Like fat, cholesterol, and sugar, many people believe salt is bad for us. It’s not. Salt is essential for body functions such as nerve cell communication, food absorption, and balancing sugar levels. What may surprise you is that most people in America (and in many other countries as well) do not eat enough salt. But we’re not talking about refined table salt. Like processed sugar, refined salt is void of nutrition, its minerals stripped away. Refined salt is an unhealthy nutrient-robbing, addictive, toxic substance. But the right kind of salt, unrefined sea salt, is an important source of minerals. The next time you purchase salt, buy unrefined, colorful sea salt and enjoy it guilt free.

As you can imagine, I am frequently asked the question, “What is the most significant thing I can do to improve my health?” I usually tell people that the most important change is to eat a diet high in raw fruits and vegetables. This is the absolute foundation for good health. No supplement or herbal tincture can give you the benefits that the right diet can give you.

The second step is to go organic if possible. USDA certified organic is great, but ideally, fresh, locally grown, truly organic food is the best choice. There is a significant difference between fresh locally grown food and food that was stored, later shipped, only to be piled up again at a distributing center before being shelved for another few weeks or longer. Those fruits and vegetables lose a significant amount of vitamin content and enzymes. We don’t get enough enzymes; eating fresh, locally grown, recently picked raw fresh fruits and vegetables is our best source.

Another benefit of buying organic is avoiding genetically modified foods. Most of today’s processed foods are full of GMOs and much of our produce is genetically modified as well. The only way to ensure you are not eating GMOs is to eat organic.

You can cite studies that seem to prove genetically modified foods are bad for our health, and you can cite studies that show there is no such evidence. I don’t need a study to tell me that a genetically altered vegetable is not going to be good for me.

There are two kinds of science that come to mind with regards to one’s health: the kind of science that works with nature and the kind that works against nature. Genetically modified foods work against nature and seek to overcome nature. If you want optimum health, work with nature and eat what naturally makes sense. Eating food that has been genetically modified to combine DNA from a plant and an animal or food that has been genetically modified to contain an herbicide is not natural.

Infertility and genetic diseases are on the rise. I believe the further we remove ourselves (as well as animals, plants, or any living organism) from nature, the more our health will suffer. Only time will tell what price we will pay for our cavalier attitude towards (or rather, against) nature.

Michael Edwards

Editor in Chief

Often considered a pesky weed, dandelions have become an underappreciated, yet highly nutritious, perennial plant. Dandelion’s scientific name is Taraxacum Officinale, which roughly translated means the “official remedy for disorders.” Dandelion leaves (along with the roots and flowers) have enjoyed a long history as a highly regarded folk remedy throughout the world. Dandelion was used in Europe to treat boils, fevers, eye disorders, diarrhea, edema, liver congestion, digestive complaints and skin disorders. Chinese used it mainly for breast, liver and digestive disorders. In India, Russia and other parts of the world, it was used as a general liver tonic. Legend has it that even the people of Atlantis relied on dandelion as a food and nutritive tonic.

Originally from Europe, dandelions were brought to America by early colonists. Healers on the early American frontier often recommended dandelion greens as a rejuvenating springtime tonic because of its high nutrient content and vast healing properties. Today, the dandelion is beginning to see a resurgence in appreciation among the general population, and for good cause! Dandelion leaves are a rich source of many vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, C, E, D, K, the range of B vitamins, calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, and magnesium. They are higher in beta-carotene than carrots and have more iron and calcium than spinach. According to scientific analysis, a one-cup serving has more vitamin A than most supplements and as much calcium as half a glass of milk. As if this wasn’t enough, the greens are also a natural source of omega-3 and 6 essential fatty acids.

The healing properties of dandelion greens center primarily around the digestive organs. As a bitter green, dandelion helps support digestion by encouraging the production of digestive enzymes and stomach juices. It has a mild diuretic effect, improving the way kidneys cleanse the blood and recycle nutrients. However, unlike over-the-counter or prescription diuretics, it doesn’t leach potassium. Dandelion greens are a rich source of chlorophyll (the green pigment that helps plants turn sunlight into energy), which helps to promote the growth of beneficial intestinal flora. Their digestive-stimulating, blood-cleansing, kidney-improving properties also make dandelion greens beneficial for clearing up skin issues and reducing swelling and inflammation.

Although this “official remedy for disorders” is available year-round, its peak season is April and May. The easiest way to get your hands on some is to purchase a fresh bundle at your local grocer or farmers market. But if you decide to give foraging a go, keep in mind that the greens are best picked when they are young and tender, before the flowers have bloomed.

