Frank Pridham's Articles
on Health and Well Being
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- Introduction
- The four major steps to better health
- Detoxification
- The skin
- The lungs
- The kidneys
- The liver
- Gallbladder flush
- The colon
- Rubber
- Transitional day
- Colonic irrigation
- INTRODUCTION
TO GIVE AN OVERALL VIEW OF WHERE "DETOXIFICATION"
FITS INTO THE PURSUIT FOR BETTER HEALTH.
By Frank Pridham
MEDICINE: Medicine is the study of DISEASE, and as such, has nothing to do with your health. It deals with disease, and has a protocol CURE for that disease… either cut, burn or poison, depending on the type of disease and its severity, and that basic approach has not changed over the last 100 years. Medicine's idea of prevention is early detection. "Do your tests more often". True prevention would be counter-productive to good business practice. No one would need them. Medicine is a business. It is a BIG business and it is fighting hard to stay that way. The recent practice of labeling doctors as "health-care practitioners" is a very misleading misnomer. Medicine has nothing to do with your health. I am not anti-medical in my approach, and I do believe that if you are sick, or in crisis, you do need the plumber. Call the doctor.
However, you were not born sick. You became sick for one reason or another over time. There is a way back. We are all as strong as our weakest genetic link. And if you are sick and undergoing a mainstream medical cure, you also need the best quality food, nutrition, and all the help you can get to HEAL your body, build it up to counter the toxic onslaught of the drugs you may be taking to effect that cure and minimize the side effects on your body. If you are undergoing a medical procedure, you need to consult with your doctor to see if a strong immune system may be counter-productive to any procedure he may have you on. Medicine is an illogical art, and in many cases (such as a bone-marrow transplant or any other transplant), a high immune system that may have kept you healthy, is counter-productive to a procedure like a transplant, and will only exacerbate a situation by bringing on graft- versus-host disease (only one example where a strong constitution may be ill-advised). Consult with your doctor. Times are changing, and if he is not willing to take the time to explain things to you, you have the wrong doctor. Take charge of your life and your health. No one else has your interests at heart, and above all if you are not sick, take the following steps now to keep yourself healthy and free of disease. This is true PREVENTION.
HEALTH: The world has changed in the last 50 years more dramatically than in the previous 50, and that was considered a revolution. Our bodies are under stress, like never before, our planet is under stress, and we are our own worst enemy. When we feel a pain and go to our doctor, and he can't find anything wrong with us, we feel elated, with a clean bill of health. Not so. It only means we are not sick enough for modern diagnostic technology to find it. Your body is speaking to you. Listen carefully, act on it, and do something good for your body. Accept the responsibility for your own health. No one else is going to. Until values change, and we realize "en masse" that we are doomed, traveling in the direction of a profit-motive economy with no moral values and consumer-rampage driven, we have no hope either for survival or good health. The writing is on the wall. We have no place to go. We must clean up our nest (the planet) and our act (get healthy) if we wish to thrive here. That is if we want to live! There are now more people alive on our planet than have ever walked its face since the beginning of time and humans continue to damage our environment at an unprecedented rate.
- THE FOUR MAJOR STEPS TO BETTER HEALTH
#1: Get off the North-American diet: Don't put in the additives, preservatives, chemicals, dyes, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, irradiated foods, genetically modified foods, simulated flavorings, aspartame, fillers, and what-have-you that are added to our food chain to enhance the profit motive, and certainly never for nutritional purposes. There is a lot of work done by the FDA, on each individual additive, but no one is working on the chemical cocktail that we are consuming every day, three times a day. No one is doing any studies on the interaction of all of these chemicals, and how they may affect the human body. There is no money out there for anything that may not bring a profit… Remember that! The body has to eliminate those foreign additives. They do not exist in Nature. Over time the eliminating organs become overwhelmed. What to do with it now? We can´t get rid of it, we have to store it somewhere. This is when disease begins and our weakest genetic link is under siege.
Don't put it in, and your body doesn't have to use up energy to get rid of it, and you won't clog up your eliminating organs. DON'T PANIC. GO ORGANIC.
