Fasting benefits for your health
Fasting is a process that has helped people rid their bodies of toxins and poisons for centuries. It dates back in time to the ancient sadhus sitting meditating in the Himalayas when the philosophy of India first began, to the hills of China and Confucius. Fasting is just as pertinent today to the person wanting to look after their health.
The benefits of fasting are many however fasting needs to be done properly and it is not simply a process of just stopping eating. If you just stop eating then you will become quite ‘ill’ in the sense that you will experience a healing crisis when all those poisons and toxins release into your body as it tries to release them to heal itself.
Fasting will cleanse the body, make you more aware of your connection with spirit, clear your thinking and pacify your emotions. So fasting will do a lot for your body simply because you are putting less food in it.
On a physical level, fasting gives your digestive system a rest, which means all the functions slow down and the organs use less energy. This means the energy can be used elsewhere else to heal areas of concern. Fasting involves giving up lots of toxic foods. Not eating food which leave an acidic ash (acidic foods) means your stomach needs to produce less acid, which is a great relief for people with ulcers or other digestive disorders and allows your stomach to begin to heal.
Fasting also allows the body to metabolise sugar differently as it alters how you break down glucose. This means the body not only has more energy but reduces insulin production and gives the pancreas a rest. Hence your blood sugar levels come down and your depletion in glucose induces a state called ketosis, which is the breakdown of fats in the body. So fat stored in the muscles or kidney become depleted and burn. What occurs in fasting is also a cleansing of the lymphatic system and this serves to detoxify the whole body.
All this of course promotes weight loss, however fasting should not be used to lose weight on a regular basis. I also need to add here that fasting shouldn’t be undertaken unless under the supervision of a medical practitioner or natural therapist, who will guide you in the proper process.
The process of fasting needs to be eased into by slowly first cutting down on preservatives, wheat and yeast, then sugars, proteins and acidic-forming foods – not necessarily in that order. Once you start to cut out all these foods inflammation of course decreases in the body and many allergies and sensitivities begin to clear up. This often has a positive impact also on such illnesses as arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, skin problems, sinus, hay fever etc. Of course, once the toxin levels in the body are lowered, should the foods be re-introduced they won’t quite have as bad an impact as the toxins are not ‘bubbling over’ so to speak. The foods that affect you will still do so but not quite to the same extent.
Of course, once you have given up all those foods that are bad for you, it might be a good time to give up all those foods you are addicted to and never go back to them. You can add tobacco, alcohol and sugar to that list. Remember also to drink plenty of pure water (minimum 2 litres daily) and herbal teas. Fasting will help reduce your craving for preservatives and if, after fasting, you can start by eating more fruit and vegetables to keep your system alkaline, keeping up drinking the water and eating a balance of protein and slow carbohydrates, you will find you are much healthier because eliminating all those toxins is a huge boost to your immunity.
It remains to be said that when the fasting is over you don’t just begin eating normally again. A fast should be broken with fruit and then the slow introduction of vegetables. You will find after fasting that your body will absorb vitamins better so it is good to eat lots of foods rich in antioxidants and plant nutrients. Slowly after fasting you can introduce some protein and other foods into your daily eating habits.
Do remember that fasting shouldn’t be undertaken unless under the supervision of a medical practitioner or natural therapist, who will guide you in the proper process.
