Pam:
<< My digestive system seems to be reacting to my attempts to start this diet,
and it doesn't like it very much. Will these symptoms go away, or is this diet
just not right for some people? >>

Every person that has ever been created has a unique constitution and unique
needs.  There is no one diet that will serve any two people.  Too many factors
have a part. For example, here are just a few facts, out of the vast interplay
of factors to consider:

Peanuts (you said you're having a problem here) are a legume (a bean). Many
people have problems digesting any kind of legume. Peanuts are also a common
allergen.

Many nuts and seeds (you mentioned these) are hulled either by heating them
(which distorts the protein and fat and makes them these very difficult - if
not impossible to digest, as well as creating carcinogenic and mutagenic
compounds by-products; or they are hulled by soaking them (cashews for
instance) in such a strong toxic substance that the workers who handle them
after immerson in this stuff get burns and sores on their hands unless they
wear protective gloves. Or they are soaked in peanut oil (which you may be
allergic to, or it may be rancid itself, or you may not want all that excess
fat) or soaked in other oils such as cottonseed, which is cheaper for the
manufacturer because since it is classified as a textile rather than a food,
it is allowed to be sold to us containing residues of the completely poisonous
pesticides used to keep bugs off of cotton plants. Or they are covered with
salt - which causes all sorts of electrolyte imbalance problems (like edema
and hypertension). And furthermore, even if you ate your nuts 100% organic,
raw, and completely unprocessed, you may very well be allergic to the protein
in a particular nut. Nuts actually are another common allergen.  And since
nuts are a concentrated protein source - you have to ask whether you are
eating more protein than you perhaps wanted in your diet.  Or whether WHAT you
are eating the protein with is causing you digestive difficulties (according
to the rules of 'proper food combining'.) Or whether you are one of the many
individuals who have been raised on a SAD diet, whose alimentary tract is so
corrupted because of the bad diet, or just through genetic predisposition
(there is current interest in this), that you have something called 'leaky gut
syndrome' in which not much of what you eat is digested properly or absorbed
anyway, so you are having bad reactions to ANY food, ANY time you eat
anything, and this problem has to be taken care if first.

I could go on and on here, just about the nuts.  So, you see? Biology is
wonderfully complex, and we are each unique, so meeting your own dietary needs
is kind of a process of trial and error, and being willing to experiment and
not adhere to any preconceived ideas about any particular regime.

Hope this is more helpful than discouraging!!

Love, Liza

[log in to unmask] (Liza May)

<<  I have also found that most brands of nuts and sunflowers seeds are either
packed with/in peanut oil, or "may contain traces of other nuts" and peanuts
make me very ill. Not an allergy, but a definite intolerance.>>

<<  This diet is becoming difficult and discouraging, but as my doctor
recommended it, I feel compelled to keep going. >>