Supporting the Body’s Natural Balance and Making Room for Cleansing. By the time you get to my age, you notice patterns. You notice that people don’t break overnight. They wear down. They overload. They pile one little compromise on top of another until one day they wake up and wonder where their energy went. And you notice something else…
Most people don’t have a shortage of medicine. They have a shortage of clean fuel (real food). Now before anybody gets excited, this isn’t some fancy diet, and it’s not another one of those complicated eating plans where you count points, grams, colors, moons, and lucky numbers. This is simply returning to foods that the body recognizes.
Over the years, I’ve written and spoken about supporting the body with things that help reduce burden and improve conditions inside the body—including good water, trace minerals, oceanic magnesium, movement, sunlight, and, for many people, thoughtfully used chlorine dioxide water purification protocols as part of their daily personal wellness routine.
But there’s something people miss. You cannot pour clean water into a clogged body and expect miracles. You’ve got to stop adding sludge.
Your Body Runs on Fuel
Think of your body like a machine designed by someone much smarter than us. Give it clean fuel—it runs. Give it junk—it spends all day repairing itself.
Most of us were taught to eat for entertainment. I’m suggesting we eat for performance. Not forever. Just long enough to remember what healthy feels like.
I divide food into two simple groups.
Clean Fuel
Things that generally require less work and leave less trash behind in our cells.
Clogging Fuel
Things that may taste great but demand more cleanup than benefit—especially when you’re trying to support the body’s natural housekeeping systems.
Clean Fuel — Eat More of These
Fresh Fruits
Fresh, ripe fruit is one of nature’s easiest fuels.
Apples. Pears. Melons. Berries. Citrus. Mango. Papaya. Bananas, etc.
Fruit has water, natural sugars, and compounds plants built for survival.
Try only fruit for breakfast and see how different your day feels.
Raw Nuts and Seeds
Almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia, flax, Brazil nuts.
Dense nutrition without requiring a chemistry set.
A handful goes a long way.
Raw Vegetables
Leafy greens. Celery. Cucumbers. Carrots. Cabbage. Garlic. Onion. Peppers.
Crunch means life.
The closer a food looks to what came out of the earth, the easier it usually is for our body to understand.
Sprouted Foods
Sprouted lentils. Mung beans. Quinoa. Alfalfa.
Sprouting changes the character of the food and many people find them easier to enjoy and digest.
Lightly Cooked Root Vegetables
Baked potatoes. Yams. Squash. Parsnips.
Warm comfort without turning every meal into a chemistry experiment.
Fresh Juices
Fresh fruit and vegetable juices.
Not syrup. Not concentrate.
Fresh.
Clean Water and Herbal Teas
Water is the transport system.
If you don’t move enough clean water through the system, everything slows down.
Many people who use chlorine dioxide for water treatment purposes also focus heavily on hydration because water is part of the process—not an accessory.
Mild Fermented Plant Foods
Small portions.
Sauerkraut. Kimchi. Kombucha.
Not because they’re magic.
Because traditionally prepared foods often fit better into a simple-food lifestyle.
Sea Vegetables and Mineral Support
Kelp. Dulse. Quality sea salts.
Tiny amounts—big mineral contribution.
Virgin Coconut Oil
This one gets its own category.
I’ve always found coconut oil interesting because people often report it feels lighter than many processed oils and it is digestible.
Simple. Stable. Useful in moderation not affected by normal cooking heat.
Clogging Fuel — Consider Pressing Pause
Now this is where people start throwing tomatoes. I’m not saying these foods are evil. I’m saying if your body is already overloaded, maybe don’t ask it to do overtime.
Heavy Protein Meals
Large amounts of meat, poultry, fish, eggs.
Many people notice they feel lighter reducing these temporarily while focusing on cleaner foods.
Dairy
Milk. Cheese. Butter. Yogurt.
Some people thrive. Some feel slowed down.
Your body usually votes before your opinion does.
Processed Grains
White flour products.
These are mainly for livestock,
Bread.
Pastries.
Crackers.
Human healthful flour is made from almonds and coconuts.
Foods that seem to disappear fast but somehow leave you hungry again.
Refined Sugar
Probably one of the hardest exits for most people.
Sugar often trains the body to expect constant stimulation.
Fried Foods and Processed Oils
They taste amazing.
That’s the problem.
Packaged Convenience Foods
Long shelf life usually means somebody had to outsmart nature.
Nature usually wins eventually, either with a long healthy life or a short painful one; your choice.
Alcohol and Soft Drinks
Borrow energy today.
Pay interest tomorrow.
Coffee and Energy Drinks
People get nervous when I mention coffee.
If you need something to push you through the day every day, ask whether the problem is energy—or exhaustion.
Artificial Flavors and Colors
This one deserves attention.
Artificial flavors and colors are chemical combinations designed to imitate real foods.
They’re inexpensive. They last forever.
And sometimes they confuse the body because the senses say one thing while the nutrition says another.
Your nerve system evolved around real food. It’s worth asking what happens in your body when nearly everything comes from a laboratory.
Snack Foods
Chips.
Candy.
Pastries.
I call these “fun foods.”
Fun foods are fun. Until they try to become fuel.
How to Begin Without Making Yourself Miserable
People make the same mistake every year in trying to clean their diet.
Monday morning.
Clean-out-the-cupboards.
Throw away everything.
Day three…
they’re eating pizza in the parking lot.
Go slower.
Replace one meal.
Drink more water.
Eat fruit in the morning.
Add vegetables.
Reduce one processed item at a time.
Give the body time.
Sometimes, when people clean things up quickly, they feel lousy for a few days. That doesn’t automatically mean something is wrong. It could be the body finally being able to haul out the trash.
Sometimes change simply feels like change. Go at a pace that works for you.
Consistency beats intensity.
Herb’s Rule of Thumb
I’ve joked for years:
“Every fun-food day takes about three clean-food days to reset the system and get back to cleansing.”
That’s not punishment. That’s not guilt. That’s just my way of reminding people that progress compounds—and so do detours.
Your body is not trying to betray you. It’s trying to protect you.
Feed it cleaner fuel.
Give it water.
Give it rest.
Reduce the clutter.
Then step back and watch what that remarkable machine has been trying to do for you all along.