Vomitus Logicalus

Vomiting may not be the most desirable of topics but it is an interesting one. Why is it that when you’re on a cruise ship having just enjoyed lobster and a glass of wine followed by a Charlotte Russe for dessert, you will inevitably come across a fellow passenger vomiting in the hallway which makes you want to discharge everything you’ve just eaten? The answer is simple - it’s an immune response.

It’s really quite amazing all the ways in which our body innately protects us from disease. Vomiting is a great example of this because when you’ve eaten anything that is toxic, whether it be bacteria, virus, poison (if you’re in a Father Brown mystery) or toxin, vomiting is the quickest and most efficient way to get rid of it before it has a chance to infiltrate your tissues. This also means that you should never try to prevent yourself from vomiting. But particularly in cases of eating disorders, chronic vomiting will also cause the immune system to identify perfectly healthy foods as having something inherently toxic because you have trained your immune system to vomit.

That’s right, your immune system learns. It adapts to what you are exposed to, what you chronically eat, what you habitually do. Many illnesses and exposures may go unnoticed simply because we do not allow our bodies the time to fully resolve them. So the immune system adapts to the presence of the problem, however irritating or unwelcome. Just because your symptoms go away does not mean the issue is resolved. It is the build-up of these unresolved burdens that can create a flood of symptoms and illnesses that are much more serious than the original irritating burdens.

Paying attention to the immune system’s reactions to things and listening to the language of your body, your symptoms, will guide you towards exactly what your body needs and wants. So don’t be so quick to grab the Excedrin or the antacid or the antihistamine. Pay attention to what your body is doing and you may begin to understand why.