Symptoms During Dietary Transition

Lesson 21 - Symptoms During Dietary Transition

Introduction

It was three o’clock in the morning. My wife was not beside me in bed.

From the bathroom came a series of gags, groans and retching noises. Finally the lavatory was turned on and water was splashed about.

My wife slipped back into bed. “Blah,” she moaned, “I didn’t know getting healthy made you so sick.”

That was several years ago when my wife had changed over from the typical American diet of high-fat and fried foods to a diet centered around fresh fruits and vegetables. The fatty foods in her old diet had caused her gallbladder to become clogged with

noxious bile. Now that she had improved her diet, her body had a chance to clean out the old deposits of bile and pre-gallstone materials.

The old bile salts had been released into her digestive system in an attempt to eliminate them once and forever. The inconvenient time of three A.M. was when her body chose to clean the toxins out by vomiting.

Afterwards, however, she felt very good. Since this time, she has no longer suffered from gallbladder attacks and her digestion of wholesome fats has greatly improved.

At the time of her induced sickness, however, she was confused. Why would she suddenly become violently ill when all she had done was to improve her diet and take better care of herself? This is one of the mysteries of health improvement that needs to be explained fully so that you know what to expect when the body finally gets an opportunity to heal itself.

The Obstacle To Good Health

Most people do not mind making sacrifices if they feel they will be rewarded eventually for those sacrifices.

People seeking health decide to sacrifice their old comfortable diet patterns and habits from a desire to be rewarded by good health.

Imagine their surprise when they discover that after improving their diet, they sometimes feel much worse (for a temporary period). They feel betrayed and disappointed. “Why do I feel so terrible when I’m trying to do all the right things?” is a common complaint.

Why should the recovery of health and the improvement of the diet cause unpleasant symptoms? Why shouldn’t we be rewarded with immediate good health and radiant well-being as soon as we change our “evil ways?”

Unfortunately, good health is not immediate—but then again, neither did poor health occur immediately.

Think about this. Didn’t you feel healthy and free from pain as a young child? Have you noticed how small children have an endless supply of energy and are oblivious to physical discomforts, such as cold, that would make an adult suffer? Now look at some of our older citizens. Some of them are so crippled with arthritis they can hardly move. Every day is the discovery of some new pain or some developing crisis in the body.

Poor health and illness is progressive; it does not occur overnight. Good health and well-being is also progressive; It may take weeks, months, or years.

To understand this a little more, let’s look at how the body does its work in cycles.

The Cycles of the Body

Like all aspects of nature, the body has its own individual cycles. There are biological rhythms within the body that dictate periods of tissue repair, tissue growth, waste elimination, and so forth.

We cannot rush the body through its cycles, nor can we expect it to progress in a linear fashion as if racing to a specific goal. Healing occurs in cycles. Some days the body has a high-energy level and it rebuilds damaged tissues. On such days we may feel great. On other days, the body must do its housecleaning and remove accumulated toxins. When this happens, we may experience low levels of energy or even depression.

Most people lead a lifestyle and follow a diet that inhibit the body in its cyclical work. For instance, when the body is trying to clean house via a cold, people become impatient. They try to suppress the cleansing cycles with drugs or food and the body must sometimes abandon its efforts.

The body behaves in a sort of up and down motion as it conducts its healing processes. One day it may cleanse heavily and we feel rotten. The next day, the toxins have been removed and we feel great. We feel so great, in fact, that the body decides to dig a little deeper and remove some of the older toxins, and then we feel worse. This is a continuing cycle in the process of healing, but do not despair: Once a certain level of health has been reached, we do not notice the cycles as much and they cause progressively less discomfort.

Why does the body go through these cycles? How does it know what to do next to promote our healthful recovery? And, still, why do we have to feel bad as we get well?

The Body As A Healing System

Your body wants to survive forever; it wants to be free from all pain and illness; it actively desires complete healing to take place within it at all times. Your body is your friend and partner in your effort to regain health.

The body has the innate capacity, knowledge and wisdom to heal itself at any time—if it is allowed to do so.

The body possesses its own healing ability and the wisdom to direct this ability. The only thing we must do is to let the body conduct its work with as little interference as possible. We can furnish it with the highest-quality food when it needs it or withhold food when it does not desire it. We can exercise and rest the body, and give it fresh air and sunshine.

Other than that, all we can do is wait intelligently and not become alarmed by the symptoms of its healing or try to suppress those symptoms.

The body will not try to kill itself, nor will it allow healing to progress in such a manner as to cause us serious discomfort. but the body is wise enough to want to accelerate the healing process as rapidly as possible. This may involve major cleansing efforts when literally pounds of old stored toxins are dumped into the system to be eliminated.

If you have faith and trust in your body’s ability to heal itself, the unpleasant symptoms which may accompany this healing become more bearable and are not a source of fear or misgiving.

Ultimately, we must let our body perform its health-restoring work at its own pace. We must believe that the body alone is capable of performing all the needed healing functions.

The human body has perfected itself over millions of years and through thousands of generations.

It is the perfect healing system. The cellular intelligence that drives the body is infinite in its capacity. We need not have any fears about its wisdom or ability to restore itself to the highest-possible level of health and well-being.

Body Awareness

A two hundred and seventy-five pound woman was admitted to the hospital after she complained about “indigestion” pains.

Two hours later, she gave birth to a child. She had no idea that she had been pregnant.