#2: Detox: Clean out those eliminating organs. Get rid of the past history, and get those eliminating organs functioning efficiently so they can get rid of future toxins and better assimilate your nutrition and keep you healthy. There are many so-called detox supplements and procedures out there, one for the liver, another for the kidneys, one for the gallbladder, another for the bowels, etc. Do it right. Clean out the complete body all at the same time, save money and get the job done so you can get on to better health quickly. Your body will thank you and you will feel the difference in just 7 days. Changing your diet without a detox procedure will take you 12 years to clean out all the debris accumulated. Get the job done now, and the healing over with, so you can get on with life, and put your energies towards the purpose you were sent here for. Health and good energy, along with a clean body, will free up your preoccupation and let you get on with the job of discovering your meaningful purpose in life. Do it now. The only contra indications are for pregnant mothers, and nursing mothers. You will have to wait. It would have been best to do this before you got pregnant, and experience a very different, vibrant, healthy, and calm baby. Detailed procedures on detox are at the end of this section.
#3: Get on to real food that provides optimum nutrition. This is hard to find today. It is as close to the garden to the table as possible, and organic if possible. If it does not grow, do not eat it. It is not food. If this planet promotes life, and our existence is proof that it does, then we are meant to eat what it has provided over the millennium as close to how it has provided it as possible, and fresh (picked from the garden) raw food maximizes the nutritional content, vitamins and minerals, fiber, oxygen, and live enzymes. Your body will thrive on it. Haven´t times changed? Who has a garden any more? How to get back is a whole other book.
#4: Boost your immune system. There are many approaches to this depending on your situation. If you are sick, or if you are just looking for prevention, the approach will be different. See a naturopath for a personalized plan depending on your present state of health. It will involve supplements, minerals, antioxidants, eliminating bad habits, replacing them with healthy ones, changing lifestyles, etc.
This is where we are all going on our road to better health. How you get there is your own journey. If you are coming from a crisis situation, you are more determined in this process. At the same time, it is a process of the elimination of bad habits that destroy your health, and replacing them with ones that improve your health.
Focused on nutrition, your body will reward you with glowing health and boundless energy, long life, and a purpose to it.
- DETOXIFICATION
Basic instructions to aid in detoxification and increase the elimination of toxins from the body during a 7-day, fresh-juice fast.
All juices must be passed through a fine mesh sieve before ingesting, to remove the pulp residue that may pass through your juice extractor. This procedure will ensure that only liquid, and no pulp is entering the digestive tract. If some pulp is getting into the system, the body will try to digest it and the detox will not be as complete.
On average, one should consume a minimum of 6 to 8 (10-oz.) glasses of juice per day to maintain normal energy levels. Each person is different and should you feel a lack of energy or tiredness setting in, have an additional juice. Your energy requirements will vary from day to day and therefore, so also, should your number of juices. Fruit juices will give quick energy but do not last long. They are good for the morning to get you up and going. Vegetable juices contain more sustaining vitamins, minerals, and less sugar to get you through the rest of the day.
When switching from a vegetable to a fruit juice or, vice versa, let 1 hour pass between, so as not to mix fruit and vegetable juices together in the stomach. This combination will create gas and/or cramping.
It is better to err on the side of having too many juices than not enough. All juices must be fresh from your juice extractor and nothing out of a bottle or a can, to maximize vitamin and mineral content. All fruit and vegetables must be well washed before juicing and organic if possible.
When beginning a juice fast, the body takes 1 day to rest, and then changes its function from digestion to elimination. It begins to eliminate the toxins from the digestive organs themselves. These toxins, accumulated over the years, are then thrown out into the eliminating organs of the body. Therefore, it is important during your juice fast that you begin a daily elimination procedure.
BASIC DAILY ELIMINATION PROCEDURE DURING A JUICE FAST
A juice fast without a daily elimination program is of much less value. Get the toxins out of the body. Do it right.
The six major eliminating organs of the body are the skin, the lungs, the liver, the kidneys, the colon, and the lymphatic system.
