Monday, November 14, 2011

Detox Sucks

Please forgive the crassness of my title - but really, could I have said anything more true?  I was going to title this "Detox = NO FUN" which is true too, but really...it just plain sucks so why not get the truth, the whole true and nothin' but the truth right out there in the open? 

What is detox?  In my simplistic understanding of things, detox is getting the toxins (i.e. poisons) we've ingested into our bodies, out of our bodies.  We most commonly think of detox as being related to drugs.  We've probably seen it on TV shows with someone isolated in a white hospital room sweating and vomiting for 24 hrs, in total misery, trying to purge their bodies of the drugs.  That would be an extreme example.  What most people don't realize is that we ingest toxins and poisons everyday into our bodies simply by eating processed foods.  Our kidneys and liver do an incredible job of trying to clean up the mess we make, but they can only clean up so much.  Toxins get stored inside our cells, our organs...really, inside the entirety of our bodies.  Unless we do something to get rid of it, it just keeps building.  I believe (again, don't quote me) these stored toxins have a lot to do with the increase of cancer and other debilitating diseases (like diabetes) that are running rampant in our nation today.

When I first attended a class on eating raw foods, Living Raw by Grace's Haley Turney explained about detoxing and that no one should ever go raw overnight because the detox would be so intense you might not be able to endure it...and it would last up to 2 weeks.  I listened to her say that several different times but it basically went in one ear and out the other.  I'd been eating partially raw for a few months when my husband took a 2 week trip to Korea.  The day he left I got this brainchild AH~HA moment, thinking it was the perfect time to go 100% raw while he was gone...i.e. no one around to influence my eating in a negative way.  So I did.  3 days into eating raw and I literally thought I was going to die.  I was depressed, angry, snappy, impatient with the kids, horrible stomach pain, achy, lying in bed and wondering if I was going insane or dying or both. Oh - and we won't even mention the toilet.  We don't need that much truth!

That's when I suddenly remembered Haley saying "I don't recommend anyone going raw overnight."  UGH!  NOW I remember?  So immediately I contacted her on-line and told her what was going on.  She thought it was a rather extreme detox but said yes, that's probably what it was and as sugar was an addictive drug, I might want to add some back into my diet and go off it a little slower next time.  Lovely.  At least I knew the reason behind the horribleness, though.  I looked on-line and found this site called Natural Therapy and this is what it said (and I think I had all but 2):

Common Detox Symptoms

Detox can create a number of symptoms in your body as your body goes through the process of purifying itself and eliminating toxins.  Some common detox symptoms include:
  • headaches
  • lethargy
  • temporary muscle aches
  • mucus or other discharge
  • a coated, pasty tongue
  • flu-like symptoms
  • irritability
  • difficulty sleeping
  • weakness
  • cravings
  • nausea
  • constipation
  • diarrhea
  • gas
You may even find that the detoxing process causes you to suffer the old symptoms that you have had that the body has suppressed.  You may think that you are becoming ill but it is important that you continue with the detox and don’t take any medications to help with the symptoms.  The aim to flush chemicals from the body, not introduce more!

Since that initial horrible introduction into detoxing, I've gone through it a dozen more times at least, but none to the same degree.  It's funny that, still, I don't attribute how I'm feeling to detox.  Just last week I started a new therapy called FSM (or Frequency Specific Microcurrent) to help with my inflammation on a cellular level.  It basically cleans out your cells, getting rid of the toxins that have attached themselves to the cells and allows for healing to happen.  Later the day I started FSM I thought I had the flu.  I felt so horrible I laid my head on the kitchen table and cried.  My little boy said, "Where's my mommy?  What happened to you??" I felt terrible for making him feel sad.  I told my sister that I didn't think the therapy was working because now I was sick with the flu.  And she said "You're Detoxing Dummy!"  (minus the "dummy" part but it WAS implied!  lol).

So, I write all this for anyone who is starting to eat clean, go Raw or do a Cleanse.  You WILL experience detox and you might not know what's going on or may easily become discouraged.  Hopefully this will help you not be discouraged.  Know that this too will pass and you'll be a lot healthier for it!

5 comments:

  1. I am extremely thankful that I got all my detoxing over with in two weeks. The longest two weeks of my life...but they are long past me now. However, my body lets me know rather quickly when I eat something that isn't food....

    Thank you for encouraging people through the muck...it's hard to explain until you go through it. :)

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  2. When Steve went raw, he didn't start detoxing until 2 weeks in....It took him that long to heal enough to begin detoxing. How crazy is that! And with each new level of healing in his gut, he has detoxed more. It's a fascinating cycle! But the end result...so much better than the sick person he was before :)

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  3. ah...without the two of you I'd know nothing about detox. Love you both! :-)

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  4. Hi Amy, I'm Soo's SIL and I came across your blog from Monica's blog... and I'm so interested in the Clean eating that you talk about... i'm going to start wtih the green smoothies to start. I don't think I could do a total clean eating/raw...but at least get a little healthier. I hope you don't mind I'm following your blog!

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  5. Elvira - that is awesome! I'm so glad you are. And thank you for commenting and letting me know. The smoothies are the perfect place to start and a great way to start getting healthy. I've got a bunch of new blogs written in my head...I need to take time to get them out here into cyber space! There will be another one soon :-) Thanks again!

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