The Detox Dance

It's that time of year again; the time to cleanse, reinvigorate and renew.

Doing cleanses and detoxes through juicing or fasting has become almost common place.  When I started biannual cleanses back in the 90's, it wasn't usual with many people.  Back then, I was dealing with a serious healing crisis, and with the support of a wonderful naturopath went through a 6 month healing that involved several detox cleanses, hydrocolonic therapy, white light therapy and vitamin/mineral therapy. It was intense, expensive and totally worth it.  I completely healed without invasive procedures.  It actually changed my life and put me on the course I presently pursue.

So, why should people periodically detox (if you aren't contending with a healing crisis)?  And what is the best way to do it?

Our human propensity is grounded in habit; the good, the bad, the ugly and beautiful.  We are routine and habit oriented.  Never changing up the way we eat and behave creates a static energy field, and this most often leads to dis-ease.  As I've said in several posts,  we live in a vessel that is constantly working for us, often taxed and on overdrive.  The heart never stops beating, the lymphatic, circulatory and gastrointestinal systems similarly are always at work.  To give them a rest, a break from dealing with breaking down fats and sugars is a way to renew their function.  This sort of change, reinvigorates our metabolism, allows the systems to relinquish stored toxins, provides our spiritual self new impressions and jump starts a heightened awareness, hopefully offsetting the need to ever have to manage a healing crisis.  Cleansing rejuvenates and reinvigorates and is fully sympathetic with the Spring and Autumn seasons.

To the question, what is the best way to do it, well, there are many, many ways.  Back in the '90's it tended to be "hard core".  Juicing juicing juicing.  Water water water.  No morsel of anything with non-liquid texture touched one's lips for 16-30 days.  Kind of rough and kind of exhilarating.  Today, there are all sorts of products and ways to approach it.  What I initially counsel to others and take into account for myself is, who am I right now?  What can I manage?  What is feasible within a budget, and where is my spirit in relation to the endeavor of this type of renewal?

For those going through a healing crisis, jumping into a very intense period of fasting/juicing may not be ideal.  It may be necessary to build the body up first, get the liver filtering optimally before one undertakes a detox.  This requires guidance and support and one should get this from a trusted healthcare partner.

There are a few circumstances to consider when undertaking a detox:  avoiding free-radical conditions and constipation.

Free radicals are molecules with unpaired electrons. In their quest to find another electron, they are very reactive and cause damage to surrounding molecules.  In detoxing, it's important to continue to nourish the body while avoiding a starvation situation.  As soon as the body senses it isn't getting nourished, it goes into lock down to avoid what it perceives as starving/imminent death, releasing an onslaught of free radicals into the blood stream. Free radicals are everywhere, in the air, our bodies, and the materials around us. They cause cellular and molecular deterioration causing age-related illnesses, and are unwanted contributors to heart attacks, stroke and cancers.

Constipation happens when fiber is eliminated from the diet, circumstances which are prime when one is exclusively juicing.  To offset this, maximum hydration is required and use of hydrocolon therapy (colonics) and or use of natural products like psyllium (natural bulk laxative).  Work with a professional to consider the best options for you.

One of the interesting things about cleansing is watching how you handle the stages.  Initially, there can be irritability, headaches, low energy. As the cleanse progresses, it's not uncommon to feel an incredible inner and outer lightness and high energy.  Part of detoxing is listening to the body and providing. If you need to rest or sleep, make the time.  The commitment to the process is an exemplary effort of caring for oneself.  All the time cutting the vegetables, preparing the broths, cleaning the juicer parts.  It's a big investment of time, energy, mental focus/planning and money. It's beautiful when the commitment is strong in oneself; a true sense of self worth and love to oneself is experienced (even if there are periods of grousing about the time consumption!).  Recommitting to one's prayer or meditation practice helps deepen the cleanse experience.  It brings fortitude and a certain internal power and verticality that can offset the challenges and heighten the satisfaction.

photo credit: Lalu Danzker

Ways to approach a detox:

One can gradually move into it, eliminating a meal a day, replacing with juicing and gradually eliminating 2 meals and finally 3.  Have a plan or protocol for yourself, a structure and a way you will emotionally, spiritually and physically approach the effort.  Get some help and support for the plan by a healthcare partner.

