Lots of us enjoy trying something fresh for the New Year.  And since many of you have been buzzing about going gluten-free, we thought we’d explore it further.  If you feel like you don’t understand all the fuss, you are not alone.  With so much media attention, going gluten-free is quickly becoming a fad diet that people are just latching onto.  Many people believe that if they just switched to gluten-free foods, they will lose weight.  While this is not entirely true, we do find a lot of our patients benefit from a gluten-free diet and some have a legitimate gluten sensitivity.  If you are sensitive to gluten (99% of gluten sensitive people are not aware of it), removing it from your diet will change your life!  If you are not gluten sensitive, replacing foods with gluten-free junk food may actually be adding to a weight problem, as many of these foods are highly processed and high in calories, carbs and fat.

Do you know what gluten is?

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, and oats.  Gluten is not inherently bad, it is only when our body reacts negatively that it can cause problems.  And these problems can be completely unrelated to digestion.  That being said, digestive problems like irritable bowl disease, chronic constipation or loose stool, and inflammatory bowl diseases like ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease can all be associated with or exacerbated by food sensitivities.  The New England Journal of Medicine lists 55 other seemingly unrelated conditions associated with gluten sensitivity including: osteoporosis, anemia, rosacea, chronic fatigue, restless leg syndrome, canker sores, rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism, eczema and psoriasis, multiple sclerosis (MS), and almost all other autoimmune diseases.  It can also be linked to depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, dementia, migraines, epilepsy, neuropathy, and autism.

Gluten sensitivity historically has been thought of in the medical world as Celiac Disease.  It was rarely diagnosed, and was often only considered in children who had chronic diarrhea.  But we are discovering symptoms appearing to be unrelated to a digestive imbalance can actually be cause by eating something as normal as a piece of bread.

Why this sudden increase in gluten intolerance?  It is likely due to the genetic modification of wheat and other grains recently introduced in our agriculture and diet.  Almost all wheat flour in America has been genetically modified to have a much higher gluten content than ever before, making our breads doughy and fluffy.  The down side of all this gooey dough is that many of us who may have a minor sensitivity to gluten are reacting much more intensely than before.

If you’ve been suffering from chronic fatigue, MS, depression or any of the above mentioned symptoms and haven’t been able to find relief, it might be worth it to try a gluten-free lifestyle.  There are many drugs and treatments available to treat the manifestations of gluten sensitivity, but the only way to truly cure yourself, if this is indeed your problem, is to completely avoid gluten.

The real problem with consuming gluten when your body is sensitive is that the reaction creates inflammation in the body.  Inflammation is at the root of all the major killers in our medical system including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.  Recent studies have come out showing you don’t have to have full blown celiac to be at risk for complications associated with gluten sensitivity.  Even just having the antibodies circulating, without inflammation in the gut or testing positive for celiac, increases risk of death from cancer, heart disease, and other related inflammatory diseases by up to 35%.

Discovering whether or not you are sensitive to gluten can be done in several different ways.  The simplest and cheapest is to completely remove gluten from your diet for at least two (and up to six) weeks.  If after 2-6 weeks some of your symptoms have disappeared, or if you notice you feel more energized and clear headed, you may have a sensitivity to gluten.  You can test your theory by adding it back into your diet and seeing how you feel in the following days.  If you notice your symptoms returning, you are sensitive to gluten and would benefit from avoiding it most of the time.  If you are keeping track on your own, it is helpful to keep a food journal to record what you ate and how you felt afterward.  A doctor who is well acquainted with gluten sensitivities can also test your blood and/or saliva for antibodies related to gluten or for the genes associated with celiac.

Some tips to follow when adapting a gluten-free lifestyle:

• Avoid any product made with wheat, barley, rye, kamut or oats (bread, pasta, crackers, cereal, pastries, cookies, pretzels, flour tortillas, pie crusts, etc.)

• Hidden sources of gluten include the following: soy sauce, BBQ sauce, “meat-free” meat, couscous, beer, whiskey, envelope and stamp adhesive (!), some lipsticks, and soups thickened with flour.

