Day 3 - A Response to Skepticism

Weight - 136
Caffiene - yes (one cup of tea)
Sugar - no (well two grapes and two pieces of pasta)
Breakfast was weird (Juice made of one beet, one head romaine lettuce, 8 carrots, 1 inch ginger, and a cucumber) it tasted zippy and very refreshing
Lunch - half an acorn squash, chicken soup with parsnip, celery root, carrot and quinoa
Dinner -  a big salad of avocado, organic eggs, grilled chicken, red pepper, mixed greens, goat cheese


Today I wanted to address a great question my friend Isy pointed out.  I wish you guys could post the comments here  on the blog, but if it isn't working right for you please email me like Isy did.  Anyway, she recommends "Triple Leaf Tea" detox tea and I will try it and give a report - looking forward to it because I have to admit I've always hated tea without sugar but seem to be gaining a taste for it now.  I love the yogi teas - they are all delicious and the one's I've tried don't need sugar at all. 

She also said:

"I don't know about all your supplements... they cannot possibly be good for you, in my opinion. Have you read about all the research that has shown they not only not always contain what they claim, but are also often stuffed with mercury and other poisons. What makes you think the huge corporations that produce and market those supplements are more trustworthy than Kraft or Exxon?"

Of course anything I buy could be toxic, that's true, but I consider myself to have really carefully researched the only two items I'm currently taking right now.  Both are products recommended by organic food and anti-toxicity advocates who research this stuff and I purchased them through organic food sources.  I can only do my best.  I'm not taking more than two supplements currently.  As I've said... all I'm taking is Candex (an organic product designed to kill the candida yeast infestation I have due to long years of a very high sugar diet and antibiotic use for sinus infections) and Probiotics (an organic product designed to build the good flora in my gut that have declined from long years of antibiotic use).  I'm not doing an herbal cleanse right now, either.  I did buy one and am storing it in my cupboard (and boy it takes up space...) anyway, I haven't decided to use it yet because I haven't researched how to use it.  This (my current detox) is just a really special diet designed by a nutritionist specifically for women including all organic foods in a careful balance of protein and vegetable matter.  I'm fairly comfortable eating it and I don't feel hungry.  I have been craving sugar, though.

Anyhow, I do have a bunch of other things that don't fit in my cabinet.  I bought some vitamin mixes - EmergenC and Airborne.  If anyone knows that those contain toxins or contaminants, please let me know.  I have found them to work really well in the past  on keeping me healthy when I'm afraid I'm coming down with something - perhaps the placebo effect, though I think it's probably the vitamin C.  The only reason I'm not taking them now (as I know I recently got exposed to a stomach bug...) is that they do contain some sugar (for taste) and I'm not supposed to have any.  I do find they taste pretty darn good and really do seem to keep me healthy.  The other thing is that Ca/D supplement that I bought at Target.  Not sure if it's safe, it was Target brand which could be a large / evil big business manufacturer... anyway, I'm not taking it yet.  I'm not sure when to take it (as in with what foods, how much and what time of day) or how it might react with the detox, so I'm waiting until the detox is over for stuff like that.  I bought it because I read it ought to help with PMS and I'm also concerned about my Ca levels - trying to be proactive as women and bone density is always an issue.  If anyone knows about calcium supplements please post and let me know.

I will research the issue some during my upcoming nutrition class and my second semester anatomy and physiology course.  I had heard years ago that a sugar rich diet can strip Ca from your bones (from one of my aerobics instructors at the YMCA).  It didn't make sense to me, honestly, but I just took Anatomy and Physiology I and I learned about the Endocrine system in that class.  I don't know much, just enough to be dangerous, but I did learn that certain hormones in the parathyroid and thyroid regulate blood Ca (Ca is needed for your muscles to contract) and also metabolism (so to some extent blood sugar).  So, bare with me here, basically, I had calcium crystals in my urine that were causing the irritation of my bladder,  Someone told me once that high blood glucose strips calcium from the bones (don't know why) and I know I eat too much sugar.  Also, I've had an acidic digestive system due to stress and my poor diet and that contributes to the irritation in my bladder.  Anyway, I'm just putting all the points together a bit.  If my sugar was involved in some way in producing a removal of Ca from my bones, couldn't that be why the crystals were in my urine and couldn't it all mean I need some Ca supplements to build things back up again?  But as I said, I don't understand it well enough yet to know.  I plan to study it at some point to figure it out more and then I'll be able to decide if the supplements will help me.  Before I do that, however, I'm trying to get things back in whack as they are now.  And that's what the detox is supposed to do and that's why I need the candex and the probiotics.  If anyone knows more about this please post.

I guess the skepticism that marks Isabelle's email is worth talking about too.  I am a reformed skeptic these days. I'm not sure I'm proud of it, honestly, but it's just true.  I had a spiritual experience about three years ago and ever since then I've got more faith than one person really ought to use to live their life by... from a practical standpoint.  And yet, that's just how it is.  Anyway, this particular detox is really very convincing and logical however.  My motto on the back of my business card:

Trust in God, but tie your camel.

Well I really believe in that.  What I mean, is that I took the time to really read and research this detox business.  I also have a basic understanding of health and nutrition principles that I can draw from and a lifetime interest in health practices.  So, I picked Natalie Rose because it works for me on several levels...  it seems logical and makes sense to me, it allows for meat which is good since I can't eat soy due to my cystitis, it involves foods I do already like, it follows sound nutrition principles and could be healthily maintained for a long time (it's not a fast, it's a detoxing diet) and it's designed specifically for women with many of the issues I struggle with. Oh, so how am I a crazed zealot who is going through life riding on faith from all that logic?  Well, it's because I decided to detox based on the words of guides in my life...  First, my friend Elizabeth told me about Dr. Joshi and then my professor in Anatomy and Physiology mentioned nutrition class and then a fellow yoga teacher Robert mentioned another holistic doctor with a diet treatment method that worked for him and finally the owner of the Awareness Center in Newark, Neil, mentioned that recent studies indicate our bacteria and yeast are unique to us and they make up a lot of the cells in our bodies.  It begs the question, who are we really?  And that's the question, right?  Am I a bunch of sugar craving yeast and bacteria that are driving me to be addicted to my food or am I me, Erin, who doesn't need that crap?  (YEAH!  Watch me tell that yeast who's boss!)

Anyhow, day 3 is going just fine.  I did end up eating two pieces of penne pasta and two grapes (all when I tasted food I prepared for my kids to test it in the food preparation process...)  Otherwise, driving down mainstreet was a big distraction - I had never realized just how many ice cream, cup cake, and other various treat shops there are on mainstreet Newark!  I drove down it 3 times today and salivated the whole way!

I've written so much today... tomorrow I will give the complete quinoa / chicken soup rescipe (I made it up myself) and discuss the issue of elimination of waste (as delicately as possible).