The Grouchy Diet

[kitchen_kink]

Every now and then, when I start to feel particularly toxic, when I start eating dessert every night, for example, or having wine with dinner four or five times a week, or when I'm not only drinking two cups of coffee in the morning, but also enjoying a mocha at the cafe in the afternoon while I write...well...I feel like it's time for a detox.

I've tried many things. I haven't tried simple water-fasting, mainly because I think doing that for a day or more would slow my metabolism down, not to mention that it makes me pass out. I'm no Gandhi; I'm a big girl with a lot of muscle-mass to keep going.

So I've tried juice fasting. I've tried some sort of supposed Seneca Indian Cleaning Diet, where you eat only fruits and their juices one day, only herbal teas the next, only vegetables and their juices the third day, and only broth the fourth. No dice; I caved before the last day, and the herbal tea day was too much.

So I talked to a naturopath I know in Hawai'i, who said that if I'm one of those people who doesn't take well to fasting, I should try simple, easy to digest cooked vegetables, a sprouted, cooked grain that isn't wheat, corn or oats, and a "nutriceutical," some combination of protein and other nutrients in a powder, which I could get from her. (She doesn't like or trust the ones they have in Whole Foods.) This is especially for liver cleansing, which she suggested is good for acne.

Meanwhile, I found some success about a year ago when I gave up on a fruit fast yet again (it sends my blood sugar into the toilet) and decided to go on a vegan diet for four days, with no: caffeine, alcohol, refined sugar, or wheat.

So I'm doing that again, except that yesterday I tried to go without any complex carbs.

Not. Working. So. Well.

This morning I awoke with a killer headache, which I think can be traced to caffeine withdrawal. I was also weak and faint, so I started the day with an apple and some peanut butter. It helped, a little. But yesterday and today I've been severely lacking focus.

My understanding of fasting is that it's meant to be a contemplative time, a time when it's okay for your mind to go wandering, in fact, crucial. It's a journey that lifts you out of the physical realm, out even of the mental realm, to the spiritual.

Mainly because you can't walk or think straight.

So right now I'm eating some brown rice, and I can already feel the carbs doing their work. I've also taking a tip from ceelove and I'm eating lemon juice, olive oil, raw garlic, parsley and cayenne pepper to assist the liver cleanse.

But I still feel pretty depressed and unfocussed.

Does anyone have any experience with detoxing (in whatever manner), and know how long you should feel, well, toxic, before the crap flushes out of your system?

And yes, I'm drinking plenty of water.

Comments

[greendalek.livejournal.com]

Don't know if it's exactly hailed as a detoxification program, but I've been on Atkins since February --at the same time having also removed alcohol and caffeine from my diet. After about two weeks of crumminess I began to feel downright high in the mornings.

The rush of protein/fat and the purge of carbohydrates not only caused me to drop 20 pounds this summer, but also left me with a massive surge of excess energy, which I've put to use running, lifting, and working out in other highly...er, recreational ways. I sleep like the dead and wake up at 6am ready to run to Canada and back. Good feeling.

Most amazing development is, if I am offered something high in carbs or sugars (like a bagel or a piece of cake), it actually makes me a little queasy --if that's not detoxification, I don't know what is. I wish I had some concrete numbers to show you, but I sure as hell feel cleansed.

[dietrich.livejournal.com]

Wow. Yeah, I've heard that Atkins is great for some people. I know I feel like a million bucks when I have a rare steak and a salad, or a salad with seared tuna or chicken, or really good sushi. I'd probably do well on it.

I'd have to read the book, though. I've heard too much about people doing it improperly.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

I would ask the naturopath about the detoxing thing, honestly.

However, I will tell you that eliminating the carbs from my system made me get very depressed. I added them back starting on Friday, and Boy has noted that I'm much easier to live with now. Apparently, I've undergone a radical personality shift since I began to eat pasta again.

Carbs are the building blocks for serotonin, and some of us need more than others.

*mwah*

[ectropy.livejournal.com]

Carbs are the building blocks for serotonin, and some of us need more than others.

I thought 5-hydroxytryptophan was the building block for serotonin. ;)

On the other hand, I'm chronically serotonin deficient yet heavy carb diets just make me sick -- queasy, irritable, sluggish, and badly depressed. Finding the right diet for youself is the way to go.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

Well, my nutritionist said you need carbs to build serotonin, and some people need more than others - some people need barely any.

Hmmm...if your body doesn't process carbs properly and you are serotonin deficient, perhaps the two are linked?

[amber-phoenix.livejournal.com]

there are so many ways to cleanse, and primarily becuase there are so many types of toxicity and so many different sorts of digestive systems. part of the contemplation is finding out what works for you and your body. i find that different things take different amounts of time for me to purge. if i'm doing a cleansing fast right (right for me that is) i do it in stages: first giving up caffiene, simple sugars, tobacco (if i've been using), alcohol, and red meat, then giving up dairy and poultry, then working down to something like brown rice, almonds, vegetables and fruits, then possibly just juice, then just tea, then working my way back up. it takes a while, but has seemed pretty darn effective.

dr. d's pretty smart. i should remeber to ask her for local referrals again.