RICH WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM At Sacred Healing Arts for Natural Health Ye Nguyen, left, and Lori Kimata hold a basket of fresh vegetables which are essential for detoxifying for the body. Included in the basket are beets, artichokes, kale, swiss chard, dandelion greens and carrots.

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Eat your veggies

Naturopathic physicians promote
healthy diets to detoxify the body

While many are slipping into their summer swimsuits, there are a lot more people looking into the mirror and lamenting what they see. There's nothing like tight Spandex to demonstrate how our busy lifestyles have left us to eat on the run and cut back on recreation time.

As we take stock of our sedentary bodies, we're awakened to the need to reclaim our health and maintain a healthy balance, but dread getting started. But health practitioners promise you'll feel better in the end.

Anything beats the fatigue, poor digestion, excess weight, muddled thinking, aches and pains that are among the symptoms of neglecting our bodies, and the first steps are as easy as drinking water, getting enough sleep and eating your veggies.

It's obvious that "junk food makes your body feel junk," said Lori Kimata, a naturopathic physician who recently presented a "Nutrition and Detoxification" seminar for an audience of about 30 at the Pali Golf Course.

"Soda, chips, foods high in sugar or that contain a lot of chemicals and toxins affect the body, even if you don't notice it right away," she said. "We try to get people away from processed food."

Naturopathic physician Ye Nguyen also contributed information at the workshop.

"The goal is to deal with people's habits that make them healthy or not so healthy," said Nguyen, who grew up in Vietnam with the notion that the right foods have medicinal qualities.

In Ayurvedic medicine practices, flavorful meals are important. Cravings are reduced, Kimata said, if meals incorporate a range of flavors -- sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter and astringent. In contrast to the foods of Asia, "American meals are mostly salty," she said.

Both physicians talked about the use of vegetables to detoxify the body, ridding it of contaminants ingested daily in the form of chemical additives, antibiotics and preservatives found in typical processed foods.

The liver has the heavy chore of detoxifying the body, a process that generally takes place while you sleep, with certain optimal evening and early morning times that could be problematic for night owls and those who work night shifts.

Nguyen said that according to Chinese medicine, there is a rhythmic circulation of qi from day through night, and each organ has a certain peak time. The gallbladder peaks from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., and the liver peaks from 1 to 3 a.m. The gallbladder is responsible for storing and secreting bile, which aids in digestion. The liver also has a major role in digestion, metabolism and ridding the body of environmental and ingested toxins. Poor liver function can result in abdominal bloating, reduced immunity, sugar cravings and an inability to lose excess weight.

Greens that help detoxify the liver include kale, collard greens, dandelion greens, beet greens, mustard greens, Swiss chard, spinach, arugula, watercress, basil, cilantro, ong choi, choi sum and bok choi.

Such bitter, dark green, leafy greens stimulate the organs to release enzymes that aid in digestion, Nguyen said, but convincing nongreen eaters to add them to the diet can be difficult.

"They can be bitter and intense," she said. "Steam the vegetables for a less harsh taste."

Detoxifying vegetables that might be easier to take include artichokes, beets, carrots, daikon, burdock, onions and red cabbage.

"Artichokes are great for reducing cholesterol," said Nguyen.

All of the vegetables add another essential detox ingredient to the diet: fiber. Fiber binds to toxins and helps release them through bowel movements, helping to prevent colon cancer by eliminating waste quickly, Nguyen explained.

"Good elimination is critical," said Kimata, who said this applies to all systems, from proper breathing to deliver fresh air to lungs and cells, to the lymphatic system that gets a boost through massage, to sweating through the skin's pores or eliminating liquids through the bladder.

When it's hot outside, it's fairly easy to remember to drink at least eight glasses of water a day.

"Water makes up about 65 percent of our bodies," said Kimata, adding that good old H2O is responsible for the integrity of our cells. When people are dehydrated, cells cannot function, resulting in fatigue, skin disorders, constipation, headaches, irritability and other problems.

Nguyen suggests starting the day with two glasses of warm water.

"It's like clockwork; your body will eliminate," she said.

ONE KEY WORD that comes up in any discussion of detoxing the body is antioxidants, which help to combat the destructive impact of free radicals on the body, said Kimata.

Yes, it's science, but unlike high school science that causes eyes to glaze over, it's a different story when you can look at your own aging as evidence of the havoc caused by free radicals running amuck in the body.

A free radical is a highly reactive molecule that speeds around the body like a wayward taxi driver, binding to and destroying body components like cells and DNA. Free radicals are responsible for the oxidative damage responsible for the aging process, as well as heart disease and cancer. Think of it as rusting from the inside out, with damage accumulating and speeding up over time.

Antioxidants help to neutralize free radical activity, therefore helping to prevent heart disease, cancer and a variety of other degenerative diseases, Kimata said.

"Beta carotene, selenium, vitamin E and vitamin C are great antioxidants," she said, and can be easily obtained by eating a diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables.

ANOTHER REASON to give up your junk food diet is due to its typical high sugar content. Sugar is another dietary outlaw.

Those who suffer from diabetes are well acquainted with the problems that result from blood sugar imbalances. At the least, Nguyen said that studies have shown the body's ability to fight infection decreases hours after it is eaten, due to a decrease in white blood cells. Sugar could also affect mental and emotional balance, affecting mood.

For those who can't imagine a diet without sugar, it's possible to use Stevia, available at health food stores, as a substitute. Brewer's yeast and B vitamins also can help stabilize blood sugar levels.

Kimata said it's important to introduce dietary changes slowly to avoid feeling like the sacrifice is too great and being discouraged. "Try one bitter green a week ... try it raw, cooked and with sauce. It's all about finding a rhythm in the nutritional process," she said.

Explore food choices like you would an art project, she said: "Look at your life and see what is important. If you want to feel different and have a different life, you need to do something different."

No one says it's easy. Optimal, high-level wellness requires a dose of dedication, but the effort -- and the possibility of seeing a new you in that swimsuit in the mirror -- might be worth the results.