Fasting - The Single Healthiest Thing You Can Do

• Posted by kimh on September 16, 2009
• 342 comments

There is No Money in Fasting!

By Janet Marsh Demeter, Staff Writer

Fasting is an ancient techanique for healing and detoxification of the body from a variety of ills, and for maintenance of optimum health. Studies show that we are designed to fast and fasting is in part an evolutionary development of times of food scarcity.

As with other areas of the Natural Healing arena, general consciousness of its benefits are not well-known; in fact, people tend to be fearful of fasting. This fear of fasting is really the fear of feeling "hunger", or what people think is hunger. More often than not, the sensations of withdrawal from irritating substances are confused with hunger and do not come from the absence of real, natural foods. What constitutes "real food" is well researched here with our Liberation Fitness staff and at westonaprice.org, but basically, sudden restriction from anything that is not natural and/or is super-refined with preservatives and other toxins, can create the lightheadedness, headache, cravings, stomach pains, and other symptoms that people mistake for real hunger. Actually, the willingness to "sit through" these feelings of withdrawal can eventually free a person, through fasting, from a bad eating habit, among other things.

Considering again the benefits and very basic physiology of the fast, the first 3 days are the most dramatic whether it's a 4, 7, 10, 30 day water fast, because during the first 72 hours the body switches feul sources. During the first day, the body generally consumes all of its stores of glycogen in the liver(normal source of glucose), so then it must find another source. It begins to break-up fatty acids(ketosis) as feul, and also (catabolizes)breaks down amino-acids from the muscles to make glucose, about 2-3 oz of muscle on the second day. By the third day, the ketosis or breaking down of fatty acids becomes very efficient so that the body can begin conserving protein, thereafter catabolizing only 1/2-1oz of muscle per day. The conservation of protein was important for the protection of the organs and muscles when no food was available; over 30 days a person will go through 1-2 lbs. of muscle tissue.

Much like sleep, the body during a fast uses its energy to break down and expel toxins, and to heal itself. As the fast continues, the body will use-up everything it can that is not necessary for its functioning, such as microbes, fibroid tumors, wastes, inflammation, and stored fat of course. Generally, the body switches its fuel source in the first 3 days, when the most dramatic effects, if any, are felt. So fear not; the body is actually designed to do this--and can manage very well for quite some time. Some of the diseases and conditions that clinical studies have shown fasting helps either partially, or permanently, are: hypertension, chronic cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, obesity, epilepsy, acute pancreatitis, osteo- and rhumatoid arthritis, auto-immune diseases including lupus, severe toxic contamination(7-10day fast), poor immune function, psycho-somatic diseases, gout, bronchial athsma, allergies, MS, insomnia, and more.

There have been enough animal studies that suggest life-span enhancement through fasting, and also individual case studies, not to mention common sense. Cancer research is, of course, controversial with fasting(as with most natural approaches), however there is data to suggest it may help prevent cancer. Most people can safely fast, but there are special cases when one should not fast. Always consult your health professional for when considering fasting as to your goals, the length and type of the fast, etc... Starving people obviously should not, pregnant diabetic women, nursing mothers, those with anemia, those with porphyria should not fast. There is also a rare genetic fatty-acid deficiency which prevents the body's switching to ketosis.

Knowledge of fasting should be available to everyone as a natural and safe (with some exceptions) healing and health maintenance technique. The more you know about health and wellness, what good things with which to fuel your body, the more sense it makes to take advantage of fasting to cleanse and heal. Often the fear of it is no more than a bad habit not wanting to lose his position of authority in the mind. Fast and be healthy; fast and be free, too!