Most people take baths and showers and try to keep the outside of their bodies clean, but do very little to keep the inside of their bodies clean, which is even more important. Unfortunately, even if you are going out of your way to avoid putting toxic foods, drinks, and drugs in your body, you will still be getting some toxins in your body due to the fact that the environment is so polluted. (Scientists recently found traces of rocket fuel inside the livers of polar bears living in the middle of Alaska, so that should tell you that pollution is everywhere and that none of us are completely safe from it.)
Fortunately there is a way to remove environmental toxins that have built up in your body over the years and it's called "cleansing". There are many different ways to cleanse the body, but the one that I feel is the most natural as well as the most effective is to simply go on a fast, so that is the cleanse that I will focus on in this chapter, so without further ado here is some "food for thought" on the subject of fasting presented in 6 parts...
When you go on a fast you are giving your body a complete break from food, and since the majority of our energy goes to digesting the food that we eat, if there is no food that needs to be digested your body will suddenly have a lot more free energy than usual, and it will use this energy to work on things that it normally doesn't have enough time for, such as healing old wounds that never finished healing properly, building new cells, and removing built-up toxins that have been in your body for years.
During a fast your body goes into a self cleansing mode and when this happens many health problems that people have been living with for years are finally able to heal... (Old people who have lost their vision over the years have actually regained their eye sight while fasting, younger people with acne and other skin problems have developed clear skin while fasting, and even people with life threatening health problems such as cancer have miraculously been healed through fasting.) Our bodies have the ability to heal themselves of virtually anything, but if your body is full of toxins and you eat foods that are so difficult to digest that the food that you ate a week ago is still inside of you the inside of your body will be a toxic environment where disease can easily manifest and thrive, and fasting is the best way to give your body a chance to work it's magic and do what it is truly capable of doing.
There is a lot of unnecessary fear around fasting. The best analogy that I can use to describe fasting is to imaging that a grocery store closed for a week but all of the employees still showed up to work as usual that week. This may seem insane because without customers the store would go out of business, but if there were no customers to deal with and clean up after for a whole week a lot of things could get done that there normally isn't time to do. Every inch of the floor could be polished, all of the walls could be re-painted, all of the old electrical wiring could be stripped out and replaced with faster and more energy efficient wiring that would eventually save the store a lot of money in the long run, and when the week was over it would look like a brand new store on the inside and they could have a grand re-opening. This is exactly what will happen to the inside of your body if you go on a week long fast after having eaten a poor diet for several years. At a grocery store the customer comes first and in the human body digesting food comes first, so if there is no food to digest for a week your body won't simply take a week off and do nothing, but will instead in it's infinite wisdom spend that time working on things that it normally doesn't have time to deal with because there is constantly new food entering the body that needs to be digested, assimilated, and eliminated.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF FASTING _____________________________________________________________________
1. WATER FASTING
A "Water Fast" is where you consume only water for an extended period of time.
This is the fast that I recommend the most, because it is the most powerful, however, if you are new to fasting and you aren't ready to do a "Water Fast" yet the other 2 types of fasts listed below are more mild, but can still provide great benefits and should be considered...
2. JUICE FASTING
A "Juice Fast" is where you consume only fruit and vegetable juices for an extended period of time.
I like to refer to fruit and vegetable juices as "Liquid Plumber For The Body" because they are all very powerful internal cleansers. "Juice Fasting" is a lot easier than "Water Fasting" because drinking juice will provide you with some calories, as well as an enormous amount of vitamins and minerals. (Maybe even more than you are currently consuming in a regular day.) Plus if you drink 8 - 10 big glasses of juice a day it is highly unlikely that you will feel any bad hunger pains during the fast. Because of how much easier a "Juice Fast" is than a "Water Fast" some people will actually go on "Juice Fasts" that last for 100 days in a row. (Click HERE to watch a great video on YouTube of a woman that did a 92 day "Juice Fast" and look at how clear and radiant here eyes look after the fast.)
If you are going to do a "Juice Fast" I recommend that you make all of the juice yourself at home with a juice machine and that you stay away from bottled juice from a grocery store because bottled juices typically contains artificial flavors, food colorings, preservatives, pesticides, herbicides, and other additives which are all toxic and kind of defeat the whole purpose of the cleanse. You also need to make sure that you drink your juice as soon as possible after making it, because if you bite into an apple it will start to oxidize and turn brown as soon as it is exposed to the air, and if you juice an apple (or any other fruit or vegetable for that matter) it will start to oxidize and lose some of it's nutritional value as soon as it is exposed to the air, so in order to get the maximum nutritional value from your juice you need to make your juice yourself and drink it shortly after making it instead of making juice and storing it in your refrigerator for later that day or buying bottled juices that might be a few years old. (Even "Organic" bottled juice by law still has to be "Pasteurized" which is a nice way of saying "Sterilized" and is dead.)
3. MONO FASTING
A "Mono Fast" is where you consume only 1 type of fruit or vegetable for an extended period of time.
Although most people don't consider a "Mono Fast" to be a true fast since you are still eating, you will still be giving your digestive system a huge break from the amount of work that it normally has to perform if you have been eating meals that involve a lot of complex food combining, and eating this way for 1 week, or even just 1 day will still have a powerful cleansing effect on your body.
