Detox Your Body And Mind

In the previous post Eat For Your Health And Spirituality, I suggested you explore your own best way to eat by consulting with your body. I don’t think it’s a good idea to let someone else — whether they are professional nutritionist or spiritual leader — decide that for you. Because each of us is different. And because you are responsible for your truth. (Of course, this is not just about diet — don’t buy into someone’s else’s truth just because he or she has a nice title or reputation).

Learning from the pros and more experienced people is good, but you make your own final decision.

Now here is one caution in doing so. Are you really free to make your own decision? Or is your decision influenced by internalized ideas and years’ of habits that have taken roots in your body? (Photo credit)

Addictive thinking

Most of us are addicted to certain substances and behaviors. It doesn’t matter if the substance is legal or not (that’s another aspect of the problem) — if you are conditioned to do / eat whether you really want to or not, then you are addicted.

All addiction share one common patten of thinking: It tries to justify itself. Whether your addiction is to drugs, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, or something more specific like hamburgers or fries or chocolate or ice cream, while the substance and the behavior pattern is in you, you are not really making your own decisions. Your addiction is making your decisions.

So, in order to make your own decision, you need to detox yourself. Otherwise, it will be like, “Okay, I’m going to eat meat. Let’s collect all the supporting data that justifies meat eating. Which famous spiritual leaders eat meat? Which nutritionists support meat?” Pretty soon, you do have a very strong argument how wonderful meat is.

My experiment with caffeine

Let me explain by example. I used to drink a small coffee almost every day. I could say I didn’t particularly like coffee, but I was in the habit of going to coffee shops anyway.

To find out if caffeine is really okay or not for me, I decided to stay away from it for a while. In theory, there are both studies that supports caffeine and cautions its negative effects on health. And as long as I keep drinking coffee, I naturally tend to listen to comforting opinion that says caffeine is fine. Further, I have no problem making a long list of famous coffee drinkers who seem to be quite fine.

But none of such things really matter. The best, most fair way to find out my truth with caffeine is to distant myself from it.

If I felt no change without caffeine, at least it’s not doing any wrong. If I felt better without caffeine, then I know caffeine is not good for me. If I felt bad without caffeine, then I need to figure out if it’s withdrawal symptoms or deficiency symptoms.

For withdrawal symptoms to calm down, it usually takes two to four weeks, so I decided to stay away from caffeine at least two weeks. No coffee, no tea, no soda, no chocolate.

Bam. I had horrible headache in the first few days of withdrawal. Then, it cleared like a magic. By the end of two week experiment, I didn’t even think about coffee.

In this case, it was obvious that the initial negative effect was withdrawal symptoms. And if a substance gives withdrawal symptoms, we know it is not good for our physical and emotional health.

How to do find out if a certain food is affecting you or not

So whether it’s meat, dairy, eggs, soy, wheat, sugary foods, or specific junk foods, the best way to find out the true effects of the food on YOU is to stay away from it for at least two weeks. Come on, I’m not saying forever. You can always go back to your old eating habit if you so decide.

Think of it as an experiment, not a diet change.

Now if the food in question is addictive, you are likely to have withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Deal with it one day at a time. It’s only for two weeks. Or you may be ready to go without it, like me waking up to be vegetarian one day, with no cravings or withdrawal symptoms.

Major detox

If you are more ambitious, you might want to do a major detox to cleanse your system. This will reset your overall food preference.

Water fasting would be ideal because it insulates you from all kinds of foods and their effects. Second best would be juice fasting. Third best would be to eat only vegetables with limited amount of carb vegs and fruits. (There is practically zero evidence that low carb vegetables such as greens can have negative effects on our health.)

You might want to use detox supplements like this along with controlling the food intake. Detox bath, such as adding 1 – 2 cups epsom salt, may help, too.

I’m currently doing the third option (eating plant foods only, paired with supplement and occasional detox bath).

What happens when you eat “bad” food when your system is clean

Here is an anecdote you can take amusement from. And a caution.

I ate cheesecake two days ago. I finally completed the draft of my eBook, so I was in a mood for celebration, and . . . my mind led me to cheesecake. Old habit dies hard.

It didn’t taste as good as I though it would. Oh, well.

Next morning, I had terrible stomachache. And embarrassing trips to bathroom. My head felt cloudy, and I had to take a nap afterwards. Ouch!

I didn’t have such a reaction when I was eating dairy often. It means my system is getting clean that even a bit of nasty stuff can cause major results. This is good — this way, my system is protecting itself. But it’s uncomfortable.

(Just to let you know — I know the cheesecake wasn’t spoiled. If it were, my system would have rejected it at the mouth, by automatically spitting it out, or at least at the stomach, by vomiting. I know this because my system does this with most of the fish sold in America or non-organic milk.)

Think about it — if you ingest a slightly toxic substance, which would be an effective way to protect your system, quickly getting rid of it or doing nothing? In the latter, the toxin stays in your system, your liver has to work hard, and still most of the toxins accumulate in your system. (And you may have though I’m the “weak” “sensitive” type. . . the truth is I’m healthier than the people who are okay with compromised foods.)

Detoxing and freeing your mind

The important point is this is not just about physical health. As I said in the beginning of this article, this is about freeing our mind. When we are physically addicted, our mind is addicted as well.

And my experience says detoxing the mind takes even longer than detoxing the body. My body is already out of cheesecake – the sugar and fat just don’t taste very good any more. But the conditioning in my mind still led me to have one. (Okay, lesson’s learned.)

How does our belief affect our health?

Just one more thing. Dr Bruce Lipton makes a big point about the placebo effect in his book The Biology of Belief. So, are all the effects of good eating really coming from our mind? For instance, raw food diet is all the rage now. There are so many stories of miraculous healing with raw foods, from obesity to cancer and other degenerative diseases.

Is it really raw foods that’s doing the good (physically), or is it because we hear these wonderful stories about raw foods and believe in them that bring out the miracles?

I don’t really know. I’d say, if it’s a positive effect, I care little if the cause was purely physical (foods) or belief. Or the mix of both.

I do think we are wise to be careful with negative beliefs. So if you are going to eat something that’s supposed to be no good to your health, have complete belief that the food is good for you. If you have any doubt or hesitation, even in the subconscious level, it can negatively affect you.

Dr Lipton says, in one of the YouTube video, “Belief is like pregnancy. You either believe or not.” Wanting to believe is not belief. Belief is simple and clear.

If you don’t 100% believe your food is good for you, you might want to change your eating habit.

So what do you think? Did this article inspire you to quit any foods or habits that you are addicted to? Please share in the comment.

Update: Here is a great article that beautifully explains the emotional side of food addiction. I think it helps a lot to understand our relationship with foods.
What Food Is Not at Choosing Raw