The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances (54 page)

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)

Essential fatty acids are your skin’s best friends. Essential fatty acids serve lots of important functions: they reduce inflammation, improve cell signaling, ease mood disorders, and protect DNA from damage. Last but not least, they can literally save your face, nourishing the skin, keeping it glowing, and even improving eczema and psoriasis. Omega-6 fatty acids are particularly helpful in restoring the barrier function of the epidermis, and omega-3 fatty acids preserve collagen and elastin.

You can add essential fatty acids to your salads and stews. You can drink them undiluted (as in the Green Liver Flush, described later in this chapter) or take them as a food supplement. Fish oil capsules should be the only source of animal-derived fat in your diet during the detox. Plant sources of EFAs include flaxseed (linseed), hemp oil, soya oil, canola (rapeseed) oil, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, leafy vegetables, and walnuts.

Omega-6 fatty acids are particularly helpful in restoring the barrier function of the epidermis, and omega-3 fatty acids preserve collagen and elastin.

Fruits and Vegetables

Fresh, organic fruits and vegetables are the key ingredients of your Green Beauty Detox. Every piece of fruit, every bunch of salad, should be organic or locally grown without fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. Some stores do not carry as many organic varieties as we would like. If you’re buying nonorganic produce, stay away from the most contaminated fruits and vegetables, which include apples, apricots, bananas, cabbage, cantaloupe, celery, cherries, lettuce, pears, peppers, potatoes, raspberries, spinach, strawberries, and watermelon. Whenever you want one of these delicious creations of nature, buy only organic. However, the following fruits and vegetables are found to be lower in chemical additives and can be eaten in limited quantities even when grown conventionally: asparagus, avocados, beans, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, onions, peas, tomatoes, and zucchini.

What to Avoid

By all means avoid the following during the Green Beauty Detox: alcohol, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated fats, butter, refined sugar (other than in body rubs and facial scrubs), and refined carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, cereal or pasta made from white flour, etc.).

Water: The Essential Skin Remedy

There’s so much water in our bodies, one may wonder why we don’t drown in all the water in our brain, blood, and lungs! Water regulates body temperature; carries glucose, oxygen, and nutrients; cushions joints; and removes waste from the body. Drinking water is a well-known health and beauty tool, but how many of us actually drink the recommended eight glasses a day?

Keep water flowing. Dehydration is the surefire way to increase the toxic burden in your body. It has been estimated that when we feel thirsty, approximately 28 percent of blood plasma is lost. Even mild dehydration slows cell metabolism by 5 percent, which speeds up the accumulation of toxic metabolites in your blood. Skin cell turnover slows down and bowel movements become scarce, which leads to clogging your body’s “plumbing system” with waste. Not drinking enough water has been linked to colon and bladder cancer as well as fatigue and worsening memory (Altieri et al. 2003; Manz, Wentz 2005). Dehydration can intensify the symptoms of diabetes and has been shown to raise blood pressure (Manz 2007).

Some rural communities, especially when located on organically certified soil, can safely drink tap water, but most of us don’t have this luxury anymore. Fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides constantly seep into waterways, while the dumping of sewage and industrial wastes and toxins pollutes rivers and lakes, disrupting delicate ecosystems. From 1971 to 2002, there were 764 documented waterborne outbreaks associated with drinking water in the United States, resulting in more than half a million cases of illness and 79 deaths, according to a report by the University of Arizona (Reynolds et al. 2008). Scientists noted that, according to epidemiological studies, people who drank filtered water had 20–35 percent less gastrointestinal illnesses than those consuming regular tap water.

Fortunately, there are so many sources of pure water available, you don’t need to quench your thirst from the tap or water fountains. You can drink bottled water made by a reputable company, ideally from a certified organic source, or you can filter your tap water using carbon or reverse osmosis filters. Store your filtered water in glass or stainless steel bottles.