In chapter one I devoted a chapter to the benefits of eating mono meals which you can read by clicking HERE
SIGNS THAT YOU ARE TOXIC _____________________________________________________________________
We are in a constant state of detoxing and retoxing. Our bodies can handle a certain amount of toxins, but if a person is smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, eating 3 toxic meals a day, or under an enormous amount of stress (which will suppress your body's ability to eliminate toxins) they will definitely be absorbing toxins a lot faster than they can eliminate them, and this will ultimately result in illness or worse if something isn't done about it and below are some signs you can look for to see if you are eliminating toxins fast enough...
1. YOUR URINE
If you are truly healthy your urine will be clear. If your urine is dark yellow it's a good sign that you are consuming toxic foods or simply not drinking enough water, and either way going on a water fast will help to flush you out.
The Ultimate Goal - Have urine that is clear like the water you drink..
2. YOUR STOOL
What do new born babies, really healthy adults, and animals in the wild all have in common? What they all have in common is that pretty much every time they eat a meal they have a bowel movement. (1 meal in = 1 meal out) The average person will consume about 100,000 pounds of food in their lifetime that will need to be digested, so it is very important that have a good working digestive system.
If you are only having 1 bowel every 2 - 3 days you really need to do a colon cleanse, because I have news for you, if your body can't eliminate waste fast enough it's only a matter of time until virtually every health problem you can think of will start to show up. (Consuming toxins faster than your body can eliminate them is ultimately the cause of almost all disease.)
Believe it or not there are people out there who are so constipated that they only have 1 bowel movement a week. (Stop and think about that for a moment, this means that they are walking around with 21 meals in their stomach!!!) Why do people have books, magazines, and newspapers in the bathroom? And why do they have huge medicine cabinet, soap, shampoo, and deodorant for that matter? It's because they are constipated.
If you are suffering from constipation you can go to a health store and buy a "Colon Cleansing Kit", but I personally believe that doing a mono fast on 1 type of fruit for a few days will be far more effective.
The Ultimate Goal - Have odorless bowl movements after breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
3. YOUR BODY ODOR
Body odor is guaranteed to happen when you are eating poorly. It can also be due to not sweating enough... (Our skin has about 100,000,000 pours on it, so obviously we were designed to be sweating on a regular basis.) When was the last time that your body was covered in sweat? If it has been so long that you can't remember, I suggest that you start making it a point to work up a sweat at least once a day, and preferably by exercising. Sweat out toxins and replace the sweat that you lose with clean water!
The Ultimate Goal - Have no need for soap and deodorant.
4. YOUR BREATH
If you wake up in the morning and your breath smells like the food that you ate before you went to sleep it's because the food that you ate the night before is still sitting in your stomach getting broken down, and if this is common for you, fasting would be the best way to allow your digestive system to finally catch up and rejuvenate.
The Ultimate Goal - Have odorless breath without the aid of "Mouthwash" , "Tooth Paste", "Breath Mints", etc...
5. YOUR SKIN
The health of your skin is a reflection of the health of the inside of your body. If you are prone to acne, rashes, and other skin conditions it is likely due to poor diet or dehydration. Any of the 3 fasts above will likely help to improve your skin.
Your skin is your largest organ and it performs many functions. (Including keeping your insides safe from the outside.) Your skin is completely replaced about once a month and the average person will go through about 1,000 completely different sets of skin in their lifetime. We shed about 1,000,000 dead skin cells every hour and almost all of the dust in people's homes are actually their own dead skin cells, and when people's homes get too dusty they get out the vacuum cleaner and vacuum themselves up!
The Ultimate Goal - Have clear and glowing skin that people compliment you for having.
6. YOUR HEALTH
Any time that you get sick it would be wise to consider fasting until the sickness is over. It's 100% natural to stop eating when you are sick. (If a farmer owns 1,000 cows he will know right away if one of them is sick because it will be the only cow not eating at feed time.) We naturally lose our appetites when we get sick and the reason for this is that your body is being attacked by a virus that it is trying to fight off and get rid of before it spreads and takes over the body, so the last thing that it needs at that moment is to have to take energy away from something that serious so that it can work on digesting another meal.
If you have spent the past several years consuming a lot of unhealthy foods, drinks, and drugs, and breathing polluted air, you are most likely full of toxins and there is a very good chance that if you go on a fast you will experience something known as a "Healing Crisis" which is when there are so many toxins being removed from your body that you develop "Sickness-Like Symptoms"..
Your body has 7 organs that are designed to eliminate toxins, (The Colon, Liver, Kidneys, Lungs, Blood, Lymphatic System, and Skin.) and when massive amounts of toxins are being eliminated from the body these 7 organs are going to be working a lot harder than normal, and when this happens the following things can occur...
