Healing Naturally: Fasting and Elimination (opinion )

Monday, July 30, 2012 by: Hesh Goldstein
Tags: fasting, elimination, healing

(NaturalNews) The evidence throughout time supporting fasting is incredible. There was a guy back in ancient Greece named Aesculapius that said, "Instead of using medicine, fast. "Hippocrates recommended prolonged fasting instead of taking health-destroying pharmaceuticals, which is the God of modern day medicine, most of the religions in the world advocate periods of "abstinence" from food to attain physical and spiritual purity and even animals and babies, through their natural instincts, refuse to eat food when they feel ill. Yet, most people are clueless about the benefits of fasting when sick and always advise those that they care about to "Eat to keep up your strength." During illness, there can be no worse advice to lower vitality.

When you fast there is an increase in the amount of energy available for the eliminative and cleansing process due to the absence of large amounts of food requiring digestion and assimilation, which require energy as well.

The body then is able to redirect this increased energy toward elimination of the obstructions to the vital life force in the form of toxic waste and since vitality equals the life force minus any obstructions, as they are removed higher levels of vital energy are available for more rapid elimination.

Elimination begins as soon as the first meal is missed. As the fasting proceeds, usually during the first three days and reaching its maximum by the third day, this elimination activity manifests in the appearance of a coated tongue, bad breath, headaches, muscular aches and general fatigue.

These symptoms arise due to the increase of toxins in the bloodstream being passed out of the channels of elimination. The sooner these symptoms manifest, the more toxic is the system.

Usually around the forth or fifth day a general feeling of well-being comes about.

But, and there's always a but, this state of well-being lasts in degrees of varying intensity interspersed with periods of lack of energy and fatigue as more toxins are eliminated. At about ten days the body is able to get rid of a large amount of deep-rooted toxins and waste matter.

At that point if one experiences flulike symptoms or skin eruptions or other various eliminations, the fast is doing its job and in a short time the feeling of increased health and vigor will come back big time.

For people that have never fasted before, start with one day. Eventually, when that settles in, anywhere from three days to three weeks will be a piece of cake. When you can handle one day a couple of times, go to at least three days. From there, knock yourself out.

When fasting it's always good to drink lots of water and freshly squeezed juices. Stay way from all the pasteurized crap that you get when you buy bottled juices and stay away from fluoridated water. We are talking about getting rid of toxins not continuing to ingest them.

Breaking the fast properly is probable more important. Remember that your body has undergone a heavy detoxification and elimination process so you want to start light and proceed slowly to heavy.

For every three days you fast you need one day of transition. Let's say you do 10 days. Ten days equals 3 to 4 days of getting back because this process has to be a gentle process for your system. The first day should be fruits, water and fresh juices. Day 2 should be fruit, adding stewed fruits, salads, water and fresh juices. Day 3 can include soups with lentils and peas and/or a light sandwich and steamed vegetables. The more you fast the more you spread out the break-back-in.

Food for thought: you just eliminated a ton of crap from your system. Look at what put you there in the first place and decide if you really want to go back to putting back all those toxins you just got rid of.

At this point you might want to re-think what fuel you want to put in your gas tank. Remember that you are now rebuilding tissue and you should want that to be as healthy and constructive as can be.

The best would be organic, plant-based fuel. If not, it's back to flesh and blood, GMOs, antibiotics, bovine growth hormones, MSG, aspartame, and Agent Orange food colorings, for openers.

OK, back to the break-in. Chew you food until it turns into liquid in your mouth, at which point you drink it rather than swallow it.

Remember, it's easy to fast but a bitch to break properly. Too much too soon or too heavy too soon can create more problems than you would ever want. Think about it: you just cleaned out your system and now it's as if you have the system of a little baby. What do you think would happen to an infant if you tried to have it ingest
something other than mother's milk or something that was not heavily pureed? Bye, bye baby? Hell yeah! Now substitute YOU for "baby.

Understand that the tongue is considered to be the mirror of internal health as is used as a guide to the fasting length and process.

What usually happens is that the tongue becomes heavily coated during the first three days of the fast and becomes progressively clearer until the healing crisis starts, or the fast is ended. If the fast is allowed to continue until the tongue is clear and is broken gently with wholesome food, the result will be an increase in physical well-being, vitality, mental clarity, and the body will be at peace.

