Love Your Liver

         The liver manufactures 13,000 different chemicals and maintains 2,000 internal enzyme systems. At the same time, it filters hundreds of litres of blood and produces almost a litre of bile every day. Usually, it’s crammed with alcohol, fat, caffeine, processed food and cigarette smoke that all damage it. Luckily, it is the only organ known to readily regenerate itself. However, abused to the point of damage, the resulting imbalance resonates throughout the whole body system, creating ever larger health problems if left unchecked.

          This is a comprehensive list of symptoms, indicators, and diseases that surround an unhealthy liver:

abnormal bleeding/ acne, skin rashes, eczema, psoriasis /auto-immune diseases/cancer/chronic depression/chronic fatigue syndrome/chronic food, chemical, or environmental allergies/chronic headaches/ indigestion, bloating, and gas/chronic insomnia/cirrhosis of the liver/constipation/Crohn’s disease or colitis/difficulty concentrating/fatty liver/fibromyalgia/gallstones or gallbladder removal/heart problems/heavy metal toxicity/hepatitis A, B, or C/high cholesterol/high triglycerides/jaundice/low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)/low energy/low sex drive/migraines/multiple chemical hypersensitivity/osteoarthritis/overweight in excess of 20 lbs (9 kg) or obesity/past surgery on intestines/recreational drug and alcohol use/senility/dementia/thyroid problems/type 1 and 2 diabetes/yeast overgrowth (candida)

         Proven to be damaged by stress and called the emotional house in Chinese medicine. It makes scientific sense that happy people heal faster and are generally healthier when we consider the liver’s health. Liver health is fundamental to all health. It’s name “liver” derived from Anglo-Saxon “lifer” or English “life”, it is inextricably key to living well. We undervalue this amazing part of our bodies and should really pay it some reverence.



Here’s a brief, superficial, summary about the functions that the liver performs for you every single day...


The Liver’s Role in Digestion
         Hepatocytes, a type of cell found in the liver, produce bile. Bile is released into the digestive tract in order for the body to absorb fats. We require certain fats, especially Essential Fatty Acids for many biological functions, including digestion itself and also for optimum brain function. The liver processes the digested food from the intestine and controls levels of fats, amino acids and glucose in the blood. Diabetes can result when this function is out of whack along with the foundations for a plethora of other digestive disorders.
         The liver also stores Iron, and Vitamins such as B12 & A, and various other non water soluble nutrients. Not only is the liver responsible for breaking down foods, it also stores and turns food into energy when it’s required.  Foreign toxins introduced to the stomach such as heavy metals, pollutants, pesticides and alcohol, and drugs, especially, acetaminophen, anti-biotics, and contraceptives are neutralized in the liver and processed to be assimilated by the body.


Your Liver Fights Infection
         Your liver plays a vital role in fighting infections, particularly infections arising in the bowel. It does this by mobilising part of your body’s defence mechanism called the macrophage system. The liver contains over half of the body’s supply of macrophages, known as Kuppfer cells, which literally destroy any bacteria that they come into contact with. Bile excreted by the liver also acts as an antibacterial in the small intestine.


A Major Factor in Circulatory Health
         The liver is a major site of thromobopoietin production. Thrombopoietin is a hormone that regulates the production of platelets by the bone marrow. Platelets are found in the blood and are responsible for proper blood clotting and triggering the healing process of wounds. Platelets also play a significant role in the repair and regeneration of connective tissue and potentially modulate inflammatory processes by interacting with white blood cells.
         The liver produces albumin a major component of blood serum. Albumin is essential for maintaining the osmotic pressure needed for proper distribution of body fluids in intravascular compartments and body tissues, playing a role in water retention. It also acts as a carrier for hydrophobic steroid hormones like testosterone and hydrophobic vitamins such as A, E and K. It also acts as a carrier protein for iron containing hemin and fatty acids.