An elderly man complained of a continual dull headache for weeks. He went to a doctor who asked him about his habits, activities, and so on.

Upon repeated questioning, it was determined that the man had not experienced a bowel movement in weeks. He was not even aware that he was constipated and that this might be the source of the headache.

We might find such stories amazing, but to a certain extent they are true for everyone. Most people today have such a low level of body awareness that they do not realize they are suffering from poor health until a severe blow lays them low.

Unless illnesses and disease propagate to a dramatic climax, many people are unaware that anything is even wrong with the body. Modern man has become desensitized and removed from his own body.

A lack of body awareness accompanies a sickened condition. In fact, it is this absence of consciousness that permits the body to degenerate. If a person is attuned to his body’s needs, he becomes aware when something is going wrong and he can fast, change his diet, etc.

Increasing good health also increases our awareness of the body. As the major pains and aches disappear, we become more sensitive to all the body’s needs. The minor irritations that were not noticed previously may now enter our awareness.

For example, suppose you had a slight headache or an ingrown toenail. At the same time, you were suffering from a violently bleeding ulcer that caused you to vomit every two or three hours.

Do you think you’ll notice that headache or sore toe? No, you’ll be too busy worrying about the ulcer to pay any attention to the other minor pains.

After the ulcer is gone, however, you might suddenly realize, “My head hurts, and, boy, does my toe feel bad!”

This is exactly what happens when the body goes through its healing process. As you gain health, you become more aware of the minor pains that may have plagued you for years.

In fact, these little aches may have been around so long that you’ve grown used to them. After the diet is changed and the body improves, these aches may enter your awareness again.

It’s not that your increasing health has given you any new pains, but that the new body awareness that accompagnies an improvement, in condition allows you to notice these old problems.

The new sensitivity is a blessing. Now your body can tell you what it needs, what to avoid, and what habits to discontinue. If you have stopped eating meat, for instance, your body will become more sensitive to the harmful effects of such food. If you were

to eat that same food again, you might become sick. This is the body’s way of saying, “That stuff’s no good for me, and I’m strong enough now to let you know.”

Body awareness is one of the first gifts of health. This new feeling should not be mistaken for morbid sensitivity. It is your guardian angel that will guide you past the pitfalls of poor foods, unhealthy practices, and other life destroying habits.

Some Unpleasant Symptoms And Their Causes

Suppose you have made the decision to change your diet and improve your health. You understand how the body heals itself and you are more aware of its needs. Yet, you may not have complete faith in your body.

A splitting headache, chills, nausea, a dripping nose, increased body odor, reappearance of old aches and pains, rashes, boils, drastic weight loss—all the symptoms that can shake the faith of the most sincere health seeker.

Without proper understanding or support, you could panic at these symptoms and believe your new diet or way of life is the cause of them. You might revert to your old unhealthy practices because you became afraid.

Thousands of people have experienced the same sort of problems as they improved their health. Books about fasting and dietary changes should be read so that you may feel reassured. Case histories, such as the one below, may help you understand these changes.

A Case History

Larry was a college junior and had become a vegetarian after graduating from high school. He had tried to improve his diet, but college life put him under stress and so he started drinking coffee in the evening to stay awake and study. After staying up late, he felt tense so he started smoking marijuana for relaxation and to get to sleep.

He also had little time to prepare lunch, so he got in the habit of eating a quart of fruit flavored yogurt for lunch every day.

When the summer came, Larry decided to kick his coffee and marijuana habits. The hot weather was also making him feel uncomfortable eating dairy products, so he gave up his daily yogurt. He had been suffering from sore throats and nasal congestion, and he changed over to a diet of raw fruits and vegetables to allow his body to cleanse itself.

The first day of his new diet Larry felt pretty good. He had distilled water for breakfast instead of the usual two cups of coffee and ate fresh fruits for lunch. He had a salad for supper and went to bed early to get plenty of rest. The next morning he woke up feeling miserable. He had a sharp headache that raced up his neck behind his ears. He could hardly breathe. His sinuses were clogged shut. He felt worse than he had in weeks.

The headache stayed all day and into the next day. Now he noticed he had developed a hacking cough that convulsed him. He started spitting up hardened balls of mucus from this lungs.

The third day his nose was continually draining. As fast as he could blow it, his nose would clog back up. All the time, his headache had never left him, even when he tried to sleep.

By the fourth day, the headache had subsided a little.

His cough had worsened, however, and now pieces of hardened gray material were being expelled from his lungs.

“I can’t stand it!” he thought, “Why am I feeling so miserable as soon as I gave up my bad habits?”

Why indeed? First, Larry’s headache is a symptom of caffeine withdrawal. Coffee, tea, cola drinks, and other caffeine-containing substances are addictive poisons. When a person drops his caffeine habit, changes occur in the vascular and nervous systems. These changes occur as the body tries to renormalize itself and eliminate the poisons. Headaches often accompany caffeine withdrawal, and some people who give up their coffee habit may experience edginess and irritability for a few days.

Larry’s clogged nose and sinuses were related to the consumption of dairy products. Mucus buildup occurs when milk is consumed. After such foods are eliminated, sinus drainage may occur for two weeks or more. The elimination of old mucus is a healthy sign for such deposits may become the breeding places for many diseases.

