These are a cluster of symptoms that all indicate excess cellular toxin release, yet insufficient toxin elimination.
First, I will speak of the solutions in general terms for all of these symptoms, and then I will address each symptom specifically.
The solutions are typically similar for all of these problems.
- Eat less and/or try fasting. It’s ok to eat 500 calories a day for a few days, or even nothing at all for up to 3 days.
- Drink more water. Limit water intake to about no more than 1 gallon. Even 300 pound bodybuilders drink a gallon of water a day when trying to flush out excess water to get dehydrated for a contest. So a more realistic limit is about 1/2 a gallon to 3/4 of a gallon.
- Stop all vitamin and mineral intake. (stop detoxing and start eliminating). We call this “pulse dosing”. It typically takes 3 months for deficiencies to set in, so you can stop supplements for a few days or a week at any time without harm. If you have been taking copper for a few months, you likely have filled up the body’s storage limit in the bone marrow.
- Eat more leafy greens and/or green smoothies, more fruit, and more fiber (which are natural diuretics, and which give toxins something to bind to)
- Do a kidney cleanse. This means try some baking soda, or even better, potassium bicarbonates. This means 1/8th to 1 teaspoon in a large glass of water, followed by another glass of pure distilled or filtered water. This is a semi-standard medical practice, and should be used sparingly, or only as needed. NOT DAILY. No more than 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate daily, and only for a few days, as needed. It should clear kidney pain within about 1-2 hours. If not, then take more bicarbonates, but not more than 1 teaspoon daily. Excess bicarbonates can alkalize and dilute and neutralize stomach acid, and it can deplete minerals, especially zinc. This does not mean it’s harmful, it means it has a place, and that place requires a moderate approach. The body’s kidneys make about 1 teaspoon of bicarbonates naturally, daily to help process toxins. Sometimes, excess toxin release can overwhelm this natural bicarbonate detoxing system.
It’s better to take half a teaspoon of bicarbonate with two large glasses of water all at once to “flush” they kidneys. This is not something to sip on throughout the day while eating and snacking, that’s the wrong way to do it. This also means to stop food intake so you don’t over bloat. This should be done on an empty stomach. You do not want to neutralize your stomach acid with bicarbonates right as you try to eat, that’s going to go badly. So don’t eat anything a few hours before, nor while, nor after.
Do not take baking soda, and then consume vinegar. You will explode like a child’s volcano science experiment. That’s a colloquialism.
- Eat light protein meals. Just an egg or two. Just a small piece of chicken. The point is to let the digestive system rest. It is perfectly ok to not eat any protein for a few days to a few weeks. But if going that strict, it’s probably best to stop heavy exercise.
Now, to address each specific symptom.
Constipation and belly bloating.
This usually goes with dehydration, and excessive eating. So eating less, and drinking more water usually helps. This is also a problem of excessive carbohydrates such as bread and rice. Another cause is lack of things that make ATP, such as lack of copper, lack of magnesium, and lack of B Vitamins. Excessive leafy greens can also cause constipation through dehydration and demineralization (lack of copper and lack of magnesium). More fruit nearly always helps relieve constipation, especially oranges, and cherries. Coffee can also help.
Edema and kidney pain.
Kidney pain is often mistaken for lower back pain. Not all lower back pain is kidney pain.
Edema is swollen arms, or legs, often the ankles or fingers. Edema is often from excess sodium stuck in the tissues that is not being cleared by the kidneys. Again, stopping vitamins and minerals, stopping excess sodium, stopping excess food, and drinking more water (within reasonable limits) should help to clear it out. Leafy greens and the kidney cleanse are also helpful.
Hair loss, acne, and rashes.
It may seem funny that I would lump these three together. What they have in common is that they are symptoms of toxins coming out in or through the skin. This means toxins are not coming out through the pee and poop. Usually people with these symptoms are constipated and/or they are not drinking enough water. Usually, leafy greens help, because they give the body’s toxins something to bind to in the gut, which cleans the blood, so the toxins don’t have to come out through the skin.
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
These are the classic symptoms of nearly all excessive mineral intake. They are also classic symptoms of excessive toxins, and therefore, excessive toxin cellular release, but insufficient toxin elimination. The body is literally screaming to dump these toxins, and do it fast, but the body is backed up, or not digesting properly, or is constipated, or there is bloating.
Diarrhea is not always from excess sodium detoxing. It can be from other toxins, or from an irritated stomach lining, or from niacin deficiency.
The solutions are the same:
Eat less or fast. More water. Stop vitamins and minerals. Leafy greens. Kidney cleanse.
Back to the overall philosophy, methods, and guidelines of our protocol.
There are three overall guidelines on our protocol.
- The good minerals are rapidly and easily excreted, which is what makes them good, and which is why we take them.
- Take a moderate approach.
- Don’t take more copper than makes you nauseated, rather take less, and scale up over time. Listen to your body, and don’t take more than you can handle.
If you are getting any of these symptoms, you are quite literally “detoxing wrong”, and you are overdoing it, not doing things in moderation, and overwhelming your system. I don’t mean to accuse, the point is we have made all of these mistakes, and now we better recognize them as mistakes and can better point to the solutions to solve, and even prevent them.
There is nothing wrong with slowly taking more minerals until you see problems begin, and then backing off for a time and literally doing things to help your body demineralize.
Similarly, many exercise protocols are build around the concepts of periodization and progressive overload, and rest periods. They slowly scale up the exercise over a time frame of about 2 months, and then there is a rest period of about a month of moderate to low intensity exercise so the body can catch up to the strength gains made. For example, the tendons gain strength at different rates as the muscles. Tendons, like bones, take two months to heal. Also, lifters run into problems of overtraining, and central nervous system overload, which, to me, sound very similar to copper deficiency.
Often, people will follow up to ask, “How long should I take the minerals, and how long should I go off the minerals”.
There is no perfect answer. When lifting weights, I don’t always lift heavy for 2 months, and then lift lighter. One example of periodization is two heavy days a week, and two light days a week to help recover the joints as you go. One rule of thumb I do now is that if my joints bother me at all, I’ll lift lighter next time. Or do more stretching.
Similarly, some people may need a greater time off of minerals than others. This is very personal. It depends on a person’s toxic burden. It depends on if they are strong enough to handle fasting at all. Pregnant women should not be fasting at all. Some people may be struggling to eat more. It’s too personal of a decision.