Fasting & Healing A Tooth - The Root of All Evil

Today is day 4 of my latest fast, another week in this journey towards bringing life back into my gut, body, mind and soul. This time around it has gotten even more interesting – to say the least! My body is balancing it's flora and living organisms - exactly what I hoped would take place.

The details.

This fast started out like any other, all the usual detox symptoms – except on day 2 I got a migraine that was so bad I had to lay low for the entire day. Nothing I did or took or thought or anything, relieved the pain - until I did one thing.

I made the connection to my mouth, teeth, gums.

And this is where things get interesting. I have had a long history of good, strong teeth – thankfully. However, years ago I had a dentist who insisted on putting fillings where they weren’t needed - often starting with a drill - he would find a cavity where there was none.

For that matter I question if they are ever needed at all – over the years I have done my research and discovered so many instances of teeth being able to heal on their own, once we change the pH of our mouths.

However, what happened with me this week is that an old swelling around my tooth I used to have years ago flared up again. More proof of underlying old inflammation that is being rooted out each time I fast.

So, my body pulled out more of this stuff and once I realized I needed to treat my mouth (tooth) – my headache went away in 5 minutes! All I did was make a poultice with Fullers Earth, clove oil and a few other healing ingredients – pack this in place and let it work.

Needless to say my body’s ability to heal itself never ceases to amaze me.

Now, getting back to the fasting – well, actually my mouth and it’s flora have become the central focus of this fast – so I am doing warm salty water daily, still using a poultice on the tooth and all the usual herbal teas, fermented drinks, apple cider vinegars.

I am feeling pretty good so far – of course with all this sunshine it can’t be helped!

One thing I am seriously considering trying is some green juicing with a pile of green leaves, sprouts and herbs – just to see if my immune system boosts even more (if that is possible and I am certain it is).

We have one twist with this fast this week – it will end on Friday in time for our Summer Solstice celebration – where I will cook, bake, eat and enjoy the delights of the season.

So looking forward to this weekend – stop by and see me in the markets!

April

A little fairie girl in the field....

Building A Gut Profile......Days 10 to 12 of Our Probiotic Fast

Day 10 to 12

We are now on day 13 of our fast and feeling pretty good. To be honest, most of the time I feel as if I could carry on indefinitely – I think this is what it feels like to make progress!

Now, to catch you up on what I have been doing….

Days 10 and 11, we just fasted on our fermented drinks, apple cider vinegar and beet root fermented juices. Oh, and I have increased my intake of herbal teas – now I am including a liver tonic along with the hormone balance herbs.

During my fasts is the only time I have experienced unprecedented healing/balancing/regulating of body systems. Therefore, it always makes sense to me to take in lots of herbal teas anytime I fast because you get results far more quickly. Even if only doing a day here and there, herbal tea is the way to go!

To be honest, I just find that all healing takes place at an unprecedented rate whenever I am fasting….healing a body ‘system’ such as immune, endocrine and especially the digestive tract, is much more straight forward when unimpeded by food, debris and by products of metabolism. 

Of course, our bodies heal from the top down, inside out, however, the largest fires will be put out first. So, healing takes time and continued effort on our parts. Deeper inflammation takes the longest. But, you will see improvements no matter how long the fast!

Then, for day 12 - we broke our fast again with lots of garlic with a plan to have some milky foods the next day. I keep craving milk (perhaps because we have so much of it right now!). Over these past couple of days I have been wondering about the best way to get it into my system – fermented milk products are awesome for gut bacteria especially homemade from raw milk.

So, I decided to include some dandelion coffee with our own raw goat’s milk in it, a couple times a week to also help build beneficial bacterial colonies. It tastes great (we gave up drugged coffee years ago) and dandelion has the added benefit of supporting our livers. 

BUT….did you know that dandelion root is also a prebiotic? This means it has components that feed and benefit gut bacteria in their struggle to survive. And roasted dandelion root or dandelion coffee tastes quite nice. It’s a bitter herb needed to keep things in a healthy balance. 

