Uggggh i am sick, I can't believe it!

[MTbucket]

Hi Everyone, coming up on my third month on the starch solution maximum weight loss plan. I have felt so good, and already lost 25 pounds! I felt like I was immune to any sickness now. maybe I was expecting too much? I woke up yesterday with a bad headache, then flu like symptoms and fever in the afternoon. After a fitful night I think I am better, no sign of the fever, but still have the headache and feel totally exhausted. Maybe after feeling so good for so long, it makes being sick suck a lot more in comparison. i am getting spoiled. I have been following the diet to the letter except my birthday and Easter. yesterday and today I have not felt up to preparing meals so I just have been eating leftover rice and beans and microwaved sweet potatoes. This is quite a letdown, hopefully I can get over this quick and get back to my healthful journey soon! Anyone else ever get sick after having success on the program? how did it go for you?

[dailycarbs]

Get better soon. Make sure to stick to plan now more than ever. Nothing wrong with rice, beans, and nuked sweet potoatoes.

I've been so lucky! In it 4 1-/2 years. No colds or flu (I don't get a flu shot). Twice, I had what were cold-like symptoms. They lasted the same normal cycle as cold but the symptoms were so minor I can't even be sure they were colds. I just went about my normal routine taking down the activity and exercise a bit. I work from home so no fear of spreading germs out in workplace. One other time, I got a headache and some nausea which I'm 99% sure was due to being too stressed about a few events. I think that for me, if I keep my stress low, the food helps my immune system so much that it can fight off most bugs before they get going. We're all different and nobody is going to be 100% and forever.

[ETeSelle]

Hi Everyone, coming up on my third month on the starch solution maximum weight loss plan. I have felt so good, and already lost 25 pounds! I felt like I was immune to any sickness now. maybe I was expecting too much? I woke up yesterday with a bad headache, then flu like symptoms and fever in the afternoon. After a fitful night I think I am better, no sign of the fever, but still have the headache and feel totally exhausted. Maybe after feeling so good for so long, it makes being sick suck a lot more in comparison. i am getting spoiled. I have been following the diet to the letter except my birthday and Easter. yesterday and today I have not felt up to preparing meals so I just have been eating leftover rice and beans and microwaved sweet potatoes. This is quite a letdown, hopefully I can get over this quick and get back to my healthful journey soon! Anyone else ever get sick after having success on the program? how did it go for you?

Why in the world would you think that eating this way would make you immune to getting sick? Of course it won't. I rarely got sick when I ate like crap and I rarely get sick now--I have a really good immune system. Eating this way may slightly improve your resistance, but it's not a miracle drug or something. There is no reason to feel "let down." This WOE didn't let you down--you're just sick. Everyone gets sick sometimes.

[patty]

I used to fear Christmas because I would always get the flu, now practicing this WOE that fear has passed. Even if I would catch the flu, I know it would pass that much quicker with less discomfort because the waste in my body is minimal. A class my herbologist gave, she passed out these diagrams of the Toxic Stress Cycle, where it shows what happens when the digestive system is backed up. Think of the kitchen sink with the disposal is stuck, and the water keeps spinning around. With our body that is when the free radicals scourge unmercifully.



What is so great about getting sick is how great life is after:) It is like the trick when seeing yourself dead:) You snap back full of life as LIFE is the motivator, when the individual collapses:) Have a great McDougall day! And if you haven't already, be sure to pick up "The McDougall Digestive Tune-Up". It escalates the process of Being here as life is all about the Catabolic Stage.

Aloha, patty

[dailycarbs]

I'll share a bit of philosophy a Buddhist friend told me a long time ago, when I was sick as dog. He said, not to worry. Nothing is permanent so this condition will change. I would get better or die.

But he did it with such compassion that it actually made me feel better.

[patty]

I'll share a bit of philosophy a Buddhist friend told me a long time ago, when I was sick as dog. He said, not to worry. Nothing is permanent so this condition will change. I would get better or die.

But he did it with such compassion that it actually made me feel better.

Compassion is the greatest illusion breaker. There is nothing quite like Dog Consciousness!

Aloha, patty

[Ern2Win]

Why in the world would you think that eating this way would make you immune to getting sick? Of course it won't.