Dandelion leaves have a bitter and tangy flavor that is a great addition to salads. They are also delicious quickly steamed then sautéed with garlic and olive oil. Older leaves tend to be a little tougher and should be cooked longer in soups or stews. To prepare dandelion greens simply wash them under cold water to remove any dirt and trim the bottom where the leaves were picked. Then toss into your salad, soup, stir fry, or sauté pan! purify the blood and

It’s unfortunate, but true. Medical doctors tend to attribute disease to a cause-and-effect paradigm that absolves the patient of responsibility. If you get sick, well, there’s a flu or a virus going around. If you get diabetes, sorry, but you are genetically programmed to get it. You can’t help it. If you have cancer, well, we never know why these things happen to some and not to others.

While these aren’t direct quotes from any specific doctor, this is the mindset of conventional medicine. There is very little accountability for health these days, along with a belief that most of our health issues are incurable and a resignation that we should accept the side effects of conventional treatment. While most people do resign themselves to this belief system, others, like Mark Hyman, M.D., do not.

Mark Hyman is a brilliant man, one of those people who can multitask, easily remember, and just plain excel in whatever task relies on his intelligence. But when he was in medical school, he did what many interns are forced to do—he pushed his body to unreasonable limits, working shifts up to 60 hours. Then he went to work in China for a year, breathing in the coal-soaked, mercury-laden air. After he came back to Massachusetts, he again lived with sleep deprivation when working crazy shifts in an inner-city emergency room. Then he realized he could no longer remember things easily. Sleep became problematic. He was drained—mentally, emotionally, and physically. Depression and anxiety became familiar parts of his life.

Unlike so many doctors who look for the “one thing” that caused the problem and the one treatment to alleviate the symptoms, Dr. Hyman recognized that his problem had more than one cause. In his book he says, “It was everything piled higher and higher until my brain and body couldn’t take any more.”

The Ultra Mind Solution title is a bit misleading, but at the same time, it’s perfect. If your brain is not working right, many health problems will arise. On the other hand, if your body is overburdened with toxins, lack of quality sleep, and a lack of nutrition, at some point the whole system is going to break down. Mark Hyman took a holistic approach. He decided if his brain was broken, his whole body was in trouble. He learned that many of today’s

Tap Into Your Natural Healing Ability

Once there was a man, let’s call him Richard, who was terribly afraid of spiders.  Simply seeing a spider make the slightest movement sent Richard in the other direction, shivering in fear of being bitten. Walking into spider webs elicited a frantic whirlwind of the arms, as he’d desperately try to rid himself of the web and its fanged owner. 

Richard’s first vivid “spider memory” came from his childhood. He was hiding in a bush during a game of hide-and-seek when he realized that the little white flower on his hand wasn’t a flower at all, but a large, too-well-camouflaged spider. He watched in horrificfascination as it bit him! Decades later, he would smash spiders as they crawled across his bedroom wall, leaving their broken, lifeless bodies as silent warnings to other eight-legged pests.

One day, Richard came across an innovative technique that was supposedly quite effective for a range of ailments, including stubborn phobias. He stumbled through the motions, following a free “try it yourself” version of the process, naming his fear of spiders as theintended target. At the end of the self-led session, his skepticism in full swing, he put away the materials and went back to the daily grind.

It wasn’t until a week or two later that Richard realized something had indeed changed. He watched with interest as a spider scuttled across the wall. After it hid behind a bookcase, Richard’s awareness gave a clarion call: I didn’t jump up and smash it! A few weeks later, to his own disbelief, he found himself “rescuing” a spider by cupping it in a glass and carrying it outside to be released into his garden. And last night – several years after that single, self-led and incidental “therapy session” – while sitting at an outside concert, he watched a spider scurry across a metal bar in front of him and wondered if it would tickle to have that “little guy” run over his arm.

There had been no medical intervention, no endless hours with a psychotherapist, and no medications involved, yet Richard’s decades-old fear of spiders had virtually vanished. Could that one non-supervised self-help session have eradicated Richard’s life-long fear of spiders? Some scoff at the proposal, but new research, and arguably even more compelling personal experience, suggests that such rapid and long-term healing is possible. What’s more, it is the result of literally tapping into a system of energy that already exists within each of us.

Too good to be true? I’m sure it seems that way. But Richard’s story is actually my own. This was my initial and quite surprising encounter with an ancillary therapy called Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT.

