Question about fastings

[denisedeland]

Delete please Thank you

[SNMB]

Fasting has massive health benefits. It allows the body to redirect its energy from digestion to healing other parts of the body. One side effect is weight loss because the body uses stored fat to survive without food and that is where most toxins are stored. There are many many benefits including:

1. Neuroadaptation

Fasting helps your taste sensors adapt to a low salt intake. By allowing your body to “neuroadapt” to low salt food, fasting rapidly facilitates the adoption of a health- promoting diet. This process of neuroadaptation appears to take place more rapidly during fasting than merely eating a low salt diet.



2. Enzymatic Recalibration

During fasting your body induces enzymatic changes that can affect numerous systems ranging from detoxification of endogenous and exogenous substances to the mobilization of fat, glycogen and protein reserves. These changes seem to persist after the fasting process, which may explain some of the dramatic clinical changes seen in patients after fasting.



3. Weight Loss

Although fasting is not generally recommended as a primary weight loss strategy, weight loss is a predictable consequence of fasting. Most people average a loss of approximately one pound per day over the course of a fast. (When weight loss is your primary concern, a health- promoting diet coupled with exercise is usually your best approach.)



4. Detoxification

Fasting is generally thought of as a tool to facilitate detoxification, promoting the mobilization and elimination of endogenous substances such as cholesterol and uric acid and exogenous substances such as dioxin, PCBs, and other toxic chemical residue.



5. Insulin Resistance

Fasting appears to have a profound effect on insulin resistance, which is thought to be intimately involved with diabetes and high blood pressure. When your body produces adequate insulin, but it is ineffective due to resistance at the cells in the liver and elsewhere, your blood sugar levels rise. This can lead to serious clinical consequences. Fortunately, after a period of fasting, this problem is often dramatically improved.



6. Naturesis

Water-only fasting induces a powerful naturetic effect, which allows the body to eliminate excess sodium and water from your body. This process allows for the resolution of chronic problems with edema and helps reduce the in-creased blood volume associated with high blood pressure.



7. Reducing Gut Leakage

When chronic inflammation involves the intestinal mucosa, a condition arises whereby small particles of incompletely digested foods can be absorbed into the blood stream. This introduction of foreign peptide molecules to the blood stream may stimulate an immunological cascade of effects collectively known as gut leakage. In genetically vulnerable individuals, gut leakage may be associated with the aggravation of numerous clinical entities including arthritis, colitis, asthma, allergies, and fatigue.



8. Sympathectonia

Hypersympathectonia (increased tone of the sympathetic nervous system) is thought to be associated with many problems ranging from digestive disturbances to anxiety disorders. Fasting appears to have a profound normalizing effect on the overall tone of the autonomic nervous system.


There are thousands of documented cases of incurable diseases being cured by fasting. Definitely not just a weight loss thing.

[denisedeland]

Thank you so much.. I really had no idea that fasting helps in so many ways...

Denise

[madmel]

SNMB

That is some interesting info you shared with us!

Where did you get it?

mel

[SNMB]

I got it from this (http://health.benabraham.com/html/rediscovery_of_water-only_fast.html) link, but I'd recommend reading one of Herbert Shelton's books.

[madmel]

Thank you for that link!

Very interesting,
melanie

[Shmoopie]

Learning *how* to fast is extremely important. If you're going to fast, learn how to do it the right way first, so to stay safe. Find a book on amazon. I have a book about juice fasting that tells you all you'd need to know. It's called "Juice Fasting And Detoxification" by Steve Meyerowitz. It costs $8.50 on amazon. Give it a read.
Good luck and enjoy!

[JinxieKat]

That juice fasting book is really good. It is short, sweet, to the point, and easy to read on top of it all. Alot of info in an easy to digest format. Good stuff!

Jinx

[Ka-Yun Yoon]

how bout veggie juice fast, is it as good?

[livenraw]

I would recommend the book The Miracle of Fasting by Paul and Patricia Bragg if you want to find out why fasting is soooo good for body, mind & soul. You can find it at any health food store for about $8.95. That book is what got me to go raw...though they recommend a 60-70% raw foods lifestyle.

[alex]

A lot of good information here.

I have completed about 15 fasts over the past 25 years. All my fasts were true fasts - water only. They have ranged from 3 days to 30 days, most being 7 - 10 days duration.

My experience with a 30 day fast was quite different than the one described - I think it affects everyone differently.

I do agree that breaking the fast is the most crucial time - the slower the better. You have to coax your body to accept food again. I have always started with very diluted juices - orange, apple - this may or may not have been the best, but it did work quite well. It took me about a month to eat regularly again so that the whole experience lasted 60 days instead of just 30 - something to keep in mind. On a juice fast this should not be much of an issue.

The magician David Blaine fasted for 44 days, water only, suspended in a small glass cubicle above the Thames River in London several years ago and he came out alright.