What I know about beneficial bacteria in our guts is that they need all sorts of different foods (raw, living, wild, cooked, sweet, bitter, sour, fibre) to nourish them. Because this is a probiotic fast, I can see and feel already how it is working.

Over these next few hours I plan on getting a little bit of milk into my system – raw and fermented in smoothies and with dandelion coffee as well as perhaps a little meat or fish. 

Meat sounds like a weird thing to include on a mini break from our liquid fast days, however, we also have gut microbes who are complete carnivores (just like my cat) and I want to feed them as well. 

Let’s keep everyone happy in there! 

Up to this point I am feeling very well. I always feel great when I am fasting and my energy levels are quite good – even for all of the detox, changeover and perhaps a bit of an immune boost that is taking place in our guts. There’s a lot of shifting and changing going on…..

April

Getting there!

Onwards & Upwards - Days 6 to 9 of my Fast

Day 6 – 9

Right now I am on day 9 of this spring detox and it has been quite interesting to say the least. For starters, we broke our fast on day 6 for a few hours and ate garlic, some fermented veggies and thick smoothies with fruit. 

I am still very focused on getting all those lovely probiotics into my system – with nothing at all to slow them down! Actually, I am finding this quite easy for the most part and every system in my body is thanking me for the effort.

The next day, after our little interlude of different types of fermented foods, we carried on with liquid only fasting and have been back taking in herbal teas, fermented drinks, apple cider vinegar and beet root fermented juices again. 

Of course fasting gets easier each time I do it, but only because I get smarter about it! These fermented drinks are like liquid gold – tasty, filling and doing the job as far as gut health is concerned. Far easier then the lemon and maple syrup mixture of years ago and with faster results (but, that was a different stage of healing as well).

However, I was a bit concerned that it would be difficult to stop and start fasting again; just like that – taking a few hours out to get more solid sources of fermented foods in to me …but I found, it was just the opposite. The fermented veggies and garlic blended in nicely with our goals to flood our systems with probiotics – so it was an easy transition back to liquids.

So, you remember how I mentioned over this past few months we have been fasting in so many different ways? Well, perhaps we are now forging ahead with yet another type of fast – a few days on liquids, then a few hours on solids, the liquids again – all of it including probiotic and fermented foods, BUT, also the substrates needed to grow the beneficial bacteria once they are in our systems.

Now, as for the detox process itself….

Even with the few hours in-between we are still having all the usual detox symptoms and feeling very productive and energetic as a bonus. Usually my detox symptoms range from a headache, coated tongue, tiredness which comes and goes, bursts of energy, old memories surfacing and a need to clean (everything!) LOL.

Did I mention the clear skin, bright eyes and being able to smell, taste and sense the forces of nature....hmmm sounds like a new puppy! 

Right now I am not sure how long I will keep going, it’s just nice to feel cleaned out – we are still taking this one day at a time.

April

Wild Harvest Cordial - even my cordials are medicinal.... This one is Elderberry & Elderflower - an immune boost from nature! On my stand this week in Clonakilty & Skibbereen Farmers Markets

Healing Powers of Garlic - On A Garlic Fast

Right now I am taking raw garlic crushed in food just to generally clean up my system after a long winter. In the past I have used it many times for naturally fighting illness, infection and inflammation. And it works far better then anything else I have come across.

Garlic is an amazing herb and works on many levels within the healing processes of the body. For instance it helps with DNA repair, carcinogen metabolism, inflammatory response, hormone regulation, apoptosis, cell cycle shifts and of course detox. Each one of these are vital functions in our bodies. 

If you are ready to boost your immune response to be able to handle anything that comes your way perhaps you might consider taking a medicinal dose of raw garlic from time to time and especially whenever you have a flu or illness to deal with.

Over these past 2 days I have only taken in several cloves of raw crushed garlic in guacamole (avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley & garlic) on thinly sliced sourdough bread. I have sipped my Apple Cider Vinegar and drank my fermented juices as well while I am doing my little garlic fast.

