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Detoxing Reactions and Healing
Crises What Are They?
Jameth Sheridan, N.D. - HealthForce Nutritionals
A "detoxing reaction" or "healing crisis" is a natural, significant body
initiated process that can occur when accumulated toxins are being eliminated
from the body. These toxins come from unhealthful foods (primarily), impure air,
tap water, electromagnetic radiation, negative thoughts, etc. This internal body
detoxing is absolutely essential to maintain or regain health.
Detoxing reactions can occur for two somewhat opposite reasons:
1.) Ingestion of toxins. The body has accumulated/is still accumulating toxins
at a faster rate than it can eliminate them by normal means. It reaches a point
of "enough is enough" (toxic overload). In this scenario, the body will create a
detoxing reaction when you are eating or living unhealthfully.
2.) Increased vitality. When detoxing foods/practices are undertaken, such as
eating more raw, whole, vegan, health-promoting foods and many super food
supplements, the body's vitality increases, as does its ability to throw off
toxins. In this situation, the body will create a temporary detoxing reaction
because you are eating healthfully. The elimination of old toxins is commonly
mistaken as "this health food made me sick."
Symptoms of a detoxing reaction can include lethargy; temporary all-over muscle
aching; mucous or other discharge; a coated, pasty tongue; light-headedness upon
standing and in general; headaches; and flu-like symptoms in general. A detoxing
reaction/healing crisis may take the form of old symptoms that have been
previously suppressed. You may think you are sick. However, this detoxing
process is absolutely essential to achieve health and should not be suppressed
with drugs. The mainstream medical establishment has completely closed its
collective mind to detoxing and assumes that any symptoms displayed by the body
are caused by a microbe, so antibiotics are usually prescribed even if they
think the causative agent is a virus. Medical antibiotics have no effect on
viruses, other than weakening the immune system so viruses can replicate more.
Antibiotics and other drugs suppress detoxing and the immune system as well.
Since healthy, raw, vegan (no animal flesh, dairy or eggs) foods are relatively
non-toxic and contain nutrients which help to detoxify your cells (as do
superfoods), they can initiate, and allow the body to initiate, beneficial
detoxing reactions. This is a very good thing.
If a detoxing reaction does occur, I recommend consuming lots of healthy fluids
such as raw vegetable juices, raw fruit juices (diluted 50/50 with purified
water), fresh watery fruits, and purified water; along with super foods such as
wheat grass, barley grass, spirulina, certain herbs such as Ginkgo Balboa, plant
source enzymes such as Digestion Enhancement Enzymes™, HealthForce VitaMineral™
Green (a super food complex), etc., to assist in the detoxing and apprehending
of toxins. In addition, certain homeopathic remedies can assist the detoxing
process and make it more comfortable without suppressing it. Consult with a
Homeopathic practitioner, or of the many book on homeopathy, and/or a local
health food store for more information on homeopathic remedies. If possible,
avoid homeopathics that are in a base of lactose. I do not recommend true
fasting, meaning that nothing is consumed but water. I feel strongly that a
mostly liquid diet of fresh juices combined with bio-compatible nutritional
supplements™ (including those listed above), and either enemas or a mild herbal
laxative, is superior to pure water fasting. I feel this type of cleanse allows
for deeper, more effective detoxing and greater ease on the eliminative organs
(more detoxing with less severe, more comfortable and effective detoxing
reactions.)
The detoxing process may be slowed down or stopped by eating heavy food (cooked
or raw) such as tofu, tempeh, nuts and seeds (especially unsoaked or roasted);
or worse, bread, white flour and sugar, processed foods in general, animal
flesh, or dairy products (which I don't recommend). Prescription or
over-the-counter drugs are often taken to stop the symptoms of a detoxing
process. However, in addition to halting this beneficial detoxing process, the
body now has to deal with the added toxicity of the drugs. Suppressing detoxing
reactions/healing crises leads to lethargy, sickness, and eventually, to life
threatening degenerative diseases, even if suppressing the detoxing makes you
feel better in the short term. Obviously, assisting the detoxing process is
preferred and the only way to achieve actual health.
Without knowing the preceding information, many people have mistakenly concluded
that healthy raw foods and/or super foods made them sick, and unhealthful foods
or drugs made them well. If you do experience outwardly noticeable detoxing
symptoms, remember that they don't last forever, and once through them, people
often feel better than they have in years.
Some individuals (that are aware of the validity of detoxing reactions) hold the
firm position that microbes have nothing to do with being sick, and that all
sicknesses are actually detoxing reactions. Based on my extensive research
(including actual lab work with microbes), I have concluded that both beneficial
detoxing reactions and microbial illnesses do exist. To ignore either one these,
is, in my view, a very bad and dangerous idea.
Cleansing and microbial infections (bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic)
have similar symptoms. However, having symptoms of detoxing does not, by itself,
mean that you are having a beneficial detoxing reaction. You might be in
detoxing because you ate something or were subjected to something that was
toxic, and caused you to go into detoxing (see point #1 above).
I am not generally in favor of pharmaceutical antibiotics and they are widely
over-prescribed, misused and abused. They are often prescribed for viral
conditions, for which they essentially have no positive effect. However, I have
seen irrefutable cases where pharmaceutical antibiotics have clearly and
dramatically improved health in both companion animals and humans, and quite
literally saved lives. I would not have been caught dead saying this many years
ago, when I was fully entrenched in traditional raw food theories. I am also
aware of people who have died due to their refusal to take antibiotics, even
herbal ones. If pharmaceutical antibiotics become necessary, I strongly urge you
to consume protiobics (friendly bacteria) such as acidophilus and bifid us, and
to take liver protective and regenerative herbs or foods such as dandelion
greens, beets, and Milk Thistle extract (as found in Liver Rescue™ II+).
I suggest you seek out a health conscious, open-minded, nutritionally aware
health care professional (who understands the difference between genuine
sickness and genuine detoxing, and is aware of non-toxic alternatives to
antibiotic, antiviral, antifungal, and anti-parasitic drugs), and/or educating
yourself.
Jameth Sheridan, N.D.
HealthForce Nutritionals
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