Thank you for your story, Axel (posted February 14).  Please don't lose
hope.  It's touching to hear how your early eagerness and quick healing
turned into scary new symptoms, discouragement, and panic.

I know how scary it is to have this acute edema (disabling water retention)
that no one can explain -- because I had it, too!  In my early days of a
cleansing diet, it came on me in much the same way.  So I can suggest how
it happens, what may help you ... and above all, how to avoid it in the future.

Unfortunately, I suspect experiences like ours are more common than we know
among well-intentioned newcomers to health-conscious eating.  Toxic from a
life-long junk diet, people get miraculous results on a cleansing program
-- as you did:
        << i read fit for life and adopted the program overnight. my digestion
healed, at least everything seemed normal again. >>

Alas, problems can come later.  When the time comes to shift from cleansing
to an on-going maintenance program, it's difficult to eat and digest enough
food on a diet so much bulkier than your guts are used to.  Because raw
fruits and vegetables are very low in calories and other necessary
nutrients, you need to eat many pounds every day.  It's hard to do this,
and what's worse, beginners are misled by noble ideals of eating an
unnaturally restricted diet.

Deeply rooted in our cells, the body's demand for nourishment cannot be
denied forever.  So there's a powerful, instinctive impulse to escape from
the restricted diet and eat some hearty food.  Undernourished on just raw
fruits, a few vegetables, and perhaps some sprouts, many well-intentioned
beginners end up bingeing incontinently.  In my case, after months of fruit
and veggies only, I suddenly gorged myself with cheese and other dairy
products.  (I told myself I was protein-deficient.)  Acute disabling edema
followed immediately.

Your story sounds sadly familiar:
        << from 1996 till the mid of 1997, i stayed all raw, basically was fruit,
seeds, juices, avos, greens. in 1997, i started eating cooked food again,
more and less clean stuff at the beggining but very soon, for emotional
reasons, i was eating all the crap, chocolate, cheese, pastry, etc i
wanted, everyday. in a few weeks, i gained like 50 pounds of water. i was
all puffed. very horrible. >>

Please do not blame yourself, Axel.  I don't think you ate this way "for
emotional reasons."  The simple truth is, you were chronically
undernourished on your restrictive diet.  Your body was crying out to be fed.

The edema (water retention) that you describe is not surprising, after
bouncing back to a heavy, crappy diet.  Following months of simple food,
the body is not accustomed to heavy foods of any kind; junk foods are even
worse.  The edema seems to be the body's way of sequestering this sudden
influx of unaccustomed, unwelcome material.

The edema, once it comes, is hard to get rid of -- as you know:
        << i am clueless about what causes water retention beyond the food
factors. i mean, if i eat well and the water stays there. >>

Yes, it did for me too.  Doctors, as you say, are useless here; they have
never seen people like us.  Even "alternative" healers, I found, had no
help for me.

What finally cleared the edema for me was wonderfully simple:  three days
of fasting on water only.  But fasting, as you discovered in 1994, is a
powerful tool, and the changes in your body can be scary if you aren't sure
what to expect.

Here are my thoughts for you:

- If you feel ready to fast again, I think the effect on your water
retention will amaze you.  But please, take it easy this time -- maybe just
three days at first.  Get advice about how to eat in the days before and
after fasting.  Rest during the fast, and be gentle with yourself
afterward.  Read books like Herbert Shelton's classic, _Fasting Can Save
Your Life_, and Joel Fuhrmann's _Fasting and Eating for Health_.

- After the fast, keep your diet simple for a few days.  Start with juicy
fruits (you might try ripe papayas), then slowly add more fruits and veggies.

- As your strength and digestion return, give yourself permission to eat
plenty of good, nourishing food -- not just low-calorie stuff.  Increase
your intake of rich, fatty nuts and avocados; experiment with dried fruits.
 Egg yolks, if you are open to animal foods, are said to be easily
digestible.  Simple cooked foods are no sin, if that's what it takes to
meet your needs.

- If you feel tempted to binge on junk, it usually means your body is
crying out for nourishment.  Eat more good food!  You won't crave junk
foods if you enjoy an generous intake of rich, satisfying, varied natural
foods.

- Above all, Axel, don't restrict yourself to an idealistic diet.  Trying
to be _both_ all-raw and all-vegan is probably a mistake.  It's very
difficult to be well nourished on a diet so out of keeping with our
ancestral heritage.  The natural human diet is rich, varied, and abundant.
Read Ronald Schmidt's eye-opening book, _Traditional Foods are Your Best
Medicine_.  What you learn will surprise you.

Good luck, Axel.  Please write again in a week or two to let us know how
you are doing.

C.