Be careful what you juice.  Vegetables should be your primary source of nutrition with inclusion of few fruits.  For those with a big sweet tooth, you will be tempted to do a lot of fruit juicing.  Minimize this.  Also, even if vegetables are your main source of juice, one's stomach lining can get irritated.  Balance the juicing with alkaline broth.  One glass of broth accompanying a glass of fresh juice usually offsets stomach aches.  Alkaline broth can be made with vegetable scraps.  Potato skins, beet tops, spinach/chard stalks, etc.  Avoid salting the broth or using veg high in sodium, like onions.  Add lots of fresh herbs to make it tasty.  You can make a pot-full and strain it into glass containers (old peanut butter jars) for the week.  Try not to drink it cold; the juice tends to be cold and you want to offset the temperature with other.  We are particularly sensitive to "cold" foods when fasting, why we undertake it in the spring, not the winter.  You don't want the intestines to seize up but accept what is received graciously; so warm the broth when possible, drink a lot of herb tea like nettle and hawthorne.

photo credit: Lee van Laer

Go all organic, go seasonal.  You will be tempted to do cantaloupe and watermelon; they're big, you get  a lot of juice at one time, they taste great. But they're not seasonal in April and May (at least not in the northeast).  Tip your hat to disappearing winter and juice a lot of root vegetables in the spring (beets, parsnips, carrots, etc) adding in "new" spring greens like spinach, dandelion, chard.  This is an opportunity to fall in love with bitter greens like arugula; so tangy and delicious.  Organic is a no- brainer even if it's pricey.  The whole idea of a detox is to detox.  You don't want to put into your body low grade foods, taxing your cleanup process with pesticides and unfriendly microbes.  We are trying to decrease and neutralize inflammatory processes, bring more alkaline (vs acidic foods) into the system.  We need high quality vegetables and fruits.  Again, go organic.

For some, it is too stressful not to be able to masticate every day.  Foodies need texture.  Hence, exclusively juicing may not be possible.  There are many good products on the market that provide shakes, even bars to chew on while doing a cleanse.  This process is about wakening to oneself, where one is in the now.  We aren't trying to be perfect or hyper disciplined.  The "discipline" comes from the interest in the process.  If we've committed to eliminating food-food for a period there are going to be challenges.  If you have to masticate something, and there is too much tension and effort around the cleansing commitment, eat something.  If possible make it whole: carrot  or celery sticks, cucumber slices.  Don't complex carb-out with bread or junk. Sometimes a thin soup with vegetable nips the hankering.  Eat a piece of fruit.  Try to stay in the parameter of the things you are juicing (dandelion green salad with a few drops of olive oil and spray of lemon).  There is no guilt or forgiveness necessary.  Take care of yourself.  One of the signs that it's time to move out of the fast is the amount of daydreaming and planning one begins to do in relation to food.  If you find yourself thinking for inordinate amounts of time about what you're first meal is going to be, writing lists of menus for the first week back--- it's time to start shifting out of a cleanse.  When one begins to feel deprived, or is experiencing scarcity in relation to food, this is another cue it's time to back into a more normal dietary pattern.  Denial is not a great place on any level to live.  It undermines what efforts you've made thus far and puts future detoxes at risk.

When we detox, we aren't just eliminating through our gastrointestinal system, but through our skin and respiration as well.  Doing Ayurvedic skin brushing with a medium coarse, dry loofah sponge or brush prior to showering helps this process by stimulating lymph and circulation.  Brush the limbs and the torso several times always toward the heart. Do this before showering.  Finish the shower with a cool rinse.  Do exceptionally good mouth care.  Brush, waterpik, floss, tongue brush, mouthwash; the whole kit-n-caboodle.  Halitosis or bad breath is common during the detoxing period.  As you clean your body, clean your mouth:  with intention and excellence.  In all of this, you'll feel like a million bucks.

Back out of your cleanse the way you went into it:  gradually.  Eat small amounts of complex carbs (1/4 cup cooked per day) after a few days add in some dairy (preferably yogurt). You don't want to shock your sensitized system by going from nothing to a full fledged meal.  By the end of a fast, time has become slower, impressions are received in a much more sublime and quiet way.  Appreciate this.  Take stock in the detox dance you completed.

Trojan Wurst IV: Sustainable Protein

Like a lot of rational people, I've been on a sustained pause around definitive diets.  Diet methods and a lot of rigidity around whole foods in general always gets my "fake out" antenna up.  I've generally taken a judicious tact toward eating.  As vegetarianism, veganism and unrefined plant food (UPF) trends have been on the rise over the last couple of decades, I've been paying attention, reading the literature and increasing my vegetable intake accordingly.  I haven't given up meat, although I don't eat a lot of it.  I've been a little embarrassed to admit that killing animals for food is not in my mind, a horrific thing.  I've seen it (in my mind's eye) as part of a whole cycle.   But lately, I've had the occasion to see some films on sustainability and I am beginning to realize that what has been in my "mind's eye" has been an old-world European or 1950's image (an "old McDonald's farm" scenario, ei ei ohhh) on how farm animals are raised, treated and killed for consumption.  The worn denim overall'd grandpa chewing on a straw strand isn't out milking the three cows in the barn and wringing a few chicken necks for supper afterall.

