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"People on the standard American diet consume an average of a pound of inorganic toxins per year, this in the form of food additives, drug residues, and indigestible foods. Environmental and work hazards merely add to the toll on the liver."
Source: - www.kitchendoctor.com/
(see also Dr.Anderson's
statement below regarding the liver and cleansing)
Toxins exist everywhere and can lead to serious health problems. They are in food and the
environment, and persist because of our insufficient metabolic ability to rid the body of all that we are exposed to on a daily basis. They can drain the body of energy and make one more susceptible to disease and infection. Toxins tend to concentrate in the liver and gastrointestinal tract, both places responsible for eliminating toxins from the body.
Through detoxification, we clear and filter toxins and wastes and allow our body to work on enhancing its basic functions.
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Dr. Anderson has explained in his new books, "Cleanse & Purify Thyself Book One" and "Cleanse & Purify Thyself Book Two," that: "The digestive system is the hub of the entire body. It feeds all our glands, organs and in fact, every single cell. When the digestive system becomes sluggish, over-acid, and toxic it becomes less and less efficient. After the bowel becomes unnaturally acidic, it attempts to protect itself by secreting a glycoprotein substance that lines the entire intestinal wall, 'mucoid plaque.' Indeed, this condition can occur anywhere in the digestive tract where over acidity arises, including the esophagus, the stomach, the entire small intestine and colon. Once this develops, proper digestion becomes more and more dysfunctional. Then one problem occurs after another, and the bowel becomes a toxic sewer system. Once the bowel becomes toxic, the blood becomes toxic, for all the blood coming from the bowel, carrying the necessary nutrients to feed the heart, lungs, brain, muscles, etc. goes to the liver - nowhere else.
Then the liver must deal with the toxic blood. After years of relentless toxicity from the bowel, the liver becomes more and more sluggish. After a while it no longer functions efficiently and toxic overloads begin to go to other parts of the body, such as the kidneys, heart, brain, joints, skin, Lymph, etc. Disease manifests where the toxins settle. For when there is toxic settlement, there is lack of circulation, lack of oxygen and nutrients."
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Our body handles toxins by neutralizing, transforming, or eliminating them. As examples, many antioxidant nutrients may neutralize free-radical molecules. The liver helps transform many toxic substances into harmless agents, while the blood carries wastes to the kidneys; the liver also dumps wastes through the bile into the intestines, where much waste is eliminated. We also clear toxins through sweating, from exercise or heat. Our sinuses and skin may also be accessory elimination organs whereby excess mucus or toxins can be released, as with sinus congestion or skin rashes, respectively.
The average American diet which tends to be high in sugars and refined products and low in fiber contributes to the build up of "mucoid plaque" along the gastrointestinal tract.
This "mucoid plaque" prevents proper digestion, and as a result a large percentage of people are suffering from malnutrition no matter how much they eat, or how nutritious the food is. Fiber is very important in the process of elimination of wastes from the bowel and a lack of fiber can lead to muscles of the colon wall losing their tone which can result in IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome now affecting one in five Americans) and diverticulitis.
The FDA has shown that a diet high in fiber can reduce the risk of colon cancer by 40% and this is why it now recommends the minimum of five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.
Ashitaba Green being a whole food product is high in fiber and being a green food, it can help lower acidity.
The liver is one of the main keys to good health and vitality. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic Traditions has long recognized this importance. There are over 500 known functions of the liver, many of which are essential for life, all of which are essential for good health and vitality. It is almost impossible for any disease condition to develop until the liver becomes sluggish and weak. The average American is using only 40% of the liver's capacity.
Ashitaba has long been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to strengthen the liver and kidneys, reduce congestion in the liver and purify the blood - enhancing the body's own ability to heal itself.
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We use oxygen from the air to oxidize our food to provide the energy we need for our cells to function. Sometimes, however, those oxidation reactions release uncontrolled reactants called free radicals. Free radicals can and will react with many different important molecules, including lipids, proteins and DNA, damaging them in the process. Some free radicals arise normally during metabolism. Sometimes the body's immune
system's cells purposefully create them to neutralize viruses and bacteria. However,
environmental factors such as pollution, radiation, cigarette smoke and herbicides can
also spawn free radicals.
