Detox Retox - I heart (my) liver.

It's spring, which for many people can mean climbing out of the cozy, insular, nest - shedding some layers and doing a little spring cleaning.

I cleaned and organized my room yesterday. It likely had more to do with avoiding homework than spring cleaning but it also felt really good to rest my eye on clean, clear surfaces instead of piles of laundry (one for clean, one for dirty), papers, cups, mugs, cups and... more cups - like I mentioned, I drink a lot of tea.

Spring is also when thoughts of cleansing and detox start to bubble up. On an impulse, I found myself picking up a book from the library this morning. In fact two books: very indicative of my quest for balance. The first was "Juicing, Fasting and Detoxing for Life" and the second "The Herbal Kitchen: Cooking with Fragrance and Flavor" from Jerry Traunfeld, former chef of the Herb Farm restaurant in Woodinville, WA which features pretty fabulous wine and food from the Pacific Northwest. I had this cookbook out for weeks and weeks, renewed it until I reached the limit, and returned it, only to take it out again now, a month later. It is packed with sensuously delicious recipes that incorporate fresh herbs plus tips on growing and using your own. I made the Cinnamon Basil Chicken, a jammy, thick tomato based curry spiked with star anise and handfuls of a variety of fresh basil laced with warm cinnamon overtones... sigh -- but before I get too off track here... back to the other book... right... balance...

I was likely drawn to the Detox book because I believe there are definite benefits to cleansing diets: giving the digestive system a break and providing the vitamins, minerals and compounds needed by the liver throughout the phases of detoxification. My brother often asks me about detoxing. I'm sure many people wonder about it. Like many words it encompasses a pretty enormous topic and gets tossed around without much care or concern to meaning. I wanted to be better informed on how detox diets work and what the benefits are, as well as when to use them. Every therapeutic diet is highly specific to the individual and the individual's needs at that specific time.

Detox. Your body is doing this just about all the time. The liver sorts out the compounds the body doesn't need from the ones it does, making them water soluble if they aren't already so they can be sent out of the body via the urine and other routes. I have enormous respect for the liver now that I've learned some of its amazing abilities and tasks. Take care of your liver. It's pretty much running the show.

Do we need to detox? We do live in a time when our bodies need to process a greater number of toxins than we likely did in the past. Environmental pollutants, chemicals off-gassing from household cleaners and building materials, and of course pesticides and additives in our food supply etc. It can be a little overwhelming. I think worrying about it does more harm than good. I do not want to live from a place of fear. My approach is to eliminate the things I can and then try to nourish myself as much as possible in every aspect of my life (physically, mentally, emotionally, socially) so I can be an adaptable and resilient creature. Seems like as for pretty much everything in life - health too is about balance.

For most people, the shift to a detox diet or juice cleanse could be pretty intense. They might want to first consider the amazing and gentle detoxifying effects of just drinking more water and slowly incorporating more whole foods, like intact, whole grains that aren't refined (brown rice, wheat berries (bulgar), quinoa, buckwheat (kasha) or millet), beans, nuts, seeds and of course plenty of fruits and vegetables to their diet. Small Acts Add Up.

The fiber alone will be enough to help carry toxins out of the colon so they have less chance of being absorbed or causing harm. Plant foods are jam packed with compounds like glutathione, choline, and vitamins C and E that are used in chemical reactions by the liver to bind and excrete toxins from the blood to the urine.

The body is detoxing all the time, so may as well try to support it regularly so those toxins can be processed and excreted and don't build up. It's like hanging up your clothes every day instead of spending an hour once a week to tackle a gigantic pile... note to self.

I also believe that there is something amazing about crafting delicious whole foods that nourish by pleasure, and also provide these amazing nutrients and compounds on a regular basis. Hence the Herb Farm cookbook... it is full of recipes that please both your mouth and your liver.

To me this is a very sustainable approach.