There have been several concerns for me as of late around animal flesh.  A few years ago I happened to be visiting FDR's family vacation home in New Brunswick (charming and unostentagious by the way, worth a visit) and wandered down to the little beach on the bay where some fish farms were underway; salmon as a matter of fact, a fish I admire and esteem almost more than any other.  There was a whole description at the beach side as to how salmon farming is conducted, which by the time I finished reading, vowed never to eat farmed-raised fish again.  The methodology is so scientifically calculated it is kind of horrific.  Part of the wonder of salmon (reflected in their flesh) is their vital essential need as a species to do the incredible acrobatics that they need to do in order to spawn and survive.  They are remarkable beings.  These farms are science laboratories that in no way take in account the species essence, and that this essential aspect of the salmon, is contained in the flesh we eat.  It is not considered.  We are eating from an industrialized fishing industry.  The lack of consciousness around the food processing in this environment at a basic level (from cultivating fish eggs to harvesting fully grown fish) that produce our food sources is alarming.

The second cue which happened over the last year, has been practically subliminal for me.  I've had a sense the fish I have been eating is different than fish I was eating 5 or 7 years ago.  There's something not right about it, which I can't put my finger on and which would be easy to dismiss.  The flesh is different. The taste is not ---- alive?(missing the essence of the animal?) Not like it used to be. I've seen, tasted and known this about beef and chicken for over two decades.  One could parallel it to the difference between an organic egg you buy and the one your friend gives you from their chicken coop.  The difference isn't freshness so much (although I'm sure that's a factor), it's something else.  And I'm beginning to believe it's the way these animals who give their life for our benefit are treated prior to being killed.  We are living in a world of high technology, where exponential masses of animals are "processed" at enormous rates with shear brutality and in shockingly short periods of time. (A chicken is ready for slaughter now in 27 days as opposed to the 47 days it was ready decades ago, and weighing often twice as much in present day as in the past making them unable to stand up over their short life span.) There is a subtle but very serious lack of regard (completely discounted as being important at all) in this process, and which must effect what gets to our plate and into our bodies.

I think I've been able to assuage my alarm over the years around the animal flesh issue because I go primarily organic, free-range, "humanely treated", etc.  I've calmed myself thinking what I was buying and consuming was better.  But organic farms supplying Whole Foods and other supermarket chains conduct their food business practically the same way as the other producers.  Albeit, their chickens are given 3 feet of space a piece instead of being crammed into cages.  But they still discard the male chicks or grind them up for organic pet food since they won't be laying eggs.  "Organic" farms are also generally mass producers of food (3K-30,000 chickens harvested every month).  Organic beef suppliers also castrate the bulls, destroy cows who get utter infections instead of give them rest and antibiotics.  It evidently doesn't pay to appreciate what these animals provide to the masses.  No straw-chewing grandpa there.

King mushroom, grown in Maine, tons of protein!

This mindless approach to food production is of course due in large part to overpopulation.  The market must meet the demand.  According to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization, raising animals for food on these huge scales is grossly inefficient and hugely polluting of the environment.  Raising livestock for consumption is a larger polluter than the transportation (cars, trucks) industry. How is this?  To raise cattle for consumption, an enormous amount of energy has to be expended to plant and grow the grain, irrigate it, harvest it, ship it and store it.  (For one pound of beef, it takes 6-10 pounds of grain; one cow drinks 50 gallons of water every day.) To keep cattle, bring them to slaughter, process, ship and store the butchered meat requires a further outlay of energy.  Consider cattle naturally put out large amounts of methane gas (which is 23 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide--whala, global warming) and animal based protein releases much higher amounts of carbon dioxide than plant based protein.  Well, the benefits (and past pleasures) of animal protein begin to be outweighed by the little talked about sustainability downside.  The United Nations concern on climate change has irrefutably made the statement:  "Eat less Meat." It leaves a huge carbon footprint.  If the SAD (Standard American Diet) was replaced with a plant based diet by most people for a year, it would equal the energy saved if everyone drove a hybrid vehicle.  (The SAD diet by the way is 40% animal protein, 50% processed foods (anything in boxes, bottles or prepared), 3.5% unrefined plant food (greens!) and 3.5% starch (potatoes/grains).

Animal consumption is big business.  And big business tends to attract lobbyists and lean toward corruption practices.  Science and public policy around dairy for one, have people chairing committees on the Food and Nutrition Board (sets dietary guidelines) who are also consultants for the dairy industry (it is now recommended we drink 3 eight ounce glasses of milk daily up from two from a few years ago; any correlation?).  This is obviously a conflict of interest which seems to be under the law radar.

More fabulous Maine mushrooms!

