21 Day Detox......The last few days

With just a few more days left in the 21 day detox It almost seems effortless to eat like this. The shakes are a nice convenience. As has been my routine, always preparing my own food takes time. With this program, it takes just a few minutes to make my smoothies for the day, that's breakfast and lunch. One can get used to feeling good.

As I mentioned previously it's important to be intentional about reintroducing foods back into the diet. You don't need to reintroduce foods you don't plan on eating and you'd be better off continuing to avoid processed, sugar-laden, and devitalized foods. I highly recommend controlling your sugar intake like the FDA controls heroin; then again, you should do a better job of it. A few rules of thumb: counter an occasional high-sugar food with fiber and protein; ground flax and chia, rice bran, whey protein powder are great in this respect. When it comes to reading nutritional labels on packaged foods, I never buy or eat anything that has a higher added sugar content than the sum of the fiber and protein content per serving. For example if your favorite cold cereal has 10 grams of sugar and one gram of fiber and two grams of protein, you're getting a very unbalanced food. A better option is something with less than 3 grams of sugar per serving, 3 grams of fiber and protein.

It's also best to reintroduce foods starting with the least allergenic foods first. If you've suspected you are sensitive to milk then start with a high quality plain yogurt, then aged cheese, maybe cottage cheese, and lastly fluid milk. You may find that you are sensitive to the cheap homogenized stuff you were consuming, but can tolerate high quality organic whole milk. You may find that a high quality yogurt (unsweetened) and aged cheeses like Swiss and sharp cheddar are fine but drinking any kind of milk is out. For some raw cow or goat milk is best. Then there are certain people who don't do well with dairy at all. The challenge phase is the time to figure out where you stand.

Next you might start introducing grains and starches. Start with potatoes and other nightshades if you've eliminated them. I'd save wheat until last and consider only eating wheat that has been soaked, sprouted or soured. That goes for spelt, rye, kamut, oat, and barley as well.

The other concept to come away with is the idea of rotating your diet. It's possible that anybody can develop a sensitivity to any food if eaten daily year-round. Diversity is key. I recommend eating a variety of healthy foods as you alternate your meals throughout the week. In addition, eating seasonally and locally produced foods makes health and economic sense. Depending on where you live, locally may need to be within 1,ooo miles. But eating summer fruit right through winter grown in South America, New Zealand and who knows where, isn't necessarily good for you or the environment. And by all means support your local farmers. Better still, grow your own food as you are able, but don't eat bananas everyday, unless you live in Ecuador. Some foods are going to be worse than others from repetition.

Those I treat with food allergies are most often sensitive to a food or foods they love and eat two or three times a day. A rotational diet doesn't have to be difficult. It just takes some planning. For each meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner, have at least four options. Make enough for leftovers, and alternate.

The worst thing you can do is end a detox diet with a binge party. Then again, it may be the lesson you need to stick with healthy eating. Most of those I know who've done this get quite sick.

A post-purification diet is ideal, which continues the main principles but ensures you are covered, given your unique nutritional needs. The shakes or smoothies can be continued, but take a break even from them now and then. Everyone needs some core supplement support. This will be individualized depending on your needs. For example, a common core for an adult is SP Complete or Catalyn and a fiber supplement, along with essential fatty acids. You may need additional bone nutrients, trace minerals, and B vitamins.

Take time to assess and document what changes you've experienced through this journey: weight loss, more energy, better sleep, no more constipation. It's amazing to see the changes that can occur in blood work, cholesterol numbers for example.

I'm looking forward to staying healthy through the winter, how about you?