don't overcook.  Set aside.

Melt the ghee in a large saute pan on medium heat.  Add the onions and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally.  They should not color.  Add the garlic and the rice and saute for 1-2 minutes until the rice is opaque.  It, too, should not color.

Add 1 c. water/stock and raise heat to med-high/high.  Add the lovage leaves and the salt.

Cook stirring constantly and adding water in 1/4 c. increments whenever you can see the bottom of the pan as you stir.

Adjust the heat so that when you add the new liquid, the liquid in the pan immediately comes back to boil.  The water/broth does not have to be hot if your cooktop is powerful enough to maintain this simmer.  If it isn't, you will need to heat the broth.

When the rice is almost done - there should be a speck of white visible in the center of the grain - stir in the chicken.

Cook until rice is done and chicken is heated through.  Don't over cook the rice!  You may not use all the liquid.  If you need more liquid, use water.  It should take *about* 20 minutes but don't freak if it takes longer.

Turn heat off.  Stir in asparagus, lemon juice and cream.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve sprinkled with lemon zest and chives.

* A few years ago I used cream instead of parmesan when I made risotto for a friend who didn't like cheese.  We liked it so much I use cream exclusively now.  I use raw cream so I stir it in last. 

** You will only use the leaves.  Reserve the stalks to use as straws!  

RECIPE: Bok Choy Pac Choi Salad

My girlfriend gave me this recipe years ago.
I don't know where she got it but this one is similar: Bok Choy Salad.

Pac Choi is spicier than bok choy.  Baby bok choy is milder than either.  You can use any of these.

Bok Choy or Pac Choi Salad

Serves 4

FOR THE SALAD:

• 5-6 small bulbs or 3 large bulbs cleaned and sliced 1/2" thick, about 6 cups
• 5 scallions, sliced 1/4" thick
• 1/4 c. sliced almonds
• 1 package rice vermicelli noodles
• 2 T. butter
• 2 T. sesame seeds 

FOR THE DRESSING:

• 1/4 c. light brown sugar (or 2T. dark brown sugar + 2T. turbinado)
  
• 2 T. apple cider vinegar
• 2 T. light sesame oil
• 2 T. dark sesame oil
• 2 T. tamari soy sauce or 2 T. coconut aminos 
• 1 t. salt

Combine dressing ingredients in small bowl and set aside to meld while you make the salad.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  The sweet, sour, and salty elements should be balanced.

Break rice noodles into 1" pieces.  Heat butter in small saute pan and fry rice noodles until the puff up and turn light gold.  DON'T BURN THEM!  Set aside on paper towels.

Add almonds to butter and toss until lightly browned.  Set aside on paper towels.

Toast sesame seeds in remaining butter until lightly browned.  Mix into dressing.

Mix cabbage and green onions with dressing.  Top with remaining ingredients and serve.

NOTE:  The dressing was very good served with baby white Hakurei turnips with their greens.  The turnips are a little spicy and the sweetness of the dressing cuts through them:

RECIPE: VERY green smoothie

I have this for breakfast every morning.  It's very 'green' but loaded with nutrients.  Without the lemon juice it's a bit too green for me but with the lemon I crave it.  It's not sweet; add stevia if you need sweetness.

The addition of Dr. Cowan's powders turn this from a healthy smoothie into a NUTRITIONAL POWERHOUSE.  You'll be getting a full day's worth of vegetables in one serving!  You can make it without the powders, of course, but it won't be as healthy.

You can add sea vegetables (thyroid and bone support) or nori (iron, b6, b12) for even more nutrition but they overpower the taste for me.  I have to take them in a capsule (yes, you can make your own!)