As in healthcare, we are approaching the need for a paradigm shift in the way agriculture is grown in this country (but of course, there is a solid relationship between the two).  Obviously, we are not going back to becoming a non-industrialized agriculture society.  Too many people have to be fed.  But the trend to grow part of one's daily intake and use local small farmers for much of the rest is growing, a  more environmentally sustainable possibility for some of us.  It is almost convenient to buy local eggs now and raw milk from smaller farms.  CSAs have expanded to include humanely raised animals which families or individuals can buy a portion of the slaughter (still have to freeze the bulk of that portion, which is more energy use). Personally, I don't think the inhumane, mechanical processing of animal protein is good for my health and soul (or anyone elses?) or the environment.  We need to look at our consumer and eating habits with this in mind, bring more consciousness to the way we purchase, grow and sustain ourselves.  Saying NO to the technology-based food production in this country will in time shift the paradigm (and everything else) on how we feed ourselves and respect the action of self sustenance and planet sustainability.  If we don't do this, but continue to consume food in America the way we do, according to experts, by 2030 we will need 2-5 other planets to feed all of us.  This is 2013, 16 years to go.  Earth is all we've got (at the moment).

resources gleaned from:

Food, Inc - TakePart

Vegeducated - New release on Netflix - Vegan Lifestyle - The Chat .

Forks Over Knives | Official Website

 

 

Trojan Wurst III: Organic

We live in a world driven by trends.  Organic food (and product) has been one such trend in this country. There are proponents and antagonists in relation to the organic movement; and these factions are militant to their respective points of view.  I hope to put forth some data in this post for clarification on both sides of this issue.

Some antagonists (let's call them "A" camp) state that these trends show a marketing triumph over science reality.  Also, that science evidence is usurped by the philosophy of organic practice.  See:

No Health Benefits from Organic Food

What does this mean?  Let’s look at the practices.

The word "organic" refers to the way farmers grow and process agricultural products. Organic farming practices are designed to encourage soil and water conservation and reduce pollution. Farmers who grow organic produce and meat don't use conventional methods to fertilize, control weeds or prevent livestock disease. For example, rather than using chemical weedkillers, organic farmers may conduct more sophisticated crop rotations and spread mulch or manure to keep weeds at bay.

Here are some key differences in these farming methods:

Conventional	Organic
Apply chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth.	Apply natural fertilizers, such as manure or compost, to feed soil and plants.
Spray synthetic insecticides to reduce pests and disease.	Spray pesticides from natural sources; use beneficial insects and birds, mating disruption or traps to reduce pests and disease.
Use synthetic herbicides to manage weeds.	Use environmentally-generated plant-killing compounds; rotate crops, till, hand weed or mulch to manage weeds.
Give animals antibiotics, growth hormones and medications to prevent disease and spur growth.	Give animals organic feed and allow them access to the outdoors. Use preventive measures — such as rotational grazing, a balanced diet and clean housing — to help minimize disease.

Of all the reading I did for this post, the polarized factions could only agree on seemingly one thing: Organic agriculture's most relative contribution is that it’s about the relationship of farming to the social and biological environment as a whole, not just to one's immediate biology (the food itself). Aside from antibiotic resistant bacteria, this is in regards to broad ecological impacts of pesticide use, soil quality, erosion and runoff, eutrophication of bodies of water, social and economic consequences of the scale of farming, fossil fuel consumption, air pollution, substitution of capital for labor. Whether that particular head of broccoli has as many vitamins as the next one is not the issue (says the A camp).

The "O" (organic) camp claims organic strawberries look and taste better, have higher levels of vitamin C and other antioxidants, are larger and have a longer shelf life before going bad. http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.
1371/journal.pone.0012346*.  (My personal experience is organic strawberries are a lot smaller, much more flavorful and have an extremely short shelf life -- like a day, two days max.  But the flavor! worth their seeming delicate naturalness).  The O-camp also say organic vegetables generally contain higher amounts of minerals and weigh more than conventionally grown ones, organically produced animal meats contain more polyunsaturated fatty acids, and 94-100% of organic grown foods do not contain any pesticide residues.  “Ecological and agronomic research on the effect of fertilization on plant composition shows that increasing availability of plant available nitrogen reduces the accumulation of defense-related secondary metabolites and vitamin C, while the contents of secondary metabolites such as carotenes that are not involved in defense against diseases and pests may increase.  A meta-analysis of the published comparisons of the content of secondary metabolites and vitamins in organically and conventionally produced fruits and vegetables showed that in organic produce the content of secondary metabolites is 12% higher than in corresponding conventional samples ( P< 0.0001)."*  Agroecosystem Management and Nutritional Quality of Plant Foods: The Case of Organic Fruits and Vegetables (www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07352689.2011.554417).  This site includes a meta-analysis of the published comparisons of the content of secondary metabolites and vitamins in organically and conventionally produced fruits and vegetables and a computer modeled benefit outcome on antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

I include here some of the literature I looked at. In this reading, I became almost more interested in how the research and evidence based inquiry was done and reported, more than the subject matter.  It was like looking at most political discourses; there were almost always two camps with opposite opinions and opposite findings.  There was pointing of fingers in regards to primary investigators on a research study (ie:  "Illegitimate! the author works for Big Tobacco").  Transparency seemed to be no where near an objective.  See ** below. Both factions have an obvious incentive to slant the results of whatever study toward their own bias. (http://www.cornucopia.org/2012/09/stanfords-spin-on-organics-allegedly-

tainted-by-biotechnology-funding/).

