I've been 75% raw for about a week & at first, I felt pretty good, but today I feel awful.

I have painful gas & a migraine headache.

Food-wise, I am feeling satisfied & am not missing cooked food or the usual pretzels that I thought I just had to have.

Is it normal to have these side effects? My head is just pounding.

Please help!

Yes, this is not unusual. You are probably detoxing. Matt Monarch's book "Raw Success" has a whole section on gas on the raw food diet and why it occurs.

My thoughts are (and this is what Matt recommends in his book) to consider going to a colon hydrotherapist or doing a colonic or enema at home. This is a good way to get rid of that gas. Also, years ago people used to do enemas for migraines, so it is not so farfetched.

You also might want to consider supplementing with a good probiotic and digestive enzymes like these http://www.rawveganbooks.com/index.php?cPath=100151_100152.

Good luck!

Thanks! I'll look into that. I've never had to deal with colon cleansing/enemas before, so this is all new to me. It doesn't sound really pleasant. I live in a small Indiana town, so it may be hard to find info on this.

Is it possible to detox & not have to do this? It's really hard to adjust to raw food & to have to worry about this other stuff, too. I'm all about baby steps.

My symptoms seem to be a little better today. Thank you for your quick response!

Have a great week & be well!

~Manda

There is a great video on how to do an enema at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD1QzlKkz_s in case you are interested. I like to use my bibkit that I got at www.bibkit.com. I know, before I did them I hated the idea and avoided doing them for the longest time. I feel so great afterwards and even during - because I can feel I am dumping so much that was weighing me down. Also, check out this webpage http://www.30daysraw.com/ and look at Episode 9 - there is a great video there that explains what a colonic is.

If you want to detox without doing colonics then I would suggest a high raw diet. Angela Stokes ate high raw for 3 years before switching to 100% raw and gained health & lost weight during those 3 years. See http://www.rawreform.com/content/view/17/41/. Eating high raw slows down the detox so you may be able to avoid colonics. But I agree with Matt as he says in "Raw Success" that to be successful on a 100% raw diet you have to drink green juices and do colonics.

Many people do fine on a high raw diet for life also. Just avoid the 2 worst foods completely - refined sugar and starches.

I'm glad you are feeling better!

Thanks, Karen!

I did find a few products in our local healthfood store, called Colon Cleanse. They have the powder, capsules & the tea.

I am going to attempt a detox & fast next week, just a few days before I take my final exams.

Thank you again & be well!

~Manda

Let us know how it works for you!