Detox 6: My Detox Responses

Changing to a health food life style has helped me overcome an old problem almost immediately–anus itch. Since my varsity days in 1979, I had this problem of anus itch that disturbed my sleep. From 1979 till 1996, I had to depend on modern and traditional medicines to relieve the itch temporarily. When my family changed to health food completely, within three months, the anus itch disappeared amazingly. It was a big surprise.

After my family switched from normal food to health food in mid-1996, I began to experience various responses (Table 6.4). Initially, flu, running nose and cough were common. Mucus was discharged from my nasal passages. I hold to the advice of Diamond & Diamond (1985), i.e. “This is not a cold”. Since I understand the detox responses better as I can read health literature in English and Chinese, my decision was not to visit the doctors unless necessary. Whenever I had flu, more time was allocated for resting. No cough concoction was taken when cough happened. Between 1996 and 1999, these detox responses were handled naturally, without any modern medication. After 1999, I hardly had flu and running nose even though cough did occur occasionally.

In 2000, my main detox response was the occurrence of external piles (i.e. hemorrhoids). Those having piles would know how unbearable it is. You cannot walk, stand, sit and sleep comfortably. I could not work and decided to take annual leave and rest at home. I did not have adequate confidence then to accept piles as a detox response. After visiting the local physician, the recommendation was to undergo an operation to remove the piles. This was to take place in a private hospital if I had wished to do so.

In the meantime, my colleague who earlier had piles informed me that taking yellow tapioca helps. I found some tapioca and started eating it. Since I did not want to undergo any operation, my chance of solving the problem appeared to be tapioca. My colleague advised me to take two tablets of Chinese herbal medicine. Ultimately, the piles burst and the pain gone. People having piles normally have problems over a long time. The piles can cause inconveniences. It was not so in my case. Since my piles matured naturally and probably with assistance from herbal medicine, without any operation, it has not caused me any inconveniences. On 15 January 2007, another piles occurred next to the spot of the first piles. Unlike the first piles, it matured naturally within two days, with only little pain. I did not take any medical leave and later went for my three-day field work in the state of Pahang on 17-19 January 2007.

In September 2003, upon reaching my office, I could not lift my right arm to adjust the temperature of the air-conditioner. The condition did not improve after a few days. Was this a symptom of ageing? From the literature, those reaching 50 years old might have shoulder and arm pain. I read the literature on detox responses again and confirmed that this was another form of detox response. Since I have developed more trust and confidence in health food as the best medicine and accepted detox responses as part of my life, I just ignored the arm pain. After three months, I was able to lift my arm to adjust the temperature of the air-conditioner again. Looking back, if I did not walk the healthy food path and had no confidence in the detox responses, I would have visited the doctors for treatment on many occasions.

The other unforgettable experience was when I had a swollen cheek in 2004. A wart the size of a table tennis ball developed in the right cheek. Ten days had passed and the swelling remained. My family members were getting worried. Colleagues advised me to seek medical treatment. In response to their concern, I went to the clinic but soon returned without seeing the doctor. While waiting at the clinic, I questioned my confidence in accepting the wart as another detox response. I decided to let it to mature naturally. After four days, puss gradually oozed out from the wart and I fully recovered.

Beginning September 2005 till January 2007 was the period of detoxification through the mouth, throat and tongue. Initially, there was cough and sore throat. Later, I found my mouth having heavy smell and some phlegm after waking up in the morning. When I brushed my teeth and gum, white bubbles appeared even though I had not used any tooth paste since 2000. Occasionally the gum also experienced aching. Despite all these, I just faced the detox responses naturally and realize that I would live a healthier life in years to come.

In November 2006, after taking a 10-day liver detox (lemon juice, olive oil, molasses and dashes of cayenne pepper), I felt the occasional right elbow pain. This did not cause any alarm at all, knowing that it was another detox response. The pain went off naturally after five weeks. However, it emerged again in January 2007. What I did was just to ignore the occasional pain.

In November 2009, light pain appeared on my right leg. It did not affect my daily routine work and I just left it alone. After eight days, the pain disappeared naturally.