• When in doubt at a restaurant, mention to your server that you are gluten sensitive and ask for guidance with the menu.

• Try products made with brown rice, corn, amaranth, millet, potato, tapioca starch, soy, garbanzo bean flour, and quinoa.

• Try wheat-free tamari sauce instead of soy sauce and thicken your soups with corn starch.

• Look for the “gluten-free” label, but keep in mind that just because it’s gluten-free, doesn’t make it calorie free.

With recent research suggesting a link between obesity and the overuse of antibiotics, we thought it might be a fitting time to discuss probiotics.  When we take antibiotics, we alter our community of healthy intestinal bacteria.  It may surprise you to learn that the bacteria in our bodies out number our human cells by a ratio of 10:1.  This may sound like a massive amount of microorganisms, but let’s explore the ways in which these unseen creatures help us out (in a very necessary and healthy way).

1. Healthy bacteria in the gut (also called Probiotics) help boost our immune system by taking up real estate and nutrients that would otherwise be vacant for invading bacteria (like Salmonella or E. coli).
2. Probiotics interact with our immune systems locally in our intestines, at other mucus membranes in the body, and even systemically to help our immunity stay or become strong.
3. They maintain and strengthen the intestinal barrier, making sure we only absorb nutrients and not other particles that may cause adverse reactions (a syndrome called “leaky gut”).
4. They help regulate bowel motility, blood flow to the colon, and also produce essential nutrients that nourish the colon tissue.
5. They help our bodies make Vitamin K and B Vitamins and help us absorb Calcium, Magnesium, and Zinc.
6. They play an important role in the detoxification process.
7. Some strains of these helpful microorganisms also produce enzymes that help us digest common allergens like gluten, dairy, and soy.

Many traditional diets have ample sources of these microorganisms…fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, kefir, and miso to name a few.  We can also get them from just simply eating unprocessed organic fruits, veggies, and grains.  The typical modern diet however is very processed, pasteurized, irradiated, bleached, and medicated, so it is a good idea to add a quality probiotic to your daily routine, especially if you are struggling to eat whole organic unprocessed foods at every meal (which we of course suggest you strive to do).

In Chinese medicine having a healthy and strong digestive system is the best way to maintain a healthy weight.  When we are digesting and absorbing nutrients efficiently, we are creating qi from our food easily and feel energized, focused and satisfied.  When our digestion is weak, we feel sluggish, crave carbs, and often feel too tired to exercise.   Our immune systems might also be weak, slowing us down with every cold or flu that comes along.  Taking steps to improve the health of our digestive systems (as well as our dietary choices) will improve our quality of life on multiple levels.  Adding a probiotic is one way to improve your digestive health.

A good quality probiotic should:

• Be purchased from a reputable source (quality health food store, Naturopathic Physician, Chiropractor, Nutritionist, Acupuncturist, or other distributor of pharmaceutical grade supplements).

• Have delivery technology that protects it from digestive juices in the stomach, so the live cultures can get to your intestines.

• Be either freeze-dried or refrigerated.

• Be free of common allergens (dairy, gluten, corn, soy), preservatives, binders, and fillers.

• Contain inulin (food for the good bacteria; also called “prebiotics”) to support and maintain the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut.

• Have laboratory tested verification of purity, potency and stability.

Independent analysis of many brands of probiotics consistently reveals inactive strains.  While buying a cheap probiotic may seem like it is saving you money, it can actually be a waste as you may be purchasing capsules filled with dead bacteria.   Gross!

At the YinOva Center, we always look for ways for you to spend your health dollars wisely.  In order to help simplify your choice of a good quality probiotic, we have spent many hours researching brands and have chosen to carry one at our center that we trust.   Klaire Labs backs their products with rigorous testing to ensure efficacy, purity, potency, and stability.  They also offer a diverse array of products to meet specific needs.  We currently stock a very potent complete spectrum probiotic, a Women’s focused blend (targeted to prevent yeast infections and urinary bladder infections), a prebiotic blend, and a high potency digestive enzyme to assist our patients with known or suspected food allergies.

