Symptoms to Expect
When You Improve
Your Diet
by Dr. Stanley S. Bass
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 that 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 protein rich 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 digestibility 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 needed to rebuild
health.
As we go higher on the scale of quality, we begin to include protein
rich food which may be eaten in the unfired state, such as cheese which
is made from raw milk and unsalted. 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 the natural state in which it
occurs, or the closer to its raw, unfired form, the higher its quality.
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. The life force, in turn, is capable of reproducing healthy
tissue.
This same
classification of quality which we analyzed in relation to protein rich
foods applies to the carbohydrates (the starch and sugar-rich foods),
the fats, and the mineral-rich foods.
The quality of a nutritional program is also improved by omitting toxic
substances such as coffee, tea, chocolate, tobacco, salt, pepper, etc.
from your diet.
What is
the relation of quality of foods to recovery from illness? It is this in
a nutshell: The higher the quality of food we eat, the quicker we
recover from disease, provided we are able to digest and assimilate
properly.
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).
Now, what
happens when a person follows these rules and makes a decided
improvement in the quality of 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 and 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 discard the lower
grade materials and tissues to make room for the superior materials
which it uses to make new and healthier tissue.
This is
the plan of Nature -- the body is very selective and 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
self-curing nature of many conditions such as colds, fevers, cuts,
swellings, injuries, etc., furnishes endless examples of how the body
tends towards health--always--unless we do something to stop the
process.
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 most alive, more natural than we are accustomed to? When the use of
toxic stimulants 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
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 beat
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 preparation. Spices, salt, and other ingredients have
been added, as they tend to be more stimulating than less prepared and
more natural foods. Animal foods such as meat, fowl, fish, etc. 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
phase--which registers in the mind as relaxation or a decrease of
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.
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 days to a
week, and then quits will say, "Oh, I felt better on the old
diet--the new one makes me feel weak." He failed because he didn't
give his body a chance to adjust and complete its first phase of
action--recuperation. If he had waited a while longer, he would have
begun to feel better than before he started.
During
the initial stage (lasting about ten days on the average to several
weeks in others), the vital energies which are usually in the periphery
or external part of the body such 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 redeploying 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 intent
of the body.
It is important that he have patience and faith 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. It also helps to
drink plenty of pure water while detoxing.
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.
Continue.....Retracing
