In my extensive studies of holistic and alternative healing I have run across many techniques that are, well, simply weird. But when studied, sometimes the weird stuff is not only true, but it can also be incredibly useful. I have realized that reality is often quite different from what we know from our limited experience.
Grounding falls into the category of “weird” for sure. But, read the following well-researched article to have your mind completely changed!
Understand that grounding is not some phenomenal healing power that will end your chronic health problems. Instead, grounding is one of many de-stressors that can assist you to regain your health.
Read the article. See if you do not agree with me that grounding should be taken seriously and that, just perhaps, you should spend a bit of time barefoot in the sand!
Read: SMASH: The Potent Recipe for Increasing Omega 3
Grounding— A Simple, Pleasurable Way to Reduce Inflammation and Chronic Disease
Dr. Joe Mercola
Story at-a-glance
Grounding or earthing is defined as placing one’s bare feet on the ground, whether it be dirt, grass, sand or unsealed, unpainted concrete (especially when humid or wet)
When you ground to the electron-enriched Earth, an improved balance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system occurs
Being grounded cuts inflammation by thinning your blood and infusing your body with negatively charged ions
To take advantage of grounding indoors, your best bet is to use a grounding pad to sleep, stand barefoot or sit on
Grounding may be one of the most important overlooked factors in public health. When grounding is restored, many people report significant improvement in a wide range of ailments
Did you know the energy from the Earth can help you live a healthier life? The concept is known as earthing or grounding, which is no more complicated
than walking barefoot.
In “Down to Earth”1 — which received the IndieFEST Award of Excellence for a documentary short in January 2017 — I speak alongside other experts to shed light on this super simple yet commonly overlooked way to protect and improve human health. As cardiologist Dr. Stephen Sinatra, author of “Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?” explains in the film:
“[G]rounding is literally putting your bare feet on the ground. When you do that, you’re in contact with the Earth, and mother Earth is endowed with electrons, and these electrons are literally absorbed through your feet. It’s like taking handfuls of antioxidants, but you’re getting it through your feet.”
Your Body Needs Grounding
Research suggests a general lack of grounding, also referred to as “electron deficiency syndrome,” has a lot to do with the rise of modern diseases.
It’s not unusual for Americans to spend entire days without being grounded. But though it has become the norm, it’s completely unnatural and didn’t really become widespread until the advent of shoes with artificial soles that prevent grounding. When you’re grounded, free electrons from the Earth are transferred into your body, and these free electrons are among the most potent antioxidants known to man.
As electrons are negatively charged, and free radicals are positively charged, any free radicals encountered in your tissues are electrically neutralized or canceled out by these free electrons. This is why grounding is so effective against chronic inflammation. Dr. Laura Koniver, who discovered grounding quite by accident after it seemed to soothe her crying infant, says in the film, “Grounding … supports the body as a whole, but it specifically supports organ systems down to the tissues and the cellular function of the entire body.”
Also, while you may not think of your body as a generator of electricity, you are very much an electrical being, and this is in large part why it’s so important to use grounding to harness the electrical charge of the Earth. In the film, Gaetan Chevalier, Ph.D., an engineer/physicist who has studied grounding, explains:
“Unbeknownst to us, we live inside a battery. The surface of the Earth is charged negatively, and the ionosphere, a layer of the atmosphere about 60 miles up, is ionized by the sun. The sun’s rays are so strong that they split the molecules in two, a positive charge and a negative charge.
The negative charges are transferred to the Earth’s surface through lightening mainly, and the positive charges stay 60 miles up. The problem arises when we don’t have a negative charge. We need grounding just as we need air and we need sunshine.”2
Grounding Reduces Electric Field Induction
There’s even evidence that grounding reduces the voltage induced on your body from electricity in your environment — a factor that has become increasingly important in the modern world. As noted in the 2012 review:3
“Applewhite, an electrical engineer and expert in the design of electrostatic discharge systems in the electronic industry, was both subject and author of the study.4 Measurements were taken while ungrounded and then grounded using a conductive patch and conductive bed pad … Each method (patch and sheet) immediately reduced the common alternating current (AC) 60 Hz ambient voltage induced on the body by a highly significant factor of about 70 on average.
The study showed that when the body is grounded, its electrical potential becomes equalized with the Earth’s electrical potential. This, in turn, prevents the 60 Hz mode from producing an AC electric potential at the surface of the body and from producing perturbations of the electric charges of the molecules inside the body.
The study confirms the ‘umbrella’ effect of earthing the body explained by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman in his lectures on electromagnetism. Feynman said that when the body potential is the same as the Earth’s electric potential (and thus grounded), it becomes an extension of the Earth’s gigantic electric system. The Earth’s potential thus becomes the ‘working agent that cancels, reduces, or pushes away electric fields from the body.'”
Benefits of Grounding
While it may sound “too easy,” the simple pleasure of walking barefoot can be a powerful health-promoting activity. A scientific review published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health in 2012 found that grounding can help:5
Improve quality of sleep and feelings of restfulness upon waking.
Reduce muscle stiffness and soreness.6
Reduce chronic pain.
Normalize secretion of the stress hormone cortisol so that it adheres to a typical cycle of peaking in the morning and dipping lowest at midnight. This in turn helps promote more restful sleep and improve blood sugar regulation and weight control.
