Melon fasting/cleanse? Advice Please :)

[Analeah]

Hi everyone, I just thought I would ask for some advice. I really think my body is ready for a cleanse and I want to do a fast but in the past when I have tried it makes everything worse. For example I will eat nothing all day and then in the evening I will give up and eat way too much. I don't really have a good juicer but I have a blender and was thinking about doing a fast but still eating melons. Does anyone know if the body is able to cleanse itself on a fast of just watermelon or canteloup etc? I am sure it would not be the same as a water fast but I am hoping that it can provide similar cleansing benefits. Thanks!

[Curtis]

Hmm how does it make every worse? Most of us when we go on a water or juice fast the first 3 to 4 days can be really bad because of the stuff we have ate in the past. I know for when I have attempted 3 to 4 day fast in the past because of my coffee habit it is really rough.
Hopefully Kirk will answer this for you, he has a lot of knowledge in this area.

[ConsciousCuisine]

Analeah, sometimes detoxing too rapidly after living a *very* toxic existance can cause more harm than good.

Your recent substance use likely has created stores of toxins in your system that could stress your organs, taxing them beyond what they can healthfully purge on a daily basis. I beleive it would be best for you to continue eating plenty of fresh, live, raw foods and not limit yourself at this time. That in and of itself will create quite a detox, given that your lifestyle previously was quite toxic.

You are doing amazing things by simply eating raw and drinking plenty of water. Can you take a probiotic supplement? Perhaps adding those and a nightly psyllium-bentonite shake before bed to clear out your intenstines and colon would be a good choice. That is one area where many toxins are trapped and cause stagnation.

I wish you the best and please ask me if you'd like any assistance.

You RAW-K! ;)

[Analeah]

Hello everyone, and thanks for your replies! About two years ago when I went raw for six months I don't remember getting hardly any detox symptoms at all and I was pretty strictly 100 percent raw. The only thing I noticed at first was irregular bowel movements but that is about it. Now I have been doing raw for the last few weeks and so far it has been the same thing. I am not sure if I am not detoxing because I sometimes eat cashews (which I have read are sometimes not really raw) or brewers yeast and nama shoyu etc. I don't really know enough about the detox proccess to know if things like these would not allow the detox process to take place or slow it down. Also something else I am questioning is that my skin has cleared up some since living rawly but I still am getting acne. I don't know if this is due to hormones, diet (like too much nuts or olive oil etc) or if it is/can be a form of detox? I am trying to stay away from supplements due to the fact that I have a small budget living as an aupair in an expensive country, but if you think it would be a temporary thing and would really help I would be happy to look into it. What is a psyllium-bentonite shake? Thanks again for all your advice and help!

[kirk]

I agree with Conscious Cuisine about moving toward detox slowly. Give yourself a couple of months of eating raw before you try a serious detox. If you still want to incorporate melons, make them your evening meal so that your stomach will have finished its digestion before sleep. If the body (during sleep) is not having to deal with a stomach full of food, it will use its energy to detox during the night while you sleep. Hopefully this makes sense.

Also, if you only have a blender, you need to strain all the fiber out of the juice (during a fast) because the fiber will increase hunger. Usually hunger will decrease after about the third day of a fast.

And before I forget, Conscious Cuisine is right about toxins in the colon. If detox gets too harsh, it can be relieved by keeping the colon flushed to remove toxic build up.

[Analeah]

Yes, that makes sense, perhaps it is better to take it slow. I guess I am just worried I am doing something wrong because I am not detoxing now and never really did when I was rawing two years ago. This probably sounds silly but I am just so afraid I am doing something wrong! How long did it take for you to detox when you started? I know everyone is different but I am just trying to get an idea of an average person. Also I have this idea in my head that if I fast it will help get rid of my intense cravings for nuts/seeds, olive oil, avocado and other dense oily foods. I am always craving especially almond butter and I am probably eating too much of it. Do you think doing maybe a one or two day fast would help with this or do you think it is better to just wait a few months before doing any kind of fast?

[thunderdancer]

Maybe your body needs those foods it's craving.

I know that at the start I ate a lot like that, lots of dried food too - it helped me get where I am, we are all different tho, follow your instincts Analeah x

[Analeah]

You have no idea what a relief that is to hear! I am hoping soon I will be able to eat less and less of nuts and oil. My goal is to be able to be fully satisfied with eating just fruits and vegetables alone with no salt or spices or oily foods. I try to listen to the instincts of my body but sometimes it's hard to feel whether I am wanting the almond butter and other rich foods because it tastes so incredibly good to me or because my body needs the nutrients and fat/protein from them. How long did it take before your cravings for these kinds of food went down?