Ancient Roots, Modern Branches

EFT is one of a body of alternative therapies within a growing area of specialty called “Energy Psychology,” which focuses on how your body’s unique energy can dramatically affect your emotional health, your success in the world, and your level of personal joy and wellbeing. As a field, Energy Psychology is both relatively new and well-received. The journal Clinical Psychology called it “an exciting and rapidly developing realm,” concluding that “emerging research suggests that [Energy Psychology’s] methods are very effective indeed, extremely rapid, and thoroughly gentle.” ¹

Most techniques that fall under Energy Psychology’s umbrella – and certainly this is the case with EFT – are at least partially founded on the ancient Chinese medicine theory involving the circulation of energy in the body. Just as there are fluids that flow through your body (i.e., blood, lymph), there is an unseen system of energy that circulates as well. Eastern medicine has long acknowledged the presence of this energy flow and has, over 5,000 years, steadily perfected its approach to utilizing these energies to affect health and healing. Acupuncture and acupressure, two well-known and respected natural health therapies, are part of this long legacy. The latest “cousin” in the family, EFT, is rapidly gaining respect and validity as a tool for quick, efficient, and relatively painless healing.

One of the primary principles of EFT is that all emotional disturbances are caused by a disruption in the body’s energy system. It follows that smoothing out or “fixing” that disruption should “heal” emotional troubles. This makes EFT an excellent ancillary therapy for issues such as depression, anger, jealousy, phobias, paranoia, addictions, performance anxiety, low self-esteem, and a host of other mental and emotional ailments.

But EFT also connects the brain with this dynamic energy system. In their groundbreaking book The Promise of Energy Psychology, authors David Feinstein, Donna Eden, and (EFT creator) Gary Craig explore the connection between the human brain and emotional health. Their conclusion is that “every thought or emotion that you experience causes a reaction in a specific area of your brain.”2 Through EFT, practitioners help their clients shift their brains’ responses to both external and internal stimuli. The result is that the things that used to emotionally disturb a person suddenly elicit a more rational emotional response. (Remember my spider phobia?)

As EFT started its undeniable and inevitable blooming into the world of holistic and natural health, practitioners and clients alike noticed another startling fact: EFT hasthe capacity to help with many physicalailments as well! People suffering from conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, neck pain, backache, headaches, PMS, toothaches, migraines, IBS, the common cold, high blood pressure, and many other health concerns can find relief through this new and exciting technique.

In large part, this may be due to the mind-body connection, which has been the focus of many studies in recent years. It’s become an undeniable fact that our minds can affect our bodies in both positive and negative ways. As we discover and heal mental “triggers,” many physical issues can clear up seemingly on their own.

Another reason EFT may help heal physical maladies is due to its unique ability to smooth out the energy system in the body. People with significant health issues may have developed an energy system disturbance that has actually, in time, become part of the problem itself. Recalibrating the energy flow with regard to the particular illness or disease in question may actually allow the body to more easily heal and rejuvenate itself. This is, after all, the aim, function, and success of acupuncture, which has a long and distinguished history of helping a wide range of physical ailments.

All of the above boils down to something like this: EFT allows people to change both brain chemistry and energy patterns surrounding psychological problems, which in turn “disarms” emotional and mental triggers and can rapidly and effectively help treat emotional, mental, and sometimes even physical issues. Positive results are often rapid, painless, and long lasting.

It does sound too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, for once, it’s not.

Granted, EFT may not cure every ailment and may not work in every situation, but the ease of its use, the painlessness of its delivery, and the odds of its success certainly make it worth investigating. But let’s nip the skepticism in the bud. Most people assume that if EFT works at all it’s due to the “power of suggestion,” some kind of subtle hypnotism, or perhaps even the charisma and enthusiasm of the practitioner. While these are understandable arguing points, the truth is that EFT recalibrates a person’s energy system around negatively charged thoughts so that undesirable emotional responses are eliminated. In fact, EFT’s effectiveness with infants, children, and even animals has been documented. In these cases, it certainly isn’t a placebo effect at work or hypnotherapy. Rather, it’s the direct action of EFT on the recipients’ energy systems.

Incredulous? That’s fine! I didn’t believe it myself, at first. And in my opinion, that only adds to EFT’s credibility: you don’t need to believe in it for it to work. EFT can affect positive changes in people who have zero faith in it. How can this be? Because your energy system and your brain’s neural pathways don’t rely on your value judgments to perform. As an Advanced Practitioner, I will certainly suggest that a positive outlook or “hope” may increase a client’s rate of success due to the power of intention, but I have yet to see proof that incredulity keeps EFT from working its magic on at least some level.

