When I first started out in my recovery, there was very little information about what happens to the body in recovery. I even found that many people with experience in healthcare for eating disorders didn’t know how to guide me on what my body might go through.

Recently, I wrote to some researchers at bulimiaguide.org to find out if they had any plans to gather more research on the body in recovery, so that the process wasn’t so confusing. They wrote back and agreed that it was just as important to help people STAY in recovery as it was to help people get into recovery. Since many people recovering from eating disorders are extra sensitive about what their bodies are going through, it makes sense, they agreed, that research should be done in this area as well.

Helping Hands
In the meantime, we have each other to learn from. And each of us are out there looking for answers to our own personal situations. By the time we put it all together, we may have a good picture of possible scenarios that can help others. So for all of you out there blogging, chatting in forums, leaving comments and e-mailing – bravo to you for reaching out to the collective community!

One of the books that really helped me initially was The Self-Healing Cookbook, by Kristina Turner. You may recall that I mentioned this book in my post on cleansing. This is much more than a macrobiotic cookbook with great, healthy recipes. The author also added a bunch of helpful information on how the body heals, how to use our intuition, how food affects mood and one of my favorites – the signs of imbalance.

Signs of Imbalance
Kristina Turner put the signs of imbalance into 3 categories:

  • Stage 1 – Imbalance
  • Stage 2 – Accumulation & Discharge
  • Stage 3 – Trouble Deep Inside

Stage 1: Imbalance
According to Turner, all illness comes from imbalance, but the first signs can be easily overlooked. She reminds us that when we are young, our bodies bounce back much faster from lifestyle habits that don’t promote health. However, if we keep doing these things year in and year out, trouble ensues. It gets harder and harder for the body to deal with an accumulation of poor habits, ignoring the body and burning the candle at both ends. What starts to happen, is that our eliminative organs get overloaded and sluggish, intestines can clog, arteries can start to harden, sinuses and lungs can congest. Turner also says that our emotions can start to flare up, creating relationship stress (not to mention personal stress). This is where the immune system can start to have problems.

Signs of Imbalance in Stage 1: Keep in mind that many of these symptoms point to adrenal fatigue, which is common among people with stressful lives and with eating disorders or addictions.
Fatigue
Nervous tension
Mild headache
Overeating
Indigestion
Minor aches and pains
Tense or cramped muscles
Low sexual energy
Feel chilled or flushed
Occasional cough or sneeze
Itchiness
Forgetful, confused
Listless, no motivation
Mildly depressed
Irritable, frustrated
Hyper, fidgety
Can’t relax or unwind
Uncomfortable weight gain

Stage 2: Accumulation & Discharge
According to Turner, in stage 2, fat, mucus, toxins and tension can accumulate inside of you. Organs can be impaired and illness is a possibility. As the body seeks balance, you might notice discharge, like hay fever, skin issues, diarrhea, emotional outbursts and sinus issues.

People who are very hardy – possibly those with type O blood – may not notice this discharge and instead, have issues like tense muscles, becoming accident prone, stiff joints, deep-held resentment or fears and rigid mental attitudes. What is so interesting about Turner’s description here is exactly what I was going through while I was struggling with an eating disorder. I kept waiting to get really ill, but I kept hovering in stage 2 for a long time. This is partially why I felt like having an eating disorder wasn’t really impacting my health – until I started to get more stage 3 symptoms.

Here are some of the stage 2 symptoms Turner lists:
Bad breath
Body odor
Sinus congestion
Recurring cough or sneezing
Oily or dry skin
Can’t sleep
Gas, belching
Constipation
Diarrhea or loose bowels
Vaginal discharge
Recurring infections
Menstrual tension, cramps
Overheat, or perspire easily
Skin eruptions
Recurring headaches
Frequent, pale urine
Infrequent, dark urine
Low blood sugar
Bingeing
Vomiting
Mood swings, emotional outbursts
Chronic backache
Obesity
Deep depression

Stage 3: Trouble Deep Inside
Turner tells us that if we ignore the signs of stage 2, our organs can strain under pressure. The way Body Ecology would describe it is that our blood would get more and more acidic – and it wants to be slightly alkaline. This means our blood will pull minerals from the body – including teeth and bones – just to get back into balance. Symptoms start to vary more widely in stage 3 and it becomes harder to bring the body back into balance. This is where we must work harder to help our bodies.

Stage 3 symptoms that Turner lists are:
Chronic digestive upsets
Eating disorders
Migraine headaches
Persistent infections
Loss of hearing
Loss of memory
Insomnia
Arthritis
Appendicitis
Diabetes
Herpes
Osteoporosis
Manic depression
Hysteria
Impotence, frigidity
Debilitating pain
Paralysis
Kidney or gall stones
Heart disease
Other degenerative illnesses

Healing From Stage 3
It was when I read Kristina Turner’s book that I realized I was in stage 3 – that I actually had a few of the things on the list – even though I passed my physical exams at the doctors with flying colors. This was a whole new look at health from my perspective – it was time to take action and heal my body.

Turner mentions that a healing diet is one way of doing this, but certainly not the only answer – and I agree. I do believe that a healing diet is one way to nourish the body back into balance – but healing the mind and spirit is just as important. Turner even offers some meditations and exercises for balancing these areas as well, which is why I really loved this book. It reminded me that my body is the basic level of health needed – kind of like the foundation of a house. No matter how hard you work on the structure, it will still be unstable if the foundation is bad. So I’m thinking that no matter how much we work on our mind and spirit, if the body is not healthy, it impairs our success with the rest.

Paths to Healing
Kristina Turner urges us all to get a food/mood journal to track how our food is making us feel. She also suggests that we research and experiment with healing foods and natural remedies – and above all – to trust our instincts. She also urges us to get a healing friend – someone who empathizes, affirms, plays, expects the unexpected, trusts nature’s cycles and helps you plan. Wow – I think she just described many of you out there in the blogosphere! So much love and support, so many guides – even this – a word written or read, a comment posted, an e-mail to reach out – there are so many paths to healing. Thank you for being part of mine. There is so much hope out there – so many ways to heal – it is worth that one step you’ve been thinking of taking.

Related items