Reduce stress and balance your autonomic nervous system by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system (which rules the “rest and digest” functions of the body) and quieting the sympathetic nervous system (which cues the “fight or flight” response).
Reduce the severity of the inflammatory response after intense workouts.
Raise your heart rate variability (your heart’s ability to respond to stimuli).
Speed up wound healing.
Improve mood. In one study,7 grounding for one hour significantly improved mood among adults.
Reduce inflammation.8 In the film, grounding pioneer Clint Ober explains how grounding quenches inflammation: “Inflammation is produced by neutrophils, which are white blood cells. [When] you have an injury … a damaged cell … these white blood cells come over and encapsulate the damaged cell and … release reactive oxygen species, which rip electrons from the damaged cell and that destroys the damaged cell.If there’s not enough free electrons there to reduce the remaining radicals, they’re going to steal an electron from a healthy cell and, in the process, damage it. Then the message goes out to the immune system, and another neutrophil does the same thing and eliminates that cell, and then you have a chain reaction.”
Thin your blood, making it less viscous, by strengthening the negative electrical surface charge on your red blood cells. This improves their ability to repel each other and allows them to flow more easily through tiny capillaries, and is incredibly valuable as cardiovascular disease is correlated with thicker, slow-moving blood. It can also help protect against blood clots.In fact, this blood-thinning effect is so profound that if you are taking a blood thinner such as Coumadin, you should consult your doctor before you start grounding regularly. You may need to lower your dosage to avoid overdosing on your medication.Research9 published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine revealed that two hours of grounding increased the surface charge of red blood cells, thereby reducing blood viscosity and clumping. According to the authors, “Grounding appears to be one of the simplest and yet most profound interventions for helping reduce cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular events.”
Increase the structure of the water in your cells. Water is in every cell in your body, and this water is highly ordered (structured) and charged. If you don’t have properly structured water in your cells, it can impact the functioning of the much larger protein molecules (and others) that interface with the cell. The water inside the cell also interfaces with water outside the cell, which has the opposite charge, creating a battery effect.Your body’s ability to generate electricity is actually a key part of your achieving health. Electrical charges delivered from cell to cell allows for nearly instantaneous communication within your body, and the messages conducted via these electrical signals are responsible for controlling the rhythm of your heartbeat, the movement of blood around your body and much more.In fact, most of your biological processes are electrical. The water in your cells achieves its ordered structure from energy obtained from the environment, typically in the form of electromagnetic radiation, including sunlight and infrared heat.
But grounding may also play an important role. Just as water increases in structure when a negative charge is introduced by an electrode, the negatively charged electrons you receive when grounded help increase the structure of the water in your cells. By restructuring the water, you promote more efficient tissue healing. So, when you ground, you are charging every single cell in your body with energy your body can use for self-healing.
How and Where to Ground
While connecting just about any part of your skin to the Earth is beneficial, one area that is particularly potent is the center of the ball of your foot, a point known to acupuncturists as Kidney 1 (K1). It’s a well-known acupuncture point that conductively connects to all of the acupuncture meridians in your body. Exercising barefoot outdoors is a great way to incorporate earthing into your daily life and will also help speed up tissue repair and ease muscle pain associated with strenuous exercise.
The ideal location for walking barefoot is the beach, close to or in the water, as salt water is a great conductor. (Your body is also somewhat conductive because it contains a large number of charged ions, called electrolytes, dissolved in water. Your blood and other body fluids are, therefore, good conductors.)
A close second would be a grassy area, especially if it’s covered with dew and /or bare soil. Ceramic tiles and concrete are good conductors as long as they’ve not been sealed; painted concrete does not allow electrons to pass through very well. Materials like asphalt, wood, and typical insulators like rubber or plastic will not allow electrons to pass through and are not suitable for barefoot grounding.
While any amount of grounding is better than none, research has demonstrated it takes about 80 minutes for the free electrons from the Earth to reach your bloodstream and transform your blood, which is when you reap the greatest benefits. So, ideally, aim for 80 to 120 minutes of grounding each day.
How to Ground Indoors
Just as walking barefoot was once widespread, so too was sleeping on the ground. In the modern world, sleeping indoors serves to further insulate you from the Earth. There’s also the issue of elevation. When you are grounded, your body cannot carry a charge, which is good. The greater the distance between your body and the Earth, the greater charge your body carries. In fact, this has been precisely calculated. For every meter (3.28 feet) you are above the ground, 300 volts of charge will build up in your body.10
So, if you are in a second-story bedroom, your charge would be 1,000 volts, on average, and this increased charge may increase your risk of health problems. For example, one 2009 study11 found a 40 percent increase in stroke risk among people living in multistory homes. Flying can also make you severely ungrounded. When indoors and/or at elevation, you can ground by:
Using a grounding pad or grounding sheet to ground your mattress while sleeping.
Keeping your bare feet on a grounding mat while working. Grounding mats work well provided you have a grounded electrical outlet and can be particularly beneficial if you live in a high-rise. A grounded outlet is generally identifiable by the fact it’s a 3-prong outlet with a ground port (bottom outlet). Most modern homes built after 1970 will have a grounded electrical system. When using an earthing mat, make sure your bare skin is in contact with it. There should not be a layer of clothing between you and the mat.