Not all bottled water is created equal. Glacial water comes from melted ice caps, which is then purified using reverse osmosis or deionization, so it becomes indistinguishable from distilled water. Spring and well water is bottled from natural sources or holes drilled in the ground, and then treated to remove any possible contaminants. Then there’s plain purified water, which is basically tap water that has been filtered and deionized. Another name for purified water is “demineralized. demineralized.” Some types of bottled water are labeled as “ozonated,” which means that water has been purified with ozone and contains a higher amount of oxygen. Studies show that ozonation helps kill bacteria and degrade antibiotics and other toxins in tap water. There’s also mineral water, which contains minerals and trace elements from geologically and physically protected underground water sources.

Which type of bottled water is best? It’s mineral water certified by a dependable source and bottled in glass, not plastic. Bottled water in plastic containers is bad for two reasons: first, plastic is known to leach phthalates and other toxins into the water, especially when heated during storage or transportation or when you leave the bottle in a warm place. Have you ever noticed that plastic-y smell your water emits after it has spent a whole day in your beach bag? This is a sign that the volatile compounds of the plastic are migrating into your water. PETE or #1 PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic water bottles have been shown to leach antimony into water, while the xenoestrogen bisphenol-A has been routinely added to polycarbonate (#7) plastic water and baby bottles.

The second reason to give plastic bottles the boot is ecological. The processing and manufacturing of petroleum-based plastic water bottles is energy consuming. And since plastics are made of petroleum, they deplete the world’s most valuable resource and increase our dependence on oil. The plastic industry contributes more than 15 percent of the most carcinogenic industrial releases, including styrene, benzene, trichloroethane, sulfur oxides, nitrous oxides, methanol, ethylene oxide, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Then there’s the problem of waste: #1 PET plastic bottles generate 100 times more waste than glass bottles, and plastic polymers never fully biodegrade.

If you must buy bottled water on the run, choose glass bottles of Perrier or San Pellegrino, to name a few. Reuse your glass bottles by filling them with filtered water, and always, always recycle glass bottles. When eating out, ask the waiter which water comes in a glass bottle before ordering, and request that he or she bring you an unopened bottle so you know it hasn’t been opened and refilled with tap water. (Unfortunately, this happens sometimes.) Some people think that plain water is blunt and adds nothing to the flavors of food. To make plain water more palatable, add a squeeze of lemon or orange to it.

If you must buy bottled water on the run, choose glass bottles of Perrier or San Pellegrino, to name a few.

The most ecoconscious and economical way to have unlimited access to pure drinking water is to install a tap water filter. Jug filters, such as Brita made of nonpolycarbonate plastic certified by U.S. National Sanitation Foundation, are a good, inexpensive option, but a tap water filter gives you more water for your buck.

During the Green Beauty Detox, drink more water than you think you need. These three days you will be eliminating lots of toxins, so you will need extra water to keep fibrous food moving smoothly in your bowels and toxins flushing away.

Three-Day Green Beauty Detox

When you are ready to start your three-day cleansing ritual, closely follow the detailed protocol given here. Begin the routine upon rising every morning. You don’t have to perform all the procedures at the exact same time, but be sure to have all three meals and two snacks plus all servings of the Green Detox Drink and at least six cups of water. You’ll need to prepare a fresh batch of the Green Detox Drink (recipe follows) on each of the three days.

Day One: Body Detox

This day you focus on the whole-body rejuvenation. This is the most taxing day, as you will be doing your deep Green Liver Flush.

Upon rising:
Drink one glass (8 ounces) of mineral/filtered water.

Before shower:
Brush your dry skin with a natural bristle brush. Starting at your feet, brush in circular motions toward your heart. Spend at least one minute on each leg. Now move on to your arms. Brush from your fingertips, again toward your heart. Spend at least one minute on each arm. Now brush from your back toward your stomach. Do not dry brush your neck, breasts, or face. When you are done brushing, shower using plain olive, grape seed, or jojoba oil as a body cleanser. Gently pat dry, not rub, your body with a clean towel.

