Fasting by Dr. Ben Kim on December 15, 2006

Clinic Information
Historical records tell us that fasting has been used for health
recovery for thousands of years. Hippocrates, Socrates, and Plato
all recommended fasting for health recovery. The Bible tells us that
Moses and Jesus fasted for 40 days for spiritual renewal. Mahatma
Gandhi fasted for 21 days to promote respect and compassion between
different religions.

For much of human history, fasting has been guided by intuition and
spiritual purpose. Today, our understanding of human physiology
confirms the powerful healing effects of fasting.

Fasting is a powerful therapeutic process that can help people
recover from mild to severe health conditions. Some of the most
common ones are high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, chronic
headaches, inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and
Crohn's disease), irritable bowel syndrome, adult onset diabetes,
heart disease, degenerative arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis,
psoriasis, eczema, acne, uterine fibroids, benign tumours, and
systemic lupus erythematosus.

Fasting provides a period of concentrated physiological rest during
which time the body can devote its self-healing mechanisms to
repairing and strengthening damaged organs. The process of fasting
also allows the body to cleanse cells of accumulated toxins and
waste products

Fasting gives the digestive tract time to completely rest and
strengthen its mucosal lining. A healthy intestinal mucosal lining
is necessary for preventing the leakage of incompletely digested
proteins into the bloodstream, thereby offering protection from
autoimmune conditions. A healthy digestive tract also helps to
protect the blood and inner organs against a variety of
environmental and metabolic toxins.

A fast that is appropriate for your situation will allow for you to
experience some or all of the following:

* More energy

* Healthier skin

* Healthier teeth and gums

* Better quality sleep

* A clean and healthy cardiovascular system

* A decrease in anxiety and tension

* Dramatic reduction or complete elimination of aches and pains in
muscles and joints

* Decrease or elimination of headaches

* Stabilization of blood pressure

* Stronger and more efficient digestion

* Stabilization of bowel movements

* Loss of excess weight

* Elimination of stored toxins

* Improvement with a wide variety of chronic degenerative health
conditions, including autoimmune disorders

It is important to understand that the detoxifying and healing
processes that occur during a fast are also active when a person is
consuming food. A fast can be helpful for people whose conditions
are not improving as quickly as they would like, or for people who
have health conditions that require a concentrated period of healing
to resolve. It is also important to understand that the most
important part of a fast is how a person lives after the fast.
Fasting can provide a clean and revitalized foundation upon which
you can build and maintain a strong and well-conditioned body by
consistently making healthy food and lifestyle choices.

What follows are answers to commonly asked questions about fasting:

Q. How do I know if I need to fast?

A: The answer to this question depends on your health status and
goals. For many people, adopting an unprocessed, whole food diet,
engaging in a sensible exercise program, acquiring restful sleep,
and living in a relatively unpolluted environment will provide the
necessary conditions to recover and maintain vibrant health. If a
person is having a difficult time making necessary dietary and
lifestyle changes, fasting can be a powerful way of accelerating
health recovery. Fasting can also reset the sensitivity of the
nervous system, providing an effective way of overcoming
dependencies on caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, other recreational
drugs, salt, sugar, and other stimulants. After fasting, many people
marvel at how sweet romaine lettuce is, how refreshing apples are,
and how wonderfully delicious baked potatoes are – without sour
cream and butter! Many of us have been eating rich, salty, and
sweetened foods for so long that we are unaware of how good foods
taste in their natural, unprocessed states.

Some people choose to fast in the absence of overt symptoms of
disease, knowing that a period of complete physiological rest can
allow the body to rejuvenate itself from the toxins that build up in
our tissues despite our efforts to live healthfully.

Q. How long should I fast for?

A. If you choose to fast to recover from acute illness, you can fast
until you feel well enough to eat again. In the case of a chronic
health challenge, the length of the fast is determined by the
progress of the fast. The healing processes that take place during a
fast are predictable. Blood levels of cholesterol and uric acid tend
to elevate during a fast, a result of the body stirring up stores of
undesirable materials and expelling them into the circulation to be
eliminated from the body. Shortly after the fast, these levels tend
to be lower than they were before the fast, indicating a cleaner
system. ESR, a marker for inflammation, tends to decrease during the
course of a fast. As a part of the detoxification process, some
people experience vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, dizziness, skin
rashes, and other uncomfortable symptoms. Fasting under the
supervision of a health care professional who is trained to
distinguish healing responses from harmful processes can be helpful
in allowing a person to "ride out" uncomfortable symptoms of
detoxification.