         And so, ... you ask, ...what is one to do to help out this hugely overburdened organ, the liver? We should, ideally be starting with an all juice/raw vegetable and fruit fast for a few days, 3-5. Organic fruits and veggies are best, the pesticides found on non-organic produce are a poison to you and tax your liver, immensely. After your fast you should continue to avoid animal protein, especially fish, all fats, processed sugars, caffeine and for personal reasons I recommend omitting wheat products. You should reintroduce slowly, paying close attention to your body’s reaction to the foods. Simple food is best. Don’t eat anything that has a paragraph of chemical ingredients.
         Be sure to include the following in your diet:

bananas, kelp, alfalfa sprouts and green leafy vegetables,

soybeans, chickpeas, beans (black beans are one of the best) also include almonds,

and other nuts, brewer’s yeast, grains and seeds,

goat’s milk and products made from goat’s milk,

 black strap molasses, brown or long grain rice

          Known, especially, for their benefit to the liver are beets, carrots, apples, artichokes and lemons (I do the juice of a full lemon in a glass of distilled water first thing in the morning).

         Herbals have been proven to improve liver function. It has long been known by European cultures that “bitters” help to stimulate the digestion. These “bitters are, in fact, choleretics, that help to stimulate bile production. Dandelion root, chicory, and vervain are all choleretics. Silymarin found in Milk Thistle is best liver protector, known to also stimulate re-growth of the liver.
         The following is a list of herbs that are known for their benefits to the liver…

Milk Thistle/ Dandelion/Burdock/Barberry/

Yellow Dock/Celandine/Golden Seal/Wild Oregon Grape/

Red Clover/Shizandra/Black Radish

        Taurine, an amino acid, is beneficial in supplement form throughout the liver healing process as well as raw liver extract and Lecithin.
        Aloe Vera Juice (2oz/day) is the first step to healing any digestive disorder followed by regular periodic use to maintain it’s benefits.
        I also recommend a month of liver support herbals, either in a prepared “Liver Cleanse” formula, ready to go, from your local drug store or another option, especially, if you find the whole ordeal confusing, but are impressed by the importance of liver health is to contact me, Rebecca Belanger for a play by play e-mail supported regimen, with an herbal formula designed especially for you, taking into consideration your specific state of health, blood type, and lifestyle…


                                                                                         Yours, BB

The Importance of Cleansing

Incorporate a few more high fiber choices into your diet, try an herbal tea helper or tailored herbal capsule, and give your digestive system a break from harder to digest foods once a week, to get a great “house cleaning” routine going…


A Spring Cleaning for one’s home is an important thing to do. Washing down the walls, the windows, and cleaning out the cobwebs, unuseful debris and rubbish is integral to making one’s self feel good about one’s environment.

It makes just as much sense, if not more, to clean out our temple, our body, sweeping out toxins and fat deposits. It’s the best way to start a diet and it just happens spring is the best time of the year for renewal and refreshment. A Spring Cleanse revitalizes the digestive system and can flush the liver, and sweep the intestines, brushing away unmentionables that are clinging to the walls. It is a fact that at any given time there can be up to 2 and a half kilos of refuse clinging to your intestinal walls. Gross, eh?

If you are up to it, a cleanse can also eliminate parasites of various types, the deeper reach creates a more intense reaction; headaches, flu like symptoms, at times, even a skin eruption of pimples or blisters, but it can be worth the trouble when one faces genetic predisposition to cancers, diabetes, heart disease, or other chronic conditions that prey upon general lack of health.

Cleansing can also have beneficial effects for women during menopause and premenstrual cycles, lessening the difficult symptoms associated with them such as hot flashes, cramps, and bloating.

All in all, a cleanse has so many benefits that you would be silly not to employ it in your battle for health, weight management, and longevity.

There are many types of cleanses that can be used, yearly, quarterly (my preference) monthly, or even weekly. I advocate a multifaceted gentle cleansing, to broaden the impact without the intensity of a deep tissue cleanse; something that is easy to incorporate into your routine.

