The Beauty Detox Solution (17 page)
Read The Beauty Detox Solution Online
Authors: Kimberly Snyder
What about our skin? As mentioned in Chapter 1 (page 5), ammonia not only contributes to an overly acidic condition in the body, but it may be associated with free radical damage, which can lead to fine lines and eventually deep wrinkles.
Eating an abundance of animal protein does not support our skin and beauty. It leaves an acidic residue that ages us.
There definitely have to be limits to the amount of concentrated protein we consume. The “eat as much protein as you can” mentality that we have been led to adopt is actually quite
agingâand dangerous. Taking in more protein than is needed places a heavy burden on our body, creating acidity and wasting Beauty Energyâ¦the very thing we are trying to avoid.
True Beauty Story
PETER MORRISON IS A CLIENT OF MINE IN HIS EARLY FIFTIES. AN EX-ATHLETE, HE IS
in Gold's Gym nearly every day pumping iron. Over the years, he slowly but surely packed about thirty pounds onto his belly and started developing problems with his heart and thyroid, for which he was on several medications.
When I looked at his diet, sure enough, he had some form of animal protein at every meal, which included egg whites, tuna, steak, chicken and turkey. We changed over to the Glowing Green Smoothie for breakfast and made lunch and dinner salad based. He started eating lots of avocados, sprouts, some nuts and seeds, and kept a small amount of fish and eggs in his diet (around three meals a week). Though he was concerned that his performance in the gym would decline, he was even more concerned about getting healthy for his own sake, as well as the sake of his wife and three children.
In four months he trimmed down from a size thirty-eight waist to a size thirty-two. The puffiness under his eyes disappeared, and the deep furrowed wrinkles across his forehead lightened. His baby face came shining through, and he now looks at least ten years younger! The best news of all? He called me one day, absolutely thrilled to report that he was feeling stronger, had a lot more energy, and was lifting the same amount of weights he had when he was thirty pounds heavier and eating animal protein at every meal! He was strong like the plant-eating gorilla! He was much more toned and he loved his new body, sans belly. We'd cleansed away all that sludge in his body, which was constricting oxygen flow to his muscles. Now not only is he lifting like a champ, but he is eating like a true champ of health.
BEAUTY RULES FOR EATING ANIMAL PROTEIN
We have established that we don't need to eat animal protein for nutrition. But many people love eating meat, and you may not want to become a full vegetarian and give up eating meat altogether. That is okay, so long as you stick to these tips when you consume animal protein:
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Buy organic, hormone-free meat, preferably from a local farm or source.
The ugly truth is that factory-farmed animals are fed copious amounts of chemicals, hormones, antibiotics and steroids before being slaughtered, and all these toxins wind up on your plate. A report in 2001 by the Union of Concerned Scientists, co-authored by Margaret Mellon, Ph.D., J.D., director of the organization's Food and Environment Program, examined the use of antibiotics in farmed animals. In a press statement Dr. Mellon said, “Our report finds that there are twenty-five million pounds of antibiotics used in cattle, swine and poultry for nontherapeutic purposes, including growth promotion and disease prevention. The breakdown is about four million pounds in cattle, almost eleven million pounds in swine and ten million pounds in poultry. By contrast, the report finds only three million pounds of antibiotics are used in human medicine. That means we are using eight times the amount of antibiotics in healthy animals as we are using to treat diseases in our children and ourselves.”
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Remember that
we
also ingest the medications and chemicals that the animals we eat have in them. That is not even to mention the inhumane conditions of these farms, and the despicable and violent manner in which the animals are treated. Purchase only organic, hormone-free animal products at the market, and patronize restaurants that use only these sources.
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Animal protein should be eaten only once a day at most, at dinnertime. Eventually, our goal should be to limit the consumption of meat to two to three times per week at most.
Eating meat protein a maximum of once a day will provide our bodies with the energy to efficiently digest the more complex protein chains. As you learned with Beauty Food
Pairing, only one kind of animal protein should be eaten at a time. Following the principle of eating Light to Heavy, avoid eating animal protein until dinner so that your Beauty Energy is not wasted during the day and can be freed up for cleansing, weight loss and creating beauty.
And it is important for our health goals to limit meat consumption to only a few times a week, at most.
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Animals from the sea, such as sustainable varieties of fish, are preferable to land animals.
Land animals, such as cows, deer, pigs, chickens, etc., tend to have tougher muscle than sea animals and are more difficult to digest, leaving more acidic residue in the body. Fish and other seafood are better choices.
What Does “Free-Range” Really Mean?
We see more and more animal products labeled “free-range,” which paints a nice picture of happy chickens sunning in an open field and cows grazing in huge pastures. But does it mean there is less cruelty in the way the animals are handled?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) requires that chickens raised for their meat have access to the outside in order for a farm to receive the free-range certification.
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However, the USDA regulations do not specify the quality or size of the outside range or the duration of time an animal must have access to it.
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In an interview with CNN in 2004, Richard Lobb, spokesperson for the National Chicken Council, admitted, “Even in a free-range type of style of production, you're basically going to find most of them inside the grow out facility.”
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In a
Washington Post Magazine
article in 1995, the author asserted that in the case of birds, the term “free-range” “doesn't really tell you anything about the [animal's] quality of life, nor does it even assure that the animal actually goes outdoors.”
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The USDA has no specific definition for “free-range” when it comes to beef, pork and other non-poultry products.
