First day raw for reasons being Anxiety, constipation, brain fog and fatigue...

[Apple-Blossom]

Im just wondering If this raw diet will really eliminate these symptoms?

Right now I am eating solid meals because I still have yet to get a juicer. Im munching on apples, carrots, cabbage leaves, green beans and snow peas.

Ive been experimenting with this diet on and off over the past few months but it was hard because I was living with my parents at the time who served meat for dinner. Meat would often make my symptoms flair up for a few days. I found everytime I experimented with the raw diet for about a week in the past my bowel movements would go from once every 2-3 days to about 2-3 times a day! Which I have already noticed today and I will be sticking to this diet for a while.

Im writing this message quite well right now, normally my brain fog interferes with my communication so thats a plus :). But I must say, all day today I have had very little energy, it could be because I have been really busy moving, the rainy weather or this change in diet. Ive also felt more depressed then usual, depression isnt normally a huge issue for me.

When I went to hang with a friend earlier, I noticed I didnt have alot of anxiety nor energy. So it was good and bad, I was talking rather level, but I was very slow when it came to responding because it took a few seconds to absorb the things he said.

Is all this normal for starting off?

[Arky]

How long have you been experiencing brain fog?

Brain fog can be a sign of detoxification occurring but it can also be a sign of more serious intoxication (candida, heavy metals etc.). In terms of detoxification, there is something well known as the 'Herxheimer Reaction' which relates to headaches, brainfog, lack of energy etc. as part of a group of detoxification symptoms. Equally, though, it is possible for similar symptoms to reflect a 'stirring-up' of serious toxins which can be problematic rather than beneficial, at least in the short-to-medium-term. The reason I mention this is because I just so happen to fit into the latter category - I have very longterm brainfog due to heavy-metal intoxication. Everyone's body is slightly different, and we don't know yet what the situation is with yours.

You'd ideally need to consider other aspects of your health, and any other symptoms which have been present prior to beginning a 'raw' diet, to help figure out what your situation now might be.

Many people starting a raw diet, after years of eating mostly stodgy cooked foods, do experience some fairly rapid detoxification, as their body responds to the fresh raw nutrients flooding the bloodstream and cells, but one shouldn't just automatically assume that this is the case.

[Apple-Blossom]

Ive been experiencing brain fog for quite a while now, around the time when I was put on some med for anxiety 2 1/2 years ago. I went off that medication 1 year and 3 months ago to transition to a high quality multivatamin called "Empower Plus", suffered a long detox heck! this could still be detox from that med because there is the "Protracted Withdrawal" phenomenon. Ive had some days where I woke up with very very little brain fog and I felt great in general. I remember the last time I experienced this was probably my last time experimenting with the raw diet at the beginning of september 3 or 4 days in.

In factor towards candida or heavy metals that is quite possible. I know I do match alot of candidias symptoms. And in order to get that under control I will have to eliminate all sugars from my diet accept for benificial sugars like honey, infact it has been known to treat candidias.

I am going to keep updating my progress on this thread, and keep everyone up to date. Ive researched tons! of stuff over the past while and what ive learned in terms of recovery patients is key. The more time you focused on worrying "The internet does not help" the harder time you will have with recovery. In fact in alot of cases of anxiety, it all comes down to habitual worrying.

[Arky]

Thanks for the clarification.

As you'll often see me say, in various health-related posts, it can be extremely valuable to keep a daily food&current symptoms diary and also a notebook to jot down when certain symptoms began, even if these symptoms may have seemed at the time (and may still seem) totally unconnected. You'll find various recollections will bubble to the surface of your consciousness from time to time, which is why, over time, the notebook can become a really handy repository for recollected details. It's not a case of being hypochondriac about your symptoms, or focusing obsessively upon them; it's merely a way to casually document various facets of your health during the past (notebook) and the present (food diary etc.). It is incredible how a pattern can emerge which may hitherto have been invisible.

I really don't think folks truly appreciate how powerful this unassuming approach can be in figuring-out longterm health issues. I have personally found this approach to be very much more powerful than even lab testing!

The more clues one can identify, the easier it may be to triangulate possible common underlying connections, triggers & causes. Since the body operates as a complex system, rather than as isolated organs and whatnot, I am quite confident that you will have been experiencing several other symptoms over the past couple of years.

Whilst I don't expect you to air all your symptoms in public (unless you happen to feel comfortable doing so), this approach, done either publicly or privately, it matters not, can be SO worthwhile & helpful for oneself.

[Arky]

I've just noticed that you were the poster in another related thread:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthrea...ody-normalizes

Perhaps it'd be easier for everyone if you would confine the discussion to one thread or the other, rather than both.

All the best.

[streetsurfer]

Anxiety meds can cause a condition called leaky gut. This in turn can lead to multiple food sensitivities. Some symptoms of those food sensitivities are the brain fog, lethargy, pain, cerebral swelling and a host of others. Leaky gut is an auto-immue disease and as such can cause havoc throughtout the body, resulting in different symptoms in different people. Your symptoms align with many things - one being leaky gut

I would: Continue on an all raw diet. Get tested for leaky gut, dysbiosis, and have ELISA testing done to detect food sensitivities. Check for wheat gluten intolerance/celiac disease. Heed arky's advice on keeping a journal. Water fast to feel better and clear your head, and in those better days you will be better able to put together your plan of attack. Juice fasting will also help.

It has been discovered recently that mosquitio bite allergies can cause a person to become allergic to and not be able to digest red meats well, (from a study at u of v).

There is hope and you will get better! Keep that in mind. It will take a lot of research and finding the right doctors who are aware of these recent findings and willing to treat them without simply throwing more medications into your body. You can find some information about leaky gut and zonulin's relation to it at University of Maryland's website in the section on celiac disease.

It's also possible the conditions you have were there before the anxiety meds and they worsened them and contributed to others piling on. Some more reading to help you understand it might be The Second Brain, and The Gut/Brain Connection, and Gut and Physhology Syndrome.

[Arky]

That's a really excellent post, Streetsurfer. I'd forgotten about GAPS diet - I encountered Natasha Campbell-McBride (and bought her book on GAPS) during my own search for answers. I've since sold it, so I don't have it to hand, but she has some detailed interviews available for free on OneRadioNetwork. She gets a bit hyper at times but nonetheless has some great info on the topic.

One minor criticism I would level at her book (I had the first edition, so I don't know if this has been addressed in the newer version) is that it has some inconcistencies in the food charts for foods she considers good or bad, on the diet. Other than that, one can learn a lot from her.

I also happen to think she's mostly right-on-the-money with regard to another topic - cholesterol and heart disease (i.e. cholesterol is not a cause of heart diesease, but rather a deliberately-implemented temporary repair agent). Anyway, I'm digressing...