Excerpted from an article
by Stanley S. Bass, N.D., D.C., Ph.C.

Perhaps the greatest misunderstanding in the field of nutrition is the failure to understand and interpret the symptoms and changes which follow the beginning of a better nutritional program.  A remarkable thing happens when a person improves the quality of the food they consume, they get stronger and feel better — just not all at once.

When the food you ingest is of higher quality than the tissues from which the body is made, the body discards the lower-quality tissues, to make room for the higher-quality materials to make healthier tissue.

During this process of regeneration, which lasts about 10 days to several weeks, the emphasis is on breaking down and eliminating lower-quality tissue.  The vibrant energy often found in the external parts of the body, the muscles, and skin moves to vital internal organs and starts reconstruction.

This movement of energy produces a feeling of less energy in the muscles, which the mind interprets as weakness.  At this time, more rest and sleep is often needed.  And it’s imperative to avoid stimulants of any kind which will abort and defeat the regenerative process.

Remember, the body isn’t getting weaker.  It’s simply using its energies in more important internal work, rather than external work involving muscle movements.  With patience and diligence, a person will soon feel more energy than before.

By ingesting higher-quality foods, the body begins a process called “retracing.”  The initial focus is on eliminating the waste and toxins deposited in the tissues.

However, the process creates symptoms that are often misinterpreted.  For example, a person stops consuming coffee or chocolate and experiences headaches and a general letdown.  The body begins discarding toxins (caffeine or theobromine) by removing them from the tissues and transporting them through the bloodstream.

However, before toxins are passed through elimination, they register in our consciousness as pain — in other words, a headache.  The same toxins also stimulate the heart to beat more rapidly, thus producing the feeling of exhilaration.  The letdown is due to the slower action of the heart, which might produce a depressed state of mind.

The symptoms experienced during “retracing” are part of the healing process!  They are not deficiencies.  Do not treat them with stimulants or drugs.  These symptoms are constructive even through unpleasant at the moment.  Don’t try to cure the cure.

Specific symptoms will vary according to the materials being discarded, the condition of the organs involved in the elimination, and the amount of available energy.  They can include:

• Headaches

• Fever/chills

• Colds

• Skin eruptions

• Constipation

• Diarrhea

• Fatigue/sluggishness

• Nervousness

• Irritability

• Depression

• Frequent urination

• Other symptoms

The symptoms will be milder and pass more quickly, if one gets more rest and sleep.  Understand that the body is becoming healthier by eliminating waste and toxins;  had they remained trapped in the tissues, eventually they would have brought about illness and disease, thus causing greater pain and suffering.

Finally, don’t expect to improve your diet and feel better and better every day until you reach perfection.  The life in our body is cyclical in nature.  Health returns in a series of gradually diminishing cycles.  For example, you may begin eating better and start feeling better.  After some time, you experience a symptom such as nausea or diarrhea.

After a day, you feel even better than before and all goes well for a while.  Then you suddenly develop a cold, the chills, and lose your appetite.  Without the use of drugs, you recover from the symptoms and suddenly feel great.  This well-being continues for a time until you break out in a rash.  The rash flares up, but finally disappears.  And suddenly you feel better than you’ve felt in years.

As the body becomes pure, each reaction becomes milder and shorter in duration, followed by longer and longer periods of feeling better than ever before, until you reach a level plateau of vibrant health.