Today is the second day of the third and final week of this detox.
I just moved out of where I'd been living in PA and I'm back in my hometown in VA now. That is why I haven't exactly been vigilant about updating my blog these last few days. My apologies.
Here's what you need to know:
I cheated yesterday (twice) because I let people take me out for "going away" meals. I ate french fries with ketchup at lunch. I ate a solid meal for dinner (but followed the elimination guidelines and didn’t eat the peppers in my Panang Curry). Shame on me, I know.
Apart from that set-back, I'd been doing some serious thinking about this detox business. I don't feel that it has made many radical positives changes in my life, as I was rather expecting. Remember that swollen tonsil I'd developed shortly after I started the diet? Well, it went away after a couple days of gargling warm saltwater at bedtime and using homeopathic silver daily. Get this: about a week later my other tonsil became swollen and sore! Again, it went away after a few days but I almost never have throat troubles in the course of my regular-dieting life. During the second week of this detox I started experiencing headaches. Every day it seemed like I would have a headache that started out dull and progressively got worse as the day carried on. Not cool.
I’m still breaking out.
I still have hideous under-eye circles, despite best efforts to sleep more.
In short, I could be happier about the outcome of this diet so far.
Here’s me being perfectly honest with myself (and you):
Do I feel very guilty for cheating yesterday? Nope. Not even a little bit, actually.
Why not? I’m not seeing the results I thought I would.
Do I regret trying this detox? No way. I’m very glad I tried it and I would still recommend it to others who are plagued by various ailments, and even those who feel their health is pretty A-okay.
My thinking at this point is that my regular diet was not such a crazy departure from the detox diet and that is why the results have been lacking a bit o’ lustre. Yes, I ate chocolate. But I also ate greens. Yes, I ate french fries. But I also enjoy cooking at home ten times better than eating out (especially fast food). You see where I’m going with this?
What it comes down to, as I see it, is being self-aware. Being conscientious about what your inner and outer environments consist of is hugely important to your overall health. Being able to notice action/reaction like, “Gee, I ate that Hot Pocket for lunch and now all my bodily functions are shutting down” is what dieting and eating for health is all about.
Now that I’ve given you some food for thought (har har) it’s time to go make my dinner drink!
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of bummed that you are not getting the same benefits that some of my older patients got while doing the Clean 3 week program, but not entirely surprised.
I received this from my Mentor Dr Murphree last week, which I think explains why. Even though you do not have fibromyalgia, I think what he is saying applies to all those with chronic conditions:
Dr Rodger Murphree:
I recently had the opportunity to speak on fibromyalgia at a doctors conference in Orlando, Florida. There were about a dozen speakers and over 3,000 attendees at this conference.
A well-known doctor preceded my talk and I was anxious to hear what he had to say about fibromyalgia.
His talk was on ways to treat inflammatory diseases, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid, herniated disc syndrome, and fibromyalgia.
His lecture was very informative until he got to fibromyalgia. He began by saying that fibromyalgia could be treated just like these others illnesses-through changes in diet and nutritional supplements to reduce inflammation.
He went on to say that we (doctors) didn't need to use 5HTP, SAMe or high doses of magnesium, etc.
All we had to do was change our fibromyalgia patient's diets, add some antioxidants and that, along with "some luck," was all there was for fibromyalgia.
I didn't want to be rude, but I knew I had to say something.
Here were 400-500 doctors listening to this presentation who were about to leave without knowing that this doctor, like a lot of doctors, just didn't know what he was talking about.
Sure, a healthy diet is important, very important, but it won't correct fibromyalgia.
So I raised my hand and asked if he treated fibromyalgia patients? No, he didn't. Not since he was teaching and writing and doing research full time. I see, I said.
I then shared with him that in my experience, which involved over 14 years treating fibromyalgia patients as well as 3 books on the subject, dietary changes alone were ineffective.
I went on to highlight the research studies and biochemistry involved with low serotonin, norepinephrine, 5HTP, magnesium, adrenal glandulars, and SAMe.
I also summarized the problem of HPA-axis dysfunction (dysautonomia and bankrupted stress-coping chemicals) and how low adrenal and thyroid hormones were involved in fatigue, pain and mood disorders.
Now all the doctors in the room were nodding their heads. They knew from working with fibromyalgia patients that dietary changes alone didn't work. They also knew that what I was saying made a lot of sense.
The professor just kept asking if there was research to support all this. I was happy to direct the professor and doctors to my books on fibromyalgia, which detailed all the research. The sponsors of my talk sold out of my books in record time.
I read some two dozen-research journals a month. I appreciate the hard work that goes into them but most researchers don't know anything about real live patients.
Research is great, but a physician with experience, one who is in the trenches with difficult fibromyalgia patients, day in and day out is ALWAYS your best bet.