Today entailed the eating of copious amounts of greens; I’d bought 500g of ruccola and baby lettuce at Costco yesterday, and then during the cycle back home, well, they wilted somewhat. Hard to avoid in this oppressively  humid Japanese summer weather. “Well we can’t have that, can we!” I thought this morning, hence the rabbit mode of eating. I must have ingested 300g worth, and let me tell you, that is quite a bit of the green stuff!  Too wilted and they are no longer consumable. Well, there are green smoothies…. but no, fresh is best, baby!

I am on phase 3 of the Blessed Herbs Internal Cleanse. Nothing obvious is happening, other than I feel pretty darned good if I don’t say so myself. Phase 3 focuses on cleaning out the lungs and lymph system with these herbal liquids in addition to the regular “digestive stimulator” and “paracleanse” pills. They all taste a lot like Chinese medicine - very strong and… herbal.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve put a couple more links up on the top of this blog to sites I’ve been working on. First is my recipe blog, which is really proving to be a lot of fun (please submit a recipe!), and then there is my main site, which is a little more slow-moving, as I am still having theme trouble and I need to think through what I want to do with it; I’ve been thinking I’d really like to share this whole raw food lifestyle with others, seeing how it’s been working so well for me, and I’d like to have a go at making some sort of business out of it, though I’ve no intention to stop my current employment. Since I enjoy teaching so much, it makes sense that I would want to teach raw food classes, but I want to make sure that I am experienced and qualified enough, and that I can design a course that would offer great value for money if I am going to charge for it. Of course, I also love writing (else I would not be blogging) and would like to create some information package that people would be willing to pay for and be satisfied with. The problem is finding a niche; there are so many publications already out there, so I need to say something new, and if not, say something old in a new and appealing way. That said, I do have several ideas… A big advantage I would have is the Japanese language, but as my blogs are not currently not accepting Japanese kanji for some reason… I really have get in touch with my WordPress expert friend!

Today I had:

green smoothie with soggy melon (I forgot about the poor soul waiting in my fridge to be consumed. Don’t know how I could miss it - it took up the whole top shelf.)
ruccula and baby leaf salads with miso citrus dressing (umm, think I am addicted to that stuff)
raw nori rolls made with nori (duh!), carrot pâté, avocado, and… you guessed it - greens!
olives
orange-pecan smoothie

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Even though I have started eating, it would appear my body is still keen to eliminate stuff from my gut. Great! Better out than in, I say. I also started the BlessedHerbs.com 3-week cleanse, and as I just finished their colon “detox,” I jumped right into step 2 of the 4 steps on the program. On step 2, before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I am required to ingest capsules of herbs that will “neutralize toxins” and “rejuvenate my gallbladder and liver.” I also have to ingest these herbal liquid tonics that “balance macroscopic intestinal populations and expel unwanted guests.” Well, no, we do not want unwanted guests now, do we! I am not sure how much of these appealing claims I buy into (well, actually, I did in fact buy the kit!). I try to be weary of products with the following small case disclaimers:

“These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.”

Then again, I am no believer in the American FDA either. This is the organization which let abominations such as olstra into the market, did they not? In case you forgot, olstra was the “fake fat” that was accepted by snack-making companies such as Pringles (as in “once you pop, you can’t stop.”). Soon after osltra was released, the following small print appeared on labels:

“May cause Leaky Gut Syndrome.”

A leaking gut does not sound like something I would like to have, though apparently many diet-savvy Americans did not care. I just now googled the term and found that Leaky Gut Syndrome appears to be a euphemistic way of saying that the product damages the lining of your intestinal walls.  www.leakygut.co.uk says, “the symptoms of Leaky Gut Syndrome are many and varied and include: abdominal pain, heartburn, insomnia, bloating, anxiety, gluten intolerance, malnutrition, muscle cramps and pains, poor exercise tolerance, food allergies. Leaky Gut Syndrome has also been linked with many conditions, such as: Celiac Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, Autism, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Eczema, Dermatitis, Ulcerative Colitis.”

Clearly I am justified in my unease, and I am correct to mistrust the FDA, who to let out this man-made chemical concoction without enough testing through clinical trials. And Osltra is only an example. Other such nasties that have raised eyes (and some of which are still on the market) include the previously omnipresent saccharin, sodium nitrite, saccharin, caffeine, acesulfame K, and artificial coloring. Not only are they among the most questionable additives, but they are used primarily in foods of low nutritional value.

Anyway, with this “Internal Cleansing Kit” I have purchased, I am not scared of the little potions and pills I am consuming. It is entirely true that they may not work, but I can read and pronounce the ingredients, and have felt physically wonderful after having tried the company’s other products. Although I am not as trusting of the word, “organic” as I once was (my eyes have been opened by Michael Pollan’s books), it is somewhat comforting to know it it there. And true, just because herbs are natural, doesn’t mean they are safe, but I will take the risk. I consumed all the additives mentioned above in my youth, after all, and I am not dead yet!

Today I had:

green smoothie (gee wiz, I missed these!)
peach
wakame and hijiki salad (leftovers)
peanut butter from the jar (roasted peanuts and with salt, yes, but organic and no other additives)
apple juice (organic, but pasteurized)
black olives (soaked to get as much salt out as possible)
raw tomato sauce on green leaves
raisins