Basenfasten – Day 4 & 5

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:46:25 -0800

Continue to strive with this wholesome cleanse. What sets it apart is that you can actually go in your own speed on your own time table. You just remember a handful of rules on how to combine foods and allow your body to release toxins accumulated over years. At one point you go for one week of just alkaline forming foods. Alternatively you could eat completely raw vegan for a week or do a juice cleanse, both are alkaline diets if you stay away from legumes. It is up to you.

I went shopping for some things that are good to have in the house during “Basenfasten”: I got onions, dried sour cherries, dried wild blueberries, ..., Gomasio with Seaweed to replace salt, for those grainy days I got oats (gluten free), spelt oats and rye oats. I am planning to just make a simple oatmeal with a mix of all three grains and some flax meal. I cook the oats in water with one fresh apple and one pear cut in cubes and a spoon full of raisins. No sugar, maple syrup or any other sweetener please. Top with fresh or dried berries and you have the most delicious oatmeal.

Basenfasten – Day 2 & 3

Sun, 8 Jan 2012 23:06:26 -0800

Cleansing the bladder with a nice Beet Smoothie from red beets, fresh pressed orange juice, bee pollen, blackberries, blueberries, mulberries, raspberries, shredded dried organic coconut meat, ceylon cinnamon. Also lots of fluid from herbal tea. If you want your herbal tea to detox you, prepare it very diluted. Drink plenty! Eat lots of fruit. Grounding yoga practice with forward bends and meditation are as always mandatory.

Basenfasten – Day 1

Fri, 6 Jan 2012 22:56:59 -0800

What a great start into the weekend with cleansing, yet grounding foods. Started the morning with a fruit muesli out of grapefruit, popped amaranth, spelt oats, oats and millet (no fluids added). For lunch a big bowl of leafy veggie soup. It is simple and fast to make. In a soup pot on low/medium heat cook 1/2 finely chopped white onion, carrot and 2 stalks of celery in olive oil. Takes about 5 min and should not be turning brown. Add two bunches of chopped greens: kale and swiss chard. Add water as much as needed. Spice with Gomasio (with Seaweed), 1 tsp turmeric, and pepper to taste. Let cook slowly on low heat for about 15 min. What you do not eat share with a friend or keep in the refrigerator. Dinner (picture above) bake one big sweet potato and one big russet potato in the oven on 400F for 45 min. Serve with avocado, olive oil, tomato and endive. The bitter in the endives helps with digestion. Serves two. Dinner is the smallest meal of the day. Detox that feels good.

Read more about Basenfasten.

Cleanse your body "Basenfasten"

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:48:25 -0800

In this article: how to gently restore and balance your metabolism

You might have heard about the 80/20 diet which suggests that 80% of what you eat should be vegetables and fruits and only 20% of the foods you consume should be meat, eggs, grains and legumes. The idea behind it is more than 100 years old. The Swedish chemist Carl Gustav Ragnar Berg (1873 – 1956) is known to be the first to speak about an “Alkaline Diet”. After extensive research he learned that our body makes best use of nutrition if we eat more alkaline forming foods than acid forming foods. His refined findings are still used by nutritionists today.

Our body requires a balance of alkalinity and acidity to form an optimal pH environment for our metabolism and cells to function. Look at your plate. What is the ratio of fruit and vegetables compared to acid forming foods like meat, fish, grains, baked goods, dairy, sweets, caffeine, alcohol, ...? The more we move away from an optimal balance in the foods we choose to combine the more your kidneys, liver, lungs, skin and intestines have to work.

If too much acids are formed in an already acidic environment your body will store acids in your tissue. In the long term this is jamming your system and disturbing the natural flow of nature. Many diseases are more likely to appear in acidic bodies like chronic pain, inflammation, or even osteoporoses. We need to eat fruits and vegetables in abundance for our bone health (not drinking more milk) and to keep our immune system strong.

Reclaim your body. The following cleanse is gentle and takes about one month. If you like a faster detox, go for two weeks. Quicker is not necessarily better, however, and you might experience side effects like head ache or fatigue. Allow your body the time it needs, allow yourself enough rest. You should not detox if you are pregnant or breast feeding. This cleanse is inspired by my favorite German nutritionists Sabine and Dr. Andreas Wacker. I wish their books would be translated into English.