Using a grounded yoga mat when exercising indoors. Research12 has shown doing yoga indoors on a grounded yoga mat helps reduce blood viscosity and exercise-induced inflammation, the same effects you’d expect from walking barefoot outdoors.
Touching the faucet with one hand while shaving or brushing your teeth with the other.
Taking off your shoes and placing your feet (bare or with socks) on the steel struts of the chair in front of you when flying in an airplane.
Grounding May Be Essential for Life and Health
It’s important to understand that grounding is not a “treatment” or “cure” for any disease or disorder. Rather, it is one of the key mechanisms by which your body maintains equilibrium and health. The human body evolved in constant contact with the Earth, and your body needs this continuous interchange of energy to function properly.
Free radical stress from exposure to pollution, cigarettes, pesticides, processed foods and electromagnetic radiation, just to name a few, continually depletes your body of electrons. The Earth, however, is always electron-rich and can serve as a powerful and abundant supply of antioxidant free radical-busting electrons, provided you make an effort to stay grounded.
Without a proper supply of antioxidants, the free radicals can overwhelm your system leading to oxidative stress, inflammation, and accelerated aging. “We now know that oxidative stress causes disease. It causes inflammation,” Sinatra says. “[But] we have this Earth — Mother Earth — that’s going to give us all these free electrons.”
Again, exercising barefoot outdoors is a wonderful way to incorporate grounding into your daily routine. Alternatively, simply take off your shoes as much as you can when you’re outdoors to take advantage of the Earth’s natural healing potential.
In “Down to Earth”1 — which received the IndieFEST Award of Excellence for a documentary short in January 2017 — I speak alongside other experts to shed light on this super simple yet commonly overlooked way to protect and improve human health. As cardiologist Dr. Stephen Sinatra, author of “Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?” explains in the film:
“[G]rounding is literally putting your bare feet on the ground. When you do that, you’re in contact with the Earth, and mother Earth is endowed with electrons, and these electrons are literally absorbed through your feet. It’s like taking handfuls of antioxidants, but you’re getting it through your feet.”
Your Body Needs Grounding
Research suggests a general lack of grounding, also referred to as “electron deficiency syndrome,” has a lot to do with the rise of modern diseases.
It’s not unusual for Americans to spend entire days without being grounded. But though it has become the norm, it’s completely unnatural and didn’t really become widespread until the advent of shoes with artificial soles that prevent grounding. When you’re grounded, free electrons from the Earth are transferred into your body, and these free electrons are among the most potent antioxidants known to man.
As electrons are negatively charged, and free radicals are positively charged, any free radicals encountered in your tissues are electrically neutralized or canceled out by these free electrons. This is why grounding is so effective against chronic inflammation. Dr. Laura Koniver, who discovered grounding quite by accident after it seemed to soothe her crying infant, says in the film, “Grounding … supports the body as a whole, but it specifically supports organ systems down to the tissues and the cellular function of the entire body.”
Also, while you may not think of your body as a generator of electricity, you are very much an electrical being, and this is in large part why it’s so important to use grounding to harness the electrical charge of the Earth. In the film, Gaetan Chevalier, Ph.D., an engineer/physicist who has studied grounding, explains:
“Unbeknownst to us, we live inside a battery. The surface of the Earth is charged negatively, and the ionosphere, a layer of the atmosphere about 60 miles up, is ionized by the sun. The sun’s rays are so strong that they split the molecules in two, a positive charge and a negative charge.
The negative charges are transferred to the Earth’s surface through lightening mainly, and the positive charges stay 60 miles up. The problem arises when we don’t have a negative charge. We need grounding just as we need air and we need sunshine.”2
Grounding Reduces Electric Field Induction
There’s even evidence that grounding reduces the voltage induced on your body from electricity in your environment — a factor that has become increasingly important in the modern world. As noted in the 2012 review:3
“Applewhite, an electrical engineer and expert in the design of electrostatic discharge systems in the electronic industry, was both subject and author of the study.4 Measurements were taken while ungrounded and then grounded using a conductive patch and conductive bed pad … Each method (patch and sheet) immediately reduced the common alternating current (AC) 60 Hz ambient voltage induced on the body by a highly significant factor of about 70 on average.
The study showed that when the body is grounded, its electrical potential becomes equalized with the Earth’s electrical potential. This, in turn, prevents the 60 Hz mode from producing an AC electric potential at the surface of the body and from producing perturbations of the electric charges of the molecules inside the body.
The study confirms the ‘umbrella’ effect of earthing the body explained by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman in his lectures on electromagnetism. Feynman said that when the body potential is the same as the Earth’s electric potential (and thus grounded), it becomes an extension of the Earth’s gigantic electric system. The Earth’s potential thus becomes the ‘working agent that cancels, reduces, or pushes away electric fields from the body.'”
Benefits of Grounding
While it may sound “too easy,” the simple pleasure of walking barefoot can be a powerful health-promoting activity. A scientific review published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health in 2012 found that grounding can help:5
Improve quality of sleep and feelings of restfulness upon waking.