Very GREEN Smoothie

makes 3.5-4 cups

3-4 T. fresh lemon juice
1/2 avocado (fat helps the body assimilate the nutrients in the greens) OR 1 ripe banana plus 2T almond butter
1.5 c. packed baby greens (you want a LOT of these - really squish them in!)
1/2 c. packed spinach including stems (stems have more nutrition then the leaves!)
opt: 1/4 c. loosely packed dill sprigs (these make the avocado version taste amazing!)
opt: 2-3" peeled and seeded cucumber
1/2 t. agave inulin feeds good gut bacteria (agave is the most sustainable inulin source)
Dr. Cowan's powders:

• 1/2 t. perennial greens (my favorite Dr.Cowan powder - LOADED with nutrients!)
• 1/2 t. burdock root powder stimulates liver enzymes that promote detoxification
• 1/4 t. ashitaba powder one of the most nutrient dense vegetables on the planet
• 1/4 t. fiddlehead fern powder high in omega 3, niacin, potassium and carotinoids
• 2.5 t. low oxalate greens powder (these smell heavenly)
• 1 t. spinach powder (when I don't have fresh spinach)
• Opt (I add them when I won't be eating these veggies during the day) :
• 1/2 t. three-beet powder liver and gall bladder tonic due due high betaine content
• 1/2 t. carrot powder

1 leaf radicchio - inulin feeds good gut bacteria
1.5 - 2 cups water or tea* depending on how thick you like it

*Instead of all or part of the water, you can use herbal tea.
I use pao d'arco and/or hibiscus-rosehip-lemongrass-oliveleaf

DIRECTIONS

I make one serving in my Nutri-Bullet.  If you don't have a similar machine you can use a blender and make two or three days worth.  Store in a glass container in the fridge.

Load the blending jar in the order listed above.  I pack in as many greens as the jar will hold, sprinkle the powders on top, and put the radicchio leaf in last over the powders to keep them from sticking to the blades. I then pour in water to the 'max fill' line.

Blend until no small bits remain visible.  Transfer to glass and enjoy!

(Rinse blending jar immediately or it will be hard to clean.)

NOTE:  If you make the banana version, it will be thinner than the avocado version.  I alternate them.  The more spinach you use, the greener it will be.  In the photo below I didn't have much spinach so I doubled up on the green powders.  

Green smoothie made with banana and almond butter

RECIPE: Anti-tickbite tea (cistus)

I drink this during the summer (I add it to my Antioxidant Tea glass) to discourage ticks from biting.  I also add a little to our dog's water bowl.

Anti-Tickbite Tea (Cistus)

Makes 1 quart of concentrate ==> 16 pints reconstituted.

1/4 c. cistus tea (it is also available on eBay but I can't vouch for the quality)
1 quart of water.

This tea needs to be brewed 4 times.  Each infusion extracts different components.  I do all four infusions back to back and then combine them in a quart jar.  You can drink it alone - it has a very mild taste - but I put a few tablespoons of the concentrate into my antioxidant tea.

Place 1/4 cup tea into 2-cup french press, pour boiling water over and steep 10 minutes.

Strain into quart jar.

Bring water back to boil, pour over same leaves in french press and steep 10 minutes.  Strain.

Repeat two more times until quart jar is full.  Cool and store in the fridge.

RECIPE: Antioxidant Tea

I sip this tea all day long, 1-3 glasses.  I make it once a week and brew it very strong, then dilute it with water.  I prefer to drink it cold but you could dilute it with hot water if you prefer.   The olive leaves and pau d'arco can be bitter but the acidity of the fruits mitigates that.

Every one of the ingredients has multiple beneficial actions.  Together, they're a powerhouse of nutrients but many of the benefits overlap so you can eliminate those ingredients that don't agree with you (some people don't like ginger) and you'll still have a potent brew.

A word of caution: this tea is slightly diuretic due to the ginger and hibiscus so don't drink too much!

Antioxidant Tea

Makes 2 quarts of concentrate ==> 16 pints of reconstituted tea

I brew the pau d'arco separately because it requires different treatment, and I store the two teas in separate containers so that I can control the amount of pau d'arco in the mix.  You could mix the two together in a half-gallon jar but the pau d'arco will overpower the fruit.  