Preparation
Get ready, perhaps a week before by slowly cutting out those items on the list below.  Tabu:  * coffee (even decaf) * black, green, white tea * Mate, fruit and Rooibos tea * alcohol * milk * sugary drinks and foods * sausage, lunch meats, hams and bacon * smoked, brined or pickled foods * shell fish * garlic * fast food 
Here are a few things that you should have at home during the cleanse.
 Shopping List (all available at health food store or whole foods): * spring water / mineral water (still) * local herbal teas (prepare with 8 times more water than usual) * apples, bananas, lemons and seasonal fruits * carrots, potatoes, onions and seasonal veggies * sesame salt like Eden Organic Seaweed Gomasio * hemp seeds or flax seeds (ground) * Almonds (and some walnuts if you like some variety) * sunflower, pumpkin seeds  * unsulfured dried fruits if you need a snack * fresh herbs (kept best in garden or pots) * alkaline bath products like Dr. Singha's Mustard Bath (for bathtub)  Check with your Homeopath which supplements or homeopathic medicine can help you during the detox.   To my Basenfasten experienced friends: I will use Schüssler Salze (cell salts): mornings Natrium Phosphoricum 6X for metabolism, before lunch Silicea 12X helps cleanse body tissue, after lunch Kalium Sulfuricum 6X for the liver detox, before dinner Natrium Sulfuricum 6X for holistic inner body cleansing ("inner body brightener")

Getting Started

When you feel prepared you start by setting your intention to move towards balance. You are healthy and strong and what you eat reflects who you are.

Over the next month you allow your body to find its center, allow your metabolism to work at its optimal potential. Start on a Friday, so that you have a weekend to shift away from old habits. Stay physically active to help your body release acids. Keep up with a regular yoga practice, including asana, meditation and pranayama. In addition, alkaline baths help your muscles to relax and let go of tension. Make sure you get enough sleep.

For the last week of your cleanse you will only eat alkaline forming foods. During the first 1 to 3 weeks there will be days on which you in addition to your vegetables and fruits eat grains, in small amounts dairy, fish, or meat if those are part of your regular diet. You can stay with the detox plan as long as you like. If you find you need to stop earlier, listen to your inner voice and try again some time later. Nutritionists Sabine and Andreas Wacker suggest in their books on “Basenfasten” the following:

For a three to four weeks cleanse
Week 1
Fri +grains, Sat =veg, Sun +fish, Mon =veg, Tue +grains, Wed +dairy, Thu =veg
Week 2
Fri +grains, Sat =veg, Sun +fish, Mon =veg, Tue +grains, Wed +dairy, Thu +meat
Week 3
Fri +grains, Sat =veg, Sun +grains, Mon =veg, Tue +dairy, Wed =veg, Thu +grains
Week 4  only alkaline forming foods (veg)

For a faster two weeks cleanse:
Week 1
Fri +grains, Sat =veg, Sun +grains, Mon =veg, Tue +dairy, Wed =veg, Thu +grains
Week 2  only alkaline forming foods (veg) 

What to eat

On a strictly alkaline day you are mainly eating vegetables and ripe fruits, salad, sprouts, herbs, cold pressed olive or hemp oil and a few nuts and seeds. Extensive lists of alkaline forming foods can be found in the internet and in books. Also check shopping list above. Drink 6 to 8 glasses of spring water and/or diluted herbal tea.
Have a raw salad each day. Snack on dried fruits nuts and seeds. Use Gomasio (sesame salt) to lower your sodium intake. For breakfast have fruit in abundance, juices, smoothies. Have some ginger or herbal tea. For lunch have a fresh salad. Instead of vinegar use fresh squeezed lemon juice. Make yourself a nice vegetable dish. Dinner is small, perhaps a vegetable soup or some nice veggies.

On some days you are allowed to add whole grains, dairy, fish or meat to one of the meals only if you have been eating those before the cleanse. Choose a wide range of ancient grains and only organic animal products.

Hope to hear what you learn about yourself during the cleanse!

Internet References:
http://www.schusslersalts.com/wcm/mb/schuessler/en-en/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar_Berg

Books:
“Entsäuerungskuren”, Sabine Wacker, Dr. Med. Andreas Wacker, GU Plus
The pH Miracle: Balance Your Diet, Reclaim Your Health by Robert O. Young and Shelley Redford Young

Katrin Kuttner Yoga

Basenfasten – Day 4 & 5

Basenfasten – Day 2 & 3

Basenfasten – Day 1

Cleanse your body "Basenfasten"