Reduce muscle stiffness and soreness.6
Reduce chronic pain.
Normalize secretion of the stress hormone cortisol so that it adheres to a typical cycle of peaking in the morning and dipping lowest at midnight. This in turn helps promote more restful sleep and improve blood sugar regulation and weight control.
Reduce stress and balance your autonomic nervous system by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system (which rules the “rest and digest” functions of the body) and quieting the sympathetic nervous system (which cues the “fight or flight” response).
Reduce the severity of the inflammatory response after intense workouts.
Raise your heart rate variability (your heart’s ability to respond to stimuli).
Speed up wound healing.
Improve mood. In one study,7 grounding for one hour significantly improved mood among adults.
Reduce inflammation.8 In the film, grounding pioneer Clint Ober explains how grounding quenches inflammation: “Inflammation is produced by neutrophils, which are white blood cells. [When] you have an injury … a damaged cell … these white blood cells come over and encapsulate the damaged cell and … release reactive oxygen species, which rip electrons from the damaged cell and that destroys the damaged cell.If there’s not enough free electrons there to reduce the remaining radicals, they’re going to steal an electron from a healthy cell and, in the process, damage it. Then the message goes out to the immune system, and another neutrophil does the same thing and eliminates that cell, and then you have a chain reaction.”
Thin your blood, making it less viscous, by strengthening the negative electrical surface charge on your red blood cells. This improves their ability to repel each other and allows them to flow more easily through tiny capillaries, and is incredibly valuable as cardiovascular disease is correlated with thicker, slow-moving blood. It can also help protect against blood clots.In fact, this blood-thinning effect is so profound that if you are taking a blood thinner such as Coumadin, you should consult your doctor before you start grounding regularly. You may need to lower your dosage to avoid overdosing on your medication.Research9 published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine revealed that two hours of grounding increased the surface charge of red blood cells, thereby reducing blood viscosity and clumping. According to the authors, “Grounding appears to be one of the simplest and yet most profound interventions for helping reduce cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular events.”
Increase the structure of the water in your cells. Water is in every cell in your body, and this water is highly ordered (structured) and charged. If you don’t have properly structured water in your cells, it can impact the functioning of the much larger protein molecules (and others) that interface with the cell. The water inside the cell also interfaces with water outside the cell, which has the opposite charge, creating a battery effect.Your body’s ability to generate electricity is actually a key part of your achieving health. Electrical charges delivered from cell to cell allows for nearly instantaneous communication within your body, and the messages conducted via these electrical signals are responsible for controlling the rhythm of your heartbeat, the movement of blood around your body and much more.In fact, most of your biological processes are electrical. The water in your cells achieves its ordered structure from energy obtained from the environment, typically in the form of electromagnetic radiation, including sunlight and infrared heat.But grounding may also play an important role. Just as water increases in structure when a negative charge is introduced by an electrode, the negatively charged electrons you receive when grounded help increase the structure of the water in your cells. By restructuring the water, you promote more efficient tissue healing. So, when you ground, you are charging every single cell in your body with energy your body can use for self-healing.
How and Where to Ground
While connecting just about any part of your skin to the Earth is beneficial, one area that is particularly potent is the center of the ball of your foot, a point known to acupuncturists as Kidney 1 (K1). It’s a well-known acupuncture point that conductively connects to all of the acupuncture meridians in your body. Exercising barefoot outdoors is a great way to incorporate earthing into your daily life and will also help speed up tissue repair and ease muscle pain associated with strenuous exercise.
The ideal location for walking barefoot is the beach, close to or in the water, as salt water is a great conductor. (Your body is also somewhat conductive because it contains a large number of charged ions, called electrolytes, dissolved in water. Your blood and other body fluids are, therefore, good conductors.)
A close second would be a grassy area, especially if it’s covered with dew and /or bare soil. Ceramic tiles and concrete are good conductors as long as they’ve not been sealed; painted concrete does not allow electrons to pass through very well. Materials like asphalt, wood, and typical insulators like rubber or plastic will not allow electrons to pass through and are not suitable for barefoot grounding.
While any amount of grounding is better than none, research has demonstrated it takes about 80 minutes for the free electrons from the Earth to reach your bloodstream and transform your blood, which is when you reap the greatest benefits. So, ideally, aim for 80 to 120 minutes of grounding each day.
How to Ground Indoors
Just as walking barefoot was once widespread, so too was sleeping on the ground. In the modern world, sleeping indoors serves to further insulate you from the Earth. There’s also the issue of elevation. When you are grounded, your body cannot carry a charge, which is good. The greater the distance between your body and the Earth, the greater charge your body carries. In fact, this has been precisely calculated. For every meter (3.28 feet) you are above the ground, 300 volts of charge will build up in your body.10
So, if you are in a second-story bedroom, your charge would be 1,000 volts, on average, and this increased charge may increase your risk of health problems. For example, one 2009 study11 found a 40 percent increase in stroke risk among people living in multistory homes. Flying can also make you severely ungrounded. When indoors and/or at elevation, you can ground by:
Using a grounding pad or grounding sheet to ground your mattress while sleeping.