FOR THE FRUIT-GINGER TEA:
1/4 c. seedless rose hips - very high in vitamin C, and has many other benefits 
1/4 c. hibiscus flowers  -  anti-inflammatory and potent antioxidant
1/4 c. lemongrass  - potent detoxifier good for almost everything
1/4 c. olive leaves  - among other things supports respiratory & cardiovascular systems
1/4 c. dried ginger  - regulates blood sugar, supports brain health, promotes digestion
1 quart boiling water

Combine in a french press, cover with 1 quart of boiling water, and let steep until water is cool.  Strain into a glass jar/pitcher pressing firmly to extract all the liquid.  Raise the press halfway  and add a little more water to 'rinse'  the remaining tea, press that out and combine with the concentrate.  Store in the fridge.  (Shown on the right in the above photo)


FOR THE PAU D'ARCO TEA:
1/4 c. pau d'arco - high in selenium*, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic
1 quart water

Make sure the brand you buy contains only the inner bark.

In a small saucepan cover tea with water and bring to a boil.  Boil for 3 minutes then simmer for 20 minutes.  Strain into a jar/pitcher and store in the fridge.  (Shown on the left in the above photo)

TO SERVE:

This is how I 'serve' it but you can make it stronger or weaker:


Add 2 T fruit tea and 1 T. pau d'arco tea to a large glass and dilute with 1.75 c. water.
If you use RO water, add a few mineral drops.

* selenium helps you eliminate toxins

RECIPE: Carrot Pulp Salad or Dip

I've been juicing a lot lately, and looking for ways to use juicer pulp.  I've actually read that it's healthier to toss the juice and use the pulp! 

Here's something I made last weekend that was super easy and got rave reviews.  It was dense enough to use as a dip, and I had the leftovers as a side salad the next day.

Original recipe:  https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/french-grated-carrot-salad.html

Carrot Pulp Salad or Dip

Ingredients

• 2 cups carrot pulp from juicing peeled carrots (you can use grated carrots, but I prefer pulp!)
  
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, from one lemon
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon honey, to taste
• Heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 T. finely minced red onion

Instructions

1. In a salad bowl, combine the Dijon mustard, lemon juice, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the carrots, fresh parsley and red onion and toss well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Notes: Depending on the sweetness of the carrots, you may want to add more or less honey. Also, if you make this salad ahead of time, be sure to check the seasoning again before serving as the flavors tend to mellow.

 

Dementia and Alzheimer's

A few days ago I received a request from a friend to share what I know about these diseases.  I have been researching them for years.  By publishing my thoughts here my friend can refer to them easily AND it may help others in the same position.  It also helps me consolidate what I know.

I have to emphasize that what is written here is purely MY OPINION and should not replace advice from a medical professional.  

This is what I am doing
 to mitigate the chance that I might get one of these diseases.  

Before I go into what I've learned in my research, I need to mention The Bredesen Protocol.  It's a new therapy, published in August 2017, which claims to both prevent and cure cognitive decline.  My friend alerted me to it (it was news to me) and asked me to investigate.  I did, and I was pleasantly surprised.  At first glance, Dr. Bredesen appeared to address all the things I had learned in my research! 

According to this video on The Bredesen Protocol, there is now SCIENCE supporting the nutritional and lifestyle advice that naturopathic/functional/restorative medicine doctors have been advocating FOR YEARS!   

If you aren't familiar with the terms, naturopathic, functional and restorative doctors don't treat symptoms they look for the cause and work to eliminate it.  They make their money by curing you. 

Here's a cartoon from one of my favorite restorative doctors, Dr. Peter D'Adamo:

You will need to find a naturopathic/functional/restorative doctor to overcome cognitive decline.  The drugs that allopathic doctors use are prohibitively expensive, have debilitating side effects, and they don't work.  My mother took Aricept and Namenda for years, to the tune of $4000/month, and she still died early from dementia.  There ARE other more effective options....


I reviewed The Bredesen Protocol HERE.  This is an EXCELLENT protocol if you know you do not have heavy metal toxicity, chemical toxicity, or an MTHFR snp.  Bredesen admits that it is very hard to test for heavy metals.  I explain MTHFR below.  It's a known precursor for cognitive decline.

