The Beauty Detox Solution (29 page)

What about Salt?

Many of us might have liberally sprinkled salt on our foods in the past. It is, after all, usually readily available on the tables of nearly every single restaurant, as well as perhaps our own kitchen table.

We might also have reasoned that salt is a condiment that has no calories but still has the power to transform bland foods into tasty treats. Well, those days of unbridled salt consumption are over! We are striving to achieve excellent health and beauty. Too much salt, and especially the wrong kind of salt, can seriously set us back in those goals. Salt can contribute to increasing the risk for heart disease, hypertension, high blood pressure and kidney disease.

There is absolutely no moderation involved when it comes to table salt, which is really denatured sodium chloride. It is poison in our bodies and we must expel it
completely
from out diet starting today. It is a “hungry,” or biologically incomplete, molecule that leaches calcium and other minerals out of our body in our urine when an excess is excreted. Table salt is dead, kiln-dried, highly processed and highly toxic, and thus it poses a threat to the health of your body. Table salt also creates “false fat,” making us look bloated and pounds heavier than we truly are. We must avoid it at all cost. Throw it

out of your cabinet right now! Resist the urge to add any to your food from saltshakers wherever you are.

With careful moderation, we may use high-quality sea salt, such as Celtic sea salt or Himalayan sea salt, in certain recipes. These sea salts have been dried by the sun and wind, so they are raw and contain enzymes and around seventy trace minerals and trace elements. They include the mineral magnesium, which is involved in over three hundred detoxification pathways in the body and is present in sea salt only when it contains moisture. (Check the label to be sure it says “dried by the sun and wind.”) Cheaper varieties of sea salt can still be kiln-dried under high heat.

Sea vegetables, such as dulse, have a salty taste but are low in sodium and are great to add to salads and veggie dishes instead of salt. The less straight salt we use, the better. A thousand to fifteen hundred milligrams of sodium per day
or less
is a good daily quota. Most of us are used to a very salty flavor because we consume so many processed foods, which have lots of salt. As we move away from these processed foods and toward natural foods, our ability to detect and appreciate subtle flavors will increase and we won't miss adding all that excessive salt to our food at all!

I
Remember Your Beauty Foods.

Raw plant foods should be the majority of the meal and should always go in the body first. The salad, which comes first, is not merely an appetizer, but the biggest and bulkiest part of the meal. Remember the Beauty Food Circle, and try to stick to 80 percent alkaline-forming foods at each meal (if not more).

In Phase 2 the green drinks start coming into play. Resist the urge to chug them! Make a chewing action as you drink them so they can mix thoroughly with saliva to get the digestive process going and maximize nutrients. If you drink them too fast, you might get bloated, which we definitely want to avoid.

Be prepared! If you are going to a party, traveling, eating out at a Chinese restaurant, or encounter any other situation where you know raw vegetables might be hard to come by, keep some carrots or celery on hand to eat an hour beforehand.

Refined carbs in the form of refined, processed starch and processed or artificial sugars are completely off the menu. Refer to Chapter 5 for more Beauty Grains and Starches.

Dairy is not beautiful and is avoided in all the phases. If you need a few reminders of why, please refer to the dairy section in
Chapter 5,

What about Supplements?

Supplements should
never
be deemed a substitute for a healthy diet packed with fresh greens and other produce. However, I often recommend to my clients that they take a high-quality, whole-food-based and nonsynthetic multivitamin/multimineral supplement if they are worried that they aren't eating perfectly. It can be good insurance. Most all of us need to supplement with vitamin D3, and my vegan friends should supplement with B12. Other than that, be sure to pick up a probiotic supplement, digestive enzymes, a magnesium-oxygen supplement and ground or fresh flaxseeds (one tablespoon of the flaxseeds have daily omega-3 fats).

2
Eat Only When You Are Hungry.

3
Follow Beauty Food Pairing and Eat Light to Heavy.

BEAUTY TIP

Eating Out

It is totally possible (and easy!) to eat in restaurants while staying on this plan, whatever phase you are in. You will not be required to order or eat weird or difficult-to-find foods. You'll see that there is enough variety in the plan to be able to stick to it, eat in most restaurants and enjoy different cuisines. Always start with a salad. If a restaurant has really wimpy little side salads, you might want to get a double order, as I often do. Make a choice as to whether you are going to have a concentrated
starch
or a concentrated
protein
meal, along with vegetables, and order around the choice you made. For instance, you could order salad, followed by fish and veggies,
or
salad followed by pasta with marinara sauce or brown rice and veggies.

Asian restaurants, especially Thai, are among the easiest restaurants to eat out at because there are so many vegetable entrées you can order. I always try to steer family, friends or business associates in that direction. If you are going to a nice Italian restaurant and love pizza, they can probably make it for you with goat's cheese! Sometimes I order a big double salad with a bunch of vegetable sides, like sautéed spinach, mushrooms or asparagus, along with a vegetarian soup. I can always find something! No matter what you do, don't order fruit for dessert or a dessert that contains fruit. And don't forget to take your digestive enzymes right before!

4
Cleanse on an Ongoing Basis.