Our cleanse is in it’s third week and Jane and I are feeling pretty good. Many of you have emailed or spoken to me about your experiences and I think most of us agree that the first week was the hardest. Now our stomachs have shrunk and we are used to our restricted diet and we have the added incentive that we are seeing results. Many of us have lost weight and everyone tells me that they are feeling more vibrant and have more energy.

After the parasite cleanse of last week, some of you have asked how to tell if you have unwanted guests. Obviously large parasites are easy to spot, when it comes to smaller parasites you should check your stool for small white specks that look like rice grains.

So what’s in store for us in week three? We continue with some of the main cleansing formulas but now our focus shifts to a couple of major cleansing organs, the lungs and the kidneys. The kidneys receive waste products from the liver so it was important to cleanse the liver first so that we did not overtax the kidneys during this part of the cleanse.

From your kit you will need the following: -

• The Lung Rejuvenator ™
• The Kidney and Bladder Rejuvenator ™
• Digestive Stimulator™
• Liver and Gallbladder Rejuvenator™
• Friendly Bacteria Replenisher™
• Toxin Absorber™
• Toxin Neutralizer™

Our kidneys, though small, work incredibly hard. Every day the equivalent of 250 gallons of blood pass through our kidneys, which extract toxins and excess water. The kidneys contain tiny tubes called nephrons which over time can become mucusy and congested. Our aim this week is to help clean these tubes so that they kidneys can function better. Sluggish kidney function can make you feel lackluster and tired so you can expect to have more energy as your kidneys cleanse. In Chinese medicine the kidney is also associated with willpower and poor kidney function is linked to fear, lack of motivation and insecurity. Hopefully the work we do this week will help us to be bolder and more motivated.

Our lungs take in oxygen which is absorbed into the blood to support every process in the body. They also get rid of carbon dioxide which is a by-product of the body’s energy production. However, over time the pollution we breath makes the bronchial tubes in the lungs constrict and produce mucus. This impairs our lung function, causing us to take in less oxygen and thus making us tired and sluggish. In Chinese medicine poor lung function is associated with grief and sadness. So the work we do this week should help us to feel more positive and joyful.

Food

Carry on eating the clean foods that you were eating last week. Here in the office we have christened it “temple food”

Avoid the following foods

• Meat
• Dairy products
• Fried foods
• Processed sugars
• Processed foods
• Coffee
• Alcohol

Instead eat predominantly organic fruits and veggies and whole foods and remember to drink plenty of water. If weight loss is a goal you should restrict but not eliminate carbohydrates. Otherwise choose organic whole grains such as brown rice or quinoa.

I have found soups to be invaluable. Nourishing, warming and nutrient packed. This week I enjoyed a butternut squash soup made with baked squash and vegetable stock with just a hint of basil.

Continue to follow our YinOva recommendations to support your cleanse

• Start each day with a cup of hot water with lemon in it.
• Eat three small meals and two snacks a day.
• Take some time each day to do deep breathing, meditation, gentle stretching or yoga
• Get at least 8 hours sleep each night
• In the shower brush your skin with a loofah, skin brush or Japanese skin cloth
• Drink one 8 oz glass of water or cup of herbal tea an hour. Explore a variety of herbal teas. Green tea is nice first thing in the morning and chamomile tea is relaxing before bed.
• Eat small portions and stop eating when you are satisfied.
• Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly
• Have a weekly acupuncture treatment to encourage detoxification and to deal with any symptoms that may arise
• Once a week place a castor oil pack over your liver. Rub castor oil over your liver on your right side of your upper abdomen from the mid-line out under your ribcage. Place an old towel over the caster oil and put a hot pack over the area and leave it there for 30 – 40 minutes whilst you relax.
• Reiki can be helpful especially if you find that your cleansing process involves processing negative emotions.
• Try to walk for at least 30 minutes a day

Next week we will be focusing on the lymph, blood and skin, whilst continuing with the progress we have made supporting our intestines, liver, gall bladder, lungs and kidneys.

