I’ve heard many times from those who are making positive change to their lifestyle that the very foods they are introducing to add more antioxidants, fiber, or vital minerals to their diet seem to cause an adverse reaction. The questions people are most often are: Why is my high-fiber cereal giving me indigestion (or, making me constipated)? Why does the antioxidant juice give me a headache and make me feel so nauseous? How come when I eat salads or leafy greens, I feel tired and bloated, but when I eat WonderBread or McDonald’s I feel fine?
If this sounds like what you’re experiencing, you’re not alone. These are very common responses to a change in your diet - and can be solved either by finding a better quality supplement or by easing your body more gradually into good health.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to this kind of health challenge - because there are two possible reasons for your body to have an uncomfortable reaction to a food that’s supposed to be good for you.
Often, this kind of reaction happens because the supplement in question really isn’t good for you.
Most supplements are bulked up with “fillers” to make their texture, flavor, and color more palatable, or simply to make them seem more impressive (you think Buckley’s really has to taste like that?).
Antioxidant juices may contain “junk juices” like sweet grape - or even sugar - to make them taste sweeter. Fiber products can be rife with sugar and other contents used to disguise the texture or flavor of ingredients that are actually good for you - and these flavorings can actually do the opposite of what the product is advertised for. Metamucil brand, for instance, has more sugar in it than psyllium husk (the only fiber ingredient) - "sucrose" is the first ingredient, psyllium second, followed (on flavored varieties) by “natural and artificial flavour” and an artificial color.
It’s wise to be suspicious of foods that claim to be high in fiber or to support good health. It’s a marketing ploy, and may or may not have much in the way of facts behind the claim. “High fiber” cereal and “whole wheat” or “fortified” breads contain just as much or more sugar and artificial flavorings as their regular counterparts. If you’ve fallen for one of these well-done marketing ploys, your body may be reacting, not to the fiber or the antioxidant itself, but to the other garbage ingredients.
It’s well worth the effort to do your own research into ingredients and competitors’ products (or find a resource you trust) before starting a supplement regimen. You might also consider a whole foods approach rather than a prepared supplement.
A second cause of adverse reactions to foods that are intended to bring your body into balance is an effect known as a “healing crisis” or “cleansing crisis.”
If, like most Westerners, you grew up on a diet high in sugar and refined foods, decreasing the amount of prepared foods and starchy, high-glycemic sweets that you eat can trigger physical and psychological symptoms of withdrawal. Not only will the body react to removing sugar, white flour, and processed foods from the diet as it would after an addiction; if you’re not used to getting enough water, fiber, or raw fruits and veggies you may experience a “cleansing crisis” when you start to make positive changes to your lifestyle.
This type of reaction is especially common in neophyte raw-foodists. A body that is acidic and that is used to being fed acid-forming foods like sugar, alcohol, white flour, yeast, refined carbohydrates, dairy, chocolate and coffee will feel differently when you begin giving it real food.
This doesn’t have to be discouraging! Rather, a cleansing crisis is a sign that you are moving in the right direction... but you might be going too quickly. An adverse reaction is not the goal of cleansing. In making improvements to your health, you should feel, think and look better, not worse!
The best advice, if you experience this kind of reaction, is to decrease the amount of fiber or your supplement or ease yourself onto a more raw/unrefined diet more gradually and gently. Think in small steps. Fresh lemon juice, an enzyme supplement, apple cider vinegar in small quantities, and wolfberries can help ease your body’s internal climate to a healthier state and making beneficial changes easier. So can eliminating toxins that you may be craving, like sugar and caffeine.
How can you tell which type of reaction you’re experiencing?
First, check the labels on your supplements. What’s really in there? If your high-fiber cereal or antioxidant shake is loaded with sugar, grape juice, artificial flavor, colors that have numbers, or (the worst!) an artificial sweetener, your body would most likely react better to a different supplement without these additives. However, even thorough research won’t tell you everything. Sometimes there is no apparent reason for a reaction. A fiber supplement that is perfect for you may be the worst one for your sister or best friend, and you won’t necessarily be able to determine that yourself.
Likewise, if what you’re experiencing is a toxicity reaction or a cleansing crisis thanks to something that is part of your regular diet, you may need help identifying it. A naturopath, dowser, an Energy Medicine or Touch for Health practitioner, or a holistic nutritionist can help you determine precisely what is causing your reaction and then set you up with a protocol that will fit your health and your body’s needs.
Related articles: What is Cleansing? Acid-Alkali Balance, Raw Food Diets and Cleansing with Supplements
