Many of you have started your detox journey and have been having very uncomfortable detox symptoms. You are probably wondering if what you are feeling is normal since starting your detox. Detoxification involves the body working backwards to fully heal a disease. This means expelling the obstructions causing organ, gland and system weakness. Removing obstructions can be an uncomfortable, but necessary process in healing. It is only in an alkaline medium that the body can rebuild healthy tissue and truly reverse illness. In this post we will discuss what are signs of good detoxification and what are the detox symptoms that you want to avoid having.
Detox symptoms are signs that the body is starting to expectorate and pull on acids and obstructions. These symptoms can vary from having: cold and flu-like symptoms, itching of the skin, insomnia, cramping of the stomach or muscles, bouts of fatigue, and so on. The best detoxification symptoms when first starting out will generally always be that of expectoration (release of obstructions through any opening of the body.) Things like sneezing and coughing to get mucus out of the head area, is the body's attempt to release congestion from the head and brain. You will notice that when you start to eliminate foods that stop the detox process from your diet (like animal products, processed foods, and almost all cooked foods in general) and include hydrating foods like fruits and raw foods - your body will begin to expel mucus congestion. It will come out from every opening (nose, throat, ears, eyes, skin, and even rectally/vaginally.) This detox symptom is to be celebrated. One area in particular that can be difficult to detox is the head area. The head area is one of the hardest areas of the body to heal and drain, since it is so far away from the kidneys (the body's main channel of elimination). The kidneys filter acids out of the body in order to heal the system as a whole. Sometimes kidney filtration can be difficult to achieve for some people -it may take going deeper with the diet and herbs to finally see sediment (wastes) coming out of the body through this channel.
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This is the main way to heal the body from a systemic standpoint - cleansing of all the tissues and cells through release of sediment through the kidneys. However, when someone is suffering - they need obstructions out fast! For someone who has many health issues stemming from head congestion, cold and flu like symptoms are a god-send and are essential to achieve during one's healing journey. Having a cold and flu like symptom for many days can equal up to 2-3 months of detoxification work! If one can achieve this, it can be a major breakthrough on their detox journey. On the other spectrum, a detox symptom that can be very unpleasant and can cause damage is when the body starts to expectorate acids out through the skin. This can cause things like rashes, itching, hives, acne, and boils that can burn the skin and can even cause scarring if left unattended. In these situations, the body starts to release acids through the skin because the kidneys are either weak or overburdened. If you see detox symptoms like these, you must either slow your detox down by including some heavier foods like cooked vegetables (depending on what level of detox you are in) or you can continue going with your detox and not stopping this release, but rather supporting it by adding kidney support in the form of herbs. We never want acids to come out through the skin if they start burning the skin's tissue up and breaking it down. Rather, we want acids to come out through the kidneys and urine to be eliminated by the body. The kidneys are the key to healing the skin in any situation - especially skin conditions like Eczema and Psoriasis.
Another detox symptom that you don't want to go on for too long would be extreme changes in bowel movements, such as constipation or diarrhea. Often times when changing our diets to something our body isn't used to, our regularity can change. This is very often the case when switching to a raw foods diet. Depending on a person's weaknesses, they will either feel constipated at first for a few days, or start going to the bathroom a lot – even diarrhea. Constipation for a long period of time is never good and can be pointing to several weaknesses in the body the person has (adrenal or gland issues, nervous system issues, prolapsing of the colon or major lymphatic issues in the colon.) The only way to pinpoint what is causing an issue like this is to get a health assessment of your entire body by a detox specialist like myself, skilled in iridology. It is important to note that any toxins that build up in the colon always directly affect every part of the human body as the colon is a reflexive organ that can feed toxicity to areas like the heart and brain and even put pressure on these organs. It is very important to keep the bowels moving during your detox journey. Having 3-4 bowel movements a day, or however many times you eat in a day, is what you want to see - daily! That being said, some people start going too frequently to the bathroom when they first start to detox. This can lead to dehydration fast. Again, a few days of loose stools is perfectly normal as the body is usually purging old backed up stools that haven't been eliminated yet, but weeks of any diarrhea should not be allowed to continue. This is why it is crucial to include a bowel restorative formula to be taken regularly on your healing journey. The herbal formula I recommend to my clients is a cleanser of the entire colon as well as a strengthener. It does not contain addictive laxatives like Senna leaf (which I never recommend as they do not heal the body and are habit-forming), but rather restorative herbs like marshmallow root, slippery elm bark, plantain leaf, wild yam, and fennel are all detoxifying to the bowels, heal the colon tissue, and maintain healthy regularity during detox.
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When lymph node swelling sticks around for a long time and is not going down, this points to a great level of lymphatic congestion - often the kidneys being over-burdened during detox and the body not being able to drain the lymph nodes out. Prolonged lymph node swelling should be avoided as it points to acids and toxins not being removed and are thus destroying the surrounding tissue. This can lead to degeneration - like we see in cancer. The lymph nodes are responsible for breaking down and neutralizing all acidic cellular wastes before it is sent to the kidneys to be eliminated from the body through the urine. Kidney filtration is important to achieve in healing swollen lymph nodes. You want to check if you are achieving filtration by examining your urine in a clear jar to see if any wastes have settled on the bottom (this is sewage leaving the body.) The lymph node sites have beneficial bacteria that help in the breakdown of wastes. If the lymph nodes weren't doing their job, the kidneys would burn from the acidic wastes. This is often the case when people have mid to lower back pain (kidney pain), or burning upon urination. These are signs that they are losing their kidneys. We never want prolonged lymph node swelling of more than a few days during detox. There are many causes of why lymph node swelling can occur during detoxification. Those new to detoxification can often see this problem occur during their detox journey if they are taking too many lymphatic herbs and not enough kidney and adrenal gland herbs. They could be detoxing too fast for the body to keep up. This is not to say that all lymph node swelling is bad during detoxification. During good detoxification, the swelling and draining of lymph nodes (going up and down) is a sign of good detox taking place! Waxing and waning is the natural rhythm of the universe. Healing is never linear. It goes up and down, as does one's diet on a detox journey. The ultimate goal is to eliminate acids from the areas that the lymph node sites are located, and this is done by ensuring you are supporting all the main channels of elimination with the correct diet, herbs, and detoxification tools specific to your weaknesses/symptoms.
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A Diet and Herbal Protocol Designed for You: The Master Your Health Package
These are only some of the detox symptoms you want to avoid if you want to truly heal and have a comfortable detox experience. I know so many out there are very sick right now. I know how difficult it can be to work the body out of illness on your own, especially if you are new to all of this information. To ensure the most success in your healing, I recommend working with someone experienced in detoxification that can help guide you in the right direction in your detox approach. Remember, knowing the cause of your illness (your body's organ and gland weaknesses) is key to healing any disease. A detox specialist like myself analyzes the body as a whole through examining all of your symptoms, your health history, your genetic family background and use iridology (examining the eyes) as a tool to piece all the puzzle pieces together to get to the root cause of all of your health issues. With this information, a detox specialist creates a healing protocol specific to you to help you heal your entire body from head to toe. I have helped many out of their chronic and degenerative illnesses that could not have possibly done so on their own without expert guidance. I am overjoyed to help those out of their pain, suffering and "incurable" illnesses. "Incurable" does not exist in the realm of detoxification. Detoxification is the highest form of healing on the planet!
Until next time,
Happy Healing!
-Ailin Duran D.S.
To Work with me one-on-one on your healing journey, visit our Services page!