Along my journey I learned about fasting. The one treatment the continues to come up in literature, religious practices as well has historical and personal uses over hundreds of years for almost all chronic diseases. Especially diseases of over indulgence, which happen to be the leading causes of death in the U.S.
So what is my solution to all the chatter about nutrition?
In the words of Michel Pollen:
Eat real food
Not too much
Mostly plants
But today, let’s talk about the opposite of nutrition, fasting!
Fasting is the absences of food for an extended period of time. We have found a way to cleans your body, rev up your immune system. Reset your metabolism, detox your cells, loss weight, burn actual fat. Repair cartilage. Revitalize your skin and take years off of your complexion and the best part. It is absolutely free!! When we fast we rest the colon and digestive system. With rest it can heal itself. Everyday when we eat fried, processed non organic foods we are damaging and oxidizing the colon causing little micro-tears in the one cell thick walls. Normally only broken down amino acids, fatty acids and glucose can only get through, but with damage, bigger particles get through into the blood and cause the damage to the blood vessels, witch causes the arterial sclerosis, or clotting.
When we fast, and rest the digestive system it can heal up all of those micro-tears. There is no food particles to escape into the blood stream, so the blood is cleaner, now it can work on healing all of the damage there. The immune system can stop processing invading food, and can start working on healing the body from within. The liver processes most everything that enters our body. When we deprive ourselves of food, our body has to make up for it and find things to eat endogenously, or from inside. The Liver will take accumulated material, process it down and eliminate the waste.
Within 24 hours your body will get a whole new set of enzymes. So that now instead of using sugar for energy, we are using fat. Our own fat! And that is when autophagy begins, or self-consumption, where the body degrades its own tissues to recycle cellular components of less productive and damaged cells. Humans have developed this technique in order to survive long periods without food. Our species has used this technique to flourish over other animals, even primates. Not only can we consume our own cells, but we also produce ketones to fuel our highly active brains. But that is a topic for another time, because today we are talking about Juice Fasting. Not Water fasting which is much more intense and requires total rest from exercise and daily activity. We do offer water only fasting programs and consoling at the clinic and Let me know if you are interested in hearing a lecture on water only fasting. Also, If you’re interested in how much fat stores you have, come into the office for a BIA bio impedance analysis to see body and cellular composition.
Before starting any fast I highly recommend talking with a doctor who is trained in fasting and getting a full physical exam to ensure a and productive healthy fast.
The process. The idea of a fast is more than just to lose weight and heal your body. We are working toward a full restoration of your lifestyle, taste buds and metabolism. It will change your metabolism and your taste buds. The more frequently you do the fasts, the less and less you will have cravings for the same sweet or salty foods.
Our bodies are constantly trying to repair itself and become healthy and happy. We are the ones that try to over throw the perfect system and do what we want. Like eat sugar and carbs, drink soda and alcohol, smoke tobacco and live in unhealthy environments. We live in a society that rewards us for doing the things that we want not what we need.
Different ways to fast:
Intermitent fasting
Juice fasting
Water fasting
Ok now to talk aboutJuicing!!
Juice fasting is the best of both worlds. You are resting the majority of your digestive system from have to break down the food, and you're getting a high concentration of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients the are rapidly absorbed into your cells.
How to Juice fast:
There are stores that you can buy pre packaged juice from or you can buy a juicer and juice at home!
My favoret juicer is a masticating juicer, which means it grinds up the vegetable like a cold press. The other common type is a centrifugal juicer which is actually what I started with because it was much cheaper around 50 – 100$ vs the masticating or champion juicer range between 150 and 300$. The centrifugal juicer cuts the food and exposes it to a large amount of oxygen, which causes it to brown essentially.
Next: The food.
The rule for me is always 80/20 – 80% vegetables 20% fruit. And really any combination you would like. We have some recipes to get you started but the sky is the limit on jucing as long as it is 80/20. Another hugely important component to a good juice fast is the produce.
Always Always op for local, seasonal, organic produce first, when you have it available. Not only are you benefitting a local farm, which we need to help keep alive!!! But you are helping your body even more. When you eat food from the environment in which you live, you gain there survival techniques as well. In the high mountains of Colorado the plants have less oxygen and have to compensate for that somehow. When you eat that food, say a beet, you are gaining all of those enzymes and compounds that the plant made. Esspecally the beet, which has an affinity for the liver and gall bladder, will help clean and better oxygenate the hemoglobin within the blood cells.
If you can't find local as easily, opt for organic and aviod the pesticide load! Plus, organic produce tastes better!
Ok lets get started
Wash produce.
Cut to the size of the juicer opening
And begin juicing!
Add water after every few pieces to dilute the juice so that we are nourishing and hydrating our cells.