Herbals are an amazing tool in cleansing. I employ several different herbs for a wholistic effect. The Blue Butterfly offers a comprehensive blend in an easy & tasty tea, consisting of dandelion root, red clover, burdock, nettle, rose hips, licorice root, and either a pinch of cayenne or ginger, depending on blood type. The effect of the tea is a full body cleanse with a focus on the hepatic and digestive systems, where many chronic problems begin. Drinking two cups of this tea, daily, over a period of ten days is a highly effective way of invigorating your liver, pancreas, stomach, blood, kidneys, and small intestine.

If you aren’t a fan of teas, capsules filled with an army of herbal cleansers can be easily employed, as well. With capsules, taste is not a factor, and a heavier arsenal can be used; among them black walnut, and garlic, two of my favorite heavy weights for expelling polluting toxins. The Blue Butterfly prepares tailored herbal capsules at very reasonable rates. A two week supply of cleansing capsules costs only $20. Compare that to the trendy, highly overpriced Herbal Magic plan or other trendy cleansers that are giving you a lot of cheap fillers for comparative prices.(these fillers are typically fiber that can actually cause serious damage if taken incorrectly)

Drinking a cleansing specific tea or taking a comprehensively prepared herbal capsule, regularly, is a very good start to keeping things fresh. Eliminating meat!! One must always be aware of replacing meat proteins with plant proteins, in order to keep your body at it’s optimum. Eat beans with long grain or brown rice and corn to get a full protein spectrum. We crave when we don’t get what we need, sometimes leading to over compensation with excessive eating and the beginning of a vicious cycle that is hard to break.

A cleanse would not be complete without the intestinal sweep with fiber. It is proven that the largest single change to the diet that delivers the highest impact on health is the addition of adequate amounts of fiber. I used to advise my friends to use psyllium for a good two week period to get a good fiber sweep, but have since been illuminate to the fact that many people are unaware that they must take their fiber with adequate amounts of water or they will suffer horribly with constipation, the side effects of which can be quite painful. Now I advise a more natural way of getting in fiber, through conscious food choices.

It is recommended that we ingest 30-40g of fiber a day. Beans and legumes are our best choices for fiber, also supplying amino acids that help fill the meatless protein requirements for our “veggie days”. Women should reach for the edemame, specifically, as a source of phytoestrogens, and other estrogen stabilizing phytonutrients. Ground flax sprinkled on top of a bowl of fresh fruit and yoghurt in the morning is another fantastic habit to form, delivering a fantastic insoluble fiber that gives us a good sweep. An apple a day is my favorite recommendation to make to my friends with a solid 5g of fiber it is a very easy way to get both soluble and insoluble fiber. I recommend eating apples before a large meal, especially if you are dieting or have Type 2 Diabetes for it’s netting effect on simple sugars, keeping them from passing through the stomach lumen and later being stored as fats.

A few little parting thoughts regarding the cleansing process; cardiovascular workouts are the best way to push out toxins, toxins are typically stored within fat tissue, eliminating fat helps to eliminate these deep tissue toxins, and last of all…



… changes that are made permanently, if even only small, have much larger effects than an extreme measure taken for a week.

The Perfect Day for Fat Melting

         So, you’ve started your day perfectly…
(See the post Morning Fat Melting) Woke up, downed a glass of OJ with your whole herb supplement, reaching deeply into your otherwise empty blood. You did your 20 minute cardio rev up before hoping into the shower. After your shower you ate a high protein diet with some good EFAS(oils) and fresh fruit.
         You weren’t hungry all morning long. You’ve made it to lunch time, feeling great. Now, keep it going!


Lunchtime
         Lunchtime for me is a good time for a generous quantity of mixed vegetables. You could try a salad topped with a boiled egg, pulled chicken or some nuts. A homemade oil vinaigrette will help deliver your needed EFAs. Or have a bowl of soup, being sure that it’s low sodium and avoid cream or pastas in them. Soups are a great way to jam in some great nutrients in a warm, all in one, ready to go serving! Try to avoid the side of bread or crackers or choose amaranth instead of wheat, if you must. Choose a rice paper or lettuce wrap for a convenient hand held lunch. Always be sure to include a generous serving of protein which will sustain you longer than sugars and mix it up between plant and animal proteins. Low fat cheese as a side…or Hummus (which contains partial proteins) with raw vegetables is fantastic lunchtime fare. Or try beans combined with rice in a wrap for a full vegetable protein alternative to meat.


