Give Your Skin That Spring Glow

Give Your Skin That Spring Glow You've undoubtedly heard that detoxing is good for your skin. In fact, healthy  and radiant skin is the top detox benefit reported by our cleansers. Cleansing  helps give your skin that sparkly, dewy, fresh look, and it also helps ease  common skin conditions such as acne, dermatitis, psoriasis and eczema.  The role and functions of your skin The skin is the largest organ in your body. It protects you from external pathogens, regulates temperature, facilitates vitamin D absorption, enables tactile sensation, and importantly plays an active role in detoxification. Its detoxification function has the biggest connection with skin appearance. If  you’re overloaded with toxins – playing too hard, eating too much (or too much  of the wrong things) and sleeping too little – it all takes its toll on your skin. Dehydration lines, breakouts, rashes and skin irritations are all signs your skin  needs some serious TLC, and your body could do with a cleanse. Detoxing and its impact on your skin When you detox, provided you are avoiding all the right foods (our cleanse does  just that), you are naturally eliminating skin aggravators and inflammatory  agents such as dairy, yeast, sugar and gluten. Juice cleansing gives your digestive system a rest, stimulates detoxification  (gently clearing out all those skin-clogging nasties), and floods your body with delicious nutrients all at the same time. It's a recipe for skin success! Image courtesy of Nine MSN

Your body is a temple. Keep it clean.

The countdown is over...

 

The NEW Urban Remedy is here.

www.urbanremedy.com.au

• Brand new cleanse recipes
• Tailored 'design your own' cleansing
• Suggested 'ready made' cleanses
• Brand new locations
• More frequent deliveries

 

Limited Edition Customized Cleansing

Would you like to try a Cleanse or Six-Pack that is customized to your  needs?

We are offering Limited Edition Customized Cleansing until Easter 2014 - all you have to do is email us to express your interest, and we'll tell you what to do next! For example, you can have 4 green juices and 2 soups, 3 smoothies and 3 juices, or just 6 smoothies - the variations are entirely up to you.

You choose from our recipes. We make your ideal pack.

Email us at: info@urbanremedy.com.au

Take Your Cleanse to the Next Level

These 5 little wonders will help you take your cleanse to a whole new level...

1. Peppermint - in tea (mild) or capsule (intense) form to relieve bloating and soothe the digestive tract

2. Dandelion - as an astringent tea or coffee substitute to reduce fluid retention and support the liver

3. Milk thistle - in capsule form (we like 'Flordis Legalon') to help the liver regenerate and clear toxins

4. Probiotic - in capsule or powder form (or as kefir, if you prefer) to boost gut flora and immunity, and relieve bloating

5. Fibre - not for everyone as it can cause bloating, but if you tolerate fibre, add your preferred powder into a juice or smoothie to help clear out your digestive tract
  

Follow us on Instagram @urbanremedy_australia

Acupressure to Boost Your Detox

This week we wanted to share a useful detox tip with you. Simply massage these two acupressure points to assist your body with its own natural detoxification processes.

The first point, "Tai Chong", located on both feet, stimulates the liver. Our body's second largest organ, the liver plays an important role in the digestion of fats; it also clears toxins from the body and purifies the blood.

The second point, "He Gu", located on the top of both hands, stimulates the large intestine. This lovely organ is responsible for eliminating waste, so you want to make sure it's alert whilst you detox! Give it a good pinch (no immediate effects, we promise).

Happy detoxing!

Images courtesy of www.chinesefootreflexology.com

Green Smoothies 101

When it comes to Green Smoothies, there are 4 key components.

1. A solid base

•    Water

•    Green tea

•    White tea

•    Fresh juice

•    Coconut water

•    Coconut milk

•    Almond milk

2. Greens glorious greens

•    Kale

•    Spinach

•    Swiss chard

•    Silverbeet

•    Cos lettuce

•    Watercress

•    Dandelion

•    Cucumber

•    Celery

•    Herbs

If you're really feeling brave, try collard greens, mustard greens, bok choy, broccoli or even cabbage...

