By incorporating fasting as a regular part of your health regime, you enable your organs to indulge in a much-needed rest. This helps reverse the process of aging and in so doing, encourages your body to support you in living a longer and healthier life.
With the passage of time, toxins build up in the body as the result of pollutants in the air we breath, the chemicals in the water and food we ingest, and by other means. Periodically, the body seeks to rid itself of these toxins, and release them from the tissues. The toxins then enter the bloodstream, causing the body to experience what is referred to as a “low” or “down” cycle. During such a cycle, a person may suffer from headaches, diarrhea or depression. Fasting is an effective and safe method of helping the body to detoxify itself and move through this low cycle with faster speed and fewer symptoms. In fact, fasting is recommended for any illness, as it gives the body the rest it needs to recover. It’s the body’s way of cleaning house to optimize its effectiveness. Acute illnesses, colon disorders, allergies and respiratory diseases are most responsive to fasting, while chronic degenerative diseases are the least responsive. By relieving the body of the work of digesting food, fasting permits the system to rid itself of toxins while facilitating healing. Before beginning a fast (especially if you’ve never done it before) always check with your doctor first.
Reverse the Signs of Aging
Fasting is beneficial to the body but not just in times of poor health or during the low cycles. By making fasting a regular part of your health regime, you enable your organs to indulge in a much-needed rest. This helps reverse the process of aging and in so doing, encourages your body to support you in living a longer and healthier life. During a fast, the natural process of toxin excretion continues, while the influx of new toxins is reduced. This results in a reduction of total body toxicity.
The energy normally used for digestion is then redirected to cell growth, immune function, and eliminatory processes. The immune system’s workload is greatly reduced, and the digestive tract is spared any inflammation due to allergic reactions to foods. Due to a lowering of serum fats that thin the blood, tissue oxygenation is increased and white blood cells are moved more efficiently. Fat stored chemicals, such as drugs and pesticides, are released when this happens. Physical awareness and sensitivity to diet and environment are increased.
Other Benefits
A fast has many other therapeutic benefits as well. It can help you heal with greater speed; purify your blood; cleanse your liver, kidneys, and colon; help you lose excess weight and water; flush out toxins; clear the eyes and tongue; and cleanse the breath. It is recommended by experts that you fast at least three days a month, and follow it with a ten-day fast at least twice a year. Start slow, maybe try it one day a month and then work up to three.
The duration of the fast plays a role in what the body accomplishes. A three-day fast helps the body rid itself of toxins and cleanses the blood. A five-day fast begins the process of healing and rebuilding the immune system. A ten-day fast can take care of many problems before they arise and help to fight off illness, including the degenerative diseases that have become all too common in our chemically polluted environment.
Precautions To Be Aware Of
Certain precautions should be taken during the period of a fast. First, do not fast on water alone. It is too much of a shock to the body to do this. An all-water fast releases toxins too quickly, causing headaches and often times even worse symptoms. Instead, follow the live-juice diet explained below, as this both removes toxins as well as promotes healing by supplying the body with vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Such a fast is also more likely to lead to a continued healthy diet once the fast is over, as it will accustom you to the taste of raw vegetables and the vitality that this diet promotes. Second, whenever you fast for a period that exceeds three days, do so only under the supervision of a qualified health care professional. If you have diabetes, hypoglycemia, or another chronic health problem, even short fasts should be supervised by a health care provider. Pregnant and lactating women should NEVER fast! NEVER!!
Just keep something important in mind- it took years to wear your body down, and it will take time to build it back up to its peak condition. But trust that it can be done. Then, whenever you begin to feel unwell, fast and get back on the path to wellness.
Procedure
In preparation for the fast, eat only raw vegetables and fruits for two days. This helps make the fast less of a shock to the body’s system.
