The Emotional Side of Cleansing (Part 1)

Purging itself is an emotional undertaking. Even the very thought that we will change our usual way of eating can cause emotions. Many of us do not like change and are afraid to venture into something new. Even if you're someone who likes to try new things, including new foods, you may find that the idea of ​​a cleanse triggers an emotional reaction in you.

Changing what we are used to eating every day is a challenge. Many of us like to eat whatever we want, even if we stick to relatively healthy norms. By definition, cleanses are limiting. The 3:6:9 cleanse is no different. The restrictions in it are put in place to protect us: to make sure that the pathogens that live inside us don't feed, that they starve, that the toxic fuel that feeds them is also purged, and that we don't starve at the same time.

At the same time, so many people around the world have active pathogens in their bodies, causing symptoms and disease, and neither doctors nor nutritionists understand this. If we want to change this and heal ourselves, we need to change the way we eat. Information from the Healing Medium contains specific instructions for specific situations. Ignore the term balanced diet. Balanced for whom? Balanced for what health problem? How can anyone know what to eat or not to eat if they don't know the real reasons for their health condition? These are all guesses.

Deciphering food cravings

You don't have to start craving certain things while doing a cleanse. These drives depend on the person and are constantly changing. If they still appear, this is natural - and in order to overcome them, you need to understand what is the cause of them.

Extinction of pathogens

First, let's be clear that craving a bacon cheeseburger or a salami, egg, and cheese sandwich during a cleanse is not your body telling you that you need fat or protein. It's a signal coming from inside the body... but not from the body itself, and it's not meant to help you. When we stop consuming the comforting foods we are used to, emotions come to the surface. One of the reasons for the appearance of appetite is that when we refrain from problem foods, viruses and non-productive bacteria begin to starve. These dying pathogens begin to release signaling chemicals that can enter our brains and stimulate the hunger receptors that make us crave those foods.

When you understand this, it will be much easier for you to distance yourself from the urge to eat and let it pass - you don't want to be at the mercy of some virus or bacteria, do you? You want to control things by depriving the pathogens of their food and expelling them from your body. You can even take your appetite as a good sign that the viruses and bacteria in your body are losing strength.

It is quite normal for some people to feel worse at the beginning of their cleanse. This can affect them emotionally, startle them and question whether the cleanse was a good idea and whether they should go back to their normal eating habits. At the very least, they may experience an appetite for their usual comfort foods. That's why it's helpful to know what's really going on: that we often have a virus in our bodies that we don't suspect, and that our fat cells are full of viruses and their neurotoxins and dermatotoxins. These fat cells protect us in a way in everyday life, making us feel less sick because they act as a buffer.

When we start to clear out the fat cells, which means that the viruses and viral waste that they have absorbed are released, then we can feel a little worse for a while. While this may make us worry that we are temporarily moving backwards, it is actually a sign of our cleansing that will bring us progress.

Release of adrenaline

Pathogens are not always behind our appetite when we avoid certain foods. Craving also has an emotional component. People tend to eat to distract themselves from their pain. When we deprive ourselves of certain comfort foods, we sometimes begin to experience certain feelings that we have been trying to suppress using food.

Does eating really suppress emotions? Only temporarily. And is suppression the real goal? Probably not—healing is. True suppression of emotions can happen sometimes when you've been hurt and the adrenaline that hides the pain of that trauma is stored deep in the neurons of the emotional centers of the brain. This is usually not a bad thing. Often, however, the pain returns and when we feel it, we start craving certain foods. This can happen repeatedly if we don't know which foods are actually capable of helping the brain and body heal.

One of the reasons we consume comfort foods is to soak up the adrenaline rush that comes with emotional disturbance or conflict. Traditional comfort foods are usually high in fat because they absorb the adrenaline. After the fat soaks up the adrenaline, the stress hormone is trapped in our fat cells – fat cells that then become part of us as they lodge in our organs. Here's the key point: adrenaline contains information. In the case of adrenaline, which was released in highly emotional moments, it contains information about the fear, pain, betrayal, hurt or stress overload that we were experiencing at that moment.