3. Fruity zesty goodness

•    Lime

•    Lemon

•    Banana

•    Orange

•    Apple

•    Pear

•    Kiwi

•    Berries

•    Mango

•    Pineapple

•    Papaya

•    Apricot

•    Nectarine

•    Peach

4. A little something extra

•    Acai

•    Goji

•    Cacao

•    Vanilla

•    Cinnamon

•    Spirulina

•    Wheat grass

•    Barley grass

•    Chia seeds

•    LSA mix

•    Protein

Next week, we'll be giving you the lowdown on ingredient proportions so stay tuned... And don't forget to sign up to the Urban Remedy 5-Day Green Smoothie Challenge here.

How does alcohol affect your liver?

Since we’re in the business of detoxing and all that jazz, we thought it was high time we got up close and personal with that lovely (not so little) organ of ours: yes, the liver.

The liver is the largest internal organ in the human body (the largest organ overall being on the outside: the skin). Soft pinkish-brown in colour, our liver weighs approx 1.4 to 1.6 kilos (yikes!). It sits in the upper right hand side of the abdominal cavity, just below the diaphragm.

Its job: multi-faceted. The liver is the master of all trades: detoxification, metabolism, glycogen (glucose) storage, protein synthesis and hormone production to name a few.

But let’s get down to the nitty gritty, the question we all have playing on our minds. How have the end of year (and new year) festivities taken their toll on our livers?

How is your liver really doing? To get a clearer picture, here are a few useful facts:

• When you sip on that beautifully chilled glass of pinot gris, you’re essentially asking your liver to halt all of its normal activities and deal with the incoming toxin of the moment: alcohol. Processing alcohol (or more specifically its component ethanol) is the priority – normal metabolism slows down; toxins build up.
• Your liver can only metabolize about ½ an ounce of ethanol (contained in a beer, a shot, a small glass of wine) in an hour. Any more than that (put your hand up if you're guilty) and the alcohol spills into other parts of your body (yuck!), circulating until your liver is ready to metabolize it. This is one of the reasons we feel so awful the day after a bender - your body is deperately trying to catch up.
• If you drink in excess frequently, your liver’s ability to break down lipids (yes, fat) can be reduced on an ongoing basis and these lipids then build up in the liver (hence the term ‘fatty liver’). 
• Symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, skin trouble, bloated tummy (to name a few) are all signs that your liver needs some TLC.

There is still hope to repair your poor liver. Aside from moderating your alcohol intake (try drinking a glass of water for every alcohol drink… this really helps you to pace yourself!), we suggest that you give your liver a break every now and again to allow it to rest and repair. Detoxing your diet is a great place to start but a juice cleanse can really push your liver cleanse that step further!

Oh, and if you really want to give your liver that extra bit of love and attention, supplement with milk thistle. Flordis do a great supplement called Legalon.

Easy DIY detox yoga sequence

As promised, here is an easy DIY detox yoga sequence.  The postures are suitable for all levels and you only need to set aside 20-30 minutes. This is a great sequence to do in the morning as it helps to get your body into detox mode for the day.

The purpose of this routine is to stimulate the body's natural detox processes as well as firm up the body, improve circulation and reduce fluid retention. It includes mainly twists and backbends which are both ideal for detoxification.

The sequence
Warm up by doing some sun salutations. I usually do three rounds of Surya Namaskar A and three rounds of the Surya Namaskar B holding the downward dog for 5 breaths.

Hold each of the following postures for 5 to 10 breaths.

1. Tadasana - Mountain Pose


2. Adho mukha svanasana - Downward dog



3. Eka pada rajakapotasana – One legged pigeon pose (both sides)


4. Parsvakonasana – Extended side angle pose (both sides)

5. Twisted lunge (both sides)


6. High lunge (both sides)

7. Virabadrasana 3 – Warrior 3 (both sides)

8. Paschimottanasana – Seated forward bend


9. Bharadvajasana – Bharadvaja’s twist (both sides)


10. Ustrasana – Camel pose


11. Balasana – Child’s pose

13. Viparita Karani - Legs up the wall pose


12. Savasana – Spend five minutes (or more if you have time) in this relaxing posture. I like to say to myself "let go" with every exhalation for the first minute or so of this posture.


This sequence will boost the detoxification process and really get things moving in your body. It's a great sequence to do everyday if you have the time, and especially while you are doing a cleanse.

Feel free to comment or email me if you have any specific questions. I'm more than happy to help.

Enjoy!

Images courtesy of Yoga Journal.