The coughing and spitting of hardened phlegm resulted from the cleansing of the lungs of the tar deposits which had been caused by smoking. Smokers lungs are often crusted black with tar and chemical deposits. When smoking is stopped, the lungs try to cleanse themselves and the old deposits are expelled by coughing. This is why a cough should never be suppressed. Coughing is one method that the body has of expelling toxic wastes from the system.

After about two weeks, Larry started to feel better than ever. He had plenty of energy without his coffee. His nose, throat, and lungs felt so much cleaner that he had no desire to smoke or eat dairy products. He had suffered for awhile, but now he was reaping the rewards of improved health.

Some of the Toxins in Your Body

Everybody is a walking time bomb. Each person carries within him the seeds for disease and illness. These seeds are the environmental and dietary toxins that may be stored within the body and which may spring full force into a debilitating disease.

What are some of these toxins, and where do they come from? How can we get rid of them? What symptoms can we expect when they start to leave the body?

Drug Toxins

Surprisingly enough, one of the largest sources of body toxins is the drugs people take to fight disease (or so they think). Medicinal drugs are very strong—they have to be to overcome the body’s natural defense system.

When such drugs are taken, they must either be eliminated from the body or stored within it for later elimination.

As a person’s health improves and all such medicines and drugs are discontinued, the old toxins may enter the bloodstream for elimination. The circulation of these old drug toxins in the system may produce bewildering symptoms that could alarm the health seeker.

For example, an elderly man had been taking a form of digitalis (a heart stimulant) for several years. He discontinued the drug as he improved his health through exercise.

After a few days off the drug, he experienced erratic heart beats, a racing pulse and chest pains. He was frightened and wondered if he should take his old drug again.

He was reassured that these symptoms were due to his body trying to renormalize itself and eliminate the old toxins from the heart drug. Sure enough, after a few days his heartbeat became steady and regular as the drug toxins were finally eliminated.

Every drug used, whether legal or illegal, leaves its mark upon the body. As the body regains health, the drug deposits are put into circulation for elimination. Since a combination of past drug deposits may enter the Bloodstream at once disconcerting symptoms may arise. Drug detoxification can be a lengthy process, but it will be aided by fasting and a diet high in fresh fruits.

Be forewarned: Old drugs that were taken even many years ago may reappear in the bloodstream as they leave fatty tissues and the organs. Drug toxin elimination may express itself in a series of rashes as they leave the body through the skin.

Caffeine and Nicotine

Heavy smokers or coffee drinkers may experience similar symptoms when they withdraw from their drug. Nervous irritability and emotional outbreaks are common symptoms of these drug addicts when they are detoxifying.

Nicotine and caffeine damage the nervous system and upset the vascular system, so symptoms such as headaches, edginess, and extreme lassitude may be expected. Such symptoms from these drugs usually lessen after three to ten days.

Salt and Other Condiments

Once salt use is stopped and the health improves, old salt deposits in the body exit through the skin and kidneys. Sometimes the elimination is so intense that a person may have a continual salty taste in the mouth for days. The skin may become crusted with salt or it may smell of the particular condiment that is being eliminated (such as onions, peppers, or vinegar).

In Mexico, corpses have been found in the desert that were untouched by buzzards and hyenas. The reason? The people had eaten such large quantities of hot peppers all their lives that their skins were actually too spicy for the scavengers to eat. Condiments can never be used by the body, and so they must either be stored or eliminated when the health is improved.

Salt elimination may also cause a temporary rise in blood pressure. People who go on salt-free diets may actually experience a slight increase in their blood pressure as the heavy elimination of salt begins. Later the blood pressure renormalizes itself and eventually becomes below the norm on a salt-free diet.

White Sugar Withdrawal

Eliminating sugar from the diet may make a person feel slightly nervous and hyperactive until the energy levels adjust to a sugar-free diet.

Mood changes, however, are usually more noticeable than any physical symptoms when sugar is eliminated. Reformed sugar addicts may feel periods of unaccountable depression as their blood sugar level tries to right itself. Getting off the sugar roller coaster, with its rapid rises and falls in blood sugar levels, is easier when a diet high in raw foods is followed. Such a diet renormalizes blood sugar levels and promotes tranquility of emotions.

Heavy Metal Elimination

Almost every person is poisoned by deposits of heavy metals in the body. Lead, aluminum, copper and arsenic collect in organs throughout the body. Because of their heavy weight, they are difficult to eliminate, and may cause discomfort as they leave the body.

Lead enters the body through auto exhaust, paints and canned foods. Aluminum may come from preparing or storing food in aluminum containers. Arsenic is present on sprayed foods, and so on.

Since these metals are heavy, they, tend to remain in the body until a cleansing diet or fast is followed. As these metals come out, headaches and a general achiness all through the body may occur. The gums may hurt and the kidneys may throb as these metals leave the organs and bones.

Occasionally, you can actually taste the metal that is being eliminated. Lead, especially often leaves a metallic taste on the tongue when it is leaving the body.

Heavy-metal poisoning can make you feel uncomfortable all over, and it is very common due to all the environmental toxins. As you eliminate these metals, bear the uncomfortable body aches and realize that they are leaving your body forever.

Meat-Eating and the Acid Body Condition

Meat-eating creates an acid condition in the body. When meat is eliminated, the body tries to reestablish its naturally-healthy, alkaline condition. As the acid condition of the body changes to one of alkalinity, symptoms may arise that may confuse the new vegetarian.