All herbs in our YinOva Cleanse are supplied by Blessed Herbs. We sell the kits at The YinOva Center or you can buy them directly from the manufacturer.

Please check with your doctor or health care provider to make sure that you are healthy enough to spend a month on a restricted diet. Do not take herbs, vitamins, recreational drugs or over the counter medication whilst you are cleansing. If you are taking prescribed medications please ask your prescribing physician for advice about combining them with this cleanse. The instruction book that accompanies your kit has information about the way in which the cleansing herbs can interact with certain prescribed medications.

Do NOT cleanse :-

• If you are pregnant (if you discover you are pregnant whilst cleansing, please discontinue with the cleanse)
• If you have an active, acute infection
• If you are weak or debilitated
• If you are about to undergo or are recovering from surgery
• If you are suffering from the following GI problems – diarrhea, vomiting, intestinal infection, bowel obstruction, inflammation of the GI tract, abnormal narrowing of the esophagus or intestines, difficulty swallowing.

Welcome to week two of our cleanse. Jane and I are beginning to feel pretty good. How are you doing?

Hopefully your intestines are working well after our week-long colon cleanse. This week we’ll continue to support the ability to eliminate by taking the colon cleansing herbs and we’ll add in some herbs to support and cleanse the liver and gall bladder. You will continue to take these herbs for the next three weeks because good liver function, like a healthy colon, is essential to a successful cleanse. Also this week you will take four formulas aimed at eliminating parasites and replenishing friendly bacteria

From your kit you will need the following :-

• The Digestive Stimulator™ – You will continue to take this intestine support formula in the dosage that you have established gives you 1 – 3 formed but soft bowel movements per day.
• The Toxin Absorber™ – You will continue to take this colon cleansing formula
• Liver & Gallbladder Rejuvenator™ – To clean and protect these organs which play a crucial role in detoxification
• Large Para Cleanser 1 & 2™ and Small Para Cleanser™ – Which work together to eliminate parasites
• Friendly Bacteria Replenisher™ – To recolonize the intestines with friendly fauna
• Toxin Neutralizer™ – To help prevent newly released toxins from damaging healthy cells.

Please refer to the instructions in the booklet that comes with your kit to get information about dosage and timing.

Food

If you have been following a liquid diet during the first week of the cleanse now is the time to reintroduce solid foods.

Avoid the following foods

• Meat
• Dairy products
• Fried foods
• Processed sugars
• Processed foods
• Coffee
• Alcohol

Instead eat predominantly organic fruits and veggies and whole foods and remember to drink plenty of water. If weight loss is a goal you should restrict but not eliminate carbohydrates. Otherwise choose organic whole grains such as brown rice or quinoa.

Some recipes that we have enjoyed this week include

• This wild seaweed salad from 101 Cookbooks
• Avocado salad with ginger miso dressing from the Mayo Clinic
• Roasted Cauliflower Soup from the blog Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
• Grilled Romaine Salad from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
• Quinoa and Spinach soup from the blog Hello Veggie
• Kale Soup from the blog Hello Veggie

A Helpful Qi Gong Exercise to Benefit the Liver

Sit comfortably in a chair or in a more meditative position. Focus on your breathing.
Place both of your hands over your liver which is located on the right side of the body under the rib cage.
Exhale as you tap the liver 5 times. Imagine releasing letting go of sludge, heat and heaviness as you tap. Consciously let go of any feelings of anger or frustration.
Inhale and visualize cool, green energy flooding through your liver. Let this energy fill you with peace and compassion.
Repeat this inhale and exhale 10 times every morning and evening this week.