There are apparently many flaws in the way studies evaluate their data. For example:

- The (A camp's) nutritional analysis appears to favor specific nutrients that were found in similar levels in both conventional and organics, and ignores nutrients that occur in higher levels in organics. Studies of conventional versus organic nutrient levels have been done, and according to at least one published survey of these studies (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/afrd/research/publication/168871), organic produce contain about an average of 12% more nutrients than conventional produce. See also: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/stanford-organics-study-public-health_n_1880441.html

- The amounts of pesticides and other harmful chemicals in the food were not considered in the analysis. Both organic and conventional foods have these (organic in trace amounts), and naturally conventional foods have much higher levels. But in the analysis the amount and number of kinds of pesticide found was not factored in; only whether or not any pesticide at all was found. See (http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/09/five-ways-stanford-study-underestimates-organic-food)

- The comparative percents of conventional versus organic foods containing pesticides was also misrepresented; the report states that conventional food is 30% more likely to contain them. But the numbers in the details of the report show that 7% of organic foods sampled contained pesticides compared to 38% of the conventional foods. That’s a factor of more than FIVE times greater chance of conventional food containing the pesticides, not to mention that they are in much higher levels on conventional products compared to their organic counterparts.

Rodale web published an article entitled: "Lower Taxes! And 4 Other Surprising Reasons to Save the Earth by Going Organic" (attention grabbing!). Another aspect of organic that is less obvious. They say organic is tax saving because:

"Chemical farming kills jobs. Another perk of organic farming? Labor inputs are 15 percent higher, compared to chemical farms, writes Rodale in Organic Manifesto, which means the organic sector creates more jobs. Many farmers are talked into using agrichemicals because they're told it will make their jobs easier by saving labor—which means fewer farm jobs. But the fact of the matter is, the use of these chemicals is creating "superweeds" that are starting to outwit chemical pesticides.

• There's an experiment going on…and all of us are the guinea pigs. GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, have infiltrated every aspect of our food systems, without ever having been evaluated for their effects on human health. Now that some research is being done (in spite of aggressive tactics by agribusiness to prevent all testing), researchers are seeing signs that GMOs cause organ failure, digestive diseases, even accelerated aging. More studies need to be done to understand how GMOs affect human health, but in the meantime, buying organic is the best way to stop being used as a lab rat.

• You can still eat pineapples and bananas. There are good reasons to seek out food that's grown locally—you support your local economy, you cut down on the fossil fuels needed to bring it to your table, you may even be able to talk to the grower find out how it was produced. But giving up, say, bananas or avocados because they can't be grown where you live is not a step many people want to take. Choose organic, though, and you shrink the carbon footprint of your favorite long-distance treat. "Numerous studies have shown that organic is much more critical when it comes to carbon than local," writes Rodale. That's because the production, shipping, and application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are among the most energy-intensive farming practices. Organic methods bypass all that and, as mentioned, keep greenhouse carbon out of the atmosphere. Organic AND local is the gold standard, but organic food has a smaller carbon footprint than its local but chemically grown counterpart."

Science, research, evidence base-- it all is questionable, even when the "facts" are laid out, seemingly plain as day.  One sleuths for hard facts and everything appears to be hidden behind mirrors and smoke screens.  Where is Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson when you need them?  Where is transparency?

other sources:
**http://www.agronomy-journal.org/index.php? and ”
http://www.naturalnews.com/037108_Stanford_Ingram_Olkin_Big_Tobacco.html

option=com_article&access=doi&doi=10.1051/agro/2009019&Itemid=129

and

http://www.cargill.com/corporate-responsibility/environmental-sustainability/environmental-partners/stanford/index.jsp

http://www.responsibletechnology.org

Farm Use of Antibiotics Defies Scrutiny.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/benbrook_annals_response2012.pdf

http://www.springerlink.com/content/ng33933p56368477/


http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0034953


http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7365/full/nature10388.html

Unmentionables: Menses

Through history, “that time of month” has been a source of belittlement by others called all sorts of things by all sorts of people (unknowing, fearful, unfamiliar).  It is beguiling that something that often causes discomfort and pain would be a source of mockery and even disgust by others.  I’ve often seen menses in sort of miraculous terms, an incredible cycle that is as reliable as the sun and moon rising and setting everyday, the tides rolling in and out; a reminder to take good care, step back, slow down. Women’s cycles relate us to all of nature’s cycles.  This is a big thing. Even the experienced discomfort, has possibly been something through the ages that has enabled women to develop enormous strength and endurance and a capacity for introspection in the often enforced quietness of “bearing” the symptoms of their physiology.  Though most of us know in broad terms what goes on biologically during the time of a woman’s menses, I hope in this post to shed a little more light on it, to clarify the science of it and hence a better appreciation for this process which makes possible a continuation of human life on this planet, as well as holistic approaches to ease the monthly passage.

