It takes time to be comfortable with the changes in your life no matter what those changes are, and your diet is no exception to that.  It is not unusual to feel physically uncomfortable as you detoxify in the process of making over your body chemistry with a healthful diet-as strange as that seems!  The more stimulating or harmful your prior habits, the worse you feel when you stop them.  When breaking your addiction to salt, meat, dairy, saturated fat, processed foods and other substances, you might feel headachy, fatigued, or even a little itchy or ill, but the good news is these symptoms rarely last longer than a  few days. It’s a healthy and risk free way of eliminating food cravings and overeating.

The physiological and emotional components that lead to food cravings and overeating are this:   Low nutrient eating (and toxic eating) leads to increased cellular toxicity with undesirable levels of free radicals and Advanced Glycation End products (AGE’s).  This toxicity causes addictive withdrawal symptoms (we now know this to be “toxic hunger”) which results in more frequent eating and overeating.  How many of you can relate to this?  Understanding these concepts and incorporating a sufficient amount of nutrient rich foods is critical to overcoming this addictive cycle!

Some people are so addicted to stimulating food, sugary sweets, and overeating, they may even feel depressed when they don’t eat them!    For example, cheese, salt, and chocolate are all addictive, and it takes a long period of abstaining to beat these addictions.  Sugar and caffeine, especially when mixed together, are highly addictive and create a significant amount of discomfort when stopping.  Sugar withdrawal symptoms have been demonstrated to be similar to withdrawal symptoms from opiates, including anxiety and tremors.    I have seem patients with a history of severe chronic headaches, who were on drugs for headache suppression, develop fever, backaches, diarrhea, and other severe detoxification symptoms when stopping medications that contain caffeine, such as Excedrin, Fiorinal and Fioricet.  Fortunately, their suffering is short.  Through high-nutrient eating, these people have been able to make dramatic recoveries.

High-nutrient eating is the only antidote to get over this yo-yoing to get healthy.  Toxic wastes build up in our tissues, and we are unable to remove them unless high-levels of phytochemicals are present and the intake of toxins is stopped.  You must allow this detoxification to occur.  An important hurdle to achieving your ideal weight and excellent health is getting rid of your addictions.  After that occurs, you may feel like you have been given a new life and will find it easier to move forward and be one step closer to truly eating for health.

One of the best things you can do for your diet to detoxify your cells is to eat a large amount daily of cruciferous vegetables.  If you don’t know what vegetables those would be, I am listing them here:  arugula, cauliflower, red cabbage, Bok Choy, collards, rutabaga, broccoli, horseradish, turnips, broccoli rabe, kale, turnip greens, broccolini, kohlrabi, watercress, brussels sprouts, mustard greens, cabbage and radish.  These vegetables act like little “scrub brushes” for your cells, cleansing them to release the toxins.

If you are ready to get of your cycle of yo-yo dieting or addictive food practices that keep you from getting the end result you are looking for in your health or weight loss result, give our office a try.  We are here to help you individually with your specific issues and needs.  We can work together to figure out what is the best approach for you.

About The Doctor

Dr. Josh Shields D.C., C.F.M.P is the clinic director and owner of Integrative Wellness Centers. He is a board certified functional medicine practitioner (1 of only 8000 in the U.S.) and has traveled the country as a consultant and educator of functional medicine for other professionals. Dr. Shields is recognized as an industry leader for pioneering and developing natural programs geared toward helping people reverse chronic disease and helping “healthy” people who want to become healthier. Don’t be surprised if you see doctors from other clinics spending the day and doing rounds trying to discover why Dr. Shields’ care is so effective.Dr. Shields has been helping patients for over thirteen years and has helped more than 2,000 patients successfully. Dr. Shields has been featured as an expert on several health and wellness topics for fortune 500 companies like GE capital and Comerica Bank. He is also a registered speaker for the American Diabetes Association.He and his wife have 3 children and currently live in the Novi, Michigan area.

To watch Dr. Shields own testimonial and why Integrative Wellness Centers was founded click this VIDEO button.