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Chlorophyll usage and detox diet.
Hi @Bernadette_Abraham and @Daniel !
I’m starting my January clean detox (just like last year based on this book as it worked very well). As part of the diet I’ll be having lots of smoothies including chlorophyll.
Any consideration you would highlight?
Any brands you would suggest? I found this brand on Amazon , is with copper.. says for better absorption. Is this a better option?I’ll be taking also omega 3 (from Puori), most probably I should continue with Iron and I was thinking to also take a liver cleanse supplement from Gaia herbs.
The detox is based on elimination diet (most allergens removed like most grains, processed sugars, dairy, nightshades, certain fruits, peanut etc…) and will eat two liquid meals and one solid for the period. I’m hoping to go 3 weeks. Aim is purely detoxification of the body and not to loose weight – although I know I will probably but I don’t want to loose too much.)
Thank you and any comments are welcome :).
Szilvia
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Hey @Szilvia Bartalos,
Good luck with your detox program! I always tell my clients to have a good preparation! A detox program is great, but if there is some form of exposure present, taking away that exposure is the first step. Therefore take some time in your preparation to think about where you might get your exposure from.
Another important thing I tell my clients: start a detoxification program from a place of strength. If you’re sick for example, your body needs to heal. The purpose of detoxification is to get toxins that are stored, free them and get rid of them. When toxins get out of their hiding spaces and get into circulation, that’s when they can do their damage.
Since toxins in circulation need to be able to move out of the body, it’s important to have at least one bowel movement per day. If this is not the case if some form of constipation is present, it’s hard for the body to get rid of toxins. In my opinion, constipation needs to be solved first.
Amino acids are also important for detoxification. For example, glutathione (which is built from three amino acids) is an important antioxidant for detoxification. Amino acids help biotransform toxins into a form that makes toxins more water soluble as well. Making toxins more water soluble is often key to getting rid of them. Unfortunately, lots of detox programs don’t factor in for this. Lots of detox programs recommend no meat during the detoxification program causing the protein intake to be low. I would recommend in this case an organic vegan protein powder.
Getting enough of the amino acid cysteine in your diet can help your body to produce glutathione when necessary. NAC as a detox supplement can be valuable since it is a cysteine donor, but it helps detoxification in other ways as well.
The Gaia supplement has a lot of herbs that can stimulate the liver. I like the herbs they have chosen.
I have personally no experience with liquid chlorophyll supplements. For detoxification, I often recommend my clients chlorophyll supplements mentioning ‘broken cell walls’.
One last reminder: if detoxification causes symptoms. I would recommend to ‘slow down’ the detoxification program a bit. It might be that the toxins that became free into circulation are doing their damage before they have left the body. That’s not a situation you would like. You like to balance the body’s ability to get rid of the toxins with the amount of toxins that get into circulation.
There are many tips to give with detoxification programs, but these are some general ones.
Let us know how your detox is going!
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Thank you so much Daniel! This is super useful.
Thankfully I can still eat protein with this diet (excluding pork,beef or shellfish) so will keep protein most of the days for my one solid meal.
I will keep an eye on my digestion as well for sure and will probably try and go do some infrared sauna too once a week. (If it was summer I would just need to stay outside for a while in Dubai lol).
Regards to chlorophyll I found interesting info here. Although it says chlorophyll is better for detox specifically Chlorella seems to have amino acids that you mentioned and iron and other minerals that could be beneficial but still having the chlorophyll.. probably will go with that option.
Many thanks again!
Sz.-
Hey @Szilvia Bartalos,
How did the detox went? How were you feeling during and after the detox? Just curious!
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Hi Daniel,
Thank you so much for asking. It was good, it’s just very satisfying so see how strong we can be, saying no to so many things (like grains, sugar, diary etc…) and feel good about it. So for me is a great psychological achievement.
This time(second time) my digestion was not as great as the first time (more constipation) but I also had my period during the detox this year. Maybe I should have allowed more olive oil and add in more fiber. But overall it was still ok I hope to think.
Generally I felt very happy with less food and relatively well fed with liquid meals like soups and smoothies. I also had lots of energy and continue to have so.