Background:

Most of us have heard that Alzheimer's disease is characterized by amyloid plaque in the brain.  Dr. Bredesen explains that this plaque is your body's way of protecting you from the three main causes of the disease. You don't want to remove this plaque until you remove the reason it's there.

You can 'get' Alzheimer's from one or more of the following conditions:

1. inflammation/glycotoxicity (glucose/insulin imbalance),
2. endocrine problems, and
3. toxins/infections.  

In order to design a treatment plan, multiple lab tests are done to determine your current levels of the markers for these conditions. 

Using the results of the tests, the Bredesen Protocol designs a program to first normalize and then OPTIMIZE your health.  If you enjoy optimal health, you can't 'get' Alzheimer's. 

This is where my prior research comes into play.  If you read my review of The Bredesen Protocol you know I think his program is worth following except that he doesn't address lectins, MTHFR snps, and heavy metal/chemical detox.   

Here's why this is a problem:

While Dr. Bredesen does explain the amino acid homocysteine and how vitamins B6 and B12 keep it low he does not mention MTHFR (MethyleneTetraHydroFolate Reductase) which, among many other things, is responsible for creating the type of folate essential for the conversion of homocysteine to methionine.  High levels of (unconverted) homocysteine are a marker for cognitive decline.

MethyleneTetraHydroFolate Reductase (MTHFR) is both an enzyme and a gene and is crucial to the body for many reasons. Mutations in this gene (SNPs) result in decreased activity of the enzyme, which causes issues with methylation, leading to the disruption of important and essential bodily functions – which include the ability to eliminate toxins properly. (There are other genes related to methylation which must also be tested, too many to list here.)

Here's a quote from this interview with Chris Kresser:

The reactions that occur when one molecule passes a methyl group to another make things like creatine, carnitine, CoQ10, phosphatidylcholine, melatonin, and tons of other really important substances in the body.

Methylation controls sulfur metabolism, which balances the need for methyl groups, glutathione to control oxidative stress, and other sulfur metabolites like cysteine, taurine, and sulfate.  Methylation influences the production of ATP, which is the fundamental energy unit of the cell.  If the cell can’t produce ATP, then there’s going to be inadequate energy in the body, nothing will work well, and you get a breakdown or an impairment of your mitochondrial function.  This is something that can affect pretty much every tissue and organ system in the body because it’s working on the most fundamental processes within the body.

Methylation, in particular, though, seems to affect certain systems more than others.   It affects detoxification.  As I mentioned, methylation is required to produce glutathione, which is one of the major molecules in a detoxification cycle, but if you don’t methylate properly, you won’t be able to detoxify properly, so what this can lead to is a higher susceptibility to heavy metal toxicity and toxicity from any source like pesticides, other environmental toxins and pollutants, mold toxicity, toxicity from lipopolysaccharide or any other bacterial or pathogen-based toxin – so just in a general, an increased susceptibility to toxic overload because the body is not able to detoxify properly.

EVERY MTHFR website I visited listed Alzheimer's as a symptom of MTHFR snps.  Why Bredesen doesn't address them is beyond me.

An estimated 50% of the population may have inherited one copy of allele C677T (heterozygous C/T) while up to 25% may have inherited two copies (homozygous T/T).   Individuals homozygous for C677T have at least a 50-60% reduction in MTHFR activity.  I feel this is too large a percentage to ignore.

Bredesen's solution to elevated homocysteine is to supplement with B vitamins but this is neither effective nor desirable if you have MTHFR snps because they don't work and can make the problem worse.



Whether you have an MTHFR snp or not, all of us have been exposed to heavy metals because we cannot avoid them .  (We also all have other chemicals in our bodies because we cannot avoid them, either.)   In addition...we all have glyphosate (Round-up) in our bodies even if we eat 100% organic because it's in everything including the air we breathe (and because even organic corn and soy, which is fed to all the animals we eat, is contaminated with glyphosate due to drift).  To make matters worse, we all have aluminum in our bodies because it, too, is in the air due to cloud seeding and the need to prevent air disasters. 

