Eating Better, But Feeling Worse?

“Symptoms are not enemies to be destroyed, but sacred messengers who encourage us to take better care of ourselves.”

— Jon Gabriel

If you’re eating better and feeling worse, don’t be so quick to jump to the conclusion that you’re not cut out for this ‘healthy stuff’. What you might be experiencing are the temporary symptoms of a Herxheimer Reaction, otherwise known as the ‘healing crisis’.

Remember when you were a kid and your mom told you to just rip the Band-Aid off? This is the exact same thing. One of the greatest misunderstandings in the field of nutrition is the misinterpretation of the symptoms and reactions which follow the introduction of higher quality foods and nutrients in place of lower quality ones. This phenomena of feeling worse before you feel better is what happens when your natural detoxification cycle encourage stored toxins and accumulated waste to release from storage sites and flood your blood on their way out. This can cause a multitude of uncomfortable symptoms, from nausea and other flu-like symptoms, to headaches, skin rashes, and breakouts.

What happens when a person improves their diet?

Your body is regenerating 24/7. We see this externally through the constant growth of hair, eyelashes, and finger nails. But we don’t always see the internal regenerative processes. For instance, your skin replaces itself every 35 days. Your liver replaces itself every 6 months. Your bones, every 10 years. Your body makes these new cells and tissue from nutrients; ie: the foods you eat. Therefore, what you eat literally becomes you. So when you’ve replaced unhealthy foods with healthy ones, your cells take advantage of rebuilding its structures with the higher quality nutrients. In the interim, your body begins to discard the lower-grade materials. This might ignite a Herxheimer Reaction, where your body could become flooded with a release of weeks, months, or even years worth of stored garbage that was used to build old tissue or toxins stored inside the tissue.

If given time and support, remarkable things begin to happen. The self-healing nature of many conditions such as colds, fevers, cuts, sprains, and other injuries provide endless examples of how our bodies tend toward health, unless we do something to prolong its progress. For example, consider the last time you cut your finger. At first, the wound might have bled. Then throbbed. Then scabbed over, got itchy, and became a scar. Over time, it may have even disappeared without a trace. It had to get worse before it got better. This is the Herxheimer Reaction in action. Your body is innately hardwired to heal itself. The more nutrition you provide it with, the more tools it has to do its job and the quicker our recovery happens.

The signs and symptoms of a Herxheimer Reaction

The most common reactions are:

Headache
Fatigue
Congestion or runny nose
Flu-like symptoms
Sweating / chills
Itching / skin rashes
Body aches / weakness

Constipation / diarrhea
Frequent urination
Brain fog / lethargy / vertigo
Sore throat
Joint pain / muscle cramps
Flushes
Breakouts

While reactions that present themselves can be alarming (and may not feel particularly pleasant at the time) they are temporary and may actually be a sign that healing is taking place. Any discomfort or "out of the ordinary" symptoms typically begin subsiding within one week of making the change.

Each person’s experience will be unique to them. Your Herxheimer Reaction may be different than another’s due to how well your elimination pathways are functioning, and your differing exposures to chemicals and low-quality foods in the past. Those who have abused their bodies will experience more severe symptoms if their liver, kidneys, and other filtering organs are not in their healthiest, most optimized functioning state. The good news is the majority of people find that if they have reactions, they are tolerable and worth the temporary discomfort to feel the significant improvements that come after.

What to do in the event of a Herxheimer Reaction:

You can help your body overcome these reactions and rebound faster by steering clear of inflammatory compounds that can prolong the healing process like caffeine, sugar, dairy, and processed foods. If you’re really wanting to kick this draggy feeling to the curb, try the following:

Drink plenty of purified water and herbal tea
Add lemon to your drinking water
Take an epsom salt bath or sauna
Gentle exfoliating and dry brushing
Get a massage
Get plenty of sunshine and fresh air
Get more rest, take a nap, or go to bed earlier
Go for a slow walk
Do light yoga or stretching (especially twist poses to aid detoxification)
Take quality supplements to support your body’s unique needs

Remember: Healthy body = Heal-Thy Body. If you make changes to upgrade your nutrition only to find yourself feeling worse, know that it could possibly be an indication of your body going into a rapid healing response. (This is why we celebrate Herxheimer reactions in the Replete Method!) Nutrition works slowly and diligently, so give your body time to adjust and remember that delayed gratification can be very gratifying. Now repeat after me: “this too shall pass.”

*Medical disclaimer: It’s always best to talk with your healthcare practitioner prior to making diet and lifestyle changes. Any symptoms or concerns you have should always be discussed with your healthcare practitioner right away.