Cut out the Wheat & Simple Sugars too!
         Newly discovered evidence has bent my perspective slightly into cutting out wheat products as much as possible. With more scientific research I believe that I will only reinforce the thought that we have created a bane to our own health by genetically modifying wheat products to contain more gluten.


         What wheat does that may concern those trying to shed unwanted toxin containing fat tissue is trip the insulin production response in they same way that simple sugars do, telling the body to store all available fats and sugars as fat tissue. Some foods that are high in simple sugars to avoid are potatoes, corn, and carrots.  Breads, cakes, pop, and fruit juices, as well, of course.


          You want your body to burn up the food fuel not store it!

 Dinnertime
         It’s dinner, you’ve been so good all day long… no bread, no simple sugars, no pop… You’ve almost clinched a perfect nutritional day! The key to maintaining any nutritional plan is planning, really. It doesn’t have to be that much effort, either. It can be a simple as preparing your grocery list, according to the meals that you plan on having for the week and having a rough schedule in your mind. Don’t allow the kids to sway you into McD’s. It’s better for them too… as a parent you are responsible for instilling proper nutrition in them too.


         Keep to your rules… no breads, no simple sugars, no pop… Serve a good amount of lean protein in your meals,(fish, chicken, tenderloin), lots of high density nutrient vegetables, like broccoli, kale, napa cabbage, beets, sweet potatoes, gren beans, or edmame. Go fresh whenever possible, keeping in mind that frozen is better than canned for sodium content and conserving nutrient integrity. Balance your meal off with some high fiber grains or high fiber vegetables and some good ol’ EFAs… using canola oil in your cooking can help you to get your intake of EFAs. Salmon is another fantastic source. Reach for the rice as your carbohydrate, preferably long grain or better still brown. Over processed Uncle Ben’s or Sidekicks have way too much sodium and act much like gluten and simple sugars in your body… not good. (Storing everything as fat, remember?)


         In this fast paced society that we find ourselves packaged processed meals are becoming a favorite choice. Many are chemically laden and most are hugely over processed. Blue Butterfly offers a new choice to Quinte West for prepared meals that are made with all fresh and largely locally grown vegetables and fruits with an option for Organic.

E-mail us for more info on ordering and delivery. bluebutterflycatering@gmail.ca


Check out “Healthiest Meals to Date” on the Blog spot http://bluebutterflycatering.blogspot.com/ for some fantastic options!

Stay posted for the next article:


Exercise, Snacks, and other Tips for Fat Melting

Morning Fat Melting

         A quick little cardio routine first thing in the morning, before you’ve eaten, takes advantage of your cycles for max fat burning. With nothing in your belly or blood your body reaches into its’ store of fat. Even 15 minutes of intense cardio will really rev you up! Do you like to dance? Don’t forget to stretch to keep your muscles lithe.



Breakfast

         By eating a hearty, protein rich breakfast, you are setting yourself up nicely for the day. First, you are filling your belly with food that will last, keeping yourself from getting hungry again, too quickly. Secondly, the presence of the proteins gets your metabolism revving, the right enzymes are activated. Try to eat some Essential Fatty Acids here, especially. Try to incorporate Flax Seed, Hemp Seed, Canola Oil, Sunflower Seeds and Walnuts. I love any of the seeds and nuts sprinkled on top of oatmeal, topped with yoghurt and fruit. I have a higher fat & protein version for weight lifters and cardio trainers that I won’t mention here.


Here are some other ideas for breakfast:


A few onions, peppers, and mushrooms (pre-cut the night before) fried in no-stick pan with a touch of canola oil, no salt, please. Set veggies aside when al dente then scramble 2/3 eggs, better still, egg whites or make an omelet. Add the veg at the last minute, folding the omelet or mixing it in to the scramble. No side of toast for the dieters, please.


Whole Grain Crepes (Blue Butterfly) w Pineappple, Papaya, or berries, topped with yoghurt and ground flax, hemp, sunflower seeds, or walnuts.