Unfortunately, glyphosate and mercury impact our ability to eliminate all toxins which can contribute to both inflammation and endocrine problems (causes 1 and 2 above):

Mercury prevents us from utilizing zinc, and our detox pathways need zinc.

Glyphosate chelates (binds) minerals, like zinc and selenium, and prevents them from being absorbed.  Selenium is a potent binder for mercury. 

Aluminum binds with glyphosate which means we have to detox both of them simultaneously.  But, if we have mercury, we have trouble detoxing other metals.

Do you see the circular nature of this problem?   Glyphosate and mercury tie up zinc which compromises our detox pathways.  We can't get rid of glyphosate without also detoxing aluminum, and we can't do that as long as we have mercury.  We must get rid of mercury...and all the other toxins it has caused us to accumulate.

(If you have any MTHFR snps, you must address them first or you will not be able to detox mercury.)

If you don't have an MTHFR snp, and you've lived a life that limited your exposure to a plethora of toxins, perhaps you don't need to be concerned about this.    Your body may have been able to eliminate the toxins you were exposed to, as it is designed to do.  But, since I haven't spent most of my life in a valley in the Rockies or a remote village in South America foraging for my food, I know I have toxins in my body that need to be purged.

So, referring back to the three causes Dr. Bredesen has identified,  *I* am going to address the toxins part of the trifecta first and hope that eliminates the other two.    

Here's what *I* plan to do:

The plan described below is based on the research I've done and the knowledge I have about what I've been exposed to in my food, the air I breathe, and what I put on my body.  We've been eating 90% organic for almost 10 years, and eliminated toxic home and personal care products years ago as well.  If you have a life-long exposure to these things, you should not attempt to detox without professional help.   Everything I'm doing up to that point is "safe".  You should do it, to!


I had all my amalgam tooth fillings removed years ago.  (If you still have even one please have them removed by a mercury-safe dentist.  You are flooding your body with mercury every time you chew!)  You should never attempt to detox with intact amalgam tooth fillings - you'll kill yourself.


I have a SWAMI, which is a personalized genotype diet plan that identifies the food lectins problematic for my genotype.  I avoid those foods whenever possible.  Dr. Bredesen's diet eliminates ALL lectins, even those which aren't a problem for certain blood types.

If you don't have a SWAMI you should get one as it will give you more food choices!  Use this video to fill out the questionnaire. You can fill out the secretor question after you've had your genome decoded.  I had my saliva tested for secretor status when I got my SWAMI years ago.



Having already done the two things mentioned above, I am now going to do the following:

FIRST, I'm having my genome decoded by 23-and-me and Ancestry.com.  If you do this, make sure you get the health+ancestry version of 23-and-me.  If you've already had your genome decoded by 23-and-me and the file type is V4 you will not need Ancestry.com data.  Unfortunately, 23-and-me changed their result set and it's no longer complete.

SECOND, I will send the results to Opus 23 (Opus 23 needs both sets of results, Dr. Bredesen uses only 23-And-Me)

If I have any MTHFR snps Opus23 will recommend ways to overcome them.  One of the things the MTHFR genes control are methylation pathways - the body's toxin removal processes - and these MUST be working properly before I start mobilizing toxins.

If I have the APOE4 gene,  Opus23 will recommend ways to overcome it taking my other snps into account.

In Feb 2016 Opus23 cost $385.
In Feb 2018 the price had gone up to $550
If you're going to do this, don't delay!

THIRD, after following OPUS23 recommendations, when I know my methylation pathways are working, I will start detoxing heavy metals and chemicals using the products and protocols described in this Klinghardt video and this Klinghardt pdf.  Dr. Klinghardt is a world renowned restorative practitioner who has contributed significantly to our understanding of metal toxicity and how to eliminate toxins which is why I chose his protocol.