Fasting (calorie restriction) is one of only two methods known to prolong life. The other is slightly lowering the body's core temperature - not easy to do - nor something that should be done.

If anyone has any questions I would be happy to address them. My 30 day fast and my 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat are the most life changing experiences I have had so far.

I wish all of you the very best


alex

[Ka-Yun Yoon]

I have a question... :)
I'd love to do a water-fast for religious/spirtual and mental/physical-heath reasons. I don't kno how to start it and end it, could u help me? and, I was wondering if this fast would effect me in negative ways.
thank you for your time :D

[i.like.it.raw]

I'm in the middle of the Master Cleanser now. I'm going for about 5 days, then 3-4 days reintroduction. I suggest looking into that. It will really detox your body while still provided essential nutrients. There is an added benefit of weightloss (of course). Average is 1-2lbs a day. Some have lost more or less. General cleanse periods are 4, 10, 21, and 40 days. I've known people who've gone 40 days with as much as a 60 lb decrease. I think it's much easier on your body than a water fast; plus you get the added edge of a source of energy. There have many successes claimed by the detox: healed ulcers, cured diabetes, clearing out of cysts, etc. Here are two sites that I look to often:
http://www.mastercleanser.com/forum
http://www.curezone.com/forums/?v=175&o=1&q=0

[alex]

Ka-Yun Yoon
Since you are a member of this forum I assume you are eating raw, so beginning a water is is no problem - just stop eating. It is essentail to drink lots and lots of water throughout the day. When you start burning your fat stores, this will liberate fats soluble toxins back into your blood stream until they are processed and eliminated by the liver and kidneys. Drinking a lot of water will dilute these toxins and lessen their effect. During a water fast it is best to do as little as possible. I have found that I do not lose any strength while on a fast, but your endurance suffers a great deal. You will find that even going up a flight of stairs, you can feel some pain in your leg muscles caused by the lactic acid released by muscle use. This does not occur for some days however.

During a water fast your body starts to conserve everything even water soluble vitamins like vitamin C, which is normally excreted at a steady rate (which is why we need vitamin C on a daily basis), is conserved. The body begins to break down weak and diseased tissue and concentrated on repair and regeneration.

I found that I needed hardly any sleep while on a fast. Normally, 25% of your total expenditure of energy is devoted to digesting food. While fasting this 25% is not used so it is available. The catch is that your endurance is not their so your are not able to take advantage of it. I found that if I did not keep my eyes closed for the same number of hours that they would normally be closed during sleep, that they got very tired. If you are doing a fast partly out of religous reasons, you can use this awake closed eye time for contemplation.

If you have never done a water fast before, the first time I would not try to go for a long time. I would initially try for 5 - 7 days. If you fast for less than three days it is not necessary to take any precautions when breaking the fast. If it is longer than 3 days then you have to take it easy and introduce food slowly. The longer the fast, the longer it will take to re-introduce food. I begon with diluted juices, sipping them slowly and really swirling them around in my mouth before swallowing in order to stimulate the digestive enzymes and salivary glands in the mouth. I progressively increase the percentage of juice to water until I am drinking pure juice on day 2 after the fast. I then move on to soft fruit in very small quantities, again really using the mouth to break them down as much as possible. Keep going slowly - there is no rush, by introducing vegetables next, followed by avocadoes (high in good fats) and finally nuts and seeds. If you fast five days, it should take you five days to re-introduce the food.

I suggest you do as much reading about water fasting as possible. There is a lot of bad information out there on this topic, but that is true of any topic, particularly human nutrition and health in general! YOu will find that everyones experience is different.

The most important three things to watch when water fasting:

1) absolutely no calories must enter your body

2) drink lots of water

3) break the fast slowly and carefully

I can not think of any harmful effects of fasting. If at all possible, have someone close by who has done a water fast before. If you know a health care professional who understands fasting (most don't) then it is best to have them supervise the fast for you. I never had any of this and did all my fasting alone. It is important to listen to your body. It is a bit scary going on a water fast and sometimes you feel bad but normally this feeling passes - if it persists for a number of hours I would break the fast and start sipping juice.

I also found that some of my fasts were much easier than others. There are a couple I remember that I felt pretty bad most of the time, but I didn't see the harm in continuing, and I don't think I did myself any harm.

If you have anyother question, feel free to ask!!

Take the best care


alex

[konmai]

I fasted to detox & get rid of cravings. It pretty much worked. :D I heard that the quickest way to detox was through water fasting & so fasted for 14 days.

Oh, the permanent weight loss (have to follow up w/ eatting healthy (raw) though) was an added bonus! :cool:

[Ka-Yun Yoon]

can you take vaitamins and drink green tea while water fasting?

[Smiley24_7]

Some people do drink green teas will fasting. Green tea tends to help clean out the body more. Dont over drink though! lol i also know people to take supplements while fasting, some dont because they believe it disturbs the fast. Its all a matter of what works for you.