Smoothies are a fantastic way to have breakfast! (Bananas, yoghurt, fresh berries, rice milk… Mix it up!) Pair a smoothie with the Blue Butterfly flax, sunflower, and cranberry granola bars! (These do contain some fats… a special treat that’s really good for you.) Mmmm. Yum.

Purification and Nourishment in the Beautiful White Winter

      

Did you know that carrots are one of the few veggies that are actually better for you, in terms of nutriton, when they are cooked?!

         Carrots are by far the richest source of naturally occurring carotenoid phytonutrients such as beta carotene. One cup of carrots contains 250% of the RDA of beta carotene which converts to vitamin A in our bodies. Vitamin A is especially important to smokers who are usually deficient in this nutrient and the deficiency may be directly associated with many diseases of the largest concern is lung cancer

        ** Carrots do contain a large amount of simple sugar that diabetics need to be aware of.  This sugar will trigger insulin production, hindering efforts to lose weight, as well. 



         Ho,wever, carrots also contain potent antioxidants that combat free radicals associated with numerous degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease and age related macular degeneration. Carrots contain a newly discovered phytonutrient called falcarinol which has been proven to be highly protective against colon cancer. Carrots also provide substantial amounts of vitamin K, C, folate, potassium, B6, and dietary fiber as well as trace amounts of other vitamins and minerals. Extensive studies have shown that as little as one carrot a day can cut the rate of lung cancer in half and incedence of other cancers such as cervical, prostate, and colon cancer can also be cut in half by higher beta carotene intake.


         Synthetic beta carotene is not biochemically identical to the naturally occurring form and doesn’t have the powerful effects of the naturally occurring form.


1 cup of carrots(122g) has only 53 calories. When carrots are cooked it denatures the tough cellular walls that contain the beta carotene thus making it an exception in that it benefits you more when it’s cooked!



        


          During the winter, I don't begrudge myself a few extra calories.  It is a difficult time to try to lose weight because you are fighting against your body's desire to stay warm.  It is a good time, rather, to cleanse the body and fortify it through healthy nourishment.  
         It's easy to become "addicted" to carbs during the winter. You can fight these cravings by becoming aware of the nutrient density in the foods that you consume.  Sugars and deep fried fats don't contain any vitamins and minerals...  Your cravings will quickly come into check, naturally, when you eat some good complex carbs (grains, beans, corn, rice) and veggies with your choice cut of meat or ,better still, fish.  

         The depth of winter is one of my favorite times of the year, the dark time. I feel buried in the mud, metamorphosing, waiting to be reborn into the spring. I use it as my internal reflection time; the time for deep contemplation and thought. Each New Year I cast a wish into the year for betterment and progress. This time following the New Year becomes a time for clarification and definition of just what exactly that entails. I've already begun planting the seeds for new growth within myself.

Listening to your Body

        Eating habits create vicious cycles that can rip your digestive system slowly apart and work against your body.  I heard a statistic recently that something like 60% of all surgeries could have been prevented with diet changes.  I think I'm being conservative in my guess on the percentage, there...  as I recall it was more like 90%..., but I can't recall the source to double check it.  I shake my head at how acceptable it is to eat over processed foods that contain no nutrients.  And then we turn around and wonder why our health care services are over-taxed?! 
         Many of us have serious digestive issues that we live with day to day unbeknownst to us.  Our bodies speak to us in painstaking detail.  We tend to ignore what it says.   Depression and lethargy, skin problems, lack of libido, gas and bloating, all of these are symptoms that can be contributed to poor diet.  It’s time to tune in to your bodies.  Do you get headaches after eating certain foods? What foods give you gas?  These are indications from your body…
        
         My mother contends with Celiacs disease and is therefore afflicted by the tiniest amount of wheat in her diet. She was stricken with a bout of blisters and diarrhea after eating breadcrumbs left in the butter. Shell fish allergies, Vegans, and peanut allergies are other examples of dietary sensitivity with extreme reactions to small amounts of food. Often, however, allergies and food sensitivities go completely unnoticed and unchecked.
          It can be very difficult to assess our bodies reaction to food, sometimes. A single serving of food may contain more than a dozen ingredients. Industrially prepared food, especially, contains an enormous amount of preservative chemicals and flavouring additives.  A good start on your quest for health would be to get back to simple ingredients. 
       