Continue to follow our YinOva recommendations to support your cleanse

• Start each day with a cup of hot water with lemon in it.
• Eat three small meals and two snacks a day.
• Take some time each day to do deep breathing, meditation, gentle stretching or yoga
• Get at least 8 hours sleep each night
• In the shower brush your skin with a loofah, skin brush or Japanese skin cloth
• Drink one 8 oz glass of water or cup of herbal tea an hour. Explore a variety of herbal teas. Green tea is nice first thing in the morning and chamomile tea is relaxing before bed.
• Eat small portions and stop eating when you are satisfied.
• Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly
• Have a weekly acupuncture treatment to encourage detoxification and to deal with any symptoms that may arise
• Once a week place a castor oil pack over your liver. Rub castor oil over your liver on your right side of your upper abdomen from the mid-line out under your ribcage. Place an old towel over the caster oil and put a hot pack over the area and leave it there for 30 – 40 minutes whilst you relax.
• Reiki can be helpful especially if you find that your cleansing process involves processing negative emotions.
• Try to walk for at least 30 minutes a day

Thank you to all of you have emailed to share your experiences and recipes. As you begin to cleanse your liver you may notice that you experience some negative emotions. There is no explanation for this in Western medicine but in Eastern medicine the liver can become constrained by repressing emotions so it follows that de-sludging your liver may free some emotions that you have pushed down. To help these feelings move though you try moving your body. Go for a brisk walk or a jog or arrange to have a massage or a reiki treatment.

Next week we will be focusing on the kidneys, bladder and lungs whilst continuing with the progress we have made supporting our intestines, liver and gall bladder.

All herbs in our YinOva Cleanse are supplied by Blessed Herbs. We sell the kits at The YinOva Center or you can buy them directly from the manufacturer.

Please check with your doctor or health care provider to make sure that you are healthy enough to spend a month on a restricted diet. Do not take herbs, vitamins, recreational drugs or over the counter medication whilst you are cleansing. If you are taking prescribed medications please ask your prescribing physician for advice about combining them with this cleanse. The instruction book that accompanies your kit has information about the way in which the cleansing herbs can interact with certain prescribed medications.

Do NOT cleanse :-

• If you are pregnant (if you discover you are pregnant whilst cleansing, please discontinue with the cleanse)
• If you have an active, acute infection
• If you are weak or debilitated
• If you are about to undergo or are recovering from surgery
• If you are suffering from the following GI problems – diarrhea, vomiting, intestinal infection, bowel obstruction, inflammation of the GI tract, abnormal narrowing of the esophagus or intestines, difficulty swallowing.

Last week we introduced you to The YinOva Cleanse and made some general recommendations about cleansing and detoxifying. This week Jane and I are going to be following the cleanse ourselves and several of our patients have decided to join us. If you want to participate you can pick up your kits at our office where we will be happy to answer your questions. Alternatively you can buy one directly from the manufacturer, Blessed Herbs (it’s the same price).

Week One – The Colon Cleanse

The first week of the cleanse is devoted to getting your intestines working well. It’s important to get your digestive system to eliminate properly before we begin to cleanse other organs. So this week we are going to concentrate on removing old, accumulated waste from your large intestine and making sure that you are moving your bowels regularly.

In your kit you will find the following: -

• Toxin Absorber ™ This herbal supplement of made of psyllium seed husks, apple pectin, ginger root OR peppermint leaf, and bentonite clay should be taken mixed with water 5 x a day.
• Digestive Stimulator™ This supplement contains laxative herbs combined with herbs that tone the digestive system. Everyone will need a different dosage of the digestive stimulator. Experiment by starting at a low dose and build up until you are having 3 bowel movements a day.
• A jar for mixing the toxin absorber with water
• Complete instructions

During this part of the cleanse it is important that you have at least one, and preferably three, bowel movements a day. You will be taking the digestive stimulator each night to promote a bowel movement but if you find that you have not moved your bowels during the course of the day increase the number of digestive stimulator pills, increase your water intake and give yourself an enema. Refer to the booklet with your kit for more information about this.

Pre-Cleanse – Days 1 -3

The object of the three day pre-cleanse is to gently introduce your body to the cleanse and help you determine how many digestive stimulator pills you will need to have three soft but formed bowel movements a day.