The Basic Recipe

Perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of EFT is how very simple and non-invasive it is. At the center of EFT is a working knowledge of what are called the body’s acupoints. There are at least 360 acupoints distributed throughout the body, tiny areas of the skin that, when stimulated, send signals directly to areas of the brain that are connected with our emotions and our bodies’ energy system. MRIs have demonstrated that “stimulating specific points on the skin not only changed brain activity; it also deactivated areas of the brain that are involved with the experiences of fear and pain.” 3 Further, working with acupoints has been shown to increase the release of serotonin (a natural, beneficial neurochemical), necessary from a neurochemical standpoint to minimize depression, addictions, and mood disorders.
   Acupuncture uses needles to stimulate various acupoints, while acupressure rubs them, sometimes intensely. EFT, on the other hand, uses a series of gentle taps with two or three fingertips on only a handful of these points to provide an incredible healing journey. In short, you take two fingers of one hand (typically the index and middle fingers) and use them to tap on various acupoints located on the upper body (and sometimes also on the hand). To the right, you see a picture of some of the most common acupoints stimulated in EFT.

The tapping itself is gentle; there’s no need for a forceful or high-pressured approach. Practitioners typically aim for about seven taps on each of the points, though far less attention should be paid to how much tapping is happening at each point than to what is being said during the tapping sequence.

Perhaps just as important as the tapping itself is the Set-Up Phrase used to isolate and address the issue in question. This phrase is typically comprised of two parts: the statement of the problem and a positive affirmation. For example, if you are working with a fear of spiders, you would start with the phrase:
“Even though I am terrified of spiders…”

This establishes the problem and helps trigger your body’s subtle energies surrounding this issue. The next step in the Set-Up Phrase process, however, is to tell your body/mind that, regardless of the issue, it is loved and accepted:

“…I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”

This entire phrase – “Even though I am terrified of spiders, I deeply and completely love and accept myself” – simultaneously addresses the issue and primes the energy system for what I like to think of as “recalibration.” Essentially, you allow your body to slip into the negative energy pattern (by calling out the problem) then offer yourself love and acceptance in spite of the perceived negative response.

This statement is repeated a few times while tapping on a point on the hand, then the rest of the tapping sequence commences. What stands out to most EFT newcomers is that when tapping on each of the acupoints, they are asked to repeat the problem indicated by the Set-Up Phrase (e.g., “I’m terrified of spiders!”).

In my practice, most clients ask why we don’t instead repeat the positive affirmation. “Aren’t I just tapping the problem in even deeper?” is the question I usually get. Quite the contrary, by repeating the problem while stimulating the acupoints, the body is sent a signal to release the disruption in the energy system around that particular issue, in effect “recalibrating” it so that the problem (e.g., fear of spiders) no longer sends the energy system into shock.    

It’s like a massage therapist rubbing out a knot in your back – she doesn’t work just on the parts of you that are fine, she works right on the problem area. Of course, EFT is much gentler than massage, and you can do it yourself at just about any time and just about anywhere.    

The result of all this tapping and problem-repeating? The fear of spiders is reduced – sometimes dramatically and often very quickly – and what’s called a cognitive reframe occurs. That is to say that the circumstances haven’t changed – spiders still exist! But the way the client perceives them shifts dramatically. Often, fear gives way to curiosity, as people start to wonder what they were so afraid of to begin with. This, in turn, can even bloom into appreciation as other aspects of the problem shift into focus.    

Remarkably, EFT has the ability to release emotional, mental, and even physical pains that far surpass simple fears. Indeed, it has been known to help with sports performance, reduce many body aches and pains, and even disarm traumatic memories and events such as abuse and rape. The power of EFT is only now starting to become widely recognized, and I foresee its use in many situations as a first-response approach to a wide array of emotional and physical issues.

What, Where, & How?

What you can expect from a session may vary widely from practitioner to practitioner. In part, this is due to the fact that anyone can learn EFT. Many EFT practitioners are trained psychotherapists and doctors, while others are lay people convinced they have found something worth sharing with others. Naturally, that doesn’t mean all EFT practitioners are equally good at facilitating healing. Nor should one assume that only a degree-carrying practitioner can achieve lasting results. Quite the contrary, varying degrees of knowledge, skill, intuition, and finesse can be found just as assuredly in a home office as a doctor’s office.

