Fast for Your Health

You are surrounded by food and especially advertising for food which can often lead to irresponsible dietary choices. Add in a hectic, burn-the-candle-at-both-ends lifestyle and before you know it you could be filled with all sorts of toxic sludge.

This is where fasting can help. Drinking only water for a day and night or longer may have some beneficial results. It is a commitment that should start off slow and works best if closely monitored. If you struggle with a disease or condition talk to your doctor before fasting.

Try to fast for your health and you just may see some startling results.

An Age Old Practice

Fasting has been an age old practice, particularly during seasonal changes that reduced food reserves. However, it turns out that fasting may be one of the easiest remedies to heal many illnesses or conditions.

From philosophers, to religious practices to physicians, fasting has always been considered an essential practice.

“I fast for greater physical and mental efficiency.” – Plato

“Fasting is a natural method of healing.” – Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian yogi and guru

“Fasting is the greatest remedy–the physician within.” – Paracelsus, one of the fathers of Western medicine

“Fasting must be recognized as a fundamental and radical process that is older than any other mode of caring for the sick organism, for it is employed on the plane of instinct…” – Dr. Herbert Shelton (1895-1985), supervised the fasts of over 40,000 people.

Re-Boot Your Immune System

Scientists have found a correlation between fasting for three days and a spike in production of stem cells that produce white blood cells. Fasting has been described by researchers at the University of Southern California as a practice that, “flips a regenerative switch”.

In their study it was found that those who fasted for 72 hours or followed a special, extremely low caloric diet, that their immune system began to regenerate. These results showed promise not only for the average person but also for those living with a suppressed immune system such as the elderly or struggling through chemotherapy.

Prof Valter Longo, Professor of Gerontology and the Biological Sciences at the University of California comments,

“We could not predict that prolonged fasting would have such a remarkable effect in promoting stem cell-based regeneration of the hematopoietic [bone marrow, liver, lymph nodes, spleen, and thymus] system.”

Starve the Intruders

Fasting may also reduce the acidity in the blood making for a less hospitable environment for systemic toxins. It has also been shown to make cancer cells more vulnerable to treatment.

According to Valter Longo,

“…fasting can actually make cancerous cells more susceptible to chemotherapy than they otherwise might be. Cancerous mice treated with a combination of chemotherapy and fasting had better survival chances and smaller tumors, for several different types of cancer, than those treated with either fasting or chemotherapy alone. In some cases, the combination treatment eradicated even metastasized cancers completely.”

Cognitive Strengthening

Intermittent fasting could help increase brain function. As the body goes into “starvation crisis mode” and begins to seek fat reserves for energy, the brain kicks into damage control mode. Yet, this damage control looks, to some scientists, like a favorable response.

Dr. Mark Mattson, Chief of the Laboratory of Neuroscience at the National Institute of Aging, found some interesting results when studying systemic feedback after a two day fast.

Natural News describes his findings,

“…the brain adapts stress-response pathways that can help the body cope with stress and lower disease risk. The production of protein in the brain is increased, and this promotes the growth of neurons, as well as the creation and strength of synapses. In addition, mitochondria are also increasingly produced in nerve cells, which enhances the ability of neurons to form and maintain connections with each other.”

This kind of data has shown to be a potential therapy for those suffering from dementia, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease not to mention all the other benefits of fasting such as,

• Increased stamina
• Digestive health
• Clearer skin
• Weight loss
• Reducing high blood pressure

However, such a simple remedy may not sit well with many powers to be such as Big Agriculture and Big Pharma, two corporate giants that would rather we eat ourselves into illness that requires medication. Don’t get sucked in by the mainstream hype and instead see for yourself what fasting can offer.

Talk to your physician or naturopathic doctor to determine if a weekly fast for your health may work for you. Think of it as giving your engine a rest once in a while.