The moment we begin to deprive ourselves of these comfort foods, such as when we undertake one of the Healing Medium cleanses, the old fat cells begin to dissolve and this releases the adrenaline that has been held back. Past emotions related to adrenaline can surface and this can make us want to reach for the foods we used back then to suppress them.

Excretion of toxins

Adrenaline is not all that is stored in our organs and fat cells. Together with adrenaline, toxins from the environment and pathogenic toxins are released, as well as toxins from the problem foods themselves. As we begin to cleanse, these toxins can begin to rise to the surface as they travel through the bloodstream on their way out of the body, and along with this can come cravings for the same foods that held the toxins.

When hunger appears as a result of this release of toxins, this is another good sign that our body is being cleansed. If you interrupt this process by actually reaching for the cheeseburger, you'll be making your efforts futile. The best way to encourage the healing process is by choosing one of the delicious cleansing foods and reminding yourself exactly why you are doing it.

Separation of retained fluid

During cleansing, not only the contents of fat cells are removed, but also toxic fluid from the lymphatic system. When our body is overloaded with problems, our lymph glands fill up with a thick and stagnant yellow sludge that is loaded with poisons and toxins. However polluted this fluid has become, it is a protector; it is in the lymphatic system to keep toxins slightly diluted so that their concentration is less aggressive.

With the ever-increasing contamination of the lymph fluid, we begin to retain water. This affects our weight, which we can mistakenly attribute only to accumulated fat.

When people begin to change their diet and detoxify with one of these cleanses, there may be a rapid weight loss at first as this polluted sludge leaves the lymphatic system and is eliminated through the kidneys and sweat glands. This is a healthy and positive process. It can also be accompanied by some emotions, as the accumulated fluid can contain adrenaline from past emotional situations, many pathogenic by-products (bacterial and viral) and other toxins. As these substances are released, waves of grief, fear, guilt, shame, or confusion may surface. The point is to survive these brief, temporary storms while everything is released so that you can emerge unencumbered and stronger when the waves subside and everything calms down.

How to cope

Even the faintest emotion you've ever experienced in relation to food can return when you begin the 3:6:9 Cleanse or another of the Healing Medium protocols.

These cravings won't sway you, though, because here's what sets medicated cleanses apart from anything else you've heard of or tried before: they're designed to nourish you. They offer emotional and even spiritual support while healing on a deep physical level so that you can break free from the control of food cravings in the long run.

During a cleanse, is it excruciating to miss the foods that usually bring comfort? Sometimes yes. You won't have time to think about them, though, because all day long you'll be drinking and eating things that help the brain recover, help the liver, and are easy on the stomach. This combination can bring us great relief - we have no idea how much an overheated, overworked liver and busy digestive tract can affect our mental state.

Be kind to yourself

The idea of ​​eliminating foods from your diet, even for the short period of a mini-cleanse, can be overwhelming. Especially for women, towards whom society is particularly critical. You have to keep in mind that no one is judging you here. Remember this: when you see a recommendation from a Healing Medium to limit or temporarily eliminate a certain food, it is never judgmental. Healing Medium cleanses are never intended to shame anyone for their eating habits. Their purpose is to heal. And medically, shame is not a cure. Instead, shame releases raw adrenaline, which is corrosive and abrasive to our nervous system and can weaken our immune system.

Don't pretend to be a hero

Another way to be understanding with yourself is by planning ahead and taking into account the basic truth that one gets hungry. Hunger is a sign of life. You won't prove anything by going all morning without breakfast or skipping lunch. So don't try to be a hero by not eating during the cleanse! It saves no one, least of all yourself. All you'll do is ride on adrenaline and feel tired, cranky, and starving (common with intermittent fasting)—and you'll end up giving in to temptation. And you'll have to start over.

Food not only nourishes us, but also brings us pleasure.

Stay tuned for the continuation of the article in "The Emotional Side of Purging (Part 2)".

This article is based on material from Chapter 25 "The Emotional Side of Cleansing" in Anthony William's book Cleansing for Health .