A sour, disagreeable odor may emit from the body as the acids leave or are neutralized. Hair may fall out and the breath may turn foul. Urine may be very dark and a sharp, bitter taste may be in the mouth.

Weakness of the arms and legs may occur. Many people contuse this weakness for protein deficiency. Instead, the weakness has resulted from a consumption of too much acid-forming protein in the past. The body’s energies are directed toward neutralizing these old toxins and so you may feel weak for a temporary period. Once the toxins are taken care of and an alkaline condition is reestablished, then strength returns to the limbs.

The discomfort of an over-acid body caused by meat-eating can be quickly overcome by a high-alkaline diet, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.

Specific Symptoms

Most people who change their diet and improve their health may experience one or more of the symptoms described below. Depending upon your past health, these symptoms may be mild or intense, short-term or long-term, temporary or recurrent.

As you improve your health, however, and stay on an optimum diet, all symptoms will gradually disappear.

Under no circumstances should these symptoms be halted by drugs.

Relief from some of these symptoms may come through fasting and rest primarily.

Moderate exercise is also beneficial, if your strength allows. Sleep and freedom from stress is vital.

Sunshine and fresh air will also aid in detoxification.

Headaches

A headache is the body’s chief warning signal of body toxicity. The toxic load in the body has increased so fast that poisons are circulating in the bloodstream and cause irritation to the brain and nerves.

Aspirin should never be taken for a headache. For some relief, lay down and rest with a cool, damp cloth across the eyes and forehead. Fasting may also help. Have someone massage the neck and temple. Avoid all stress at this time.

Upset Stomach and Diarrhea

When food is not being digested properly or is passing right through your body, then it is time to stop all food intake. This is your body’s way of telling you it doesn’t require any nourishment at this time, but instead is busy cleaning.

Careful food combinations and avoiding heavy foods are advised.

Diarrhea should not be halted by medicines. Rest and abstinence from food are your best resorts.

Constipation

A new diet may occasion temporary constipation. Brisk walking of at least one mile a day will help end this problem.

Eating foods naturally high in water and fiber will eventually remedy this condition. If little food is eaten, drink distilled water whenever thirsty.

On a diet of fruits and vegetables, constipation disappears, never to return.

Weight Loss

Weight loss is entirely normal when the diet is improved. Some individuals become alarmed when their weight falls rapidly. In most cases, this is not a cause for alarm.

From five to fifteen pounds of water weight alone may be lost when salt is completely eliminated from the diet. In some individuals, five to twenty pounds of old fecal matter may be eliminated from the colon. All of this is useless weight, and you should say, “Good riddance!”

The body will also try to eliminate all diseased tissue in an effort to rebuild a healthy body. It will try to strip itself down to the bare foundations and then begin to add on only healthy tissue.

Weight loss may occur for six months to a year. Exercises for muscle growth, such as weight lifting and swimming, will help rebuild the body with lean, muscular tissue. Be sure that your diet includes sufficient amounts of sweet fruits that are high in calories to balance out the low-calorie salads.

Usually, you can expect to weigh about twenty pounds less after you renormalize your body from the typical high-meat and fat diet of most Americans.

In General

Almost all the symptoms experienced during a dietary change are due to the body’s efforts to detoxify itself as rapidly as possible!

You can help in this process by fasting and getting plenty of rest. Be sure you get all the sleep you want and try to avoid stressful situations. During detoxification, you need as much peace and privacy as possible.

Never halt any symptom with medication. It will only reappear later in greater intensity.

Above all else, cultivate a positive attitude about what you are doing. Do not feel like you are punishing yourself or that you are making any great sacrifices. You are recovering your health, and that is the greatest reward that can be expected.

Realize that your sincere efforts will give you health beyond your expectations. Do not dwell upon your temporary discomforts. Instead, indulge in positive activity, such as exercise, gardening or helping others.

All symptoms will pass in time. The pain today will be a memory tomorrow. The discomforts you endure now mean an absence of suffering, later. You are healing yourself with your courage and wisdom. You have much to be thankful for.

The Recovery Of Health

Now that you have an understanding of the symptoms that may occur when the diet is changed and health improves, you can evaluate the various ways in which the diet may be modified.

The intensity of the symptoms experienced is often related to the method used for the dietary transition, such as fasting, gradual diet improvement, quick diet changeover, and so forth.

Fasting - The Quick and Easy Way

A prolonged supervised fast is the quickest way to make the transition to health. Dietary changes can be made more easily after a period of fasting. Fasting, however, can be accompanied by intense symptoms, and the reactions experienced while fasting may alarm the first-time faster. For this reason, a lengthy fast should be undertaken in the presence of an experienced practitioner. Unsupervised fasts from three to five days, however, may be safely undertaken by people who are educated in the mechanics of starting and breaking a fast.

Below is a case history of a person who used fasting to make the dietary transition:

Fasting - A Case History

“I had tried to improve my diet off and on for several years. One day I would eat fresh fruits and salads. The next day it would be ice cream and potato chips.

Or maybe I would last a week on a good diet. Then I’d go out and eat Italian food for a reward. Then I’d eat healthy for a day or two, and the next day I would fix a huge cheese casserole.

I was always seesawing. Finally, I said ‘Okay, this is it. No food at all for a few days.’

I went on a seven day fast and drank only distilled water. After the fast, I felt so clean and wonderful that I didn’t want to mess up my body with junky foods.