Probably your best bet when looking for a qualified EFT Practitioner is to look for one who is certified (or certificated) on at least a basic level. Look for a practitioner who evidences some kind of proficiency: Has she written articles on the subject? Does he have a sizeable clientele? Has she been practicing long? Does he have an official “business” (including a business license from the city)? Feel free to call or email the practitioner and ask how long he or she has been using EFT with others, as well as any other questions you may have.

A well-trained EFT practitioner will help you become comfortable and adept with the technique within a session or two. Your questions about EFT and what you can expect during the healing process should be answered during the first session, and you should experience some kind of identifiable emotional or psychological “movement” with regard to the problem for which you’re seeking EFT help (i.e., easing of anger, removal of guilt, lifting of embarrassment, etc.). Initial sessions should include an introduction to EFT, to the tapping points and the Set-Up Phrase, and several runs through the system targeting your specific issue.

When my clients leave my office after an initial visit, they not only have used EFT, they feel comfortable trying it out on their own, too. This is one of the most surprising and fantastic aspects of EFT: once you learn it, you can use it in your daily life without the help of a professional. While it may take a seasoned and skilled EFT Practitioner to help with some issues, many people can learn EFT effortlessly and use it successfully in their own lives when they need it most. This unique combination of ease and effectiveness promises to make EFT a popular technique with anyone who is eager to explore and tap (quite literally!) the healing power within.

For a free manual on EFT, and to learn more about this dynamic healing technique go to www.emofree.com

¹Phil Mollon, Review of Energy Psychology Interactive. Clinical Psychology42 (2004): 37-39

²David Feinstein, Donna Eden, & Gary Craig, The Promise of Energy Psychology: Revolutionary Tools for Dramatic Personal Change. (2005): 13

³David Feinstein, Donna Eden, & Gary Craig, The Promise of Energy Psychology: Revolutionary Tools for Dramatic Personal Change. (2005): 21

EFT In Action

Laura had an intense  fear of heights.

The first time we walked out onto the balcony of a local concert hall, she held onto both the railing and me with a white knuckled grip, her fear of falling so severe she’d get sick from looking down.

“After we had reached our seats, and with only ten minutes before the start of the concert, I asked her if she’d like to lose her fear of heights. She was incredulous but open to the idea and proceeded through the basic steps of EFT with me as her guide.

“After only two rounds of the technique, a peculiar look crossed her face and she said, ‘It’s gone.’ To prove it, she grabbed the railing in front of us and bent over so far that I was uncomfortable! During intermission and after the concert, she tested the results and was able each time to lean over the railing without any hint of the crippling fear she’d experienced earlier.

“To this day – and that was several years ago – her fear of heights in such settings has stayed a thing of the past. So much so, in fact, that she hardly remembers what it was like before our quick, impromptu EFT session.”

It does not matter what size jar you use as long as the top one quarter is liquid.

Dry herbs lose their potency within a year. Fresh herbs rot soon after harvest. Tinctures preserve and extract the medicinal properties of an herb in an alcoholic extract. Tinctures may last more than a hundred years.

You can purchase tinctures through Organic Solutions, or you can make your own. They are very easy to make, but the process is time consuming, and it takes months to brew a strong tincture.

All of our formulas are available to the public. If we lose business and gain competitors, so be it. We need more herbalists and natural healers in this horrid world of huge pharmaceutical companies and pill pushers in white coats. Be the family herbalist. Be your own doctor. Maybe if enough of you make your own herbal preparations, we’ll drive them out of business.

I’ll drink to that! (Herbal tea of course.)

Stuff for making:

• Blender
• 100 proof alcohol (vodka works well)
• Glass mason jar
• Organic dried or fresh herbs

Stuff for straining:

• Wooden spoon
• Fine kitchen strainer or cheesecloth
• Bottle to put the finished tincture in

Note: Make on the new moon; strain on the full moon. Shake tincture at least once a week

It’s really easy:

Put herbs in blender. Add 100 proof alcohol to cover ¼ inch over the herbs. Blend well to a soupy consistency and pour into a glass jar. Screw on lid.

Let herbs settle for a day to see how much liquid is on top. 3/4 herbs to 1/4 liquid on top is best (see diagram). Screw the lid on and let it brew in the dark for at least 4 weeks or for months if you desire (but remember to strain on the full moon). To strain, pour the entire contents of the jar through your strainer and press all liquid out of the soaked herbs with a wooden spoon. Keep finished tincture sealed as the alcohol will evaporate if left unsealed.

Cheers,

If you want to purchase Organic Solutions tinctures and other products check out our online store, Green Lifestyle Market.