Normally, the body can handle free radicals, but if antioxidants are unavailable, or if
the free-radical production becomes excessive, damage can occur. Of particular
importance is that free radical damage accumulates with age.
The damage occurring as a result of these compounds has been associated with over 100 disease processes, including heart disease, cancer, and aging.
Free radical damage to DNA can overwhelm the repair mechanisms in cells, leading to impaired cellular functioning or even cell death. Free radicals also can alter some parts of DNA, provoking uncontrolled cell growth, resulting in cancer, a process that occurs with increased frequency with age. Damage to the DNA in mitochondria, the "energy plants" in cells that generate the energy-producing molecule, ATP, can cause diminished ability of some parts of the body to produce adequate energy for high demands.
Free radical damage to lipids can encourage the damaging oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), leading to artery-clogging plaques (atherosclerosis). At the same time, free radical damage to the cells lining the blood vessels (endothelial cells) reduces their ability to react quickly and efficiently to maintain proper blood flow to vital organs. The consequence of these problems is increased heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and high blood pressure (hypertension), to name a few of the more dangerous outcomes.
Free radicals also promote a harmful complexing of proteins and carbohydrates, called glycosylation. This process is greatly accelerated in diabetes, and also appears to contribute to cataract formation, damage to arteries, reduced movement of the joints, and other chronic problems.
Antioxidant nutrients play a key role in our ability to protect against this oxidative damage. The most popular nutrients in this category are vitamins E & C, along with beta-carotene. Our bodies also naturally produce antioxidant compounds such as lipoic acid, CoEnzymeQ10, and glutathione. However recent research findings have shown that human production of these naturally produced antioxidants is insufficient for optimal defense against oxidative damage.
The category of plant phenols known as flavonoids or bioflavonoid compounds, present in most plants, provide these antioxidant compounds.
The chalcones in ashitaba have been shown to be very potent anti-oxidants.
In an effort to make it easier to compare the different antioxidants found in our foods a new standard called Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) has been created to measure the antioxidant activity of foods. Specifically, ORAC measures the time it takes to prevent an oxidation reaction.
As can be seen by the chart below, ashitaba's anti-oxidants are more potent than those found in green tea. See also chalcones and flavonoids.
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Chalcones are rarely found anywhere in the natural world but are the key factor in ashitaba (Angelica Keiskei Koidzmi). Research has shown that the unique properties
of ashitaba are at least partly due to these remarkable compounds. The chalcones that are in ashitaba are known as 
Why do the Chinese rarely have heart attacks? Traditional Chinese Medicine has used herbs with several key ingredients to maintain blood pressure and to strengthen arteries and the heart thus preventing devastating heart attacks and avoiding the side effects and damage to organs associated with blood pressure medicines.
Natural Health Organic Farm supplies Ashitaba Green as a multifunctional super green food product and in a line of cosmetics.
This mixture can be prepared as a tea, added to juice, or sprinkled over salads and other foods. The package weighs 60g and is approximately a month's supply.
A reminder: Ashitaba Green is an organic Green Whole Food
, not medicine. So you can drink as many cups of ashitaba tea as you would any other tea. You can include ashitaba as an ingredient in your diet as you would any other herb or vegetable. The body will then take the nutrients it needs to restore or maintain a healthy balance.
These include Ashitaba Green Organic Face Tonic, Ashitaba Green Organic Skin Care Tonic, Ashitaba Green Organic Scalp and Hair Tonic, and our wonderful Ashitaba Green Organic Massage Oil. 
Ashitaba contains anti-oxidant flavonoids called chalcones almost unique to ashitaba and responsible for the yellow color of the juice. The chalcones that are in ashitaba are known as Xanthoangelol, Xanthoangelol-E and 4-Hydrooxyderricin and were discovered by Dr. Baba and studies, mostly performed in Japan, show its potent antioxidant activity protects against heart disease and cancer, enhances liver function and more (see 
Xanthoangelol, 4-hydroxyderricin, and Xanthoangelol-E are the chemical compound names of ashitaba chalcones and chalcone is a rarely found flavonoid contained in the yellow sap of ashitaba (Angelica keiskei Koidzmi). These compounds are the anti-oxidants in ashitaba.
Research has proven Xanthoangelol, 4-hydroxyderricin, and Xanthoangelol E to have 
Dr. Kimie Baba, MD