I tremendously enjoyed fruits and unseasoned salads after my fast. I wasn’t craving all that cooked food. I made myself a promise that if I ate cooked foods one day, I would fast the next day. This helps me to break the momentum that would otherwise wreck my healthy diet.

Fasting is the easiest way to get back to a healthy diet and stay on it. It’s much easier for me to change from a ‘no food diet’ (fasting) to a ‘raw food diet’ than it is to start over again from my old cooked food, junk diet.”

Rapid Dietary Change

Some people desire to make as rapid a change as possible in their diet. This is admirable. After all, if your house is on fire, you don’t want to linger, but to get out as fast

as you can. So it is with an unhealthy diet—you don’t want to drag your feet when your health is in question.

You do want to succeed, however. Unfortunately, rapid changes in the diet often fail. Changing the diet overnight is extremely difficult, although a few individuals have done just that.

Caution is advised if you want to make major and sudden changes in your diet. Your mind might be ready, but your body may rebel. After all, you wouldn’t expect a lion to suddenly start eating hay for breakfast. True, eventually a carnivorous animal can thrive on vegetarian fare, but it is usually introduced gradually. Man, however, is naturally fruitarian/vegetarian, so he will have an easier time in changing his diet, but still be aware that some people do not take to rapid changes in their diets, habits, living arrangements, or anything else for that matter.

If you want to go from a meat and potatoes diet to a raw fruit diet in a few days, fine; but be aware that your body may react so strongly that you could become discouraged and feel very sick. If such a rapid change is intended, it is best to fast before attempting it.

Remember that your present state of health is the result of years of bad living habits and poor diet choices. It may be unreasonable to expect your body to change completely overnight.

Here is a case history of one person who did make an almost overnight change in his diet:

A Rapid Change in Diet - A Case History

“I’ve always been an all-or-nothing person. I’d do something 100 percent or I wouldn’t do it at all.

I had been on a conventional diet, eating lots of fast foods, and getting most of my meals out of cans and packages. I didn’t pay much attention to what I ate, just so it filled me up.

“Then one summer my brother died from cancer of the colon. It shook me up. I started reading and found out that cancer of the lower intestine usually occurs when a low-fiber diet is eaten, like meat, dairy products, fast foods—in other words, my kind of diet.

That was all it took. One day I had been eating hamburgers, and the next day I was eating only oranges. Pow! I was an overnight fruitarian.

I nearly died. I had diarrhea continually for five days. Everything I ate came right out. I guess I should have fasted, but I didn’t know anything about that. I just kept eating fruits.

I weighed 185 pounds. After a few months, I was down to 110 pounds. I was a walking skeleton. People stared at me.

I found myself continually weak. Climbing up a single flight of stairs took several attempts.

There were days when I felt like I was going crazy. All my family and friends looked like strangers. My own face even looked unfamiliar to me.

I had so many toxins circulating in my system that I could not think straight. This lasted about six months? Finally things started to change.

I started gaining weight and getting my strength back. In fact, I had more energy than I ever had in my life. I would wake up before sunrise and run several miles. I became continually happy and was always smiling.

Today I honestly don’t know howl went through those six months. I wouldn’t recommend that anyone be so radical as I was. I believed I came close to killing myself.

Don’t be too tough on yourself; you took this long to get sick, so take your time to get healthy.”

Gradual Dietary Change

This method may take the longest time, but it produces the least intense symptoms. The disadvantage of changing the diet slowly is that people may backslide too easily, or their health may be so poor that they can’t afford to wait a long time. Since the symptoms of healing are spread out over a long period of time, it may be years before the person feels truly healthy. Still, this is an easy way to change the diet for those who do not want to experience the strong reactions sudden changes entail.

Symptoms will occur even with a gradual transition. Depending upon how you lived in the past, these symptoms may reoccur for several years or until an optimum diet is strictly followed for a length of time.

Gradual changes in the diet are fine, provided that continued/forward movement toward a goal is maintained. If you take two years, for example, to eliminate all meat from your diet, you might be more susceptible to eating it again after you thought you had given it up. As long as you are definitely improving your diet every week and are not fooling I yourself, then your progress is probably satisfactory.

The best thing about changing the diet over a period of months is that you have the time to educate yourself about the symptoms you may be experiencing. You are also more likely to stick with your improvements if they are implemented over a period of time and are made a part of your lifestyle. Some people change their diet one week, but are back to eating the old foods the next week. Slow, sustained progress is better than fast, erratic changes.

Here is a case history of a person who slowly changed her diet:

Gradual Diet Change - A Case History

I was fifty-three years old when my husband and I decided to change our diets. We had recently retired to our country home, and we decided it was time to take better care of ourselves.

We became vegetarians almost by accident. We were working hard outside in the summer with our garden, and we would get so hot that we didn’t want to eat meat.

Besides we had so many garden vegetables that it was easy to make a meal on them.

The first summer we ate meat maybe twice a week. About the only effect we noticed was a strong desire for afternoon naps.

During the fall and winter, we stayed on our twice-weekly meat diet, and started to eliminate all sugar from our diet. I really noticed an improvement when we stopped using sugar. I also cut back on our salt to help my husband’s blood pressure.

When the spring and summer came, we started eating more fresh foods and these took the place of our bread, milk and eggs. Since we never ate out, being away from the city, we avoided most rich foods.