Throughout the day:
Drink one glass of the Green Detox Drink every two hours. The recipe provides enough drink for the whole day. Spend your day doing relaxing and thoughtful things such as reading, tending to your garden, playing with children, walking or shopping for ecofriendly things. Your breakfast, lunch, and snacks should be vegetarian, without any dairy, refined wheat, or sugar.

After dinner:
Prepare for the Green Liver Flush.

The Green
Detox Drink

1 organic lemon

1 organic orange

1 tablespoon maple syrup

½-inch piece fresh ginger root, chopped

2 tablespoons virgin olive oil

1 clove organic garlic, chopped

¹
/
4
teaspoon cayenne pepper

¹
/
4
teaspoon ground cloves

¹
/
4
teaspoon chopped organic or local parsley

Yield:
1 quart

The Green Detox Drink is thick, nourishing, and loaded
with vitamins, but it is not a meal replacement. However,
you might feel quite full after a glass. It tastes like a thick
orange juice with a bit of a kick. The drink is very easy to
prepare (five to six minutes total, including peeling and
chopping), and the ingredients are quite affordable, too.
Note: The Green Detox Drink is not compatible with dairy
of any kind.

1. Peel the lemon and orange and cut them into chunks. Place all the remaining ingredients into a blender with the lemon and orange. Blend for 10 minutes. The mixture should be quite thick.

2. Dilute mixture with the water of your choice to make 1 quart and store it in the refrigerator.

Green Liver Flush

This is a traditional East European technique now making news among holistic healers. It is effective in removing fat-soluble toxins, such as pesticide residues, from the body. The effectiveness and safety of conducting a home liver flush has been debated among medical professionals. If you have any liver or gallbladder problems or other health concerns, you should consult your doctor before doing this procedure.

Here’s what you need: the juice from five medium-sized lemons, a slightly heated bottle of virgin olive oil, a hot water bottle, and a shot glass for measuring. Arrange everything, including this book and the TV remote if desired, on a coffee table so you won’t have to jump up and down too often. It’s important not to perform the liver cleansing when you are home alone, in case you feel dizzy or weak in the bathroom. Folk medicine recommends starting the flush at 7 PM.

Make sure you follow these steps precisely:

1. Fill the water bottle with hot water, place it on your upper right abdomen, and relax for thirty minutes.

2. Drink one shot (2 tablespoons) of lemon juice.

3. Wait fifteen minutes, then drink one shot (2 tablespoons) of olive oil.

4. Alternate shots of lemon juice and olive oil every fifteen minutes until you are out of lemon juice. Keep the hot water bottle on your right-hand side!

Be ready for a massive bowel movement in an hour or two. Don’t be afraid to see some extraordinary things coming out of you!You may even pass small gallstones and tar-colored goo, which signals that your liver was crippling under the weight of toxins.

As you finish in the bathroom, take a quick shower, massaging your body and hair with grape seed oil, then washing it off with your regular shampoo. Go to bed.

The classic liver flush routine prescribes an enema next morning to complete the cleansing process, but this is truly optional.

Day Two: Hair Detox

This day you’ll take really good care of your hair. Relax and enjoy the newfound sense of lightness and purity in your right side!

Upon rising:
Drink one 8-ounce glass of mineral/filtered water.

In the shower:
Give yourself a head massage with almond or jojoba oil. Stand on a clean towel to minimize the risk of slipping on oil drops! Pour some oil into your palms and rub them to warm the oil. Rub the oil into your scalp in circular motions. When you have saturated your whole scalp and all your hair with oil, apply stronger pressure to stimulate circulation and help the oil penetrate deeper into the hair follicles. Spend not less than five minutes massaging your head. Shower and wash your hair as usual.

Breakfast:
Have one 8-ounce glass of Green Detox Drink, a cup of instant miso soup (available from health food stores), twenty almonds, and an organic apple.

One hour after breakfast:
Drink one 8-ounce glass of mineral/filtered water.

Two hours after breakfast:
Drink one 8-ounce glass of Green Detox Drink.

Lunch:
Have a Warm Avocado Reuben sandwich (recipe follows) with green tea. For dessert, drink one glass of Green Detox Drink.