Keeping your bare feet on a grounding mat while working. Grounding mats work well provided you have a grounded electrical outlet and can be particularly beneficial if you live in a high-rise. A grounded outlet is generally identifiable by the fact it’s a 3-prong outlet with a ground port (bottom outlet). Most modern homes built after 1970 will have a grounded electrical system. When using an earthing mat, make sure your bare skin is in contact with it. There should not be a layer of clothing between you and the mat.
Using a grounded yoga mat when exercising indoors. Research12 has shown doing yoga indoors on a grounded yoga mat helps reduce blood viscosity and exercise-induced inflammation, the same effects you’d expect from walking barefoot outdoors.
Touching the faucet with one hand while shaving or brushing your teeth with the other.
Taking off your shoes and placing your feet (bare or with socks) on the steel struts of the chair in front of you when flying in an airplane.
Grounding May Be Essential for Life and Health
It’s important to understand that grounding is not a “treatment” or “cure” for any disease or disorder. Rather, it is one of the key mechanisms by which your body maintains equilibrium and health. The human body evolved in constant contact with the Earth, and your body needs this continuous interchange of energy to function properly.
Free radical stress from exposure to pollution, cigarettes, pesticides, processed foods and electromagnetic radiation, just to name a few, continually depletes your body of electrons. The Earth, however, is always electron-rich and can serve as a powerful and abundant supply of antioxidant free radical-busting electrons, provided you make an effort to stay grounded.
Without a proper supply of antioxidants, the free radicals can overwhelm your system leading to oxidative stress, inflammation, and accelerated aging. “We now know that oxidative stress causes disease. It causes inflammation,” Sinatra says. “[But] we have this Earth — Mother Earth — that’s going to give us all these free electrons.”
Again, exercising barefoot outdoors is a wonderful way to incorporate grounding into your daily routine. Alternatively, simply take off your shoes as much as you can when you’re outdoors to take advantage of the Earth’s natural healing potential.
This is a 28-day program to a cleaner, brighter and happier version of yourself. It consists of diet improvements and smoothies made from plant-based whole food concentrates.
I’ve been recommending this program to my patients for over a decade. Consistently, the Detox Balance program results in:
Better energy
Better sleep
Better digestion
Improved mental clarity
Often there are many other benefits, such as improved libido, improved skin, weight loss, etc.
What’s Included?
(Available in a 10-Day or 28-Day version)
10 Day or 28 day supply of shake mix.
Book. This is an exceptionally-well done instruction manual with details of how to do the program, solutions to any problems, recipes,
Shaker Bottle (included only with 28-day version).
Support from Alternative Health Atlanta. You have the experience and knowledge of our clinic behind you on your detox adventure!
FAQs
Are the shakes meal replacements?
No, you eat clean, healthy meals in addition to the shakes. The shakes do make good snacks, however
Will I feel toxic, headachy, or fatigued as my body detoxes?
Minor fatigue and a bit of fogginess is common for a few days, but typically nothing that would affect your work.
Will I have frequent or loose bowel movements or need to urinate more frequently?
Generally, there will be little change in your elimination.
Do I have to eat a specific diet? Vegan, Keto, Paleo, etc.?
You’ll eat fresh foods and avoid processed (boxed, canned) foods. You’ll avoid most caffeine, alcohol, artificial sweeteners and junk or fast foods. If you are vegetarian, that’s fine. If not, you will continue to eat animal proteins.
How soon would I expect to start seeing improvements from this program?
This can vary a lot. If you do a good job doing the detox, it’s common to start feeling better in two to three weeks, sometimes sooner.
Will I lose weight on this detox?
This is not designed as a weight-loss program. That said, the majority of people report losing weight, often those who were “stuck” and couldn’t lose weight previously.
How long do I do the detox?
The program is designed for 28 days. However, there is a 10-day version of it as well.
While we carry Standard Process products, neither Alternative Health Atlanta nor any third party associated with, related to, or linked to Alternative Health Atlanta’s business or website is in any way affiliated with Standard Process Inc.® Standard Process expressly disclaims any responsibility for, and makes no representations or warranties regarding, any statement, information, materials, or content found on or included in Alternative Health Atlanta’s marketing materials/website, or any third party marketing materials/websites related to, associated with or linked to Alternative Health Atlanta’s business or website. Standard Process products are dietary supplements and not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
The new year is a time to hit the “reset” button, examine our lives, and reflect on changes we’d like to make in the coming year. Starting the year with a detoxification program can help us to renew and refresh from the inside out so we are truly our best selves to the core.
Call us at (770) 937-9200 for information on how to get tested and started, and pricing.
Toxins are everywhere
In the past 50 years, more than 100,000 toxic chemicals, including heavy metals and pesticides, have been introduced into the environment — into the air we breathe, food that we eat, and water that we drink. Toxins can accumulate and damage critical internal body systems, so it’s no wonder that the incidence of toxicity-related afflictions (such as cancer, arthritis, allergies, obesity, skin conditions and cardiovascular disease) is also on the rise. In addition, a wide variety of symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, pain, cough, gastrointestinal problems and more can all be related to toxicity.
How does the body detoxify normally?
A healthy body has many systems in place to remove toxins. Water-soluble toxins can be filtered and removed by the kidneys, the intestinal tract, and through sweat and breath.