Smoothie-licious – yummy juices & smoothie recipes for your DIY detox

Juicing is awesome. It is a brilliant way to get loads of nutrients into your body without consuming a massive mountain of fruit & veggies. In our kitchen on Tuesday, I took a pic of the amount of fruit & veg that goes into a 3 day cleanse. Holy nutrients Batman! That doesn’t even include the ingredients for our smoothies.

As well as bursting with nutrients, fresh juices also contain antioxidant vitamins, natural antibiotics, anti-inflammatory properties and enzymes to improve the quality of your digestion. Good stuff.

A couple of things to remember about juicing:

1.    Drink your juices straight away. If you are using a home juicer or buying your juices from a juice bar, make sure you drink them straight away. We use special slow, cold press juicers that retain nutrients for way longer, but if you’re using a commercial or home juicer, they tend to oxidate (you know how apple juice starts to turn brown after a few minutes) rather quickly, so you should drink them immediately after juicing.
2.    Use high quality ingredients. You want the freshest and most lovely ingredients to go into your juices.
3.    Experiment and innovate. I’m always making new juices and smoothies, depending on what’s in season (and what’s in my fridge) at the time. Throw whatever takes your fancy in.

As promised, here are some de-lovely smoothie & juice recipes.

Apple, mint & lime juice
3-4 Granny Smith apples
2 sprigs of mint
¼ lime

Wash all ingredients. Core and quarter the apples. Roughly chop the peel off the lime. Juice. Drink. Yum.

Carrot, apple and celery juice
3 carrots
2 Granny Smith apples
2 celery stalks

Wash all ingredients. Core and quarter the apples. Cut the bottom ends of the carrot and celery and chop into pieces that will fit through your juicer. Juice. Drink. Yum.

Blueberry, spinach and apple juice
1 cup blueberries
Small handful baby spinach
3 Granny Smith apples

Wash all ingredients. Core and quarter the apples. Juice. Drink. Yum.

A word about smoothies
Smoothies are pretty awesome too. That's why we've added some to our cleanses. They are very easy to digest - your digestive system is best able to absorb nutrients from 1mm size pieces of food. That's why juices and smoothies are so good - they make all the nutrients readily available and easy to absorb. Green smoothies are particularly good. The late Dr Ann Wigmore (a pioneer in the healthy eating and living movement) spoke of an instant surge of energy and brain focus with her first green smoothie. That's how I feel when I drink my morning smoothie - bursting with energy and enthusiasm.  

Strawberry mango smoothie
1 cup frozen mango cheeks
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1 cup rice milk

Combine all ingredients and blend. So yum.

Blueberry kale smoothie
1 cup frozen blueberries
4 kale leaves (or small handful spinach)
½ cup of water
1 banana

Wash kale leaves. Peel banana (duh). Combine all ingredients and blend.

Green smoothie
Small handful baby spinach
1 celery stalk
1 banana
1 pear
1 apple
½ cup water

For extra protein and essential fatty acids, you can add a tablespoon of linseeds (also known as flax seeds) or chia seeds to any of the smoothies. If you use chia seeds, soak them in ¼ cup of water first until they form a gel like substance and then add them to the blender.

You can also add superfood powders or liquids to your smoothies. I love Vital Greens (it almost has a chocolatey taste), spirulina and acai berry powder. We use these in the Urban Remedy smoothies and they add an extra burst of goodness and nutrients.

Next week I’ll talk more about cravings and how to satisfy them with healthy options. I’ll also upload a DIY detox yoga sequence as well as some other ideas, hints and tips.

Happy DIY detoxing.

So...
What’s your plan to make the most of your DIY detox?
Do you have any juice or smoothie recipes you want to share?

Emma x

Easy DIY detox

Um, hello… it’s already spring. That’s right. It’s September. It’s literally a matter of weeks before the weather hots up and it’s time for the beach. WHAT? Did I say weeks? Holy bikini-time Batman!

I don’t know about you, but I’m staring down the barrel of bikini shopping and not feeling all that excited about baring my not-so-tanned winter body in a change room with 3 way mirrors and florescent lights (Yes, I’m talking to you Myer).

I feel all blurgh and I need a plan. Lucky for you, I have one. I always have a plan. It’s called Project Fab-u-Cleanse – a simple DIY detox  to get your mind and body feeling change room friendly.