I could order blood tests to determine which metals I need to detox; but, according to Dr. Klinghardt, we ALL have heavy metals because they are everywhere, and it's hard to test for them because your body sequesters them so they may not show up in blood, urine, or hair analyses.  Based on my life to this point, I assume I have them and need to get rid of them.

Listed below are the steps I plan to take:

Press HERE for part one - WHY DETOX

Press HERE for part two - HOW TO DETOX - the preliminary steps.

Press HERE for part three - HOW TO DETOX - mobilizing toxins.

Press HERE for part four - HOW TO DETOX - other considerations.

Press HERE for part five - HOW TO DETOX - synopsis.

 (UPDATE:  After reading over the material hundreds of times, trying to get these pages both accurate and easy to read,  I've decide to start lining my gut with binders even though I haven't yet done all the other steps.  This should trap any new toxins I ingest/inhale before they can be added to whatever is already in my body.  It should make detoxing easier once I get to the 'mobilizing' stage.  Below is the complete list of binders, I crossed out the ones I'm not going to take until I start mobilizing:

• Zeobind Clinoptilolite - for toxic metals, organophosphates, insecticides, pesticides, dyes (I use PURE BODY, a liquid spray I can carry with me.  It is as clean as ZeoBind)
• SILICA from horsetail - for aluminum and glyphosate  
• Chlorella Pyrenoidosa - heavy metals, chemicals and pesticides (I use THIS ONE)
• PC ECKLONIA Cava - same metal binding capacity as chlorella but a different spectrum
• Concentrated Minerals (toxin free) - to replace minerals bound to glyphosate
•  
• SELENIUM - mercury depletes selenium so I will supplement 200-400mcg daily  maximum
• ZINC - mercury depletes zinc so I will supplement 25-30mg daily
• Microsilica - for lead, cadmium, nickle, mercury, and barium
OR (I don't think you need both Microsilica and Metal Sweep)

• MetalSweep - microsilica plus vitamin C for prolonged effect along the entire gut
• Activated Coconut Charcoal - for mycotoxins (fungi) (you MUST take this away from prescriptions and other supplements - it will bind with them!  It also binds with iron.) 
• Calcium bentonite green clay - for plant and mold based biotoxins (I use these CAPSULES)
• 
  
• Sophia FLOW - to clear the lymph nodes in my brain

The clinoptilolite should be taken away from food so I take it in-between meals.
I take the silica in-between meals to bind aluminum and help detox glyphosate.
I put the mineral drops into the RO water and antioxidant tea I drink every day.
I take chlorella before each meal, 12 tablets.

If I were taking charcoal I would take it in-between meals as it binds with vitamins and beneficial minerals. You should not take charcoal long-term so I will use that only when I mobilize.

If I were taking clay capsules I would take them in-between meals with warm water.
I have decided to take clay-epsom-salt baths once a week instead of the capsules.



I still plan to do the program outlined above once I get my Ancestry.com results.

I will follow those parts of Dr. Bredesen's diet that agree with my SWAMI, and will add the daily 12-hour fast.  I already take most of the supplements he recommends and will add the few I don't.)

FOURTH, when I have finished detoxing, order the lab tests recommended by Dr. Bredesen and work to optimize the results.  At this point I will have eliminated heavy metals and other toxins like glyphosate so any inflammation and endocrine problems should have resolved themselves.  If not, I will need to find a functional/restorative doctor to help with this, preferably a Klinghardt practitioner.

(If you follow the Bredesen Protocol diet, make sure you also follow the lectin advice that both SWAMI and Opus23 provide.)

DETOXING - Why do it

This post is PART ONE of a compilation of the many detox protocols I've read about over the past 4-5 years.  I do not have any of the symptoms associated with heavy metal toxicity but I'm sure they are in my body because I have not lived my life in a valley in the Rockies or a remote forest in South America.

Using Dr. Bredesen's criteria, the likelihood that I'm toxic is low so I feel that I can safely eliminate what's in my body - without a practitioner's help - because I don't have much to get rid of.  However, knowing that the brain is the last part of the body to release metals, it makes sense to me to completely clear them from my body.