Of course, ETeSelle is right. We (strict vegetarians) get sick (acute sickness as opposed to chronic) for the same reasons that flesh-eaters do.

I am in the process of reading Don Matesz' "Powered by Plants: Natural Selection & Human Nutrition". The introduction is terrific and reminds vegetarians of the amount of cultural conditioning we must overcome in pursuing a flesh-free diet in the midst of a flesh-eating culture.

Follows an excerpt:

A mind conditioned by a belief tends to seek confirmation for that belief. For example, if a someone bound by the belief that humans must eat flesh encounters a meat-eater feeling fatigued or getting frequent viruses, s/he may conclude that excessive activity, insufficient sleep, stress, or contact with virus carriers may have caused the problem; but if the same person encounters someone eating a flesh-free diet with the same issues, s/he will likely conclude that the flesh-free diet makes a body weak. The concerned "someone" may include a parent, a spouse, a health care professional, a friend, an acquaintance, or even the individual him/her self.

[bbq]

Our white blood cells need vitamin C for fighting an infection:

http://books.google.com/books?id=1JDPSLX4E-cC&pg=PA110

We human beings lost the ability to synthesize vitamin C about 60 million years ago:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/science/vitamins-old-old-edge.html

Other mammals are more fortunate than we are, glucose could be converted into vitamin C thanks to the liver:

http://www.jbc.org/content/235/4/937.full.pdf
http://blog.livonlabs.com/goat-vitamin-c-production/

There's an entire book devoted to that particular topic:

http://www.drsgoodman.com/vitamn-c-the-master-nutrient/36-faqs/vitamin-c/277-intro-vitamin-c

Unless we're eating plenty of Australian kakadu plum or camu camu from the Amazon rainforest in Peru and Brazil, it's very difficult to obtain enough vitamin C from foods.

Since the body's highest levels of vitamin C are found in the adrenal glands, just keep the stress level down and stay away from caffeine whenever possible.

[healthyvegan]

Yes the flu can still get us, but now you can impress yourself with your rapid recovery time! Try a netti pot for flushing out the sinuses & drink lots of water!

[ETeSelle]

Unless we're eating plenty of Australian kakadu plum or camu camu from the Amazon rainforest in Peru and Brazil, it's very difficult to obtain enough vitamin C from foods.

There is no evidence of this. This program does not recommend supplementation of vit C (or of ANYTHING other than B12). You will get more than enough C from fruits and veggies.

[vgpedlr]

Unless we're eating plenty of Australian kakadu plum or camu camu from the Amazon rainforest in Peru and Brazil, it's very difficult to obtain enough vitamin C from foods.

References?

It may true that the amount needed to precent scurvy is less than ideal, how do you know it's so difficult to get enough?

[ETeSelle]

Dr. McDougall on the subject of vitamin supplementation:

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2010nl ... tamins.htm

[FakeCanadian]

I began WFPB Aug 2012. Up until then, I would usually get an average of 1.5 colds per winter. But I had zero colds the winters of 2012 and 2013. I made it through 2014, then came down with something early this year that lasted a couple of days. I was disappointed because I'd deluded myself into thinking I'd never be sick again. But, objectively, my immunity seems much improved since adopting this WOE. Maybe coincidence, time will tell more.

[bbq]

Based on clinical experience, the doses (in grams per 24 hours) are listed for mild cold, severe cold, and influenza etc. here:

http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1981/pdf/1981-v10n02-p125.pdf

We can certainly get vitamin C from foods for maintenance purpose. OTOH, it's very difficult to achieve therapeutic dose as shown above once we're getting sick.

[ETeSelle]

Based on clinical experience, the doses (in grams per 24 hours) are listed for mild cold, severe cold, and influenza etc. here:

http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1981/pdf/1981-v10n02-p125.pdf

We can certainly get vitamin C from foods for maintenance purpose. OTOH, it's very difficult to achieve therapeutic dose as shown above once we're getting sick.

And there is no evidence at all (scientific!) that vitamin C in larger than maintenance doses has any effect whatsoever on whether or not one gets sick, gets over an illness sooner, etc.