I am not doing the nettle yet. He said to just wait until April/May so I can pick it myself and it would be localized. Don't know if that makes sense or not. He told me how to dry it and then prepare it as a tea. He said this way I would have the dried herb into the winter months.
It does not matter what time of the year you drink the tea, although it is frequently used as a "spring tonic". And remember to cover your bare skin when collecting it since the plant stings when fresh. Also cut off the leaves after it wilts a little to speed the drying process. This will help preserve more of the nutrients.
You can also buy the dried plant from health food stores or on line if you don't want to wait for the snow to melt.
Another question, since I have gone sugar free, I had been using splenda.
Splenda is dangerous garbage. Safer than aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet), but not by much in my opinion. Splenda (sucralose) is a synthetic sweetener produced by removing three of the hydrogen atoms in sugar and replacing these with three chlorine atoms. You may want to do some research on the side effects, which include weight gain and elevation of blood glucose.
I am now using truvia. I am not much of a fan of stevia or agave nectar. Is the truvia a good product in your opinion?
I am not a big fan of agave nectar (fructose) either. But I love stevia, which is what Truvia is made from. The thing with stevia is that it comes in different grades. Many companies use cheaper grades such as tincturing the whole plant, which makes a bitter compound. Or they will go with the cheaper 80% stevioside extract. I generally use the 95% or 99% stevioside, which I prefer to sugar by a long shot. Truvia is primarily a corn extract called erythritol combined with the stevia extract raubinoside, which is the second long chain sugar molecule in the stevia plant. And yes, it is still a good product.
Also, do you think it may be in my best interest to not do the coffee enema, and do the bitters along with the nettle tea?
Yes, it would be a safer way to detox without compromising the adrenals.
I also have a feeling of constipation in the upper intestines that just doesn't go away after the enema. Is this normal? I know an at home enema isn't the same as a colon irrigation in the sense of how "deep" it can go. Am I right in thinking this? I am now thinking I need to add more fiber into my diet to hopefully "move things along."
You should not have that constipation feeling. Increasing your fiber would be a good idea. I prefer rice bran or oat bran, which are soft fibers and very nutritious. They also do not cause the bloating common with psyllium. And remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day.
I also have a juicer, so I would be able to do juice detox. I have a great book called "Juicing for Life" I believe. Would that be beneficial also? Or am I trying to do too much too quickly?
Juicing is fine if the fiber is left in the juice. Carrot juice is particularly good since it also acts as a laxative and supports the liver.
I use a hot water bottle that came with the enema and douche things. When I put the enema attachment onto the hose, it fits very snugly. Is there any way it could work lose when I am inserting it?
No, it should not be able to work loose.
Also, do I only insert about 2" or do I insert until it just begins to feel uncomfortable?
A couple of inches is fine. You do not want to insert it too far and risk damaging the intestinal wall.
I was forewarned about the stinging. I actually think I had some in my backyard that I didn't know what it was or that it stung, and I just grabbed it. Big mistake LOL.
The sting comes from the histamine and the formic acid (same thing in red ants and bees). The plant loses its sting quite a bit when wilted and completely when dried.
Nettle is not the only plant that stings like this. Thistles are also very common and sting. Nettles tend to grown near water such as the edges of creeks and rivers. Thistles grown all over, but are mostly found in drier fields. They are very easy to differentiate though.
I have noticed the Truvia seems much sweeter than splenda or even sugar. I only use 1/2 a packet in my tea. I used to use about 3 spoonfuls of sugar!!
Yes, stevia is considerably sweeter than sugar. With the extracts anywhere from a 1/4 teaspoon to a teaspoon can replace a whole cup of sugar depending on the grade. It does not hold moisture though like sugar so things have to be added such as apple fiber to hold moisture when baking with stevia.
I like to get the dye free Kool-Aid and use stevia extract in place of sugar. This makes a great zero sugar drink for kids as well.
Once again, thank you. I am so relieved to be able to ask these questions.
I never thought of the kool aid idea! I have tried to make my own jello, but it didn't work out.
The stevia should work with gelatin. Remember to boil the gelatin though to get it to gel.
You said when baking with stevia, where could I find it in should I say bulk?
It it hard to find in bulk. We have local health food store that sells it by the ounce at a reasonable cost, around $3 an ounce for the 95% extract. Wisdom of the Ancients sells 1 once containers that run around $11 an ounce. I buy mine from raw material suppliers that do not sell to the general public so I have not really looked for general suppliers. I just checked and found a bulk source for the 90% stevia extract:
http://purebulk.com/stevia-extract-90
I haven't seen it anywhere only in packets. Also, apple fiber, would that be applesauce of something else?
Apple sauce will work, but you can buy straight apple fiber if you want to avoid the sugar altogether. NOW Foods sells online to the public and has apple fiber.
I have adrenal fatigue & coffee enemas help me. You need to read up on coffee enemas, and how they differ drastically from just drinking coffee. If you do them right there is no caffeine buzz, so you know you are not harming your adrenals. Instead of a buzz you get more energy, just what you need. There are also very helpful for cleansing out mercury & just for general detox. This site has been very helpful to me. Lots of people have given me some good advice. However, I have found that I need to search off CZ to get the full picture, as people here are just people, some with good info, some with bad info.
I have read about this in the past. They claim it is the caffeine that stimulates the liver. And it does not matter how the caffeine enters the bloodstream, it is still caffeine and has the same adverse effects. What people are confusing is the energy boost with adrenal function. The adrenals maintain energy through the release of epinephrine, which caffeine causes the adrenals to secrete. When people use caffeine regularly though they suppress adrenal function, which is why they are dragging before they drink the coffee. When they drink the coffee it stimulates the adrenals and their energy comes up so they think it is helping the adrenals. Actually it is suppressing the adrenals even more, which is why in the long run you will hear people say they can take caffeine and go to sleep. Of course, they crashed their adrenals. So the fact that you feel better when you drink caffeine DOES NOT mean it is not having adverse effects on the adrenals. Again caffeine is caffeine. I don't care if you drink it, swallow it in a pill, inject it, snort it or use it in an enema it is still caffeine. It is not being magically converted in to a benign substance just because you absorb it rectally. In fact before hypodermic needles were invented drugs were frequently delivered rectally due to the high absorption rate from the colon due to the high level of capillaries near the surface of the colon wall. These drugs were absorbed just like the caffeine and they were not magically transformed either. They had the same effect as if they would have if they were injected.
It appears that your purpose on being on CZ is actually counterproductive to its mission.
Sorry, I did not realize that the mission of CZ was to only allow disinformation. For some reason I thought it was to share FACTUAL information on healing methods.
Forgive me if I am wrong. I have read only a few of your posts. The impression I have gotten tho, so far, is that you are here to nay say natural helps.
Then maybe you should take the time to actually read more of my posts before jumping to judgment. I work with alternative medicines for a living and have been for 19 years. But I base my information on known facts, not assumptions. But tell you what. If you can show me solid scientific proof that the caffeine from the coffee is somehow magically changed when absorbed rectally in to the bloodstream so that it does not have the same adverse effects on the adrenals then I will admit publicly right here that I was wrong. So here is your opportunity. But again I want scientific evidence, not someone's opinion from their website.