• Begin to adopt your cleansing diet as explained in the introductory article
• Drink 6 – 8 glasses of water every day
• Take the toxin absorber and digestive stimulator every evening (Refer to page 11 in your instruction book to work out how many pills to take)

The Main Colon Cleanse – Days 3 – 7

You will now increase the amount of toxin absorber you take to 5 packets evenly spread throughout the day. This equates to a packet every three hours. You will continue to take your dosage of the digestive stimulator every evening. Remember to drink 6 -8 glasses of water a day.

Food

As you know I am not fond of very low calorie diets which I think deplete your metabolism and lead to rebound weight gain. However the main part of the colon cleanse does work much better if you limit your intake of solid food. If you are in good health and feel up to it you can achieve a more intense detoxifying effect by restricting yourself to liquids only. During the pre-cleanse gradually reduce your intake of solid foods and from days 3 – 7 drink juice, nut milks, smoothies, and vegetable soups.

If you decide not to do the liquid diet, simply follow the dietary guidelines below.

Avoid the following foods

• Red meat
• Dairy products
• Fried foods
• Processed sugars
• Processed foods
• Coffee
• Alcohol

Instead eat predominantly organic fruits and veggies and whole foods and remember to drink plenty of water. If weight loss is a goal you should restrict but not eliminate carbohydrates. Otherwise choose organic whole grains such as brown rice or quinoa.

Here are some meal suggestions that we have found helpful

• Marinated Kale – This lovely salad is the creation of nutritionalist, Jeanette Bronee who runs Path for Life which is in the same building as The YinOva Center
• Ginger Jeweled Salad from one of my favorite blogs 101 Cookbooks
• In a hurry green curry again this is from the lovely healthy website 101 cookbooks
• Basic Miso Soup – feel free to add chopped veggies to this to make it more substantial
• Any of the fabulous detox recipes in this newsletter from Gwyneth Paltrow’s website GOOP. I particularly like the salad with carrot and ginger dressing and the detox teriyaki chicken.
• If, like me, you are on the run you can always pick up raw veggies and salad at your corner deli and dribble them with olive oil and vinegar

A Helpful Qi Gong Exercise to Benefit the Colon

Every morning stand comfortably and move your arms backward behind your body with the palms facing upwards.
Hold this position for two seconds.
Make a fist with both hands, inhale a tighten your anus
Hold this position for 2 seconds
Then exhale and relax your anus and loosen your fists.
Repeat this exercise 20 times.

Recommendations to Support your Cleanse

• Start each day with a cup of hot water with lemon in it.
• Eat three small meals and two snacks a day.
• Take some time each day to do deep breathing, meditation, gentle stretching or yoga
• Get at least 8 hours sleep each night
• In the shower brush your skin with a loofah, skin brush or Japanese skin cloth
• Drink one 8 oz glass of water or cup of herbal tea an hour. Explore a variety of herbal teas. Green tea is nice first thing in the morning and chamomile tea is relaxing before bed.
• Eat small portions and stop eating when you are satisfied.
• Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly
• Have a weekly acupuncture treatment to encourage detoxification and to deal with any symptoms that may arise
• Once a week place a castor oil pack over your liver. Rub castor oil over your liver on your right side of your upper abdomen from the mid-line out under your ribcage. Place an old towel over the caster oil and put a hot pack over the area and leave it there for 30 – 40 minutes whilst you relax.
• Reiki can be helpful especially if you find that your cleansing process involves processing negative emotions.
• Try to walk for at least 30 minutes a day

Good luck and please share your experiences with us. We love to know how you are doing and would be especially interested in any healthy detox recipes you’d like to share.

Next week we will move on to eliminating parasites and cleansing and tonifying the liver and gall bladder.

All herbs in our YinOva Cleanse are supplied by Blessed Herbs. We sell the kits at The YinOva Center or you can buy them directly from the manufacturer.

Please check with your doctor or health care provider to make sure that you are healthy enough to spend a month on a restricted diet. Do not take herbs, vitamins, recreational drugs or over the counter medication whilst you are cleansing. If you are taking prescribed medications please ask your prescribing physician for advice about combining them with this cleanse. The instruction book that accompanies your kit has information about the way in which the cleansing herbs can interact with certain prescribed medications.