Physiology of menses

“That time of month” is a misnomer, as a woman’s cycle is in a continuous hormonal flux.  “PMS” (premenstrual syndrome) connotes the period prior to menses that includes bloating, headaches and irritability.  As in all hormonal fluxuations, temporary mental deficits (ie: memory, distractability) can be prevalent.  As anyone who has experienced the sometime disconcerting symptoms of hormonal flux through their continuum, navigating life, work and school takes self-patience and forbearance.

The endocrine system is the driver in a woman's menstrual cycle.  Ramped up production of estrogen (builds up the uterine wall in preparation for the possibility of a fertilized egg), then lutien hormone and finally progesterone aid in continuing this kind of miraculous cycle women experience every month.  This is a complex interplay of hormones that alternately surge and reduce in preparation of one stage or another in the cycle.  The dominant follicle in the ovary become a corpus luteum if unfertilized; it's primary function is producing large amounts of progesterone. Under the influence of progesterone, the endometrium (uterine lining) changes to prepare for potential implantation of an embryo to establish a pregnancy. If implantation does not occur within approximately two weeks, the corpus luteum will involute, causing sharp drops in levels of both progesterone and estrogen. These hormone drops cause the uterus to shed its lining and the unfertilized egg.  Hence, menses.

Men and women alike are controlled by the endocrine system's hormone play.  It's a kind of fantastically sublime regulator  When things are working right, it is usually very subtle.  Men (and I know you're reading this) who might have difficulty imagining what women experience in their menstrual cycles, can have a better understanding by relating to their experience to the hormone, insulin.  All humans have insulin coursing through their bodies at all times.  The wonderful intact check and balance system most of us enjoy prevents us from noticing the ups and downs significantly.  But with insulin, when we've eaten too little or too many carbs or concentrated sweets, we often can feel our insulin production wildly shift, trying to normalize.  We can get big highs and big lows, irritability, headaches or exhaustion are primary symptoms of insulin not behaving in its usual stealth manner. Men, if you've had this disenchanting experience, welcome to a woman's relationship to the hormones, estrogen and progesterone (primarily) and our nearly constant world spanning over four decades.

What's a girl to do?  No one has control (or even an awareness most of the time) of what their hormones are doing.  But since we do know the discomfort brought on by one's menstrual cycle is hormone-related, supporting one's optimal endocrine function  would be a positive start to reducing the symptoms.  As we know with insulin, if we take care not to make insulin production go into over drive or shut down, we don't get the labile shifts that cause havoc in the body and which in turn causes the suffering.

Attitude.  Susun Weed is the guru of great attitude when it comes to women's health and cycles.  She's "crunchy" (as in granola-girl crunchy), but even if you don't swing that way, her attitude is empowering and positive.  Her little article: Blood mysteries - Susun Weed - herbal medicine - women's health .. is a refreshing boost toward getting a new attitude to our not-to-be-denied function.  Appreciating instead of resenting this incredible process is an act of self love.  Women in general, need a lot more of that right kind of feeling. And it starts with us.

Diet/Nutrition:  Again, Susun Weed has some great advice in Ten Tips for Women with PMS.  Many of her suggestions require self care (like making infusions, taking the time to be mindful of additions you might want to make to food or drink, etc).  This in my mind is a woman's saving grace.  Not only does it instill self awareness and introspection, it actually forces us (unless we want to be fully miserable) to take the time our body is asking us to take and make preparations, consider interventions needed, slow down.  It's kind of great we get these reminders.  It's an aspect of our gender that is extremely valuable.  

Because estrogen increases two weeks prior to the mense date, it might be a good idea to not promote a further elevation of estrogen levels by using soy products or other estrogen-enhancing nutrition at that time.  Also, increasing calcium and magnesium in one's diet decreases unwanted symptoms (Susun mentions this in the above article and emphasizes we should get this through foods not supplements).  Drinking lots of water (abates headaches), (or better yet, infusion teas like stinging nettle-high in calcium, supports the adrenals) helps keep us in flow, the pain, cramps, unwanted symptoms on the move.  Listening to the body's needs is singularly important.  Taking time to listen to what the body is asking for goes a long way to knowing yourself and your cycle symptomology.

Exercise/Movement:  Moving your body regulates your body. Movement primes the cells and system (including endocrine), encourages mutuality and cooperation within the organism.  Most women can tell a huge difference in their menstrual symptoms from the months they have a well integrated exercise regimen and the months they don't.  Exercise improves all circulations within our systems, and is a cornerstone in dealing with daily and/or chronic tension (stress). Moving the body in enjoyment and pleasure is key to sustaining healthy periods.

