The past six months, I have been using a vitamix and creating and experimenting with green drinks. My favorite is a two day supply consisting of banana, lemon juice, coconut water, pear or peaches, cilantro (coriander) (two bunches), and rainbow chard (4 large leaves), and spirulina. A month ago I was feeling so good that I increased from one 16 oz glass a day to two (breakfast and lunch). In less than a week, I became extremely fatigued, and everything negative health wise, from the last 40 years, showed up ten fold. Indoor and outdoor allergies, shingles, yeast infection (vaginally and in ear canals), slight asthma, rosaceae (with breakouts), and worst of all, poison ivy, which I have never had. Needless to say, what a mess. I know that healing crisis could happen, but I was ill prepared for my whole past to come rushing back (especially all at once). For four days I have gone back to one green drink and I am slowly healing on my own. I had my yearly checkup and tests with my primary care physician, today. He stopped short of believing that my green drinks caused all these things to happen, but promptly pulled out his prescription pad and wrote nine slips and gave me a steroidal shot. I am concerned that if I take all these things, I would be defeating the purpose of the last six months of juicing. But anyway, my question is, have you ever heard of possibly detoxing too fast and causing many health issues at once? Is cilantro and spirulina as powerful as I am beginning to believe?

No, there is no such thing as the body detoxifying too fast. The body will always detoxify at the best and safest rate but only when things are done in balance. This does not mean that you won't encounter some or a lot of discomfort as your body detoxifies. But rather, when your body is in balance, it will always detoxify at a rate and in a way the body can handle.

When you do things out of balance, leading to an obvious imbalance, then the body will appear to detoxify too fast... but it's really an imbalance that is causing problems.

Detoxification and illness can and do have many of the same symptoms. The difference is that with illness, it means you are getting weaker or sicker. With detoxification, the symptoms indicate your body is getting healthier and ultimately strong enough to detoxify and eliminate toxins.

Most of the ingredients you have juiced and blended are cooling foods, especially the coconut water which has a strong cooling effect. At the same time, you've increased the sugar content within your body allowing bad bacteria, yeast, etc to grow more happily and readily. All of this probably allowed some mucous to grow and allergies to appear (Chinese herbalists describe allergies as wind in the body because they flow from one part of the body to another).

There is a saying in health, a very important one which says:

The difference between poison and medicine is in the dose

Anyone who reads my book will know that I focus quite heavily on this saying and for good reason too.

So ultimately, realizing the above statement, one could say you took too much and essentially poisoned yourself. Not like in the sense of taking rat poison, but rather, instead of healing problems, you created health problems.

This is why I am a strong advocate of what I describe as responsible juicing.

We must all remember that vegetables and fruits, while seeming to be gentle little creatures, can have a powerful effect on our bodies when taken excessively. Worst of all, when you do create an imbalance you can't turn off the engine and have the problems stop. Instead, you have to find a way to properly rebalance your body.

The best solution would be to consult, in my opinion, a Chinese herbalist which can be found in your local Chinatown. If you find a Chinese herbalist, then they will examine what they refer to as your Chinese pulse and look at your tongue. From that they will create a herbal prescription to begin the process of rebalancing your body.

If you can't find a Chinese herbalist, then consider consulting either a naturopath or homeopath.

A Chinese herbalist will help in a more economical way and also faster too. The ability for a Chinese herbalist to balance the body is amazing.

Once your body is back in balance, which may take several weeks or even a few months, then the symptoms will go away and you will feel good.

Then, when your body is balance, it will detoxify at the rate that is suitable and safe.

As for cilantro and spirulina specifically, well, the Chinese believe that cilantro is actually unhealthy when eaten raw. Beyond this though, both spirulina and cilantro can help the body detoxify more efficiently when taken in responsible doses that work in harmony with the body. Too much leads to chaos... because after all, the difference between poison and medicine is all in the dose.

This is one reason why I am so fond of Chinese herbal medicine and why this healing modality has greatly influenced my approach to juicing, and for that matter, life as a whole. In traditional Chinese herbal medicine, they know how much of each herb to give so all the herbs work in balance while creating balance in the body. It's all about balance.

Do you have questions about juicing vegetables and/or fruits?

Do you have questions about natural health and healing?

If so, Ask Jesse a question:

Some questions and answers may appear online to help others learn more about juicing, juicing techniques and about health and while we're at it, about happiness too!

If you really do not want your question and answer to appear online, just let me know.

Not all questions and answers will appear online. Instead, I like to publish those question and answers that can most benefit others.

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16. How important is a slow speed juicer compared to fast speed?
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18. What Vegetables or Fruits Can Help With Soft Stools or Diarrhea?
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