I hope my body appreciates it. I’ll be doing my annual health check up in 2-3 weeks time. Let’s hope all is in order. Not that I had a lot of concerns (apart from iron), but just to keep everything healthy.
As I’m adding back the eliminated items, I don’t feel any side effects so far.
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Hello @Daniel Schepers and @Bernadette Abraham ,
So yesterday unexpectedly I had a strange night, going to bed a bit unsettled and waking up with a shivering and little shaky, with some stiffness under arm on my left side.. felt a little like a few years ago when I had some panic attacks in the night.
I managed to fall asleep again after adding some extra pillows and sitting/sleeping for a while. I had a date and some water as it felt like maybe blood pressure dropped or similar. I also had some pain in my left palm waking up but it went after a little while..I didn’t feel this for a long time but is not new to me, I used to have similar feelings back a few years ago.
I just finished my detox and not I’m eating normal again (for the last 5 days)
Do you think is some sort of deficiency? I’m going for my annual health check up next week. Anything specific you would suggest to check out?
I feel like this keeps coming back but don’t know why… or what it is.
Thank you
Szilvia-
Hey @Szilvia Bartalos,
There are several possibilities. Without more background, I can only guess. Blood sugar imbalances can cause waking up at night and could cause shivering/shakiness. If blood sugars for example drop in the night, your body tries to push blood sugars back up by releasing stress hormones. The same stress hormones can cause some unsettled or nervous feelings. It can also contribute to feelings of anxiety.
You mentioned you just finished your detox, but you’re not eating normally. Am I correct?
If you’re still switching slowly back to your normal food pattern, you might be eating fewer calories than your body usually requires. I’m not sure what your diet looks like, but this is what I often see people doing when they are following a detox diet (even if the goal of the diet isn’t calorie restriction itself!)
When energy from foods is less available or your diet is low in carbs, stress hormones will also rise for the same reason. Your body needs blood sugars and if you aren’t providing enough calories or carbs, elevations in cortisol take place to keep your blood sugars in range.
Another effect can be of the detox diet itself. If you have successfully freed up some stored toxins, that’s great! Especially if you got rid of them, however…
While toxins are free, but not yet secreted, this is when they can do some damage! This can put some stress on the body as well. After the detoxification phase, your body might need to take some time to heal.
Some symptoms you used to have could even return if toxins played a role. Remember, stored toxins often do less harm than free toxins!
I wouldn’t be immediately worried. First I would check:
How much you are eating. If you discover you eat a lot of healthy foods, but still are low in calories, try to eat more! Give your body a reason to drop the stress hormones.
Successfully freeing up toxins can be a burden to the body from which it might need some time to heal. Give it some time to heal.
Keep drinking water, keep enough proteins in your diet (they are necessary for detoxification!), eat enough cruciferous vegetables and make sure you get enough anti-inflammatory foods. A lot of vitamins and minerals play a role in detoxification, but there is a special role for b vitamins.
For blood sugar, you could check fasting glucose and HbA1c. Fasting insulin would even be better, but is often not done in a traditional check-up.
Toxins get excreted via urine and bile. To get some insight into if your bile flow isn’t sluggish, you could do a Complete Metabolic Panel or CMP. In this panel liver enzymes like AST, ALT, GGT and Alkaline Phosphatase are measured. Especially when ALT, AST and GGT aren’t strongly elevated, but alkaline phosphatase is suboptimally high, bile flow could be sluggish. Preferably we like to know this before a detox of course, but optimizing bile flow will help you detoxify better for the rest of the year.
In a CMP electrolytes like potassium and sodium are also measured. These electrolytes are influenced by corticosteroids like cortisol. The balance between the 2 of them can provide us insight into if you are experiencing some form of stress.
If you like to dive deeper into what liver enzymes are I recommend you watch the next few videos:
Liver Panel Markers (ALT, AST and GGT)
Liver Panel Marker ALT (Alkaline Phosphatase)
And if you like to talk better with your doctor watch this movie about what a CMP is exactly
I hope this answer helps you on your way
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Thank you very much Daniel, this is so formative. I’ll be doing some research and learning based on your and Bernadette’s suggestions and resources shared this weekend.
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Let us know if you need some clarification!
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