- THE SKIN
Begin each morning with 3 to 5 minutes of dry skin brushing. Only a natural bristle brush will do. No synthetics, which may tear the delicate, skin mantle. Begin with the bottom of the feet; they can take a beating. Then in long hard strokes, move up the body. We have major lymph nodes, behind the knees, in the groin, under the arms (the sweat glands), behind the ears. Brush upwards towards these lymph nodes; women, just to the breasts. Above the breasts and chest, move outward towards each armpit respectively, opening the chest. The hands and arms, upwards toward the body trunk and sweat glands. Brush the top of the shoulders and neck upwards towards the ears, the face, up the cheeks to the ears, the eyes, straight across on each side towards the respective ear, and the forehead up. Massage the scalp with the fingertips held stationary, moving the scalp on its base to increase blood circulation. The back, upwards however you can reach. A long handled skin-brush is best for this.
You may want two types of brushes, one harder bristle for under the feet and the hands and a softer bristle for the body and face. Three to five minutes is enough each morning to feel a tingling sensation as the circulation increases and moves to the surface of the epidermal layer, giving your body a pink, healthy glow.
Dry skin-brushing, increases the blood flow, removes the dead skin cells and helps to move the lymphatic fluids. It should always be done before your shower or bath. Most books on skin brushing say, "move in a circular motion towards the heart" this is for circulation only. This week we want also to move the body´s lymphatic fluids. The upward motion will do both. Every second night during the fast, take a hot salt bath. Do your skin brushing first. Get into the tub; heat the water up, warmer than normal and add a one pound box of salt. Ordinary table salt will do. Relax in the tub for 15 to 20 minutes, no more. You may become dizzy if you stay in longer. Then, take a tepid shower, cooler than the bath water, but not a cold one, to wash the salt off and close the pores.
The skin brushing brings the toxins to the surface, the hot bath opens the pores, the salt draws the toxins out, and the shower washes off the salt and closes the pores. You will sleep well! This routine helps to get your skin working to eliminate toxins, soften and freshen skin texture, to feel super clean.
- THE LUNGS
Each day, during your fast, take a 20-minute to 1- or 2-hour walk, away from the traffic, in a park, or on a residential street. Walk with determination, moving your arms in rhythm, and breathing in through the nose, long breaths of fresh oxygen deep into your lungs, and exhaling through the mouth. Visualize breathing in fresh clean air and exhaling impurities. During the winter, cover the nose and mouth with a warm scarf so as not to inhale any frigid air directly into the lungs.
The fast walking and arm movements stimulate the pumping of blood through the lungs, and inhaling oxygen deeply helps to purify and oxygenate the blood supply. Exhaling eliminates the mucus and toxins from the lungs to free up the delicate alveoli hairs deep within the chambers of the lungs.
This week, as the fast progresses you will experience more and more mucus being eliminated from the lungs. Should this become excessive, postural drainage may help to eliminate it more easily. While lying prostrate on your bed, dangle the upper torso over the side towards the floor and feel the force of gravity loosening and forcing the mucus downward into the back of your throat for easy elimination.
The skin and lungs take active participation on your part to initiate a regular routine to facilitate elimination of toxins from their systems and out of the body. This is a cooperative effort.
There is no use doing a juice fast to clean out our bodies unless we get the toxins out. Help your body in every way you can to serve you better. It will repay your regular efforts with glowing health and energy.
Beginning an early morning stretching exercise routine such as Tai Chi or limbering up exercises will help to support your program. However, no violent or high-impact exercises such as jogging or impact aerobics.
- THE KIDNEYS
The fruit juices: water melon, cantaloupe, apple, etc. are naturally diuretic, and will help to eliminate any water retention in the body. The first urine of the day will be colored and the remainder of the day should be clear. Fruit juices are a lavage for the kidneys, and you will be urinating a lot.
By the end of the week's fast, if you are tuned in to your body, you should feel your skin less puffy and see your skeletal structure reappearing. The more toxic your body and the more clogged your eliminating systems are the more water retention you will have. When the body is unable to eliminate toxins rapidly due to a clogged elimination system it will keep them in suspension until such time as it can eliminate them.