While on the fast, consume at least eight 8-ounce glasses of steam-distilled water a day, plus pure juices and up to 2 cups of herbal tea a day. Dilute all juices with the water, adding approximately 1 part water to 3 parts juice. Do not drink orange or tomato juice, and avoid all juices made with sweeteners or other additives. These will only serve to upset your stomach and bring on headaches. If you have a juicer, this would be a good time to take it out of the kitchen cupboard and use it. It is an excellent tool for extracting the juice out of vegetables and fruits that do not have a high fluid content, such as cabbage and carrots.
The best juice to use during your fast is fresh lemon juice. Add the juice of one lemon to a cup of warm water. Fresh apple, beet, cabbage, carrot, celery and grape juices are also good, as are “green drinks,” which are made from green leafy vegetables. These green drinks are excellent detoxifiers. Raw cabbage juice is particularly good for ulcers, cancer, and all colon problems. Just make sure you drink the cabbage juice as soon as it is prepared. As this juice sits, it loses its vitamin content.
Follow the juice-water-and-tea fast with a two-day diet of raw fruits and vegetables. Eating cooked foods immediately afterward can ruin the desired effects of the fast. The first meals after a fast should be frequent and small due to the fact that the size of the stomach and the amount of secreted digestive juices may decrease during fasting.
An Excellent Juice to Try
Juice together:
3 carrots
3 kale leaves
2 stalks of celery
2 beets
1 turnip
¼ pound of spinach
½ head of cabbage
¼ bunch of parsley
½ clove of garlic
Note- if you do not have a juicer, don’t despair! Place the vegetables in a pure vegetable broth and gently boil them, adding no seasonings. A cup of this juice may be substituted for any other juice while fasting. Save the vegetables from the broth to eat after your fast. Remember that no solid food is allowed during the fast.
Other Recommendations
If you must have something to eat during the period of the fast, eat a piece of watermelon. Always eat watermelon by itself, with no additional foods. You can try applesauce- fresh, not canned- made in a blender or food processor. Leave the skin on the apples, and do not cook them.
To promote cleansing of the colon before and after your fast, be sure to make extra fiber a part of your daily diet. Bran, especially oat bran, is an excellent source of fiber.
Do not chew gum while on the fast. The digestive process starts with chewing and prompts the body to secrete enzymes into the gastrointestinal tract. If there is no food in the stomach for the enzymes to digest, trouble occurs.
While fasting, continue your normal daily routine, including moderate exercise. Avoid any strenuous exercise.
During your fast, be sure to get adequate rest. If necessary, try napping during the day to recharge your body’s “batteries”.
If you are a denture wearer, keep your dentures in your mouth throughout the fast to prevent shrinkage of the gums.
If you are over sixty-five, or if you need daily supplements for another reason, continue taking your vitamin and mineral supplements during the fast.
During a fast, as toxins are released from your body, you will probably experience a coated tongue and an unpleasant taste in your mouth. To relieve this problem, try rinsing your mouth with fresh lemon juice.
Other symptoms you may experience as a result of the release of toxins from the body include fatigue; body odor; scaly skin; headaches; dizziness; irritability; anxiety; confusion; coughing; nausea; diarrhea; dark urine; dark, foul-smelling stools; insomnia; body aches; sinus and bronchial mucus discharge; and/or visual or hearing problems. These symptoms are not serious and will quickly pass for most individuals. Also the symptoms will lessen the more acquainted your body becomes with the whole process of fasting.
I cannot stress it enough, keep in mind that the more toxins that have built up in the body, the more intense your experience may be during the fast. If you have excessive toxins from years of abuse, misuse and exposure, it is wise to be careful and detoxify slowly, a little at a time. Use shorter fasts, more frequently. Your goal is not to overtax your body but to gradually build it back up to its optimum level of health.
While fasting, especially in the beginning, place yourself in a comfortable environment that will help to ease the inconveniences and symptoms of detoxification you may experience. A good idea would be to choose a weekend or a few days where you can spend at home near the bathroom and other conveniences instead of attempting to commute back and forth to work and perform your regular job responsibilities. Take this time to pamper yourself in other ways as well. You’re worth it! Just remember that fasting gets easier the more often you do it. And the health benefits you can reap from it are off the charts!