by Kay Lubacke, B.A., M.S.
As you begin to change your way of eating and add supplements and exercise to your daily living habits, you can expect changes to take place in your body, changes which are often confusing. These changes indicate positive improvement and need to be understood as such.
What is meant by a better nutritional program? It is the introduction of foods of higher quality in place of lower quality (see The Junk Food Withdrawal Manual by Monte Kline) and the addition of supplements such as herbs and vitamins. In deciding which foods to choose remember that the closer the food comes to the natural state, the higher the quality. In the natural condition, uncooked, all the enzymes are found intact, the amino acids are in their finest form, and the minerals, vitamins, trace elements, carbohydrates and "life force" are present. This life force, in turn is capable of reproducing healthy tissue.
The quality of a nutritional program is also improved by omitting toxic substances such as coffee, tea, chocolate, tobacco, salt, pepper, soft drinks, and cigarettes.
Now, what happens when a person follows these rules and makes a decided improvement in the quality of the food consumed and adds those supplements indicated? 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 begin to manifest immediately. 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 discard the lower grade materials and tissues to make room for the superior materials which it uses to make new and healthier tissue. The body is very selective and always aims for improvement resulting in better health.
What, then are the symptoms or signs which we might expect when we first begin to emit the lower grade foods and instead introduce superior foods (remember, herbs are food), those which are more alive and more natural? 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 teobromine which are removed from the tissues and transported through the bloodstream's 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 slower action of the heart--the resting phase which follows the stimulation of more rapid heart action forced upon the body when stimulants were being used. The slower action of the heart, while definitely more healthy, may be experienced as a depressed state of mind for 3-10 days. Then 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--those that have additives, spices, salt and pepper, and preservatives tend to be more stimulating than those less prepared and more natural. Likewise, animal foods such as meat are more stimulating than cheese, nuts and vegetable proteins. Consequently, the withdrawal of stimulation which follows the change in diet toward the more natural produces a slower resting phase for the heart 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.
After continuing on an improved dietary regimen for any length of time, one may expect to experience "retracing". The cellular intelligence says something like "Oh! Look at all those fine building materials coming in. 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 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 masses have been here too long--out with them. These arthritic deposits in the joints need to be cleaned up. Let’s get these irritating food preservatives, aspirins, sleeping pills and drugs out the way along with these other masses of fat which have made life so burdensome for us for so long. Let's get going and keep going till the job is done--till we have a beautiful new house!"