How long? As long as you like. I recommend a week to start and continuing for another two weeks if you have the time and inclination. Don’t get stressed out if you have an event or something on. It’s not meant to be hardcore. If you need to eat/drink outside of the guidelines below, that’s fine. Just get back to it the next day. Easy.

What do you have to do? It’s soooo easy. Follow the simple detox guidelines below for the 1-3 week cleanse period and exercise for at least 4 hours per week (walking, running, yoga, aerobics, pole dancing, zumba – whatever takes your fancy). Couldn’t be any easier. If you want to throw in a 3 or 5 day juice cleanse as part of the program, go for it (you can order from the Urban Remedy website.

Print out your cheat sheet here. I’ll also be uploading lots of detox recipes (especially salads, juices and smoothies) and a detox yoga sequence to this blog so keep an eye out if you’re interested.

Easy DIY detox guidelinesThis is a pretty gentle, do-at-home with minimal disruption, detox, aimed at reducing the bad stuff and increasing the good stuff. One benefit you’ll probably notice is a little bit of weight loss (due to replacing “less good for you” foods with better choices). You’ll also have more energy (you have no idea how much the “eliminate” foods slow you down – for example, white sugar and white flour are devoid of nutrients, and what’s worse, is that when you eat them, they actually take nutrients out of your body in order for your system to process  them – seriously), you’ll feel much fresher and lighter, and most importantly, it will set you up in a healthy zone for spring and summer (and your bikini).

Eliminate
Red meat and other processed meats
White flour – white sugar, white bread, white rice, white pasta, cous cous
Refined sugar – cakes, pasties, lollies, chocolate (ouch)
Processed and packaged foods, especially with preservatives, flavours or colours (look on the back for numbers)
Alcohol
Artificial sweetener (aka poison)
Cigarettes
Fried, heavy and fatty foods

Food to reduce
Dairy (switch at least half of your dairy intake with soy or rice milk products). Plain, unsweetened yoghurt with live cultures is fine (good for you in fact).
Caffeine – drink green or white tea instead of coffee and black tea
Eggs – 3-4 per week are fine, but try to make them organic
Salt (sea salt ok)
Bread – wholemeal or spelt sourdough ok
Starchy high GI veggies like potatoes
Chicken – organic chicken once or twice a week is fine

Food to increase
Fish (steamed and baked best)
Nuts and seeds
Fruit and veggies
Vegetable protein; lentils, chickpeas, navy beans, lima beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, tofu
Whole grains; brown rice, quinoa, oats, spelt, buckwheat, millet
Make smoothies as breakfast/snacks or meal replacements; banana, spinach, cos lettuce and apple juice makes a delicious smoothie. I’ve been making them every day lately for breakfast. Yum.

Other stuff to do to increase benefits
Drink hot water and juice of ½ a lemon in the morning (great detoxifier and also kick starts digestion)
Drink loads and loads of water and herbal tea to flush out toxins. Aim for 30mls per day for every kilogram of body weight. 

Try a colonic - see my (rather graphic) post about colonic hydrotherapy
Do some cardio – sweat out toxins
Have a steam or sauna
Meditation – detox your thoughts too
Try some yoga
 
Also consider
Eat slowly and chew thoroughly – this alone can make an enormous difference
Eat mindfully – give meal times your full attention
Eat a little less than normal – you’ll be surprised at how you don’t need to eat as much as you think you do
 
That’s it. Pretty easy. I’ll be doing this for the next 3 weeks. Come along for the ride.
 

Up my what? A colonic affair

So my beautiful housemate has been RAVING about her series of colonics. Her tummy is flatter, her digestive system has improved, she’s been having regular “movements”, her skin looks amazing and she generally feels great.

Ok, so it’s my turn. I’m not particularly fond of the idea of having a foreign object put in my “sacred place” (just around the corner from my “special place”), but the benefits sound great, so I’m willing to give it a shot.

Beforehand I’m a little bit worried about it being embarrassing and my “not so nice stuff” from my “sacred place” being on display. I have visions of unflattering noises and yucky mucky stuff coming out for all to see. This is made worse by the fact that my colon hydrotherapist turns out to be a man. Oh joy.

Believe it or not, it’s actually not that bad and not really embarrassing at all (especially if you have had a Brazilian wax before and been asked by your therapist to lie on your tummy and “spread em please”).