Finally by the following fall, we had just about stopped eating any meat unless guests came by. We eating a salad at about every meal, and I stuck to only cooked food per meal.

We just kept feeling better and better. The bursitis in my shoulder disappeared and my husband lost his pot belly after all these years.

When the next spring and summer came around, we became total vegetarians and started having complete days with only raw foods. Every now and then, we would steam or bake a few vegetables.

Our diet is still not perfect I but all the improvements we’ve experienced encourages us to continue as far as possible. We’re lucky, I guess. We have plenty of homegrown produce and get to stay outside a lot. But I think anybody can start to make improvements in their diet and health—no matter how small.”

What The Future Holds

Body purification is a lifelong process. Your body will always strive to a higher state of health. It will always be eliminating toxins as soon as they become present.

Consequently, you can always expect some cleansing symptoms to occur even after you have achieved a high state of well-being. The symptoms, however, will be of a much shorter duration and of a much lower intensity.

For instance, that cold you used to get each year for a week may only last two days or one day. You may only notice a temporary cleansing lasting only a few hours or overnight instead of the ten-day periods of sickness that used to plague you.

Gradually, all the old symptoms will disappear. Your body will/be in such a high state of health that you will experience little discomfort during its cleansing cycles.

You will have passed through the suffering and pain of toxic elimination. You will have reached the birthright of every human being—perfect health.

Questions & Answers

I’ve tried to change my diet several times. Each time I would be fine through the day, but by supper time I would feel depressed. What’s happening?

A mild form of depression is very likely to accompany a change in diet. There are two reasons for this. First, by the end of the day during which you ate wholesome foods, the body has had a chance to eliminate a large amount of toxins. These toxins are circulating in the bloodstream before they leave the body, and tend to depress the mind. A little vigorous exercise an hour or so before the evening meal and productive, relaxed pursuits after supper can effectively combat these temporary periods of depression.

The second reason for such mild depression is that you are making a major change in your life, and consequently you are losing a part of your old identity. We often identify with foods we eat and feel that they define who we are (for example, “I’m a meat and potatoes man,” or “My family was raised on fresh bread”.). As certain foods vanish from our diet, we sense a temporary loss which is overcome by reading inspirational health literature and educating ourselves about the harmfulness of our old foods.

I fasted once for four days and got the worst headache of my life. I could hardly stand up. I got scared and broke my fast. Is that okay?

Make no mistake—a radical change in the diet or a period of fasting may sometimes give rise to symptoms that can scare you silly. This is especially true if you have had little experience in this area or have no friends or relatives you can talk to. It certainly helps to have a knowledgeable person you can confide in and be reassured by.

Whether or not it was “okay” to break your fast is really up to your body. Perhaps your body was telling you to slow down and to break your fast and continue with a slower cleansing method. More than likely, however, had you continued for another day or two, your headache might have vanished forever.

Educate yourself and try again. You can do it!

I ate a bunch of mangoes last summer and I got a rash all over my thighs. Is this an allergy symptom?

It’s not an allergy symptom—it’s a symptom of an overly toxic body. Mangoes did not cause the rash, but instead allowed the body to get rid of old toxins.

Skin rashes, boils, eruptions, etc., are extremely common as the diet is changed and toxins come out. Do not confuse these skin problems with allergies. People are not allergic to wholesome foods—they are “allergic” to the toxins and poisons in their bodies.

Article #1: What To Expect When You Improve Your Diet By Stanley S.

Bass, D.C.

When Diet Improves, the Body Casts Out Accumulated Toxins and Unfit Tissues

“Withdrawal” Symptoms Follow Use of Improved Diet Don’t Judge Results Prematurely

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 which follow the beginning of a better nutritional program.”

What is meant by a better nutritional program? It is the introduction of foods of higher quality in place of lower-quality ones. For example—if a person replaces a proteinrich food such as pork with beef, the beef may be considered the superior of the two due to its easier digestibility, lower and less-saturated fat content, etc.,—chicken is superior to beef, and fish is superior to chicken because of its more rapid digestion and lower saturated fat content. Lima beans, lentils or chick peas which are eaten at the same meal with vegetables are superior in all the nutrients mentioned. Then we ascend to the nuts and seeds which are eaten in the natural state (raw and unsalted). To summarize—the closer the food comes to its raw, unfired form, the higher the quality is. In this condition, all the enzymes are found intact. The amino acids are in their finest form. The minerals, vitamins, trace elements, carbohydrates and life force are present. This life force, in turn, is capable of reproducing tissue which is full of life and longer lasting in structure.

This same classification of quality which we analyzed in relation to protein-rich foods applies to the carbohydrates (the starches and sugar-rich foods), the fats, the mineral-rich foods (vegetables), etc.

The quality of a nutritional program is dramatically improved by omitting evil and toxic substances such as coffee, tea, chocolate, tobacco, salt, pepper, etc.

What is the relation of quality of foods to recovery from illness? It is this in a nutshell—the higher the quality of food that we eat, the quicker we recover from disease—provided we are able to properly digest and assimilate the quality level. To this must be added the knowledge of: (a) proper food-combining, (b) proper order of eating the different kinds of food at a meal (e.g. the most easily digested food should be eaten first, the more complex one second and the most-concentrated item last), (c) the correct quantity of food to be consumed (of each type) in the meal, and (d) the correct time for eating (when hungry, and not by the clock).