The type of fast determines the rate of elimination, so, in essence, it is possible to control the elimination process.

By definition, fasting is the elimination of solid food. The strictest fast is the water fast and the order of fast in degree of elimination power is:
Water fast
Citrus juice fast
Sub-acid fruit juice fast
Vegetable juice fast

While the water and citrus juice fasts are more eliminative than the sub-acid juice or vegetable juice fasts, this doesn't mean they are more desirable in every situation. Some situations need a slower, less dramatic elimination than others and not all people can handle citrus in excess or even go one day on water alone.

When in doubt, see a Naturopath.

The following is a list of regimens that bring about eliminations of greater or lesser degrees, in that order:
Citrus fruit mono diet (only one type of fruit and its juice)
Sub-acid mono diet (i.e. apples)
Mixed fruit diet (only one fruit type per meal; no bananas - too heavy)
Raw fruit and vegetable diet
Raw vegetable mono diet (i.e. raw carrot and raw carrot juice)
Raw fruit, raw vegetables, steamed vegetables
Raw and cooked fruit and vegetables plus complex carbohydrates (not refined)
Raw and cooked fruit and vegetables, complex carbohydrates and vegetarian protein

Some reasons for fasting are:
During any acute disease
In any case of lowered vitality or general debility
During any healing crisis
Repeatedly in most chronic diseases
To clear the mind

Also, the following juice or mono diets are frequently used:
Apple juice or mono diet:
Great alkaline diet for acidic conditions like gout or other inflammatory problems.

Grape juice or mono diet:
Great for heart problems or where heavy activity has to take place during elimination. Black grapes especially used with heart conditions. Grapes are not as eliminative as other fruit juices or mono diets.

Grapefruit juice or mono diet:
Good for liver conditions, general elimination, colds or mucous conditions. Not good for arthritis, ulcers, or hyperacidity.

Orange juice or mono diet:
Oranges are not frequently advised in too great a quantity, as they tend to upset the liver. They are used primarily in mucous and lung complaints. Excess may cause inflammation and itching of the butt.

Lemon Juice:
Diluted, lemon juice and water are highly eliminative.

Carrot juice or mono diet:
Especially useful in digestive problems like colitis or ulcers. A very alkaline juice and extremely useful in all acid conditions.

Cabbage juice:
Most effective with ulcers and commonly mixed with carrot juice for this.

Onion juice and mono diet:
Excellent for any condition with excess mucus, lung complaints, sinus congestion, colds, middle ear and Eustachian tube congestion, etc.

A couple of final words:
1. It is well worth your while to enlist the aid of a Naturopath.
2. Interestingly enough the plant world heals and the flesh world sickens.

Aloha!

About the author:
I have been doing a weekly radio show in Honolulu since 1981 called "Health Talk". In 2007 I was "forced" to get a Masters degree in Nutrition because of all the doctors that would call in asking for my credentials. They do not call in anymore. Going to www.healthtalkhawaii.com enables you, among other things, to listen to the shows. I am an activist. In addition to espousing an organic vegan diet for optimum health, I am strongly opposed to GMOs, vaccines, processed foods, MSG, aspartame, fluoridation and everything else that the pimps (Big Pharma, Monsanto and the large food companies) and the hookers (the doctors, the government agencies, the public health officials, and the mainstream media) thrust upon us, the tricks.
After being vaccinated with the DTP vaccine as a child I developed asthma. After taking the organic sulfur crystals (they are harvested from the pine trees in Louisiana) in November of 2008 for 10 days my asthma reversed and has not come back over 4 years later, 18 cases, so far, of autism have been reversed, as has cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, osteoarthritis, joint pain, astigmatism, gum disease, increased sexual activity, heavy metal and radiation elimination, parasite elimination, free radicals elimination, faster athletic recovery time, increased blood circulation, reduced inflammation, resistance to getting the flu, reduction of wrinkles, allergy reduction, reduced PMS and monthly period pain, nausea, migraines and so much more. And it's only possible because of the oxygen it releases that floods the cells of the body. The sulfur, as proven by the University of Southampton in England, enables the body to produce vitamin B12 and the essential amino acids. You can find out more about this incredible nutrient also on my website - www.healthtalkhawaii.com -.
My book, "a Sane Diet For An Insane World", has been published. It can be viewed at
www.asanediet.com.