For those of you interested in the gory details, I’ll give you a quick rundown of the process. The therapist leaves the room and you get undressed from the waist down and cover yourself with a towel. Therapist comes back and puts lubed tube in “sacred place”. This is the least fun part. I might have yelped as Marcus (lovely Marcus with whom I am now intimately acquainted, much to the displeasure of my boyfriend, who likens it to having an affair) asked if I was ok, to which I replied, “um, it’s just that I’ve never had anything up there.” He then said, “that’s too much information.” And I said, “no, too much information would be me telling you that I have all sorts of stuff up there all the time.” Ice-breaker. I feel better already. But still not happy with tube in sacred place.

Then comes the “fill” part, where 18-25 litres of water is pumped into your colon. I didn’t even feel this; it was only noticeable when there was a little “gas” to pass through and then it just felt like a slight cramp.  Then the pressure is released and stuff starts coming out. There is no sound at all (thank goodness) and it’s not like you even feel like you’re going to the toilet. Aside from the tube up the youknowwhatsit and seeing your waste travelling past a glass window in the machine, it’s actually fine.

Each treatment is a series of fills and releases and lasts for about 45 mins. Your therapist stays with you the whole time guiding you through the process, massaging your tummy to move things through and watching what is coming out. All sorts of wonderful things can come out; gas, candida, parasites, poorly chewed food, waste, toxins and adrenal fluid (caused by stress). I’m not telling you which of those came out of me, but suffice to say that most did and I am a pretty healthy person, so imagine what an unhealthy person would pass through!

After four treatments with the lovely Marcus at The Colon Hydrotherapy Centre in Darlinghurst (also in Randwick), I can honestly say that I feel amazing. One of the key benefits that I’ve noticed is reduced edema (fluid retention) due to allergenic substances being removed with the waste and I swear that I feel skinnier and lighter than I have in ages. My tummy is flat and my digestive system is much improved.

I can honestly say that combining a juice cleanse (I know of a good one…) and series of colonics is an amazing way to detox and feel light and full of energy.

The cost is $95 per session. Well worth it in my humble (nothing more humbling than having tube in sacred place) opinion. 

PS. I highly, highly recommend Marcus as he made me feel so comfortable and at ease. He’s my new best friend and I’m going back in 5 weeks for a follow up treatment.

PPS. I almost titled this post “A colonic journey with a happy ending”, but then I thought better of it.

What's all the fuss about coconut water?

Everybody seems to be banging on about coconut water lately and it looks like we’re about to see bottled coconut water on the market in Australia. It’s quite big in the US, with flavoured coconut waters becoming increasingly popular, including lime flavoured coconut water (yep, that’s lime in the coconut).

I’ll have to try it myself, but I don’t imagine that it will be as good as the real thing; that is, drinking the water from young, fresh coconuts.

I spent a few months in India last year and every morning after yoga practice, we’d all go outside and the coconut man would be waiting to lop off the top of a coconut and hand it to you with a straw. Once you had finished drinking the water, you would give it back and he would fashion a spoon from the shell and hand it back to you so you could scoop out the flesh. So yummy. There were quite a few yogis at the time who would do regular coconut water fasts and just drink coconut water for days on end. (I think that’s fine for a day or so, but I obviously prefer juice cleansing as you get a many more different nutrients packed into the juices, but I digress…)

Coconut water is delicious and quite different to coconut milk (which is made from ground coconut flesh and coconut water). It has a yummy salty sweet flavor and is very easy to drink.

So what’s so good about it?

Coconut water is a natural isotonic beverage (meaning it’s designed to replace the fluid and salts lost from the body during exercise) containing the same level of electrolyte balance as we have in our blood. In times of war and famine, it has been used as an intravenous fluid and saved many lives.

It's naturally fat-free, relatively low in sugar and carbohydrates and helps to boost metabolism, promote weight loss, cleanse the digestive system and detoxify and fight viruses, among other things! I’ll also let you in on a little secret… it’s a brilliant hangover remedy.

Basically it’s a super healthy, nutrient-packed drink. We recommend it to our cleansers as a supplement to the juices if they are feeling hungry, but you can drink it any time.

If you’re so inclined, you can buy fresh, young coconuts from health food stores and specialty fruit and veg stores for about $3-4.

Enjoy.