If you have any of the symptoms of heavy metal toxicity 
then you must use a trained professional to help you get rid of them 
or you can make yourself worse!  

What is written here is purely MY OPINION.

It should not replace advice from a medical professional. 

DO NOT FOLLOW MY ADVICE WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL!  

Don't do this alone!

Dr. Deitrich Klinghardt is one of the leading natural medicine physicians in the world.  Described as, "one of the most brilliant and gifted medical pioneers of our time," Dr. Klinghardt has contributed significantly to the understanding of metal toxicity and its connection with disease.  It is this part of his work that interests me - eliminating toxins.

The remainder of this post are the notes I took while watching Dr. Klinghardt's video.   Although the video seems to be an advertisement for the products he uses, what I got from the video is HIS TECHNIQUE - what he does to detoxify his patient's bodies. (A partial transcript is available HERE.)

Below are my notes on WHY he says we all need to detox heavy metals:


Almost all the illnesses we’re facing right now are linked to pollution of our environment.  Aluminum in the water and the air, mercury in your mouth (fillings and dentures (The pink element that makes the gums of the dentures pink is mercury sulfate and cadmium sulfate. )),  glyphosate in air, soil, and food.  Conventional agriculture has poisoned our food chain.

EVERY AMERICAN has these substances in their body, unless you live in a valley in the Rocky Mountains.

A very aggressive treatment use in Germany called apheresis, a 3-hour procedure similar to dialysis, discovered that EVERY AMERICAN they tested (several hundred) is filled with nanonized aluminum and organophosphates (Round-up).  The amounts found are 100 times higher than lead, mercury, or cadmium.  No lab in the US can make this diagnosis.  It doesn’t show up in hair analysis or other challenge tests.

When our inner environment is polluted, microbes that have lived symbiotically with us become more virulent and aggressive. We become out of balance.  Not only in the gut – everywhere in our bodies. Parasites concentrate toxins in themselves; they are here because we are polluted, they help us by taking toxins out, but there is a cost.   Diagnosis is difficult because no lab in the US can detect them.    We all have parasites because of environmental pollution.


22:29 Alzheimer’s has 4 components: mercury, aluminum, Lyme spirochetes, herpes simplex type1.  When we address those 4 issues, we can very often reverse, or at least, halt the progression.  (note: Dr. Bredesen also mentions Lyme and herpes simplex.)

To get mercury and aluminum out of the brain is the intent of all detox programs, because the brain is the last part that gives up metals.  So, if you get it out of the brain, you’ve detoxed the entire body.  If the body is full of mercury and aluminum, and there’s a little in the brain that causes Alzheimer’s, you can’t get it out until the rest of the body is clear.  Working against an osmotic gradient is impossible.

Once you get mercury out,  you increase the body's ability to eliminate all other toxic metals.  This is because mercury can cause a zinc deficiency and your detox pathways need zinc.

1:23 - Glyphosate (Round-up) is a chelator for minerals and prevents them from being absorbed.  Therefore, most of us are trace mineral deficient even if you eat organic (because glyphosate is in the air).   There is also a synergy between glyphosate and aluminum.  When bound with aluminum, glyphosate transports it deep into the brain and central nervous system. We cannot differentiate between detoxing aluminum and glyphosate. 

Lead in our bones is 400-1000x higher than 200 years ago.  It causes osteoporosis.  To get lead out of bone – replace lead with zinc.  Lyme disease causes an enzyme blockage that increases depletion of zinc, b6, molybdenum, biotin, glutathione into urine.  Urine can be tested for it.  Klinghardt uses CORE to replace in amounts higher than what the body is losing.



All of the above in conjunction with this page on avoiding toxins have convinced me I need to detox.


Press HERE for part one - WHY DETOX
Press HERE for part two - HOW TO DETOX - the preliminary steps.
Press HERE for part three - HOW TO DETOX - mobilizing toxins.
Press HERE for part four - HOW TO DETOX - other considerations.
Press HERE for part five - HOW TO DETOX - synopsis.