It is not uncommon for people to experience significant improvement
in their health from fasting between 3 and 30 days. The idea is to
fast as briefly as possible, but as long as is necessary to allow
the body to restore health.

Q. Can anyone fast?

A. There are a handful of exceptional circumstances in which it is
not advisable to fast. A small portion of the population has an
inborn error of metabolism whereby they lack an enzyme that is
needed to process fatty acids. Since fatty acids are needed as an
alternate source of energy during a fast, it would not be safe for
such a person to pursue a fast of significant duration. This
disorder can be recognized early in the fasting process by a trained
observer.

Intake of certain medications, certain liver and kidney disorders,
states of extreme weakness or malnutrition, pregnancy, and certain
types and stages of cancer are other examples of conditions that are
not conducive to fasting.

Q. Can fasting cure specific conditions?

A: It's important to keep in mind that fasting is not a cure for
specific health challenges. Rather, it is an opportunity to give the
body a prolonged period of rest to do what it does best – heal and
restore itself. The same healing mechanisms that are at work during
a fast are also at work while a person is eating. The difference is
that during a fast, all of the body's resources are channeled
towards its self-healing and restorative mechanisms.

Conditions that tend to respond favourably to fasting and dietary
modification include high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, chronic
headaches, inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and
Crohn's disease), irritable bowel syndrome, adult onset diabetes,
heart disease, degenerative arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis,
psoriasis, eczema, acne, uterine fibroids, benign tumours, and
systemic lupus erythematosus.

Q. How much weight will I lose if I fast?

A. On average, a typical faster loses approximately one pound per
day during a water-only fast. Initially, the loss may approach two
or even three pounds per day for the first few days if the person is
retaining significant sodium and water. This can decrease to
approximately half a pound per day in the later stages of a fast.
From day two onward, the body begins utilizing fatty tissues for
energy, thereby conserving as much muscle tissue as possible, a
mechanism called protein sparing.

Q. What is the difference between water fasting and juice fasting?

A. During a water fast, only water is consumed. During a juice fast,
any variety of fruit and vegetable juices are consumed.

People detoxify and heal more quickly with a water fast than with a
juice fast. This is because with a water fast, your digestive
passageway and organs are able to rest completely, allowing for all
of your energy to be used for cleansing and repair of damaged
tissues. With a juice fast or a cleansing diet of fruits and
vegetables, your body must use energy to digest nutrients, leaving
less available energy for detoxification and healing. When a
person's health condition is related to a weak or damaged digestive
system, recovery may depend on fully resting the digestive
passageway and organs through water fasting.

Another significant difference is that more fat tissue is burned
during a water fast, as your body must rely exclusively on fat
reserves to supply its energy needs after the first 1-3 days of
water fasting. Your body stores the bulk of incoming toxins in your
fat reserves. As these reserves are burned for energy during a fast,
any stored toxins will be released into your circulation, to be
eliminated through various eliminative channels like your urine and
respiratory tract. This mechanism of detoxification also occurs with
juice fasting, but at a slower pace.

All of this considered, both types of fasting can be used with
effectiveness, depending on your circumstances and goals. If your
situation and goals include wanting or needing to make significant
gains in your health in a short period of time, water fasting may be
the best route. If a person has a long history of taking extremely
toxic drugs like certain chemotherapeutic agents, an intense period
of detoxification through water fasting can cause damage to the
kidneys. In this type of circumstance, juice fasting or a simple
diet of organic vegetables and fruits may be the best first step to
recovery.

Finally, a water fast is most effective when you are able to get a
lot of physical and emotional rest. If your life circumstances don't
allow this, juice fasting is a better choice.

Q. Won't my metabolism slow down during and after the fast, causing
me to gain back more weight over the long haul?

A. Metabolic rate fluctuates according to our moment-to-moment
physiological needs. When we are active, our metabolic rate speeds
up. When we sleep, our metabolic rate slows down. In the same way,
when we fast, our metabolic rate slows down because our
physiological needs are lower than they are when we are consuming
food and going about our regular activities. When a fast is broken
and a person returns to eating and more activity, her metabolic rate
increases to match her increasing physiological needs.

What does change during a fast is our digestive and assimilative
capacity. Fasting provides an opportunity for our digestive organs
to heal and make more efficient use of the nutrients in the foods
that we consume. Weight gain or loss is always a simple function of
how many calories we take in versus how many we expend. If your
primary goal is to be at a healthful weight for your unique
disposition, the optimal approach is usually to combine an
unprocessed, whole food diet with a regular aerobic exercise and
strength-training program.