5 ways to remove heavy metals from your body

Life is precious. Valuable. Irreplaceable. You only get one life. We all know these platitudes: make the most of every moment, life isn't a dress rehearsal, and so on. But what most of us fail to recognise is the importance of quality of life. We get caught up in the busyness of our day-to-day routines and don't prioritise doing the things that we know - or may not yet know - will help us to improve the quality of our lives now and in the years to come. We try to extend our lives through medical intervention but fail to improve our quality of life through our lifestyle choices.

There are many, many things in the world today that are very toxic for our bodies. And we can't avoid them all. We can choose to eat organic food and drink filtered water, clean with natural products, and live a smoke, alcohol and drug free (sad-free!) life, but the reality is, there are many things we are exposed to everyday that are toxic, and unfortunately, beyond our control. However, we can choose to reduce our exposure to environmental toxins and help our bodies detoxify by making small changes to our day-to-day routines. These small changes will make a big difference to your quality of life. 

Brooke's little friend reaching for a beautiful butterfly

We've all been exposed to heavy metals in some form, maybe from the tap water you drink or from the amalgam fillings in your mouth. These heavy metals are absorbed into your body, into your soft tissues, and wreak havoc on your health and your quality of life. Here are 5 ways to remove heavy metals from your body:

1. Eat more greens

Dark green leafy vegetables are the most nutrient-dense food that you can eat! Think kale, swiss chard, spinach, watercress, chicory and collard greens, not to mention green herbs, like parsley and cilantro (or coriander as we know it to be Down Under). Greens have the highest amount of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals, of all the food on the earth. In fact, the chlorophyll molecule found in greens is very similar to the structure of the heme molecule of human blood. Hence, chlorophyll acts as an internal cleansing agent in the disguise of dark green leafy vegetables! Cilantro, or coriander, is an essential miracle-working green for the removal of heavy metals from the body. Yes, eat more greens! The easiest way? Green smoothies!

2. Eat less fish

Sadly, due to the polluted state of our precious planet, the fish we are consuming is now contaminated with heavy metals. My recommendation is to either eat less fish, and make more educated choices, or stop eating fish altogether. You can read more about this topic here: http://kimberlysnyder.net/blog/2013/05/28/the-shocking-truth-about-fish/. Where else can you get those much needed Omega-3s? Eat flaxseeds, hemp seeds or chia seeds!

3. Remove amalgam fillings 

Amalgam fillings = mercury poisoning. Amalgam fillings contain at least 50% mercury. Mercury is a heavy metal. You can be assured that if it is in your mouth, then it has been absorbed into your body. Many dentists will deny the harmful effects of amalgam fillings. But, they do have their profession to protect! I say, you have your body to protect! Health problems associated with a low-level mercury poisoning range from thyroid abnormalities to infertility to kidney damage to brain tumours. If you have amalgam fillings ask your dentist to remove and replace them. If you live in Melbourne here is a holistic dentist you can go to: http://www.holisticoncollins.com.

4. Try pelotherapy

Pelotherapy is also known as mineral clay therapy. Pelotherapy is the use of clay from the earth for therapeutic purposes. Clay can be used to remove heavy metals from your body. Clay can be ingested in order to cleanse and purify the body. The toxins, i.e. heavy metals, in your body will bind to the clay and then your body will eliminate the clay along with the toxins. Pretty cool, huh?! Clay can also be used externally to remove the impurities from your skin. I use a pure, superfine green clay on my skin to assist the external cleansing process. Along with my plant-based diet this has been a key part of my skin healing from recurrent adult acne. This superfine green clay, known as the Montmorillonite type, can also be used for the internal cleansing process, as well as a white clay, known as Kaolinite. If edible clay is of interest to you check out Healing with Clay by Paschale Maddison and The Clay Cure by Ran Knishinsky. 

5. Colonics & enemas

I kid you not, coffee enemas are a passionate topic of conversation between my twin sister and I. So much so that I gave her the best birthday present ever this year; I gave her a portable enema kit! The reality is that our bodies remove waste through our bowels. And we can assist this process with the aid of colonics and enemas. Our bodies are designed to eliminate waste and toxins in this way. Next week, we will explore this topic more, so stay tuned, for we will be delving into the ins and outs of colonics and enemas... no pun intended!

raw chocolate hearts

Love. Ok, I know this isn't Valentine's Day... or Easter... or Christmas, but somehow today's blog post features a very yummy raw vegan dessert recipe of raw chocolate hearts with goji berries. Just because I love the fact that I can make superfood chocolate with only six simple ingredients in my very own kitchen!

So, while we are on the topic of chocolate... and hearts... I thought I'd share a personal revelation about that four-letter word, l-o-v-e. In the Bible, Jesus says that the first and greatest commandment is this: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37, NIV). In other words, I am to love God with everything that I am, with the fullness of who I am. Then Jesus says that the second commandment is: "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). Wrapped up in the second commandment is an assumption, a directive, and a word of wisdom, that yes, I am to love myself.