Fat-soluble toxins must first be made water-soluble, which occurs in the liver.
There are three phases of detoxification of fat-soluble toxins:
Phase I: Large toxins are broken down into smaller pieces by a group of enzymes known as the cytochrome P-450 family. In some cases, these smaller compounds can still possess some toxicity if allowed to build up, and that’s where Phase II comes in.
Phase II: The byproducts of Phase I and other remaining toxins are effectively neutralized and made water-soluble so they can be excreted from the body. This process is known as “conjugation.” Once toxins are made water-soluble, they can be eliminated through our urine, bile, sweat and breath!
Phase III – In addition to Phase I and Phase II detoxification, liver detoxification involves a third phase which takes care of the final elimination of toxins. This involves direct excretion into bile; and is called the Phase III detoxification (T.Ishikawa, Trends Biochem.Sci., 17, 1992).
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Support your body’s natural detoxification
By participating in a detoxification program, we can actively assist and support the body in its own natural cleansing actions and help it to eliminate toxic substances. A functional detox program helps to strengthen all of the organs involved in detoxification, including the liver, lungs, kidneys, skin, and lymphatic system. Among the valuable benefits of a successful detoxification program are:
Increased energy
Clearer skin
Stronger immune system
Greater mental clarity
Improved digestion
Weight loss (if desired)
A Detoxification program to start the year strong
Drink plenty of water. One of the keys to eliminating water-soluble toxins and toxic metabolites is having plenty of water available. Water helps dilute waste products and carry them out of the body. Drinking pure water all day is recommended. Freshly squeezed lemon or lime is a simple alkalinizing addition.
Another way to move toxins out of the body is to increase blood flow through movement and exercise. Regular exercise will also improve overall health.
Choose the PERQUE Detox Kit, a safer, natural, multi-system detoxification program that takes advantage of the synergy of 4 products:
PERQUE Detox IN Guard™ contains a unique blend of sulfur amino acids, lipotropic factors and minerals that support all the body’s detoxification pathways (Phases I, II and III). The potent nutritional detoxifiers like methionine, glycine, cysteine and glutathione also boost neuroimmune and cardiovascular health. Choline and inositol improve cell communication and increase the cell’s defenses.
PERQUE Liva Guard Forté™ is a liver-protecting formula that combines five carotenoids, pure silymarin (milk thistle), vitamin E, CoQ10, methionine and glutathione to deliver unique synergistic benefits. This unique formulation helps protect liver cells from damage and facilitates the liver’s role as the body’s main detoxifying organ.
PERQUE Potent C Guard™ buffered l-ascorbate powder helps strengthen, repair and energize the immune system while mobilizing and removing harmful toxins from the body.
The healing effects of vitamin C are widely known. The vitamin C portion of this program can fill the deficits we all have and put the healing potential back into our bodies so we can rebuild and revitalize tired and stressed organs and tissues.
The scientific literature has confirmed vitamin C’s key role in
Immune system function
Collagen repair and formation
Joint function
Energy production
Antioxidant protection and function
Detoxification
Protects delicate endothelial cells that line blood vessels from free radical and toxin damage and so much more.
PERQUE Potent C Guard™enhances hormone production and function as needed and helps the body adapt better. In addition, it is important to take the amount of ascorbate needed to keep an adequate supply in the cells. This varies based on levels of distress, toxins, acute and delayed allergy reactions, and cell buffering/ alkaline reserve. Optimum ascorbate use is based on calibration of need (see ascorbate calibration instructions) or as directed by your health professional.**
PERQUE EPA/DHA Guard™ contains Omega 3 fatty acids, which are extremely helpful in improving antioxidant absorption, dissolving fat soluble toxins and repairing cell membrane fluidity.
Your Revitalization Plan
Using the Detox Kit with your Diet
Rebuild and Revitalize by feeding the body what it needs to naturally obtain the potent medicine found in the right foods. These next 30 days will find our meals full of green leafy veggies, salads, roasted vegetables a full 4-6 servings a day. You can have any lean protein that you want, chicken, turkey, salmon, and other wild-caught seafood. Protein is essential for rebuilding muscle and tissue and helping the body recover from injury or illness. Protein is important in hair and nail growth.
Choose the right foods. Remove toxic substances such as caffeine and alcohol, eliminate processed foods, and limit intake of sugars and saturated fats. This will help your body detox naturally.
Specifically, you will want to avoid the following foods:
Sugar:
Avoid refined sugar, including sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, and dextrose-containing products. Also, avoid artificial sweeteners. (Monk fruit and stevia are healthy options.) Fresh fruit and fruit juices are preferred.
Processed Foods:
Instead of snacking on chips, candy, and cookies, choose nuts and seeds as a healthier option. Alkalinizing suggestions include sunflower seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and cashews.
Avoid refined flour products such as doughnuts, cakes, cookies, white rice, and pasta. Wheat and other gluten-containing grains should be minimized. Grasses like quinoa, amaranth, and brown rice are healthier options.
Avoid fast food and processed foods.
Red Meat and Dairy Products:
Conventional red meat can add to the toxic load. Better protein sources include grass fed beef, chicken, turkey, fish, beans, and legumes. Milk, butter, and other dairy products should be kept to a minimum or eliminated. For many people, cow dairy is difficult to digest and can impede the process of detoxification.
