Fasting

This article will not outline HOW to fast.  I will tell you about my own experience with fasting but I believe that the process is as different for each person as we are different to each other.  So, here you will find another advocate FOR the process of fasting, however long  you wish to do it, however intensely you want to attempt it, no matter how much modern doctors seem to refuse to advocate for its efficacy.

Most western individuals live such a “Go-Go-Go” lifestyle that we’re constantly building up, onward and upward, rather than resting or tearing down.  We believe in the “3 square meals a day” policy, which inevitably catches up with us, and we therefore tend to take in far more calories than we’re able to burn in a day.  Typically.  I’ll admit there are exceptions.

If you think of your body as your house (your “temple,” if you will), every meal you consume is another item that you bring in to your house – food for the refrigerator, clothes in the closet, a knick knack to adorn a shelf…  Some of it gets used and thrown out but other items collect.  And collect.  And collect….

The more useful items you bring in to your house – fresh water, whole raw foods, vitamins & minerals – the more likely they will get used when they’re needed and thrown out when they’re finished.  The more junk you introduce to the equation – refined sugars, modified oils, chemicals in the form of artificial colors or flavors – the more junk piles up and collects in your house, some of it even setting up permanent camp deep in your fat cells (if you were wondering where the earlier knick knack allusion came from, it is related to this).

These poisons literally clog up your system, making it harder to absorb good foods when you decide you want to eat them.

Enter: Fasting!  Fasting is spring cleaning for your body.   Whether you do it for a day or 40 days, you put your digestive system on hold so the body can (and will!) systematically clean all the junk you’ve brought into your house over the years.  This applies to artificial foods, chemicals, medicines and fat.   Yes, fat!

I can speak for a 3-day water fast from experience.  Some people may argue that 3 days is really not enough to get down and dirty and cleanse your cells, and for a true overhaul or purging of toxins, this may be true.  But! I see an occasional 3-day fast as that regular maintenance to kick start your system into working more efficiently even while you’re back to eating normally.

Mind you, a 3-day fast is more than a 3-day commitment.  As I stated earlier that different people will fast differently, pre-fast and post-fast stages will usually differ from person to person, but for however many days you choose to put your digestive system on hold, you can usually expect as long or longer in the preliminary and re-adaptive stages.

Benefits I have personally experienced from my occasional 3-day fast:
I stop craving sugars!  Or caffeine!  Or any chemical substance that tends to be more addictive than logic would dictate.  Complete abstinence from these substances immediately breaks any hold they have over you (after, of course, 3 days of intense cravings while they leave your system).
Instead, I start craving life-supporting nutrients: I find my late night cravings shift from ice cream to tomato slices, dinner cravings shift from pizza to exotic Asian vegetables and spices, beverage cravings shift from espresso-sugar-and-milk to unsweetened green tea.
I watched a scar, the length of my forearm (a gift from my overexcited puppy), FADE 50% in the first 3-day fast after I acquired it; after another short fast a year later it is hardly visible anymore.  I won’t guarantee the same level of healing for the next person but I can tell you that this is what my body was able to do with that time.

My current approach is not a complete overhaul or purging of poisons but, if done regularly, I feel as if I no longer need that intense a cleanse.  Instead, I help my body work more efficiently, even after the fast.

Like I stated earlier, different people will fast differently.  I respect anyone who has or will attempt a 40-day fast; I still believe this will be my first action if I’m ever faced with certain cancers, but for the moment I would rather keep an easier maintenance schedule and avoid the lifestyle changes and cleansing crisis symptoms that can accompany such an intense fast.

They say there’s a divine intelligence to the body and, if you give it the space and time it needs, it will systematically break down and remove dead or diseased cells on its own.  This would logically include tumor cells, cysts, blood clots, scar tissue or any other growths within the body that do not belong there.  The energy it takes to digest food is energy that can be turned to performing these cleansing actions.

One caveat: there are certain situations you DON’T WANT to break down quickly.  Deep vein clots for one – a fast could break apart a large clot glued to the walls of a deep vein and, once it becomes a traveling thrombosis, could really cause bad, BAD problems.  Think of any disease caused by blood clots: heart attacks, strokes, pulmonary embolisms…  I don’t think I need to emphasize just how devastating these events can be.  (And this may be the biggest reason western doctors don’t recommend fasting.)

Words of advice to anyone out there thinking about or wanting to attempt a fast: START SMALL.  I started out with dreams of annual 2-week fasts when I first started my research and successfully completed ONE DAY on my first attempt.  The next year I was able to complete 3 days on juice and water and since then I’ve been able to complete 3 days on water and vegetable broth with a few days of a whole raw food diet preceding and closing the fast.  I’ve decided this is enough for me.

There are groups out there to help you through an extended fast – consult them!  But if you’re wanting to attempt a short fast (1-3 days), arm yourself with calming books, dry brushes, yoga, breathing exercises, lots of water, solitude and willpower.  Lots and lots of willpower.  The benefits are worth it.