Last week I did 3 days in a row of the same thing….5 – 6 cloves of raw garlic each day in guacamole on 3 slices of bread and then the fermented drinks. That’s all I took in for each day with plenty of water. 

I also kept up nicely with my running, weights and yoga and generally treated these days like any other fast days. I just had to get my head around ways of getting the garlic into me without a hassle, while it does have to be in food.... so the bread worked perfectly. 

I felt great afterwards and am now doing it again this week....and perhaps next week as well to keep going with this much needed spring clean!

If you wanted to give this a try yourself, I have included some of my notes from my clinic......

Healing Powers of Garlic

Garlic is medicinal when crushed, allowed to stand for 10 minutes and then eaten raw in food. 5 to 15 cloves per day over 72 hours is best when fighting acute infection or illness. 

I would recommend taking it in the same way as any other antibiotic – every 4 or 6 hours around the clock for 24 hours, then every 8 hours, then every 12 hours over the first 3 days to ensure a constant blood level of this potent herb. 

It works best to take the garlic raw for the first 72 hours in oily food, then stop for 72 hours break. Start another 72 hour cycle following the same pattern to complete the healing process. 

This allows the body time, energy and space to shift into an immune response, and use the garlic as part of its’ defences.

Have A Healthy Day!

April

Garlic ready for guacamole 

Lacking Energy - Nothing in Reserve….

For so many of us our bodies have been running on empty and we don’t even know it. We never seem to really connect with the simple fact that just like any other instrument, we need to be tuned up, cleaned up and not taken for granted.

So….I have always wondered about this myself….if for instance I am eating right, exercising, resting when I need to, working at what I love doing and otherwise in a few (not all!) healthy and good for me relationships in general – why am I drained or tired or why doesn’t there ever seem to be enough to go around?

And I mean; enough of me, enough time, enough money, enough goodness, enough space and so forth. There just doesn’t appear to be ‘enough’ in me, around me or out there or anywhere else. And what is this ‘enough’ - is it only a perception or is it something else altogether?

However, it’s not like this all the time, only some of the time, like when I am noticing. LOL

How on earth could this even be possible? I mean from an energy perspective, it should be energy in, therefore energy out. Or, in a properly functioning body we should be able to generate enough energy or whatever it is that we need to sustain us and keep us going.

What I have discovered is that there is often not enough life or living organisms in and around us and therefore we are left juggling or pulling on sparse strands of energy scattered around our bodies. In order to have, create and generate functional energy resources, we must have enough life ‘taking place’ in us, to sustain us. 

For the most part, this lack of life is the fundamental struggle we are facing on the planet today. We have taken enough antibiotics to eradicate every living, useful and necessary organism that once would have ensured the health, well-bing and survival of our species and blasted them into nothingness.

So, where does that leave us? With barely there thyroids, poor adrenal function and not much of an immune system, tired, unwell and never enough to go around. 

Or, for many of us, we find ourselves with absolutely nothing in reserve. As well, an entire food group, of fermented and living foods has been eliminated and we continue to sanitize, sterilize and annihilate anything that looks back at us.

Having a life is about far more than each of the things that take place throughout our days….it’s equally about an inner matrix of organisms working with us, in us and around us. 

If you find yourself feeling as if you have no energy, no reserves and questionable health….perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at your ‘life’. 

April

Fermented Vegetables - an easy & tasty way to get probiotics into your diet 

Getting On With Living….

Today I am fasting again….however, it was nice to eat loads (read way too much!) over the Christmas holidays and equally nice to be experimenting, cooking and tasting the rich seasonal foods on offer. Life really does revolve around food and eating in this house!

But, that's all behind us now, so, getting back to today. I felt is was time to get this month started for me on yet another footing (self care is paramount) and I am doing a bit of a fast. At the moment, I am not sure how long I will fast this time around. Perhaps a week or two – or maybe longer, I like to take these things one day at a time whenever I can.

Already today I had my first little detox challenge…..I started feeling achy and sinusy as if I was coming down with a cold (like the one the kids had 2 weeks ago!). And my first thought was to just go back to bed….but alas, that isn’t really an option.