Caffeine:
Coffee, both regular and decaffeinated, black teas, sodas and other drinks containing caffeine should be avoided. Green tea, ginger tea, and herbal teas are better substitutes.
Alcohol:
Avoid all types of alcohol and recreational drugs. This will give your mind and body a rest from harmful toxins.
High Amounts of conventional Table Salt:
Sea salt is a healthier option.
In addition to avoiding toxic and processed foods, you will also want to avoid immune-sensitive foods and substances, to help reduce inflammation and enhance repair. Please keep in mind your food sensitivities and avoid these.
Determine how much Vitamin C is best for you, using the C-Calibration Protocol. As the central antioxidant molecule responsible for regeneration, recycling, and cell detox, the amount of ascorbate needed by any given individual varies more widely than that of any other essential nutrient. The C-Calibration protocol makes it possible for you to determine how much ascorbate you need, at any given point, in order to stimulate repair and respond to oxidative stress. We will help you determine your own unique need for vitamin C on this program.
Take a salt and soda bath. We recommend a salt and soda bath 1-2 times per week to help you relax and to enhance the detoxification process. Combine a half cup of Epsom salts with a half cub of baking soda in a very warm bath (You may also choose to add lavender or other relaxing essential oils.) Soak for at least 20 minutes. While soaking, practice deep breathing and let the warm water take all your stress away. Since Epsom salt is another name for magnesium sulfate, this bath will help remove toxins from your body, and if done regularly, can also help to boost magnesium levels. Healthy magnesium levels support healthy serotonin levels – essential for improved mood.
This program is 30 days long and will gently supply your body with much-needed nutrient levels that will put back into you what has been burned out over the last year. You will find a sense of wellbeing and a much-needed element of self-care in the special program you will embark upon this next month.
Call us at (770) 937-9200 for information on how to get tested and started, and pricing.
There are products galore to improve energy and motivation. There are energy drinks, exercise programs, self-help books, therapy, drugs, even coffee!
Here are two practical actions you can take to boost your energy, motivation, and general mood. Neither one will cost you any money, and they don’t take much time.
1. Smooth out your blood sugar:
Your blood sugar is the primary source of energy for your body, including your nervous system. If you eat in a way that creates low blood sugar, you may experience:
Waking in the night and nightmares
Brain fog and concentration problems
Heart palpitations and anxiety
Hunger, or the reverse: a feeling of aversion to food, even if you should be hungry
Mood swings and nervousness
Headaches
Blurry vision
Jittery, shaky feelings
Lightheadedness, dizziness, and loss of balance and coordination
You can have low blood sugar from… eating sugar!
Eating sugar or refined carbohydrates (bread, chips, pasta, cakes, cookies) can put too much sugar into your bloodstream. Your body reacts to prevent high-sugar damage by flooding the bloodstream with a hormone (insulin) to bring the sugar levels down. The high sugar emergency caused too much insulin hormone to be released, and now the sugar drops way too low. You feel terrible and crave sweets, bread, chips—anything that will bring up the low blood sugar. But you overeat the carbs and sugar, and now your blood sugar goes too high. Your body has another sugar emergency, over-produces insulin again, and the whole cycle repeats. “Roller-coaster” blood sugar is a very common scenario and can cause chronic symptoms from low blood sugar. Solution:
Avoid eating sugar (cake candy, cookies, ice cream, soda, beer, wine) and limit your carbs intake (bread, pasta, rice, and white potatoes).
Eat protein (meat, eggs, cheese, nuts) with every meal and every snack.
If you feel jittery, like you have low blood sugar, eat protein and vegetables instead of chips, bread, and sugar. Keep eating protein and veggies (for example, no-sugar peanut butter on celery) until you feel better.
Another way you can have low blood sugar is not eating regularly enough:
Your body runs out of stored blood sugar about four hours after a meal. So if you skip lunch, by dinner time, your body can have to break down protein from the muscles to make blood sugar. This problem is worse if you have fatigued adrenal glands. Your adrenal glands prevent your body from being damaged by stress, so if you’ve been surviving through the stress of the past few years, maybe they’re not in wonderful condition. Solution: Eat frequently enough to prevent running out of blood sugar.
Eat within an hour of waking in the morning (you are running out of blood sugar from not eating since the night before).
Eat again four hours after a meal.
A snack will give you one to two hours to bridge two meals to avoid running out of blood sugar.
My patients often report remarkable improvements from eating this way. They can think more clearly, sleep better, and have more energy.
2. Stop feeling overwhelmed, and be more motivated! Do this simple exercise:
If you have too many jobs, responsibilities, deadlines, and things you are behind on—you may feel overwhelmed. It’s hard to be motivated to do more when you feel like you can’t keep up with what you’re already supposed to be doing. The problem: You are using up too many of your available “attention units.” You can feel irritable and at the end of your rope, or you may just feel tired and unmotivated.
The exercise:
Take pen and paper and write out a list of the things you have your attention on. List the things you haven’t finished yet, or need to do. The list can be any length, but try to make it complete.