If you Google foot detox, foot bath, Ionic Detoxification, Aqua Chi, or Bionic Hydrotherapy, you will find a lot of information about a new detoxifying treatment, the ionic foot bath. You will also find a lot of websites that emphatically state this treatment is a hoax, that you can’t draw toxins out of your body through the soles of your feet. I decided to test it myself.

The idea is that in 30 minutes, The Detox Foot Spa Purifier will pull toxins, including heavy metals, out of your body. The water in the foot-bath changes color. Each color relates to toxicity of a different organ or system of the body.

• Brown = Liver and Joints
• Green = Gall Bladder
• Yellow = Urinary Tract
• Orange = Joints
• White = Lymphatic and/or Yeast
• Blue = Kidneys
• Black Flecks = heavy metals toxins

So if the water turns blue, your kidneys are the most toxic part of your body, and the foot bath is pulling toxins from your kidneys through the soles of your feet.

I must admit, it sounded pretty ridiculous. I’m a skeptic when it comes to this kind of thing. That’s why I decided I was the best person to try it out.

I am very in tune with my body. I know when something isn’t working right and I know why. I know if my kidneys are hurting, I know if my liver is over toxic, and I know if I am not getting enough minerals. I’ve always paid attention to my body and developed a good understanding through my own experiences and through research about how the body works, and how the body gets sick. I am not a doctor, but I do know my body.

I spent a few weeks living a not so “organic lifestyle” which included some alcohol and a lot of “regular” food. When I say some alcohol, I mean a good amount. In fact, this part of my experiment began during the Christmas holidays, and I did celebrate New Years Eve.

After three weeks of living a toxic lifestyle, my kidneys where not happy. Every time I woke up, my back was stiff. Urination was difficult, and my urine was nearly brown and had a strong odor. If I pushed an inch below my belly button I felt intense pain. I also had diarrhea off and on. I defiantly had kidney problems.

I went to see Dr. Tim Kelly, one of Organic Lifestyle Magazine’s contributors. I didn’t tell him I had been living a toxic lifestyle. I got all set up, put my feet in the water, and watched as the water began to turn a yellowish tint. Interesting. In about 5 minutes the water was a dark thick yellow. But then it turned blue, a nasty, dark, murky blue with big, black flecks in it. It was gross.
Those websites who call this treatment a hoax said the water would have changed color whether my feet were in there or not. But I never told Dr. Kelly my kidneys were hurting, and the water turned the right color. And after the treatment, I did feel better. Before the treatment I couldn’t stand upright after sitting for long periods of time. But after thirty minutes in the foot bath, I was able to stand right up without stiffness. The next day I woke up with about ½ the lower back stiffness and had no trouble peeing.
Step two was to go back to Dr. Kelly after I spent a few weeks detoxifying. I ate nothing but healthy foods, concentrating on raw, fresh organic vegetables. I took herbs to help cleanse my body. I felt like a new man. I regained my health. My sleep improved, my energy was up, and my kidneys were fine.

I went back to Dr. Kelly and again, told him nothing, just got myself hooked up to the foot bath equipment, put my feet in, and sat there for thirty minutes with a magazine. At the end of thirty minutes the water was yellow. Not a deep dark yellow, just a light yellow as if I had urinated in it. There were no black flecks.

One more test was in order. I wanted to see what would happen if my liver was toxic. I went back to eating crap, drinking, and I took some over the counter medications for allergies and to treat the headaches my new lifestyle had triggered. I also ate a lot of food with high fructose corn syrup. After a couple of weeks, I had deep dark circles under my eyes, regardless of sleep (a sign of a toxic liver). I was getting regular headaches (about three a week) and I was also stiff, tired, and achy all the time. I had gained 9 pounds. Throughout this time, I was drinking cranberry juice (organic, unsweetened), and taking Standard Processes Phosfood to keep my kidneys from getting backed up. I was also keeping my body alkaline. I was doing my best to keep the rest of my body relatively healthy, while overburdening my liver. Not very scientific, I know, but I got the results I wanted.

The third time the foot bath changed from green to orange and then to dark brown for the last 25 minutes—the color of a toxic liver. Once again, I felt a little better immediately and the next morning I felt and looked much better.

Coincidence? No. Not when the colors matched the symptoms. Not when the relief was so significant.

Dr. Timothy Kelly’s treatment center is located in the Buckhead community of Atlanta, Georgia. He is available for phone consultations. Check out his website at www.drtimkelly.net.