Salt, also, contributes to water retention. The body does not know what to do with it. It has no nutritional value. Elimination of salt from your daily diet will help rid your body of excess water, but you do need to find another source for iodine for your thyroid, like kelp, dulse, wakami or nori (sea vegetation).
- THE LIVER
The carrot juice, which comprises 3/4 of each vegetable juice, stimulates the production of bile by the liver, which is in turn thrown into the duodenum via the common bile duct. This bile is removed daily during the fast by the colon irrigation procedures. Bile is the waste product of normal body metabolism and is responsible for the color of your stool. The food we eat is multicolored and passes out of the body, after digestion, unrecognizable.
The use of wheat grass, chlorophyll implants, into a clean colon to stimulate a sluggish liver is beneficial during a juice fast. From up to 3 hours after the colon irrigation, two 1- or 2-oz. of fresh, sieved, wheat-grass juice may be implanted approximately 4 to 5 inches into the rectum by means of a syringe into the area of the hemorrhoidal vein where the chlorophyll is absorbed through the colon wall directly into the hemorrhoidal vein and transported by way of the portal vein to the liver where it stimulates the production of bile. This bile is eliminated the next day by way of the colonic irrigation.
A diluted enema of wheat grass can also be used to stimulate bile production and increase energy in a weak system.
Some colon therapists use coffee enemas to achieve this same result. However, I am loath to introduce caffeine back into a clean system, via the colon, when the wheat grass avoids caffeine and works as well. This is a matter of better choices.
- GALLBLADDER FLUSH
Our North-American diet, with its fried foods, rich sauces, and high cholesterol content, contributes to the build up of cholesterol, gravel and eventual stones in the gallbladder. The prime candidate is "fat, feminine, and forty". However, no one is exempt, unless your gallbladder has been surgically removed.
By the 3rd or 4th day of your juice fast the body is in detox mode and the peristaltic action of the common bile duct is much stronger than usual. The duodenum will have been emptied by the 2 or 3 days of irrigations, and the way cleared for easy elimination of any gravel that may be in the gallbladder. To aid the elimination of stones and gravel the following procedure is important on the 3rd and 4th evenings.
Just before bedtime in place of your bentonite & psyllium mixture, peel and eat an average size orange. Chew it well. Follow with 3-1/2 oz. of pure virgin olive oil. Eat another orange, and go to bed sleeping on the right side in the fetal position for at least 2 hours. Repeat this procedure the next night (If you change positions after 2 hours on the right side, it is fine).
The body by the 3rd day is in complete detox and the liver will not even try to digest the oil, hence the smaller amount of oil required than the usual gallbladder flush. The oil will act as a lubrication draining into the common bile duct via gravity on the right side. The peristaltic action will force any gravel out into the duodenum and via colon irrigation, out of the body the next day. The oranges are to cut the oil and help keep it down.
If a bowel movement occurs the next morning, check the toilet bowl for brilliant green, pea-like stones. Some will float, and the older, more dense ones will sink to the bottom of the bowl. Usually they are separate from the stool itself and not imbedded in it.
Should you have had problems with the liver in the past, such as hepatitis, mono, or jaundice the stones tend to be a metallic yellow in color and not the brilliant green. They are unmistakable and can be any size, usually like small green peas or yellow corn.
Some nausea, perhaps sweating during the night, are indications that the procedure is working.
- THE COLON
The psyllium seed and bentonite mixture (1-1/2 tsp. liquid bentonite, plus 1 heaping teaspoon of psyllium seed & husks, mixed together, in 8 to 10 oz. of tepid water) 4 times per day, breakfast, lunch, supper and before bedtime works to clean out the colon and the whole digestive tract. (Do not try making the mixture in only 6 oz of water. It will be too thick.)
Just as the mixture swells in the glass, so also it swells in the intestines. It helps to provide bulk in the stomach to keep you from getting hungry and as it passes through the complete digestive system, stomach, duodenum, small intestines and finally the colon, it pushes the bentonite and granulated psyllium seeds up against the walls of the intestines acting like a gentle sand paper as it moves throughout the system, four times a day, gently scraping off any layer of fecal mater or mucus lodged on the walls of the intestinal tract. The psyllium husks form a slippery agent to absorb the residue and move it out of the colon.