When Diet Improves, the Body Casts Out Accumulated Toxins and Unfit Tissues

Now what happens when a person follows these 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, the wisdom of the body in its operation immediately becomes manifest. The rule may be stated thusly: When the quality of the food coming into the body is of higher quality than the tissues which the body is made of, the body begins to make room for the superior materials which it uses to make new and healthier tissue. This is the plan of Nature—of evolution. The body is very selective and always aims for improvement—for better health. The body always tries to produce health and always will, unless our interference is too great. Only then do we fail to recover and degenerate further into disease.

The remedial nature of many conditions such as colds, fevers, cuts, swellings, and injuries, furnish endless examples of how the body tends toward health—always—unless we do something to stop the process.

“Withdrawal” Symptoms Follow Use of Improved Diet

What are the symptoms or signs which become evident when we first begin to omit the lower-grade foods and instead introduce superior foods—those which are more alive, more natural than we are accustomed to? When the use of a toxic stimulant such as coffee, tea, chocolate or cocoa is suddenly stopped, headaches are common and a letdown occurs. This is due to the discard by the body of the toxins called caffeine and theobromine which are removed from the tissues and transported through the bloodstream to the eliminating organs. When the blood coagulates through the brain 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 letdown is due to the ower action of the heart—the resting phase which follows the stimulation or more rapid heart action forced upon the body by certain poisons called stimulants. The more rapid heart beat (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 which 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 reparation. 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 and fish 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 base—which registers in the mind as relaxation or a decrease in energy. This initial letdown lasts about ten days or slightly longer and is followed by an increase of strength, a feeling of diminishing stress and greater well-being.

Don’t Judge Results Prematurely

Now, let us return to the symptoms which occur in the process of regeneration.

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

During the initial phase (lasting about ten days on the average to several weeks in some), the vital energies which are usually in the periphery or external part of the body much as the muscles and skin begin to move to the vital internal organs and start reconstruction. This 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, the 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 which is felt here is not true weakness, but merely a re-deploying 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 efforts of the body. It is important that he have patience and faith here and just wait it out, and after a while he will get increasing strength which will exceed by far what he felt before he began the new program. Success in recovery or improvement of health hinges upon the correct understanding of this point—realizing that the body is using its main energies in more important internal work and not wasting it in external

work involving muscle movements. Be wise—take it easy here and relax. Just coast in your work and social obligations until you’re out of the woods.

As one continues on the improved dietary and gradually raises the food quality, interesting symptoms begin to appear. The body begins a process called “retracing.” The cellular intelligence reasons something like this—“Oh! look at all these fine materials corning in. How wonderful—now we have a chance to get rid of this old garbage and build a beautiful new house. Let’s get this excess bile out of the liver and gallbladder and send it to the intestines for elimination. Let’s get this sludge moving out of the arteries, veins and capillaries. These smelly, gassy brain-stupefying bowel masses have been here too long—out with them. These arthritic deposits in the joints need cleaning up. Let’s get these irritating food preservatives, aspirins, sleeping pills and drugs out of the way, along with these other masses of fat which have made life so burdensome for us so long. Let’s get going and keep going till the job is done—till we have a beautiful house and from then on we’ll keep it a beautiful, ideal model house.”

Article #2: The Three Phases Of Metabolism

First Phase: Drastic Weight Loss

During the first phase (called catabolism), the accent is on elimination, or breaking down of tissue. The body begins to clean house-to remove the garbage deposited in all the tissues-everywhere. During this period the body “removes the ashes from the furnace preparatory to getting a better fire.” Here the accentuation is on removal of the gross and immediate body obstructions. Wastes are discarded more rapidly than new tissue is made from the new food. This becomes evident as weight loss. This persists for a while and is then followed by the second phase-called stabilization.

Here the weight remains more or less stable. During this phase the amount of waste material being discarded daily is equal to the amount of tissue which is being formed and replaced by the newer more vital food. This occurs after the excess of obstructing material in the tissues has been removed. This stage persists for a while and is then followed by a third phase-a building-up period (called anabolism) wherein weight starts to go up, even though the diet is lower in calories than it was before. At this point, much or most of the interfering wastes have already been discarded-the tissues which have been formed since the diet was raised in quality are more durable and do not break down easily.

Also, new tissues are now being formed faster. This is due to the improved assimilation and increase of enzyme efficiency which resulted from the recuperation of the digestive mechanism-made possible by the ceasing of wrong food combining. The body’s need for the usual amounts of food decreases and we are able to maintain our weight and increased energies with less food. Many are able to function very efficiently on two meals a day and eventually even on one meal a day. As the body progressively increases in efficiency and decreases in tissue breakdown under exercise, so do we gradually need less and less food to maintain life. The higher the percentage of raw food one lives on, the slower the rate of tissue degeneration which one evolves into. A sick body requires a gradual, carefully-worked-out entry into this stagewhere one is able to live on a 100% unfired (raw) diet.

Returning to the symptoms which occur on a superior nutritional program-people who have had tendencies in the past to recurring skin rashes or eruptions will frequently tend to eliminate poisons and harmful drugs through the skin with new rashes or eruptions. If they go to a physician now who is not familiar with this aspect of nutrition, he will diagnose it as an allergy. They ask, “How come I’m eating better now than I did before and instead I’m getting worse?” They don’t understand that the body is “retracing.” The skin is getting more alive and active. It’s throwing out more poisons more rapidly, now that the body has more power, which is saved by the discontinuation of those hard-to-digest meals. These toxins being discarded are saving you from more serious disease, which will result in-if you keep them in your body too much longer-possible hepatitis, kidney disorder, blood disease, heart disease, arthritis, nerve degenerations or even cancer-depending upon your structural weaknesses. Be happy you’re paying your bills now on an easy-payment plan.