Weight Loss and Control Part I

What can make a grown woman doubt herself, cry, obsess, and deprive herself to the point of ill-health?

You might venture a guess in the area of some compulsive, manic depressive, brain chemical disorder when in fact I’m talking about weight…
In our culture, if you can call it that these days, women are completely and utterly objectified. If we don’t have the measurements of Barbie, we are deficient. Middle-aged women unfairly compare themselves to airbrushed thirteen year olds in magazines and on the television. Whatever happened to Marilyn Monroe? Personally, having the figure of a man with boobs, I love the feminine curves of women.
That being said, I have on offer, some information to help those of you who are fixated by the numbers on the scale. These tips are simple, painless, and intended to be permanent changes to your lifestyle. Most dieting does not work! You can peel off a few pounds with a diet, but they tend to leave you famished and deficient in vitamins and minerals, craving intensely and binging at every opportunity.
I, sincerely, hope that this information will help even just a few of my preoccupied contemporaries, men included.
Let’s clarify that I will not help you shed 20lbs in a month. I will not take you down a pant size in two weeks. I will not help you to sabotage your health! The Blue Butterfly symbolizes feeding the immortal soul,… as in forever! Cheers to your good health and longevity!

Set some realistic goals.
I can only promise incremental changes, 2-5 pounds a month, an inch of belly fat in a month. (if you genuinely have it to lose) Through very aggressive physical training, it is possible to decrease body fat very quickly, but chances are you won’t lose very much weight, initially. Don’t forget that muscle weighs more than fat. The idea is to feel better about yourself and to give yourself a sense of control and awareness about your bodies internal working.

You are what you eat, literally, so, take your vitamins!
Your body is an amazing machine. It has mechanisms that make us amazingly resilient despite the abuse that we put it through. In exchange for housing our crooked consciousnesses (is that a word?) our bodies require fuel, consisting of water, proteins, fats, sugars, vitamins, and minerals, and other tiny chemicals that work within your organs. We tend to discount the importance of these vitamins and minerals in our diet. They are key to an effective and efficient digestion. They are also key to shedding excess adipose tissue, fat, that is.
I advocate gentle supplementation. Your body prefers its’ nutrients to come in their natural form. Most chemically isolated vitamins and minerals (your typical over the counter vitamin) are flushed through the system without passing through the lumen of the stomach into the bodies’ blood stream. Absorption of supplements can be augmented by “chelation”, which encourages the molecule to pass through the stomach lining. Watch for the term “chelated” on your vitamins’ label, they are better. The best method, by far, to maximize absorption, is to eat a wide variety of foods, especially, dark and brightly coloured fruits and vegetables. V-8, “smoothies”, and real fruit and veg juices can all be very good sources of vitamins and minerals. If you are one of those very unfortunate individuals who don’t like fruits and veggies than please, do, take a supplement!

So, the first step to adipose-lysis (my new fancy word for ”fat killing”, rarrr!) is to start getting some vitamins into yourself. Initially, a supplement is a good and easy route to take. I don’t want anyone to try to make drastic changes to their lives. That’s when you lose the will to continue. Take ‘er slow. It takes a full two weeks of regularly taking your vitamins before your body is “loaded up”. You won’t feel much until the end of that two week period. The B vitamins are especially important at this stage. I call them the “digestive health vitamins”. Having enough of them in your diet also staves off depression and symptoms of stress. Try to tell me you don’t have stress in your life, ahem!
Blue Butterfly offers “whole source supplements” that are customized to each individual. I also add a metabolism booster to the herbal concoction to get you revved up! You will also receive highly competent consultation services via e-mail for free when you are taking Blue Butterfly supplements. Contact me, Executive Rebbeca Belanger, via e-mail for more information, bluebutterflycatering@gmail.com.