I just followed my instincts (or a very strong intuition in my case) and mixed up some of my Apple Cider Vinegar into my fermented Rebel Juice and sipped on that for the rest of the morning. By the time I realized I was feeling back to myself, the juice was gone and I had been busy with all my chores around the place.

It works so quickly!

And now here I am with quite a few things done including 2 mini workouts and still marveling that I am feeling much better – and glad I never went back to bed. The moral of the story here seems to be – to never underestimate the healing power of your body when given the right ingredients.

In this case it was my own apple cider vinegar and fermented beetroot juice – it packs a powerful anti-oxidant punch as well as provides nourishing probiotics for the gut. Because our immune system is gut mediated (if your tummy isn’t working, your immune system is compromised) all we need to do is boost ourselves from the inside with beneficial organisms….

Then they do the work for us. 

When I think back to how I used to treat myself when I felt low, poorly or even completely under the weather – well, needless to say, it was a world apart from where I am today. I would often just ignore symptoms or worse, just push them down with a pain reliever and carry on.

If I have learned anything about health, healing and detox over these many years living this close to nature and in tune with my body, it’s this; when you are gentle with your body and provide natural, equally gentle means of healing, you only have to walk down this road once. 

Pushing something down or aside, simply means it will pop back up to be dealt with on another day and perhaps be far worse then what you started with.  Best to face up to whateveritis that’s around us on the day and provide our body with what it needs (nutrients, herbs, probiotics, exercise, quiet time, laughter, detox) to move forward – then we can get on with living our lives. 

And that’s what we are doing here, right?

April

I. AM.FASTING. Day 7….. #amfasting

Did you know that there are studies out there stating how people who fast regularly have lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, lower blood sugars and generally weigh less – of course all with better health?

Today is day 7 of my 'before Christmas detox' – we do this every year, so for those of you who know me and have followed along over these past few years, yes we are still detoxing, fasting and moving steadily forward towards greater and better health.

This fast, this time around is a little different however, because even though we are only taking in liquids – that liquid has changed. Usually in previous years – and throughout the year with the many fasts/detoxes/cleanses we have done, we would do a variation of the lemonade detox.

However, this past week we have been drinking only Rebel Juice (my own probiotic juice drink) and some Butterfly juice (nettle, dandelion, apple, ginger = rocket fuel) left over from the market that I do each week. And so far, things are proceeding much along the same lines with a couple of major differences, we have been noting.

First of all, Rebel Juice is a form of kvass or a fermented probiotic drink made from fruit, vegetables, whey and water or from rye bread, sourdough starter, honey and raisins. Now you know me….I took those basics and added, tweaked and changed them to make my own formulation into something, well magic! At the moment we have 4 different kinds to choose from Fruit, Honey Lemon, Lime & Apple Mint and Beetroot blend. 

So, we are enjoying our Rebel Juice each day along with herbal teas, water as well as doing salt water flushes and skin and hair detoxes with my own Rebel Foods products – sea salt hair detox and so forth.

One of the big differences we have noticed with taking in these fabulous living drinks, is in the fact that we are not cold. Any other time we have done a fast, even for one or two days, we find that we are chilly. Digesting food produces body heat, obviously!

Well, this time around, with a constant supply of probiotic drinks, full of goat’s yogurt whey lactobacillus, wild yeast, beneficial bacterial cultures and so forth – our digestion is quiet, but the heat is still on in our bodies. Which is a bonus for this time of the year!

Then, remember how I used to always have a headache/aches/pains adjustment period for the first 2 or 3 days of any fast even though I haven’t drank coffee or tea in over a decade? Well, that didn’t happen either with the Rebel Juice.

And, lastly, we are far more creative. I feel as if I just want to make things, paint, write, draw, ideas, thoughts and so forth are streaming out. So, I am doing just that. I am making lots of products for my market stall, baking Christmas puddings and cakes and anything else I can find to do. 

It’s all good so far. 

April

Jugs of Rebel Juice (Kvass) for our detox - yumm!