Keeping in mind I am going through a continual body cleanse – detox, I want to summarize this part of my experience. It is very clear to me how important a healthy functioning digestive tract is. They say 80% of our immune system is in our gut. That should be a wakeup call for everyone. Good health begins with a well functioning gut.
While the subject of Candida is still very controversial, it should be something everyone is aware of. It is one of the most basic forms of imbalance and whether you look at it as a root cause or more of a symptom of imbalance, either way it disserves some attention. My current Doctor, Dr Warren Levin, certainly sees it as an under treated complication that influences whether or not a patient with chronic disease can recover from illness.
My recent experience with the Candida Cleansing diet has indicated a few things to me. The major thing is that my daily diet affects my daily ability to think clearly and lead a productive and happy life. My weight, specifically around my waist, is very sensitive to the balance of my gut. From my own experience and what I have read, there may be pounds of yeast overgrowth that should go away with a good Candida Cleanse. The negative reactions from the diet were from the lack of carbs and die off. At one point I was becoming noticeably weak to the point that I could not do my regular work out at the gym. Once I reintroduced some healthy carbohydrates, my strength quickly returned. I am not saying you should just eat the carbs in the beginning. I believe it is sometimes necessary that we make adjustments temporarily to get the results and balance that we need. Once you make the correction our bodies will function on a more “normal” diet. The die off is also temporary. Every effective cleanse or detox will have some negative side effects temporarily.
It is also clear to me that my motivation and sense of well being are directly affected by what I eat and the health of my gut. Just because I spent the first half of my life eating a certain way, and for a long time was ok with that, does not mean I can live that way for the rest of my life. Things change in our environment and our bodies. I believe much of this change is simply the accumulative affects of toxins or unhealthy substances and lifestyle.
The wonderful thing is that we all can take responsibility for our own health and well being. Not only can diet and lifestyle changes be preventive but they can be corrective. Before undergoing any unnatural or pharmaceutical treatments for any number of conditions, a person should do what they can do get a grip on their most basic health functions. You don’t even need to spend the money I have on all the testing. Simply gain an understanding of how our health actually works and experiment with food sensitivities and natural body cleansing methods. When it comes down to it, the doctors just make their best diagnosis based on the evidence before them and then it is trial and error. No matter how many tests you have done, the proof is in the pudding. If your symptoms don’t improve, you try something else. Once you start down the natural health road, it is just one big adventure.