It’s Entirely Natural - Articles

The average American becomes familiar with high-fat, high sodium, low nutrient food choices very early on in life. Fast food french fries are top on the list of toddlers favorite foods. Add to that the heavily marketed meals that include toys and colorful bags as well as restaurants that include playgrounds, you will quickly understand why fast food is such a hit with even the youngest consumers! Over the years, sodium, fat, and toxins will build up in the body and before long it will have resulted in several pounds of hardened fecal matter in the colon.

Fortunately, colon cleanses are promising to rid the body of this accumulated waste material and thus the colon cleanse regimen was born. Yet not surprisingly, many Americans are taking a fast food approach to this procedure as well. Rather than changing unhealthy eating patterns or perhaps even going on a diet, the communal sentiment involves the popping of a few laxatives or colon cleanse supplements in the hopes of taking care of the colon’s needs. Quite obviously this approach will not offer you the full benefit, and instead may actually cause more harm than good.

To receive the full benefit of a colon cleanse, you will need to follow a seven-step regimen:

1. Purchase a colon-cleanse home kit that includes all the supplementation you need. Make sure that it will provide substances for a replenishing of the gut flora after the cleansing and that the ingredients are certified organic - if you choose a natural cleanse - or no harsh chemicals that will cause an imbalance of electrolytes if you choose to go the other route.
2. Read the instructions completely from start to finish.
3. Generally speaking, the cleansings are three, five or seven day procedures. During that time, you will need to alter your eating patterns. Commit to only eating and drinking that which is permitted.
4. If vegetables are permitted, purchase high quality, fresh, organic veggies and eat them raw whenever possible.
5. If the cleanse calls for broths and soups, prepare them at home following the recipes given. Failure to follow this instruction to the letter will result in your ending up with commercially mixed concoctions that provide your body with more sodium than it needs.
6. Drink a lot of water, but do not overdo it! Those who barely keep up with the recommended eight glasses a day should not suddenly guzzle the liquid by the gallon, since it will adversely affect the kidneys.
7. Last but not least, educate yourself about better food choices and how to keep waste materials from once again accumulating quickly in your colon after the colon cleanse is completed. It is this last step which will truly give you the complete benefit of the entire colon cleansing procedure. Thus, it is by far the second most important step of the entire cleansing regimen!

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Colon CLeansing.

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Tags: Colon Cleansing, electrolytes

Knowing how the digestive system works is key to understanding how food heal the human body. In order for carbohydrates to be properly digested the entire process starts in the mouth where the food is first broken down by the chewing action of the teeth and also due to the chemical side of digestion, which is to say by way of the salivary enzyme amylase.

Once food hits the stomach, gastric juices begin to digest the proteins that are in the food and the food that is only partially digested at this point becomes very paste-like in substance and is now given the name chyme. To backtrack a bit, the gastric juices in the stomach are made up of pepsin and hydrochloric acid.

The chyme is then released into another organ which is the small intestine and the digestive bile that comes from the gallbladder, liver and pancreatic enzymes as well as the enzymes that derive from the exocrine cells that make up the mucosa in the small intestine then round out the complete digestive process in regards to carbohydrates, fats and proteins. The food that has now been digested is absorbed by the villi (or the intestinal wall lining) and then it goes directly into the blood stream. The “nutrient void food” then makes its way as carefully as possible into the large intestine and once it reaches the large intestine it absorbs electrolytes and water and from here there is the completes process of feces or waste from the body which includes the formation, storage and finally elimination of wastes the body does not require.

In order to have a healthy gastrointestinal and intestinal system you have to be careful what you put into your body when it comes to the foods you eat and the drinks you consume. The better care you take of your body the more likely it will be to reward you with good health, stamina and vitality. In order to allow your stomach lining to be as healthy as possible and to improve how well your liver and intestines detoxify themselves, learn to chew and eat your food as slowly as possible and schedule your meal at regular intervals. Work to balance out your macro-nutritional needs as well as possible. For example aim for 30 percent of proteins, 50 percent high fiber, 20 percent essential fatty acid fats and low glycemic carbohydrates. Doing all of these things can help to develop and maintain the excellent condition of your colon and it can also help to prevent harmful toxins from getting into your bloodstream.

All of your meals should also sufficiently address the important of micro-nutrients which is to say vitamins, minerals, enzymes as well as essential phy6tochemicals that come from, vegetable, whole grains and fruits with a plant base. Phytochemicals were never researched very much in the past but now the focus has shifted and researchers and scientists are coming to recognize the extreme importance of them, despite the fact that they are classified as “nonessentials.”

Food is more than simply a means to an end. It is the means to a healthy body that can heal from disease and ailments and live a long life.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Food Cures.

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Tags: digestion, electrolytes, Food Cures