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Farmers do not have to meet any specifications as to the size of the range nor the amount of space given to each animal to call it free-range and “free-range” labeling is unregulated. The USDA relies “upon producer testimonials to support the accuracy of these claims.”
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The bottom line is that the label “free-range” is essentially meaningless. The best bet for humanely raised meat is to buy from a local farm where you can be sure of how the animals are raised.
This is not to say that you should go out and pile your plate high with seafood every day. Fish is cited as one of the most polluted foods we can eat, as hydrocarbon pollution can concentrate in fish. Two of the biggest water contaminants that lodge in fish are PCBs and mercury. For these reasons, fish and other seafood, while less acid-forming than land animals, should be consumed a maximum of twice per week.
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Be sure to exercise proper Beauty Food Pairing.
Since protein is already so difficult to digest, meat should not be eaten at the same time as complex starches and carbohydrates. Instead, start with a large green salad and eat your meat along with lots of vegetables.
BEAUTIFUL PLANT-BASED PROTEIN
There's a wide variety of plant-based sources of amino acids and protein:
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Greens and Other Vegetables
Greens are packed with easily assimilated amino acids. Besides our green drinks, we must also strive to eat vibrant, raw salads made of leafy greens every day.
When we compare calories to protein content, per one hundred calories, broccoli has 11.2
grams of protein, as compared with steak, which only has 5.4 grams. Romaine lettuce has 11.6 grams of protein per one hundred calories.
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Calorie for calorie, plant food has almost
twice
as much protein as meat. Sure we have to eat a greater volume of plant food, but that is a good thingâthe more plant foods we eat, the more nutrients and fiber we'll get. Not so with animal protein!
MeatâNot Beautiful for the Planet
A 2006 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) cited livestock production as “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.”
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Among many of its shocking findings and summaries, the FAO reported that livestock production accounts for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than all the world's cars and SUVs combined! And 2.4 billion tons of CO2 emissions from livestock are a result of the deforestation of over 7.4 million acres of land for pastures and feed-crop fields each year. The livestock sector is the leading contributor to water pollution in the form of nitrogen and phosphorous in the United States, and a large amount of pesticides and antibiotics end up in the water thanks to large-scale livestock production. A third of fossil fuel consumption in the United States is directly related to animal agriculture.
If we really want to be “green,” it is essential to look at the environmental impact of what we are choosing to put on our plate three times a day, every day.
2
Nuts and Seeds
Raw nuts and seeds are a great source of protein. Nuts are a highly concentrated and calorically dense food, so we need to balance them by making sure we eat some greens and raw veggies before them and along with them. Two to three ounces is a maximum daily amount. If you are an active person or an athlete, or are trying to gain/maintain weight, the portion size can be adjusted slightly higher.
Toxic Body, Toxic Mind
When an animal is about to be slaughtered, it is filled with terror. In this moment of terror the animal's adrenal glands, which are caplike organs located on the top of the kidneys, pour out the stress hormone adrenalin, which flows into the bloodstream and all around its body.
Is it a stretch to believe that when we eat meat, we are taking in some of the adrenalin and immense fear, anger and suffering the animal experienced at slaughter?
The mind and the body are intrinsically connected, and the food we eat has a direct impact on our minds. The more we eat meat, the more anxious, angry stressed, agitated and nervous we may become. Conversely, the more vegetarian our diet becomes, the more calm, even-keel, clear, joyful, happy, balanced and present we become, and the better we deal with stress and problems. The best proof of this is personal experience!
Nuts and seeds must always be eaten raw. Roasting alters some of the nuts' beneficial qualities, and commercially packaged seeds and nuts are sometimes cooked in hydrogenated oils, which are full of unhealthy trans fats, and salted. It's best to purchase your seeds and nuts in their natural form.
We should eat cashews in strict moderation or avoid them altogether. Always purchase organic, high quality cashews. While they are great to use in certain recipes, unfortunately cashews are more susceptible to accumulating various potentially toxic molds (which could be why so many people are allergic to them). They are usually steamed to remove their tough outer shell, so technically they are rarely truly raw, and therefore are not sproutable and shouldn't be soaked. Don't worry though. There are lots of other healthy nuts to choose from instead! Always store nuts and seeds in the fridge for maximum freshness.
SOAKING NUTS AND SEEDS
Always soak nuts and seeds in water before eating them. Nuts and seeds have inhibitor enzymes on their surface to protect them from germinating until it's safe to do so. Soaking helps deactivate the inhibitor enzymes so that the nutrients are more readily available. Soaking also activates beneficial enzymes and helps convert many of the stored nutrients from a dormant to an active and available state. If you do
not
soak your raw nuts and seeds they will be more acid-forming in the body. Roasted nuts and seeds cannot be soaked.
HOW TO SOAK NUTS AND SEEDS
Place the nuts or seeds in a container and cover with one to two inches of water. The harder the consistency of a nut or seed, the longer you need to soak it. For instance, hard nuts such as almonds require at least twenty-four hours; medium-density nuts such as walnuts or Brazil nuts require around six hours; and soft nuts, such as pine nuts and macadamia nuts, require only two hours or less. Soak seeds like sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds overnight. The nuts and seeds will plump up as they absorb the water. If soaking nuts or seeds overnight, you should rinse them of before using them. They can stay totally submerged in water for up to two days in the fridge.
I often throw a bunch of different nuts into a bowl and let them soak overnight to save time. If you want the nuts to be totally dry for a certain recipe or to snack on, you can dehydrate them after soaking.
Best Beauty Nuts and Seeds
