The first thing an animal does when it is sick is stop eating. Fasting is nature's way to accelerate recovery. It gives the body the energy and opportunity to cleanse and heal itself.

All organs and glands get a much-needed rest, during which the tissues are purified and rejuvenated and the functions balanced and regulated. The entire digestive tract (stomach, small intestines and colon) is swept clean. Food takes a tremendous amount of energy to digest.

It is likely that your bloodstream, tissues, muscles and cells all are overloaded with toxic chemicals - PCB's, pesticides, Dioxin, Phthalates, PFA, heavy metals and more... Fasting triggers a truly wondrous cleansing process that reaches right down to each and every cell and tissue in the body.

Within 12 to 15 hours of beginning a fast, the body breaks down fat reserves, mobilising and eliminating stored toxins. This can lead to fatigue, irritability, muscle aches and pains, headaches and feeling generally hung-over. This is due to your body eliminating toxins into your bloodstream at an accelerated rate and indicates just how toxic you have been. However, a juice or vegetable broth fast (rather than just water) slows the rate of elimination of toxins to a level your body can more comfortably handle.

Many, many conditions are helped by therapeutic fasting which accelerates the healing process and allows the body to recover from serious disease in a dramatically short period of time. During an acute viral illness, fasting activates white blood cells and causes more interferon to be produced.

Conditions helped include: addictions (tobacco, alcohol, drugs); allergies; autoimmune diseases; circulation problems; cervical dysplasia; digestive problems; general toxicity; hair, skin and nails; headaches; hypertension (blood pressure will remain low if the person follows a health-supporting diet and lifestyle after the fast); hypoglycaemia; infections; inflammation; vertigo; water retention...

How to fast safely

Try to fast for at least three days. Most people are surprised at how little they want food while fasting. If you have never fasted before do not fast for more than five days.

Fasting is cheap and easy to do. You can fast on water, fruit juices (diluted), vegetable juices, but my recommendation is to fast on a vegetable broth (liquidised) made from any of the following:

onions, leeks, garlic, leafy greens like, chard, watercress, bok choy, kale or spinach, celery, green beans, cougettes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, asparagus, all sprouts, season with parsley, coriander and herbs.

(Do not use orange juice during any stage of your fast. It is highly acidic and will exacerbate your problems. Never break a fast with orange juice.)

Break your fast gently.

Try steamed vegetables, for the first day. Someone I know made the mistake of breaking their fast with fish and chips and suffered extreme colic pains.

Who should not fast?

Prolonged fasting is contraindicated for children under 18 (still forming bone and teeth) and pregnant and lactating mothers (her detoxification will toxify the child).

If you are not reasonably healthy, have a major health concern, extreme weakness or are taking pharmaceutical drugs only fast under the supervision of a trained health professional.

A useful book is Fasting and Eating for Health, by Joel Fuhrman, MD. 1995.
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