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Don't fight the Healing Process
(This article is by Jimmy Scott Ph.D. It is reprinted without permission because I have been unable to contact him.)
In the course of following a nutritional program for allergies or other problems, many people experience uncomfortable symptoms. This is known as a healing reaction.
The most common symptom my clients report is a temporary reduction in energy. They may find themselves sleeping longer, perhaps as much as 12 hours a night. Some people also report aches and pains in various parts of the body, digestive system disturbances such as gas, constipation, diarrhoea or other miscellaneous complaints.
These symptoms may occur because the body is ridding itself of the various substances that have been making it unwell - not only the materials that have accumulated in the colon, but also the antibodies and other substances that have built up in their individual cells, interfering with their normal functioning. As these substances are ejected out of the tissues, they are dumped into the system, making the body temporarily more toxic until they can be excreted. This is partly what produces the symptoms of the healing reaction. This effect is accentuated by the body's process of tearing apart defective tissue, repairing damaged cells, destroying parasites or infective agents and otherwise producing debris from the reconstruction.
I find that the more severe the individual's condition (the more toxic his or her body is), the stronger will be the healing reaction. Because the healing reaction is caused by the flushing of toxins out of the cells, the strength of the reaction also depends on how carefully the individual is following the recommended nutritional program. The more correctly the program is followed the stronger will be the healing reaction.
Why the old symptoms come back.
Often in the course of the healing process old symptoms temporarily reappear. Why should people have to go back through these old problems in the course of getting better? I believe that the specific symptoms that a person experiences at any given time depend on the balance among the various biochemical substances in the body. For example, when a person is perfectly healthy there is a certain ratio between Substance A and Substance B in the tissues. When this ratio gets out of balance to a certain degree, the person may feel fatigue; when the imbalance is greater, a headache may occur; when it is even greater the person may develop insomnia, and so on.
One reason people must re-experience symptoms as they get healthier is that in order to progress from say 100:1 imbalance to a 1:1 balance they have to go back through 98:1, and so forth and as they go through each phase they experience the symptoms associated with that particular level of imbalance.
Biochemist John Eck has pursued a similar line of thought in his research on mineral nutrients. Using hair analysis Eck has suggested the optimal levels of some of the principal minerals in the body. On the basis of the ratios among these minerals, Eck is able to estimate how efficiently the thyroid and adrenal glands are functioning, and hence to predict an individual's metabolic energy level.
Of course in actuality a person's symptoms would not depend on the ratio between just two substances but amongst hundreds of different things. If a person gets stuck at some level he will get stuck with the symptoms for that level. This helps to explain the basis of the chronic illnesses from which so many people suffer.
I like to picture the healing process as going up a flight of stairs, the energy is balanced, all the nutrients are present in their proper ratios, and the body is functioning properly. When someone's health begins to deteriorate, he moves down the stairs, and at each step along the way he experiences a specific kind of symptom - perhaps less energy at one step, headaches a little further down, an ulcer still further and so on.
As the body begins to heal itself once again the person begins to move back up the stairs, and re-experiences the symptoms associated with these various levels of health.
Some natural ways to ease healing reactions
When healing reactions are troublesome, we can usually do something to help. Some herbal remedies relieve symptoms without interfering with the healing process. For example white willow bark contains a different chemical form of salicylic acid than aspirin, so that it blocks only the inflammation chain and not the healing chain. This explains why natural substances are preferable to synthetic drugs in the long run.
The dosage of certain supplements can also be adjusted to slow down the rate at which the healing process takes place. When my clients have uncomfortable strong healing reactions, I cut down on the dosage of some of their tissue extracts. This slows down the healing process. The uncomfortable symptoms are less intense, but the healing process is more prolonged. As the person's body becomes de-toxified, we can once again increase the tissue extract dosage until it is being taken at optimal dosage.
When a person is experiencing a healing reaction, he may be worried that he is getting worse rather than better. If the person is undergoing a healing reaction, he should be reassured with the explanation that the uncomfortable symptoms are signs that he is moving up to a higher level of health. The skilful practitioner will be able to determine that healing is taking place rather than some "disease process."
Comments by Peter Dunn:
I never had any healing reaction myself, but I know one or two who have, and the answer seems to be to cut down on supplementation for a while, then gradually increase to a maintenance level. Listen to your body. Also, taking plenty of water to help with the flushing process seems a good idea.
