Symptoms Of Toxicity
There are many effects that toxins can have on one’s body. Exposure to some toxins may create immediate symptoms, while other toxins may take awhile to produce symptoms in the body. The effects of toxins often depend on the dosage, frequency, and potency of one’s exposure to them. Elson Hass outlines the short-term symptoms of toxins as including headaches, joint pains, coughs, frequent colds, wheezing, sore throat, backaches, fever, hives, nausea, bad breath, constipation, environmental congestion, fatigue, and anxiety (The Detox Diet 1996). Health problems arising from toxicity in the body include acne, allergies, hepatitis, heart disease, cancer, parasites, kidney stones, stroke, menstrual problems, Alzheimer’s disease, tension headaches, and Parkinson’s disease (The Detox Diet 1996).
A central belief in many detoxification programs is that there are always roots to diseases that can often be eliminated through cleansing and maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle. In his book Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine (2003), Gabriel Cousens looks at how the cycle of disease begins. The cycle of disease starts when the cells in one’s body are put under stress. This comes about through taking in sugar, an acidic diet, acidic thoughts and emotions (which will be looked at later in this course), environmental pollution, radiation, low oxygen, and dehydration. These substances and conditions change the body by making it more acidic. When this happens, the red blood cells change from having a healthy negative charge to a positive charge. The red blood cells are thus no longer repelled from each other and instead begin to clump together. When they clump together, the red blood cells become overrun by mold and fungus. Unhealthy red blood cells also clump to healthy ones, causing the healthy cells to become positively charged as well. The fungus and mold that are able to thrive in such an internal environment release acids into the body, such as lactic acid, alcohol, and uric acid. These disturb the functioning of the body’s organs. As a result, the body moves into a state of chronic disease because the cells of the body are dying.
The beginning of the cycle of disease includes the use of sugar and other acidic foods. These have not been a part of peoples’ diets throughout history. Anderson says that since 1900 there has been a departure from nature in both the health care and food industries. This has meant a shift toward unnatural drugs and processed foods, both of which cause our bodies to become filled with toxic waste. In modern day North American society, drug companies advocate the use of pharmaceutical drugs as a cure for mental and physical distress. Before the emergence of pharmaceutical companies, however, food was used as medicine for thousands of years. Jean Carper states in her book The Food Pharmacy (1988) that pharmaceutical companies “have taken over as magic bullets, making us forget much of our rich heritage in the medical uses of foods. Food is indeed our largest, most complex pharmacy- a monumental drugstore stocked with an elaborate display of non prescription drugs of nature’s mysterious design.” Food can be people’s medicine, and this belief is certainly part of the processes of cleansing and fasting.
By choosing to eat certain foods and herbs, cleansing experts say it is possible to first eliminate any toxins in our bodies that are there from previous diets and lifestyles and then prevent toxins from building up. David Wolfe, one of the leading experts of raw food, encourages people to seek high states of physical, mental and spiritual wellness because they are possible. Wolfe experiences bountiful energy and feelings of purpose and connectedness in his life. He states, “If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting” (http://www.davidwolfe.com). If we continue to eat the Standard American Diet and use pharmaceutical drugs, we may likely follow in the path of the many people who have had difficult final years of their lives. Fasting and cleansing can provide effective, alternative methods of releasing built-up toxins, which can then help us to make lifestyle changes towards healthier and happier lives.