Each day this is removed by means of the irrigation procedure. For the first 2 days the fecal matter moving out is the most recent and looks like a normal bowel movement. By the 3rd day (each person is different) there is a dramatic change in the color and texture. The stool becomes darker and darker, sometimes black and rubbery with threads of mucus wrapped around it. The darker it is, the older it is. The longer it has been in there.
Hopefully, by the end of the week there is another dramatic change in the color. The psyllium and bentonite mixture goes in, and comes out the same color—a light tan color, which indicates it is not picking up any more waste on its route through the system. The digestive tract is clean.
In not all cases does this change of color take place on the first set of colonics and during the first 7-day juice fast.
- RUBBER
In the case of heavy peanut butter eaters and pasta lovers the mucosa layer may become so coated that it begins to putrefy over time and turn into a rubber-like substance that lines the colon walls. The colon can no longer do its proper job of absorbing efficiently the water-soluble vitamins and minerals.
An experienced colon therapist can detect the presence of "rubber" in the colon by his abdominal massage taking the client's past nutritional history into account and the lack of regularity. All are suspect to the existence of rubber in the colon.
The first 7-day juice fast and series of colonics will eliminate the loose debris back to the rubber if it exists. A good nutritional diet high in natural fiber, raw foods and living foods will stop any further build up of accumulated matter on the colon walls and allow the mucosa layer to shrink away from the walls of the colon over a 3 month period. Then, on the second 7-day juice fast and colon irrigations the rubber should move out of the colon. Sometimes, it moves out dramatically, in 3- to 4-foot lengths of metallic gray or black substance. Should this happen at home while on the toilet the peristaltic action will move approximately 1 foot of fecal debris and then stop. The "rubber" will be hanging from the rectum and no further movement. Take a piece of tissue, latch onto it, and pull gently to remove from the colon. It does not hurt. It only needs a gentle pull to remove what is already loosened. You may be surprised at the amount that comes away. It is clean. You can pick it up out of the bowl, lay it out on a serviette and check the shape of it. It will contain the fingerprints of your colon and any existence of strictures (narrowing of the colon) diverticulae or ballooning. It is an instantaneous relief to your system. You will feel a surge of wellness as your circulation begins to improve and the colon can begin its proper function of absorbing vitamins and minerals more efficiently. Your body will thank you.
Remember, not everyone has this specific problem. It tends to exist more in the younger generation of junk-food eaters, peanut butter freaks, and McDonald's generation of low-fiber diets.
- TRANSITIONAL DAY
Coming off the juice fast is more important than maintaining the fast. The longer the fast, the longer the transitional period back to your regular eating program. A 7-day juice fast requires only 2 transitional days.
On the first day, eating is just an exercise in changing the function of the digestive organs back from detox to digestion. It is important to do this simply, lightly, and as easy as possible. If you have melon juice as your first morning drink during the fast, then have a piece of melon with it. Chew everything you eat, well, until it is a juice in the mouth before swallowing. At noon you may introduce a mono salad, one vegetable only, either raw spinach or romaine lettuce with the juice of half a lemon for vinaigrette. In the evening you may have a 5-ingredient salad. Keep it light, grated carrots, thinly sliced cucumber, cauliflower, sprouts and spinach with the juice of half a lemon for dressing. Maintain your juices as normal between these meals. No oils, no vinaigrette, no salad dressings, no nuts, no seeds, no avocado for the first transitional day. Protein and heavier foods are always the last to introduce to your system when coming off a fast.
On the second day, introduce larger quantities of salad with more seasoning and cut back on your juices to 3 per day (fruit in the morning; carrot and apple at noon; and a vegetable juice in the late afternoon). It is a good idea to maintain these three juices per day from your juicer, along with your normal eating regime. (Think of them as your vitamin drink rather than a vitamin pill.)