Do NOT cleanse :-

• If you are pregnant (if you discover you are pregnant whilst cleansing, please discontinue with the cleanse)
• If you have an active, acute infection
• If you are weak or debilitated
• If you are about to undergo or are recovering from surgery
• If you are suffering from the following GI problems – diarrhea, vomiting, intestinal infection, bowel obstruction, inflammation of the GI tract, abnormal narrowing of the esophagus or intestines, difficulty swallowing.

It’s that time of year!

In Chinese medicine spring is the season of the wood element which governs the liver and gallbladder, two organs that become particularly sluggish thanks to festive excesses. In the five element system this time of year is associated with cleansing and renewal. So as we ease into Spring, here at the YinOva Center we’re turning our minds to cleansing. Every year the staff and some of our patients cleanse together for one month and this year I will be joined by several patients, Lea and Sarah from our front desk and Michele who heads up our communications team. We have a google group so that we can support each other so let me know if you would like to join us and I’ll make sure you have the right herbs and access to our community through the support group.

At The YinOva Center we’re not big fans of the more draconian cleanses where people drink nothing but lemon and cayenne water. We prefer a more gentle detoxifying regimen using herbs to cleanse each organ in turn. The cleanse we recommend lasts one month and detoxifies specific organs in a logical order. All the herbs are available as a kit from our center. The kit contains over 90 different herbs in 13 separate formulas designed to support your body as it cleanses, reduce unwanted para-organisms and restore healthy flora in the intestines.

• Week One – The Colon Cleanse
• Week Two – The Liver and Gallbladder Cleanse
• Week Three – The Kidney Bladder and Lung Cleanse
• Week Four – The Blood, Skin and Lymph Cleanse

Food

As for food. We won’t be asking you to live on juice and veggie broth (at least not for any length of time) but we will be asking you to eliminate or at least restrict some foods that are hard for your body to digest. These include : -

• Meat
• Wheat/gluten
• Dairy products
• Fried foods
• Processed sugars
• Processed foods
• Coffee
• Alcohol

Try to eat predominantly organic fruits and veggies and whole foods and remember to drink plenty of water. If weight loss is a goal you should restrict but not eliminate carbohydrates. Otherwise choose organic whole grains such as brown rice or quinoa. Replace your coffee with the green tea blend you will find in your kit. We will talk about food in greater depth as we tackle the cleanse week by week and I will be making some suggestions and sharing some recipes as I go along.

Recommendations to Support your Cleanse

• Start each day with a cup of hot water with lemon in it.
• Eat three small meals and two snacks a day.
• Take some time each day to do deep breathing, meditation, gentle stretching or yoga
• Get at least 8 hours sleep each night
• In the shower brush your skin with a loofah, skin brush or Japanese skin cloth
• Drink one 8 oz glass of water or cup of herbal tea an hour. Explore a variety of herbal teas. Green tea is nice first thing in the morning and chamomile tea is relaxing before bed.
• Eat small portions and stop eating when you are satisfied.
• Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly
• Have a weekly acupuncture treatment to encourage detoxification and to deal with any symptoms that may arise
• Once a week place a castor oil pack over your liver. Rub castor oil over your liver on your right side of your upper abdomen from the mid-line out under your ribcage. Place an old towel over the caster oil and put a hot pack over the area and leave it there for 30 – 40 minutes whilst you relax.
• Reiki can be helpful especially if you find that your cleansing process involves processing negative emotions.
• Try to walk for at least 30 minutes a day

A Sample Day

7.00am – Drink a cup of hot water with lemon

7.15am – Stretching exercises and deep breathing

7.30am – Green Tea + Herbs from your kit

Drink water and the herbal tea from your kit throughout the day

8.00am – Oatmeal made with rice milk or a smoothy made with silken tofu, fruit and honey

10.00am – An apple

1.00pm – Miso soup with vegetables or a raw vegetable salad + Herbs from your kit

3.00pm – A handful of almonds

6.00pm – Steamed Salmon, leafy greens and baked squash + Herbs from your kit

7.30pm – Walk for 1/2 an hour

9.00pm – Chamomile Tea

10.00pm – Meditate/ Yoga/ Castor oil pack

10.30pm – Bed

I’m going to outline each week of this four week cleanse in more detail as we go along. So …..Good luck and let’s get started.