- You suddenly have to use the bathroom a lot more than normal. - You get really bad breath and body odor. - You develop skin eruptions such as rashes, pimples, and itching. - You go through intense mood swings and act like a very different person. - You feel old injuries that you had suffered a long time ago suddenly flare up and start hurting again. - You start thinking about memories that you have been suppressing for many years. - You feel weak and tired and want to stay in bed. - You start losing weight. - You feel cold in your hands and feet. - You develop flu-like symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, fever, nausea, diarrhea, gas, cold sweats, and vomiting. - You develop a temporary white coloring on your tongue. - You feel dizzy upon standing up. - You feel pain around your joints. - You see images of unhealthy foods and can't stop thinking about them.
These symptoms may give you the impression that something is seriously wrong, but in most cases they are actually a sign that the fast is working. (Your body is "cleaning house" and these symptoms will go away once the detox is over.) Because we all come from different backgrounds and lifestyles, everyone's detox will be different. Some will be mild and almost unnoticeable and others will be a lot stronger which is why I strongly recommend that you seek out professional supervision if you are going to do a fast.
FASTING FROM MORE THAN JUST FOOD _____________________________________________________________________
It's important to note that people today use a lot more than just foods to physically and mentally numb themselves and during a fast it would be best to simply stay in bed all day sleeping as much as possible and only getting out of bed to use the bathroom and get more water...
1. FASTING FROM THE MEDIA
Not only will you not get as much out of a fast if you spend it watching TV, surfing the Internet, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers, but you will most likely be exposed to lots of commercials and advertisements for unhealthy foods which can seriously interfere with your fast and make it seem more difficult.
2. FASTING FROM YOUR ADDICTIONS
Can you fast from "Facebook" for a week"? If not you're addicted to it! It is best to stay away from stimulating things during a fast and focus on how you are feeling.
3. FASTING FROM PHYSICAL AND MENTAL STRESS
During a fast it is important to let your body rest both physically and mentally. Going to work or to the gym certainly isn't recommended during a fast, and neither is being in traffic jams, thinking about bills, or being around people who don't understand fasting and criticize it. While fasting do the best that you can to stay in bed and out of stressful situations. I can assure you that if you can't relax during your fast you will get very little benefits from it.
PREPARING FOR THE FAST _____________________________________________________________________
1. MAKE SURE THAT YOU PHYSICALLY CAN FAST
As great as fasting is, there are some people who shouldn't fast. (Or at least not yet.) People who shouldn't fast right now include really young children, women who are pregnant, people on medications that need to be taken with food, people who are anorexic, people who are suffering from vitamin or mineral deficiencies, and people who simply don't have a good reason to do a fast at this point in their life.
2. MAKE SURE THAT YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT TO DO YOUR FAST
Doing a short fast at home is fine as long as your home is a place where you can stay warm, get plenty of peace and quiet, and be sheltered from outside distractions. If you are trying to fast but you live with people who are going to be cooking food that you can smell and who are going to be trying to get you eat with them it will be similar to a recovering alcoholic going into a bar with the intentions of only drinking water, so choose the place that you are going to do your fast wisely.
3. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISION IF YOU ARE DOING A LONG FAST
Simply put if you are interested in doing a long fast please seek out professional supervision. As mentioned above everyone's detox will be different and it's best to know that you will be in good hands if the detox is intense and unpredictable.
ENDING THE FAST _____________________________________________________________________
1. MAKE SURE THAT YOU EAT LIGHT
The reason that the first meal of the day is called, "Breakfast" is because while you are sleeping you are fasting and the first meal that you eat when you wake up will "Break The Fast". So technically almost all of us fast for 8 - 12 hours in a row every single night, but for fasts that last a lot longer than overnight you need to be very careful about what you choose to eat when you break your fast.
During a fast your stomach shrinks and your metabolism slows way down, so when you end the fast it is important to reintroduce food to your body very slowly. The first meal that you eat after a long fast should be very small, and each meal after that should get slightly bigger and bigger until you can comfortably eat a regular size meal again.
For fasts that last a week or more you will need to be extra careful about this and below are some basic suggestions that I have for what to eat right after doing a long fast...
- If you fast for 1 weeks, break your fast with a small piece of fruit, like 1 apple. - If you fast for 2 weeks, break your fast with a small portion of blended fruit, like applesauce. - If you fast for 3 weeks, break your fast with a glass of juice like orange juice. - If you fast for 4 weeks, break your fast with a glass of diluted juice, such as half orange juice / half water
2. MAKE SURE THAT YOU CHEW YOUR FOOD WELL
Now that you've done your fast and your digestive system is clean and working better why not keep it that way? One way to do this is to simply start chewing your food better than you have in the past. Keep in mind that digestion begins in the mouth when the food that you eat is broken down with your teeth and coated with saliva that contains digestive enzymes.
3. MAKE SURE THAT YOU EAT HEALTHIER THAN YOU DID IN THE PAST
The benefits of fasting will be very short lived if as soon as the fast is over you go back to the diet that made your body toxic or overweight in the first place.
Do not fast simply to lose excess body weight Lots of fasting can actually make you gain weight because if you deprive your body of food repeatedly you will be training your body to think that you could stop eating again in the near future and it will prepare for future fasts by storing more fat so it will have an energy source the next time you fast. Changing your eating habits is the only healthy way to keep excess weight off long term.