Practical Rest:  Sometimes our periods hammer us into submission.  Why wait to get layed-low?  Be pre-emptive. Get to bed early when you feel it coming on, take naps when you can, lay down and put your feet up (against the wall feels great). And while you are lying there prostrate, possibly groaning, take some nice deep breaths and send your inhales to where it hurts and imagine their removal on the exhales (out the closest exit sight).  Working with your breath in this way aids circulation, prevents you from minimizing or holding your breath (never a good idea).  It also empowers you to be your own healer.  The weight and heat of a warming hot water bottle on your pelvis is a comfort.  Almost better is sending the living Qi in your hands right to the areas that are hurting while breathing is hugely beneficial.  Never underestimate your own healing energy. You were made for yourself.
 
 resources: 
Red Moon Herbs ~ We create potent herbal products, focusing on ...
 has wonderful combination herbs for PMS and "moon" days.  great products!

some light reading for those heavy days:
Moon Days is a literary, passionate, and profound collection.Twenty-six writers explore the "silent" parts of women's lives; reawakening our memories of embarrassment and shame and transforming them to wonder, excitement, and laughter.

Amazons in Appalachia by Awiakta

RED by Karen Murphy

The Red Tent: A Novel by Anita Diamant (Aug 21, 2007)

 Menstrual facts gleaned from:  Menstrual cycle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Food Fascism and the Convenient Microwave

"You want me to use WHAT to make your dinner?"

My dad would have been a stellar microwave salesman.  In the early 1970's he enthusiastically hoisted an enormous metal box (one of the first non-commercial microwaves) into our home's kitchen, relieving the counter of three-quarter's of its space. He believed it would revolutionize food preparation (the "best thing since sliced bread" as he would say) for my mother, the burned-out family cook.  I was the only one in the large household not to partake of this new-fangled appliance; I had an instinctive and suspicious repulsion to it.  Of course, I was a tender-teenager, wont to explore my own ideas, but also the only thing I knew about it was that it exponentially decreased cooking time and you couldn't put metal in the thing while operating or it would explode (this science evidence realized 30 years later when somebody put tinfoil in my hospital unit's break room microwave and we were subsequently inundated with full-gear firemen wielding hefty axes).  For the first 5 years in my twenties, reliably there would be a new model microwave under the Christmas tree waiting for me.  Too big to re-gift, I would ask dad to return it (he declined and found it another "home").  By my twenty fifth year, Christmas began to be a dreaded event knowing I would have to meet his tenacity? obtuseness? obnoxiousness? head on (probably all three, dear ole dad) around his insistent admonitions I should "enter the future".  Dad had his ideas and I had mine.

The Amana microrange microwave, circa 1967
Good times!...........

Since the 1980's, American kitchens in new homes have been routinely outfitted with microwave inlets to fill (most often hazardly placed at one's head/brain level). In university dorms, they often are the only working appliance in the group kitchen and restaurants everywhere have used them to cut out a time consuming step or two in filling the stomachs of the masses they feed.  In researching this essay, it was evident to me the prejudice I have toward microwaves in relation to food preparation. I admit to leaning toward information to support my bias (the inherent difficulty in research).  I often found reputable sources, like a Harvard publication making statements like (in relation to what to microwave your food in): "Only those containers labeled 'microwave safe' have been tested and found safe for that purpose. A container that’s not labeled safe for microwave use isn’t necessarily unsafe; the FDA simply hasn’t determined whether it is or not." This cued me to the fact I'm not the only one with a bias and that microwaves are a big (probably political) business.  My un-unique food fascism will likely be front and center here, but I will counter it (as I can) with the other side's bias, which is commonplace source.

How do microwave "radar ranges" or ovens work?
Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation—waves of electrical and magnetic energy moving together through space. EM radiation ranges from very high energy (gamma rays and x-rays) on one end of the spectrum to very low energy (radio waves) on the other end of the spectrum.  Microwaves cause dielectric heating. They bounce around the inside of your oven and are absorbed by the food you put in it. Since water molecules are bipolar, having a positive end and negative end, they rotate rapidly in the alternating electric field. The water molecules in the food vibrate violently at extremely high frequencies—millions of times per second—creating molecular friction, which heats up the food.  If the food or object placed in the microwave had no water it would not be able to have this resonance heating type effect and would remain cool. Or, as investigative journalist William Thomas calls it, "electrically whiplashed."