With some, colds which haven’t appeared for a long time may occur, or even fevers. This is nature’s way of housecleaning. Understand that these actions are constructive, even though unpleasant at the moment. Don’t—but don’t try to stop these symptoms by the use of certain drugs, or even massive doses of vitamins, which will act as drugs in huge concentration. These symptoms are evidence of a remedial process. Don’t try to “cure” the remedial process! These are not deficiency conditions or allergic manifestations—not if you’re eating properly in quality, quantity, combination and sequence. Here is where experienced advice is of great value. Unfortunately there are few books present today which give full guidance to the average reader. Try to find guidance through a doctor or teacher who has the requisite experience in this most confusing of all subjects nutrition in relation to health and disease.

Body Purification Can Be a Long Drawn-Out Process

You may be eating perfectly in quantity, quality and observing all the correct rules, and still symptoms will occur. Those who have lived better lives in the past-who have eaten better foods and who have abused their bodies less with overeating, will have reactions ranging from almost none at all, or very mild, to symptoms which may be uncomfortable or acute. Those who have lived worse lives and poisoned themselves more will experience more severe symptoms if their liver, kidneys or other important eliminating organs have been damaged. When they have been renovated to the point of fair working order, they will no longer produce symptoms.

Headaches may occur at the beginning. Fever, colds, the skin may break out, a short interval of bowel sluggishness, occasional diarrhea, feelings of tiredness or weakness, disinclination to exercise, nervousness, irritability, negativity or feeling mentally depressed, frequent urination, also may occur. However, the great majority of people find their reactions tolerable and are encouraged to bear with them because of the many improvements which have already occurred and are becoming more evident with each day. This acts as an inspirational force to them.

The symptoms will vary according to the materials being discarded, the condition of the organs involved in the elimination and the amount of energy you have available. The more you rest and sleep when symptoms are present, the milder they are and the more quickly they are terminated. Be happy you are having symptoms. Realize deeply that your body is becoming younger and healthier every day because you are throwing off more and more wastes which would eventually have brought pain, disease and much suffering. Those who have the worst symptom-reactions and follow through to their successful termination, are thus avoiding some of the worst diseases which would have eventually developed had they continued their careless eating habits.

Blissful State of Health Comes Eventually

Don’t expect to go on an ascending scale of quality improvement in the diet and think you will feel better and better each day until you reach perfection. The body is cyclical in nature and health returns in a series of gradually diminishing cycles. For example—you start a better diet and for a while you feel much better. After some time,

a symptom occurs, you may feel nauseous for a day and have a diarrhea with a foul smelling stool. After a day you feel even better than before and all goes fine for a while. Then you suddenly develop a cold, feel chills and lose your appetite. After about two or three days (assuming you don’t take drugs or do anything else about it) you suddenly recover and feel better than you did for years. Let us say this well-being continues for two months, when you suddenly develop an itch or rash. You still don’t take anything special for it. This rash flares up, gets worse and continues for ten days and suddenly subsides. Immediately after this you find your hepatitis is gone and your energy has increased more than ever before. The rash became an outlet for the poisons in the liver which produced hepatitis. This is how recovery occurs, like the Dow-Jones Average at the beginning of a bull-market recovery. You feel better, a reaction occurs and you don’t feel as well for a short while. You recover and go even higher. And so it goes, each reaction milder than the last as the body becomes purer, each becoming shorter in duration, feeling better than ever before and lasting longer, until you reach a level plateau of vibrant health. Here you become relatively disease-free and are filled with ever-increasing joy, life and the happiness which comes from sheer well-being. The mind opens up and expands to ever-higher horizons and your soul will shout for joy. You begin to love the world, the universe and everything in it. This is the natural state of the mind—blissful, joyful and at peace with the universe—and it can only be attained by alignment with biological laws. The first laws we must learn to obey are the laws of Nature. We must learn to eat simple, pure and natural J foods properly prepared and combined, and our bodies in return will cast off the evil we have taken in during our lives.

Nowhere is the principle of forgiveness of sins more manifest than here—in our own bodies—when we forsake our evil and destructive ways of eating (the defiling of the temple of the soul). God (or Nature, if you please) gives us a whole new chance for a new glorious life. All repentance must begin here in the body, through purer diet and natural foods. Then, just have faith, sit back and watch what happens. Before your own eyes, you will see signs daily that will cause you to wonder at this vast intelligence in operation that staggers the comprehension. The mysteries of the body, the operations of Nature, the vital forces working in Nature and the Cosmos are far beyond what our minds are prepared to understand at present.

Every great physician or scientist who ever lived marvelled in awe and humility at the wonders of Nature. Yes, we are, “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.” Let us give ourselves a chance to experience what it means to be really healthy and fully alive—to feel the joy of living by aligning ourselves to (God’s) Nature’s laws as intended for man, through the eating of natural (normal) foods. This indeed is the prime prerequisite in man’s physical, mental and spiritual unfoldment.

—Reprinted from HYGIENIC REVIEW