All herbs in our YinOva Cleanse are supplied by Blessed Herbs. We sell the kits at The YinOva Center or you can buy them directly from the manufacturer.

Please check with your doctor or health care provider to make sure that you are healthy enough to spend a month on a restricted diet. Do not take herbs, vitamins, recreational drugs or over the counter medication whilst you are cleansing. If you are taking prescribed medications please ask your prescribing physician for advice about combining them with this cleanse. The instruction book that accompanies your kit has information about the way in which the cleansing herbs can interact with certain prescribed medications.

Do NOT cleanse :-

• If you are pregnant (if you discover you are pregnant whilst cleansing, please discontinue with the cleanse)
• If you have an active, acute infection
• If you are weak or debilitated
• If you are about to undergo or are recovering from surgery
• If you are suffering from the following GI problems – diarrhea, vomiting, intestinal infection, bowel obstruction, inflammation of the GI tract, abnormal narrowing of the esophagus or intestines, difficulty swallowing.

Many of our patients are surprised to find out how much their weight can impact their ability to conceive. In fact an estimated 12% of all infertility issues are weight related and maintaining a healthy body mass index (BMI) is one of the most helpful things you can do to enhance your fertility.

So what is a healthy BMI? Doctors tell us that a BMI between 19 and 25 ideal. (BMI is calculated by calculating your weight in pounds and dividing it by your height in inches, then dividing it by your height in inches again, then multiplying the result by 703. Example: 140 pounds, divided by 67 inches, divided by 67 inches, multiplied by 703 gives you a BMI of 22.)

If you are chronically malnourished or underweight your body may go into survival mode and you may produce less estrogen. This means that you are not able to build a follicle and may ovulate erratically or not at all. Low estrogen levels also lead to reduced fertile cervical mucus which can also be a problem for women trying to conceive. We all know that women who are suffering from anorexia nervosa often don’t have periods but did you know that you only need to be 10% underweight to adversely affect your hormones? The good news for most women is that they don’t need to put on lots of weight in order to get pregnant. For many of my patients it’s as little as 2 or 3 pounds which can make all the difference.

In Chinese medicine underweight women fall into a category we refer to as yin deficiency. Yin is the Chinese term for those aspects of your body that are about substance and nourishment. Women who are yin deficient exhibit signs of estrogen depletion such as hot flashes, insomnia, light periods and reduced cervical fluid. At The YinOva Center we will give you Chinese herbs that supplement yin as well as helping you to change your diet. Specifically we ask our underweight patients to increase their consumption of healthy fats such as those found in olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds and oily fish. We also suggest that you increase your consumption of plant estrogens by eating some soy products and flax seeds.

In overweight women infertility is usually related to erratic ovulation. Fat cells release estrogen which inhibits FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) production which can prevent ovulation. In Chinese medicine these women are classified as yang deficient with yang referring to all the aspects of your body’s function that relate to movement, activity and transformation. Women who are yang deficient have slower metabolisms than other women. At The YinOva center we will give you Chinese herbs that tonify yang and help you to plan a sensible weight loss regimen. We will also ask you to limit your intake of plant estrogens found in tofu and soy milk. The good news is that you don’t need to slim down to a size 2. Clinical research has shown that 60% women who lose just 5-10% of their overall bodyweight resume regular ovulation.

You’ll find some helpful articles on this blog including one on foods for fertility and article on fertility and fats and some health recipes such as this one. But please also feel free to ask us for help. You’ll find us a non-judgmental bunch when it comes to weight. As women, many of us here at The YinOva Center have struggled with our own weight. Some of us have been too thin and some, myself included, have been overweight. We are happy to share with you what has worked for us.

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