In this heating process, structures of the water molecules are torn apart and forcefully deformed. This is different than conventional heating of food, whereby heat is transferred convectionally from the outside, inward. Microwave cooking begins within the molecules where water is present.Contrary to popular belief, microwaved foods don't cook "from the inside out." When thicker foods are cooked, microwaves heat the outer layers, and the inner layers are cooked mostly by the conduction of heat from the hot outer layers, inward.  Heating food in this way causes the present water molecules to resonate at very high frequencies and eventually turn to steam which heats your food.  Since not all areas contain the same amount of water, the heating is uneven.  Additionally, microwaving creates new compounds that are not found in humans or in nature, called radiolytic compounds. We don't yet know what these compounds are doing to your body (even after over 40 years of frequent mass use?).

In addition to the violent frictional heat effects, called thermic effects, there are also athermic effects, which are poorly understood because they are not as easily measured. It is these athermic effects that are suspected to be responsible for much of the deformation and degradation of cells and molecules. As an example, microwaves are used in the field of gene altering technology to weaken cell membranes. Scientists use microwaves to actually break cells apart. Impaired cells then become easy prey for viruses, fungi and other microorganisms. Rapidly heating your food in this manner, changes your food's chemical structure (hence, nutritive properties).  Without a doubt, microwaving distorts and deforms the molecules of whatever food or other substance you subject to it.

Well, they look perky....

In my mind, this information alone is enough for me to forgo the convenience of using a microwave oven. For you die-hard users, there is the other controversial issue of the use of containers holding food while microwaving. Some sources claim carcinogenic toxins can migrate out of your plastic and paper containers/covers, and into your food.  Counter sources claim the FDA does extensive testing on containers and food in relation to microwave heating, measuring the chemicals that leach into the food. Chemicals such as polyethylene terpthalate (PET), benzene, toluene, and xylene, and they also admit microwaving fatty foods (meat) in plastic containers leads to the release of dioxins (known carcinogens) and other toxins into your food. But (they say) this is minimal if you use the right container and cover. (food fascist raises her righteous head:  but REALLY, why would you want to do this?) And if you should glean comfort by the idea there are "right" containers to microwave in, sources say, "One of the worst contaminants is BPA, or bisphenol A, an estrogen-like compound used widely in plastic products. In fact, dishes made specifically for the microwave often contain BPA, but many other plastic products contain it as well."

Some studies:
-- A study found that broccoli "zapped" in the microwave with a little water lost up to 97 percent of its beneficial antioxidants. By comparison, steamed broccoli lost 11 percent or fewer of its antioxidants. There were also reductions in phenolic compounds and glucosinolates, but mineral levels remained intact.

--A 1999 Scandinavian study of the cooking of asparagus spears found that microwaving caused a reduction in vitamin C.

--In a study of garlic, as little as 60 seconds of microwave heating was enough to inactivate its allinase, garlic's principle active ingredient against cancer.

--A Japanese study by Watanabe showed that just 6 minutes of microwave heating turned 30-40 percent of the B12 in milk into an inert (dead) form. This study has been cited by Dr. Andrew Weil as evidence supporting his concerns about the effects of microwaving. Dr. Weil wrote:   "There may be dangers associated with microwaving food... there is a question as to whether microwaving alters protein chemistry in ways that might be harmful." (devil's advocate:  why would you heat milk for 6 minutes when 2 minutes does the job?)

So, these are the "facts".  Should I even get into the aesthetic of the rubbery chicken breast or tasteless vegetable (or weird tasting mug of water), the direct result of this approach to food preparation?  It hardly seems necessary when the science of the activity of microwaving indicates food/water molecules have been torn asunder, instead of respectfully attended (of course the food is horrific).  As a culture, we might want to look a little closer at how we have gotten ourselves into this mechanical, automatic, morbidly convenient relationship to food.  FOOD!, one of the major life-giving and pleasure providing aspects of life on this planet.

1. [Megamind activates a hologram, while Minion puts on an apron and wig] ... 
   Megamind: But it can be easily reheated, in the microwave of evil! 
   Metro Man: Well, I think 

   Megamind's Father: [last words to his son] You are destined for... 

   [the ship closes and takes off] 

   
   

   Megamind: [voice-over] I hadn't quite heard that last part, but it sounded important. Destined for... What? 

   --  Megamind (the film, 2010)

most of the information for this post was gleaned from:
--January/February 1990 issue of Nutrition Action Newsletter
--http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/18/
--http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update0706a.shtml
--November 2003 issue of The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
--Rust S and Kissinger M. (November 15, 2008) "BPA leaches from 'safe' products" Journal Sentinel Online
--Vallejo F, Tomas-Barberan F A, and Garcia-Viguera C. "Phenolic compound contents in edible parts of broccoli inflorescences after domestic cooking"
--Kidmose U and Kaack K. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica B 1999:49(2):110-117
--Song K and Milner J A. "The influence of heating on the anticancer properties of garlic," Journal of Nutrition 2001;131(3S):1054S-57S
--Watanabe F, Takenaka S, Abe K, Tamura Y, and Nakano Y. J. Agric. Food Chem. Feb 26 1998;46(4):1433-1436