On the third day you may begin your nutritional regime. Hopefully, it will be high in natural fiber, raw fruits and vegetables with the addition of raw nuts and seeds in the form of sprouts. A living food diet is closest to the garden and is high in natural fiber, to aid elimination and maximize nutritional content to give your body the boost it needs. The colonic irrigation process removes both the detrimental and the beneficial bacteria. It is necessary to begin at least a 3-week program of acidophilus capsules to restore the beneficial bacteria in the colon. Dairy-free capsules, of at least 2.5 billion strength, enteric-coated, without FOS matrix, are best as they are designed to dissolve in the small intestines and put the bacteria exactly where it belongs. One capsule after each meal, especially the protein meal for a period of 3 weeks will do the job. There are other ways to restore this bacteria but the capsules are the easiest to use.
Do not anticipate a bowel movement the next day after a series of colonics. It may take some time, one or two days for the food to move through the system. If you are changing your eating habits, as I hope you will, to a more raw and living food program, you will experience some gas over the next couple of weeks as your system further detoxes and adjusts to the changes. The 7-day juice fast, with colonics, may be repeated 2 to 3 months after your first series to ensure most of the garbage has been eliminated. It takes years to accumulate. It will not all be eliminated in just 7 days.
Afterwards, at least once a year is a good maintenance program. It will add years to your life, enhance your vitality, and keep your body functioning at optimum health.
The preceding instructions are the very basic procedures of elimination and many additional ones, plus products, such as pancreatin, cascara sagrada, super 'D' tea, warm castor oil packs for the liver, wheat grass therapy, urine therapy, reflexology, lymphatic drainage massages, fresh air baths, implants, spirulina, chlorella, dunaliella, flax seed, lower bowel conditioners may all be added to this basic program to enhance the elimination of toxins from your internal organs.
As you begin to accept the responsibility for your own health and initiate a more natural way of eating and living, you will find yourself on a journey. I have given you only the very basic procedures of internal hygiene for your physical body. Your mind and spirit will follow.
You may just find yourself changing values; sorting out importance; eliminating the garbage that clutters so much of our modern lives and, searching for a more meaningful existence. As you turn on to life and move towards a more loving existence with your fellow man and the environment in which we live, you will find yourself on a rewarding journey of growth that has no end.
- COLONIC IRRIGATION
Day Date Time 1st Day 2nd Day 3rd Day 4th Day 5th Day 6th Day 7th Day
Your appointment for your 2-week meal plan diet: _____________________________
Juice Fast Program
We recommend a minimum of 10 ounces for each juice, and more would be better!
The day before your first appointment:
Last meal at 7:00 pm
Evening: a carrot juice
Before bedtime: In 10 oz. of water, add 1 tablespoon of liquid bentonite and 1 heaping
teaspoon of psyllium powder together in the same glass, and mix. Drink quickly.
Daily juice program:
First thing in the morning, repeat: bentonite & psyllium (breakfast)
1st juice: Any melon or apple or pink grapefruit (Sip all your juices SLOWLY).
2nd juice: half carrot, half apple
3rd juice: carrot
Bentonite & psyllium (Lunch)
4th juice: 3/4 carrot, 1/4 combination of (spinach, celery, cucumber, cauliflower)
5th juice: melon
6th juice: 3/4 carrot, 1/4 combination of (cauliflower, red cabbage, spinach)
Bentonite & psyllium (Supper)
7th juice: 3/4 carrot, 1/4 combination of (spinach, Chinese lettuce, green pepper, celery)
8th juice: carrot
Bedtime: Bentonite & psyllium (Later in the evening)
To your vegetable juice, you can add: - cayenne pepper,
- lemon juice,
- herbs (garlic, shallots, dill),
- tamari sauce or
- ginger root.
To your fruit juice, you can add: - lemon juice,
- vanilla,
- cinnamon,
- nutmeg.
Each person is different. Should you lack energy, have another juice. Some days on your fast you will require more than others. Remember your body uses energy to detox and if you are missing energy, you need more juice.
The above are a suggested list of fruits and vegetable juices only. Experiment using those vegetables and fruits, which are in season at the time of your fast, but at least 75% of your vegetable juice has to be carrot.