question about reaction to raw foods & healing

April 6, 2006

Hi everyone,

I mostly lurk but wanted to pop in to ask your advice about my bodily

reactions, seemingly to raw foods :-/. Much to my chagrin, it seems that every

time I make a real attempt to eat 75-100% raw, I experience problems w/my

digestion. I'm not sure if these are normal detox symptoms...and if I simply

push

on they will eventually disappear???

I've also begun drinking about 2 liters of water daily, sometimes w/lemon

juice due to multiple kidney stones caused by an overactive parathryoid gland

(which I've learned is also the cause of my early dx'd osteoporosis in my hips

at age 51 - ARGH). I've also been diagnosed w/degenerative disk disease in

4 disks in my cervical spine AND I have assymptomatic hepatitis C....so as

you can see, I REALLY need to get my body terrain 'fixed' to promote healing.

I first noticed the symptoms when I was doing a raw challenge last

year...around the end of the first week, I began noticing intestinal spasms

(usually

at night when I was lying down - they'd be fluttering non-stop)...also had

diarrhea. I ended up stopping the challenge because of these 'symptoms' at day

14 (I think)....I was feeling great - except for those things.

Two weeks ago, I decided to try again and began by eating 100% raw during

the day (mostly fruit such as bananas, berries, mangos, pears, apples, a couple

of handfuls of raw cashews), and then a VERY large salad at night w/my

family, sometimes adding a bit of shrimp or chicken in the salad in my

transition.

But now I'm having the same symptoms, cramping from diarrhea, and

continuous intestinal spasms at night.

Can anyone shed any light on this? Any educated guesses at why this happens

in my gut? Has anyone else noticed these symptoms when eating high raw? Is

it IBS? Or is it that it might be a reaction to one of the foods in

particular I'm eating? I was thinking also it might be a reaction to nuts??

I've never been able to eat certain vegetables that I love such as cabbage

and green peppers without paying a high price (severe reaction when digesting

them), but perhaps there are more foods that I have a reaction to?? Certain

foods that I should eliminate???

I'm also exploring books about nutrition and healing as it relates to ph

levels...

Thanks, in advance, for your thoughts!

Warmly,

Denise in Louisiana

April 7, 2006

Hi Denise,

First, I want to applaud you for your courage and starting this incredibly

rewarding life style!

I also wanted to share with you that this incredible reward comes with a bit

of a challenge at first. I know from reading your post that you are experiencing

detoxification. All these things you described are classic symtoms when you are

just starting. Don't get discouraged. They are NORMAL. I want you to know that

you are body is still FUNCTIONING correctly after much abuse from years of

inproper food consumption / drug use/ less than healthy life style. Your body

has an indefinite capacity to heal -- as long as you give it a chance.

One another possible factor for your discomfort is inproper food combining.

Raw fresh fruits and nuts don't combine well at all. Fresh fruits are mostly

water and nuts are fat. Water and fat don't mix. Try eating nuts with dried

fruits like black mission figs. They are great mucus dessolver. Also, since you

are new, focus on BLENDED GREEN SMOOTHIES and soups. Your food should be 70%

Green leafy veggies. And they need to be blended because right now you don't

have the kind of digestive power to deal with a large quantity of indigested

fiber. Taking green soups /juices increases your digestive enzymes and stomach

acid. When you reach the adequate digestive power, you can start eating large

salads and " chunks " of raw foods without discomfort.

Hope this helps..

Mihoko

www.naturaw.com/mihoko.htm

www.mihokosekido.com

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