What Symptoms To Expect When You Improve Your Diet Part 1

WHAT SYMPTOMS TO EXPECT WHEN YOU IMPROVE YOUR DIET
Healing Crisis by Dr. Stanley S. Bass, ND, DC. PHC

I get asked this question all of the time so need to post it in my Blog. Andrea

If I were asked which is the area of greatest misunderstanding and confusion in the field of nutrition, I would immediately be forced to reply, it is the failure to properly understand and interpret the symptoms and changes that follow the beginning of a better nutritional program.

Now, what happens when a person follows the rules and makes a decided improvement in the quality of the food consumed? Remarkable things begin to happen to the body as well as the mind. The amazing intelligence present in every cell of the body and the wisdom of the body in its operation immediately becomes manifest. The rule may be stated thus, when the quality of food coming into the body is of higher quality than the tissue that the body is made of, the body begins to discard the lower grade materials, and tissues make room for the superior materials that it uses to make new and healthier tissue.

What are the symptoms or signs that become evident when we first begin to omit the lower grade foods, and instead introduce superior foods-those that are more alive, more natural than those we are accustomed to? When the use of a toxic stimulant such as coffee, tea, synthetic chocolate or low-grade cocoa is suddenly stopped, headaches are common, and a letdown occurs. This is due to the discard by the body of toxins called caffeine and theobromine, which are removed from the tissues and transported through the bloodstream during its many bodily rounds.

Before the noxious agents reach their final destination for elimination, these irritants register in our consciousness as pain— in other words, headache. The let down is due to the slower action of the heart–the resting phase that follows the stimulation of more rapid heart action forced on the body by certain poisons called stimulants. The more rapid heartbeat (or pulse) produces a feeling of exhilaration, and the slower action produces a depressed state of mind. Usually, within three days, the symptoms vanish and we feel stronger due to the recuperation that follows.

To a lesser extent, the same process occurs when we abandon lower quality foods and replace them with better foods. Lower quality foods have undergone more preparation. Spices, salt and other ingredients have been added, and they tend to be more stimulating than less prepared and more natural foods. Animal foods such as meat, fowl, fish, etc. are more stimulating than cheese, nuts and vegetable proteins. Consequently, the withdrawal of stimulation which follows the abandonment of animal food produces a slower heart action— a resting phase that registers to the mind as relaxation or decrease in energy. This initial letdown lasts about ten days or slightly longer, and is followed by an increase in strength, a feeling of diminishing stress and greater well being. Now, let us return to the symptoms that occur in theprocess of regeneration.

The person who starts a better diet, stays on it for three days to a week and then quits, will say, “Oh! I felt better on the old diet—the new one makes me feel weak.” He failed because he didn’t give his body a chance to adjust and complete its first phase of action-recuperation. If hehad waited a while longer, he would have begun to feelbetter than before he started.

During this initial phase (lasting about ten days on theaverage, to several weeks in others), the vital energies thatare usually in the periphery or external part of the body,such as the muscles and skin, begin to move the vital internal organs and start reconstruction. The shunting of much of the power to the internal region produces a feeling of less energy in the muscles, which the mind interprets as some weakness. Actually, power is increased, but most of it is being used for rebuilding the more important organs, and less of it is available for muscular work. Any weakness that is felt here is not true weakness, but merely a redeploying of forces to the more important internal parts. Here it is important for the person to stop wasting energy, and to rest and sleep more. THIS IS A CRUCIAL PHASE, and if the person resorts to stimulants of any kind, he will abort and defeat the regenerative intent of the body.

It is important that he have patience and just wait it out, and after awhile he will get an increasing strength that will exceed what he felt before he began the new program. Success in recovery or improvement of health hinges upon the core understanding of this point—REALIZING that the body using its main energies in more important internal ways and NOT wasting it in external work involving muscle movements. Be wise, take it easy and relax. Just coast in your work and social obligations until you’re out of the woods.

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