My life is a balancing act of these two commandments. Love God, love others. And yet, the second is impossible if I do not know how to love myself. These two commandments fulfil the deepest longings of human beings, which is to be in communion, to be in relationship, to be unconditionally loved. 

But how do I know what it is to love someone else if I am not shown and I do not practice? I must be shown by God how to love. And, love must take action. For example, in my life loving myself takes action in the form of self-care. I nourish my body with a vegan diet, I guard my heart against toxic relationships and I speak words of life and affirmation over myself. What then will happen when others come in contact with me? I will share the food I use to nourish my body with them, I will set boundaries to protect their heart and I will use my words to uplift and encourage them. How can I do this? I am loving them as I love myself. 

Start loving yourself today.

raw chocolate hearts

1/2 cup raw cacao butter, grated

1/2 cup raw cacao powder, sifted

2 Tbs coconut nectar (substitute: raw honey, yacon syrup, pure maple syrup)

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

Pinch of sea salt

Goji berries, to decorate

Melt the grated cacao butter in a dehydrator, or alternatively, in an oven on the lowest setting with the door slightly ajar. Once melted, whisk in the raw cacao powder, coconut nectar, vanilla seeds and sea salt. Fill a silicone heart mould with half a dozen goji berries in each heart and then fill with the chocolate mixture. Place the mould in the freezer for several hours or until the chocolate sets hard. Remove the chocolate hearts from the mould to eat, to share, to devour! Note: you can use any shape of mould you like for this recipe. 

green galor-a-saurus salad

Hello readers! Welcome back to my blog!! I've had a crazy and amazing week since my last post, and I'm excited to share little bits and pieces with you today. 

Last weekend I attended the Melbourne leg of the David Wolfe Australian Tour. David Wolfe is "the rockstar of the superfood and longevity world" and offers "expert advice in health, beauty, herbalism, nutrition and chocolate!" (www.davidwolfe.com). He is a world-renowned expert on raw living foods and is the author of many best-selling books on all things related to health and wellbeing, superfoods and superherbs, longevity and nutrition, just to name a few. 

David Wolfe and me!

I've attended many vegan and raw food lectures and workshops over the last year or so as I seek to add to my knowledge base but most of the time I find I've heard it all before. Not this time. I heard things at this conference that I've never heard before! So, I thought I'd share with you some of Mr David Wolfe's food and lifestyle wisdom that he has accumulated from his years of research and travels throughout the world...

• You are what you eat! (An oldie, yes, but a goodie!).
• Get on the live-it not on the die-it.
• To help the healing process along follow these guidelines: hide, be quiet, sleep, don't eat.
• As you are changing your food lifestyle the first step is adding in the good food and letting it naturally crowd out the other food (i.e. food with little to no nutritional value).
• Black foods are the longevity foods, such as black sesame seeds, black rice, black chia seeds, black maca, black garlic, black mushrooms, etc.
• Line up the probabilities and stack the odds in your favour wherever possible.
• Epigenetics, the study of changes in gene expression, tells us that through our lifestyle choices we can flip the switch of our genes on or off.
• The four top longevity foods are honey, grapes/wine, chocolate and olive oil. 
• Warm sea salt water is a natural remedy.
• Eat from the colours of the rainbow - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
• Our connective tissue, nervous system and joints are more similar to a whale, dolphin or porpoise than any member of the primate family. Whales, dolphins and porpoises build their bodies with the long chain marine oils, for which the plant-based equivalents are flaxseeds, hemp seeds and chia seeds. 
• Quick-burst exercise builds human growth hormone. All you need to do is a five-minute workout everyday that consists of this pattern: squats (1 minutes), rest (20 seconds), push-ups (1 minute), rest (20 seconds), sit-ups (1 minute), rest (20 seconds), burpees (1 minute). Go hard, go fast! And voila, your exercise for the day is done!! 

green galor-a-saurus salad

This green salad should really just be a throw-in-everything-green-that-you-have-in-your-fridge kind of salad. Follow my recipe as a base and feel free to either add or swap any of the ingredients, as long as you keep the salad greeeeeen.

2 cups dark leafy greens of your choice (kale, silverbeet, spinach, rocket, chicory, collard greens), finely chopped

1 cup green herbs of your choice (flat-leaf or curly parsley, coriander, dill, basil, mint), roughly chopped

1 cup quinoa, cooked or soaked and sprouted for 24 hours

1 head green broccoli or romanesco broccoli (looks like a "dinosaur cauliflower"), cut into florets

2 zucchinis or cucumbers, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 green onion stalks, chopped
1/2 cup activated almonds, roughly chopped
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, soaked for 4 hours
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs cold-pressed olive oil
1 tsp Celtic sea salt or Himalayan crystal salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Juice of a lemon

Prepare all the ingredients and thoroughly mix in a large bowl. Serve with a drizzle of unhulled tahini, top with cubed avocado or sprinkle with kale chips. Yum. Serves 3-4.

Try to find the romanesco broccoli if you can... after all, that's how this salad earned it's name! If you have added or swapped any of the ingredients please let us know by commenting below!! xx