Detoxification Symptons

Detoxification What Is It?
Detoxification is the term used for the symptoms – both physical and mental – that may appear when we alter our lifestyle by starting something new such as a diet or exercising - or discontinuing a currrent habit such as eating chocolate or drinking coffee. These symptoms may include headache, stomachache, coughs, diarrhoea, skin rash, clogged sinus, fever, as well as feeling run down and irritable. The symptoms may be of short duration and slight irritation, or they could last longer and cause considerable discomfort.

Because these symptoms are the same as those that show up in certain illnesses, changing your diet or lifestyle can result in misunderstanding: If I am doing something that is supposed to be good for me, why do I feel worse, and not better? Understanding this apparent contradiction is perhaps the first and most important hurdle we must get over when making dietary or lifestyle changes.

If you consider this carefully however, it is easy to understand. Think how you might have experienced this on a short-term basis. If you don’t exercise regularly then play some soccer with the kids, the next day you will feel dead tired with sore muscles. This is your body reacting to something it is not used to. You can see the same thing happen when you stop a regular activity like drinking coffee. You will probably notice you have less energy and even have a headache for a couple of days. When you change your diet or lifestyle the same thing happens – your body reacts to the change.

Why Does This Happen?
As we live, toxins accumulate in our body. Some are due to our diet and others due to our environment. Of course our lifestyle also fits in here. If you smoke or use alcohol you are accumulating even more toxins.

When you make a change in diet or lifestyle through stopping a bad habit or eating better, your cells begin eliminating the toxins. Before finding the exit however, the toxins are released into the bloodstream and are carried throughout the circulatory system.

This transport and elimination may result in the symptoms we have mentioned. Often the toxins are eliminated through the skin resulting in rashes or other skin problems, especially if you are prone to such problems. You may also feel a lack of energy. With the absence of toxins, you may also find that you absorb substances more easily. Thus, the sugar and caffeine in a soft drink might really set you off.

In a nutshell, we could say that the body always goes for quality, and when what’s coming in is of higher quality than the present tissue, the body will discard the present tissue because it wants to make room for tissue created by the higher quality food.

How Severe Are The Symptons And How Long Do They Last?
This depends on what your lifestyle had been like before making the change, and how quickly you make the change.

The duration of the symptoms might be linear – there is a greater chance that they will come in cycles. At first you may feel better, and then experience some detox symptoms. After the initial toxins are flooded out, you will feel good again, if not better. However the body then "goes deeper" and finds more toxins to eliminate and the symptoms can appear again. And after even more toxins are eliminated, you will feel even better yet. As things progress, you fill find that the period of symptoms is shorter and the period of well being is greater.

What Can I Do During This Period?
The hardest thing for many people to accept is that they are not sick – to realise that the body is simply cleansing itself! Once you get beyond this psychological barrier, the rest is easy.

The most important things to do during this period is to rest and DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. Help the elimination of the toxins by washing out with water - the more the better! Drink, Drink, Drink!!!

Some Possible Detoxification Symptoms
Clogged sinus
Constipation
Cough
Diarrhoea
Fatigue
Fever
Flu-like symptoms
Cold-like symptoms
Gas
Headaches
Irritability
Moodiness
Skin rash
Stomachache