EXAMPLES:
Grocery shopping for this week
Finish next phase of a major project at work
Take the car in for maintenance
Catch up on laundry
Call and visit with a family member
Buy a birthday gift for a friend
Get the exterior of the house painted
(Etc.)
Circle the items on the list that you could complete (finish all the way) in the next hour.
Get busy and do these tasks right now.
Notice any difference in how overwhelmed you feel—do you feel better now?
You can continue to work on your list. In general, do the tasks you can complete (finished all the way) first.
The reason that this exercise works: Every item on your list is using up some of your available attention units. If you free some attention units (regardless of the importance of the task), you will have more available for other tasks, plus you won’t be as overwhelmed.
If you have allergies, you are usually doing your best to live with them. You are trying to avoid the foods and environmental substances that trigger your reactions (in many cases, you might not know what they all are). Even after avoiding the allergens, many people often have reactions anyway.
Many allergies are challenging or impossible to avoid (like Georgia pollen in the Spring!).
Allergies Often cause other Health Problems
Many common health conditions are either caused by or prolonged because of allergies.
If you have hormone problems, migraines, skin conditions, depression, anxiety, brain fog, ADHD, thyroid problems, digestive problems (and many more conditions), they might be caused by allergies. What is common for allergy-caused health problems is that they don’t go away or keep coming back.Your body can’t heal because of continued stress from allergy exposure.
You might think, “But that’s not what is causing my health problems because I don’t have allergies.”
It is very common to have allergies and sensitivities, but not know this. Food sensitivities can be delayed up to three days, so you’d never connect the reaction to a food. You can react to invisible environmental substances that you would never suspect, like dust mites and roach droppings.
The health problems you suffer from could be caused by stress to your body and immune system from allergic reactions.
Here’s a list of allergy information and facts that you’d want to know:
People can develop new allergies to foods and environmental items (pollen, dust, animal fur) at any time in their lives.
An allergy is an over-response of the immune system to a substance. Your body decides that a harmless substance is a threat and mounts a defensive response to it.
Many food sensitivities are delayed reactions (called IgG sensitivities) and can cause reactions up to three days after you eat the offending food. These reactions are often not recognized as allergic reactions and can be almost anything (headaches, itchy skin, constipation, gas and bloating, blurred vision, etc.).
Often, people with environmental allergies have no clue that they could also have food allergies or sensitivities.
Most IgG (delayed) food sensitivities can be identified with a blood lab and eliminated simply by avoiding the food for three months or so, then adding it back into your diet on a rotating basis. Many health problems can be improved this way even though you never suspected that you had sensitivities.
Often, we can permanently eliminate sensitivity reactions with acupressure treatments (acupressure in our clinic is acupuncture technology using lasers instead of needles). Sensitivity symptoms can be reduced or even eliminated with specific acupressure therapies.
Correctly identifying patients who are allergy cases and discovering what they are allergic to is the first step. Remember: You may have no idea that your problems are from allergies.
Next is developing a treatment program to eliminate or reduce sensitivities and help the body to recover from the damage caused by that stress.
Note that this is very different from the usual medical solution of taking drugs to suppress allergy symptoms. If allergies cause your health problems, suppressing the allergic symptoms will not help you heal. Your body would have to stop reacting to the allergens to recover.
Many sensitivities can be permanently eliminated using acupressure treatments.(Acupressure is acupuncture technology using lasers to stimulate the acupuncture points.)
Here’s a video explaining this:
Help for Allergies?
Correctly identifying patients who are allergy cases and discovering what they are allergic to is the first step. Remember: You may have no idea that your problems are from allergies.
Next is developing a treatment program to eliminate or reduce sensitivities and help the body to recover from the damage caused by that stress.
Note that this is very different from the usual medical solution of taking drugs to suppress allergy symptoms. If allergies cause your health problems, suppressing the allergic symptoms will not help you heal. Your body would have to stop reacting to the allergens to recover.
Many sensitivities can be permanently eliminated using acupressure treatments.(Acupressure is acupuncture technology using lasers to stimulate the acupuncture points.)
Here’s a video explaining this:
I have targeted programs to help many different kinds of sensitivity patients:
Sometimes, all that’s needed is a short course of acupressure treatments and some supporting supplements.
Other patients with long-term chronic health problems need more detailed analysis, labs, and help over a more extended period to fully recover their health.
If you’d like to find out quickly if I could help you and what you would have to do:
Would you please take five minutes to fill out a health assessment survey and send it to me? I’ll review your information, then have my assistant call you for any additional information. Then, I’ll let you know if your case might be a good fit for my clinic. This assessment is complimentary, with no strings attached. Either I can help you–or point you in the right direction to get help.
Don’t give up! You can recover your health if you persist.
I have had horrible cat allergies for most of my life. So bad that it has even sent me to the hospital. My throat starts to close up, I start to have shortness of breath, and my eyes start to water. Then after a while, I start to have a full-blown asthma attack.
This past weekend, I had Easter dinner with my husband’s side of the family, who are hoarders with loads of cats. Normally, I can’t spend more than an hour there without having a reaction and a migraine that lasts for days after.
This weekend, we spent about 3 ½ hours there, and I had little to no problems.
Learn about the causes of anxiety and depression, what you can do to reduce your suffering RIGHT NOW and how you can eliminate these problems from your life.
