Fasting is one of the world's oldest known therapies. If done properly, fasting can rapidly increase the elimination of waste from the body and enhance the healing process. Aside from spiritual purposes, acting as a means to empower the will by resisting temptation, fasting has tremendous benefits as a detoxification method. In modern times, fasting is used by naturopaths and herbalists as part of a healing course for a wide range of diseases, both physiological and psychological.
A few days without solid food can be a refreshing and enlightening experience. It can leave a person feeling as if they have a completely new body, which is partially true because the process of fasting can restore damaged cells to a more optimum state. When the body does not have to expend as much energy pushing food through our intestines, it can better focus on spending that energy on damaged or worn out parts of the body. This means juicing is great during a fast, as it can provide much needed nutrients without causing the bowels necessary stress.
How do you know if you need to detoxify? Unfortunately, the more we move towards the future, the more everyone needs to cleanse themselves. In the modern day, people are exposed to chemicals on an unfathomable scale. With more than two million synthetic substances known, and 25,000 added each year, the likelihood of ingesting something the body cannot process is ever-growing.
Here are some signs that detoxification through fasting may be a wise choice:
-Frequent, unexplained headaches or back pain
-Abnormal body odor, bad breath, or coated tongue
-Chronic respiratory problems, sinus problems, or asthma
-Joint pain, or arthritis
-Food allergies, poor digestion, constipation, or chronic intestinal bloating
-Brittle nails and hair, psoriasis, or adult acne
-Depression or irritability, and always out of energy
-Unusually poor memory and chronic insomnia
So many chemicals have been created, used, and widely spread, that most of the time we are unaware of coming into contact with them. Only a small fraction of these chemicals are ever tested for toxicity, and many are carried by the wind or water from developing countries where fewer safeguards are in place. If a person lives in an area that is relatively nearby to a dumping area, toxins can silently work their way into the body faster than they can be eliminated.
Long-term exposure to many carcinogens can result in our DNA being altered on a molecular level. This can result in metabolic and genetic alteration that affects cell growth, behavior, and our immune system response. The World Health Organization implicates toxic environment chemicals in 60-80% of many cancers. Additionally, studies link pesticides and pollutants to hormone dysfunctions, birth defects, still births, cancer, and psychological disorders.
The body has many self-cleaning, self-healing mechanisms. Internal detoxification is a continuous process, just as our heart beats non-stop. Our metabolic processes constantly dispose of waste and poisons through the liver, kidneys, colon, lungs, and skin. These processes can be enhanced with a proper fast. When the body is not investing as much of its energy into absorbing nutrients via the digestive system, and can better focus that energy on cleansing and self-repair.
Here are some of the benefits that can be expected from a body cleanse:
-Liver, kidney, and blood purification
-A cleansed digestive tract
-Mental clarity is enhanced
-Dependency on habit-forming substances, including sugar, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, and drugs, is reduced
-Bad eating habits can be turned around
-The stomach can reduce to a normal size for weight control
To determine what type of fast is best for you, consider what you really need to do. Do you need to purify your blood, clean your colon, or detoxify your kidneys or colon? There are a lot of different types of fast for different purposes. Love Cycle plans on bringing you detailed information on these different types of fast in future posts. For now, consider a simple 24-hour cleanse with liquids. This includes juicing (yum!). This can jump start many healing programs, and is not a serious commitment that impacts our daily lives too significantly. Additionally, as the body has a natural tendency to store toxins during the winter, a “spring cleaning” for the body is usually a great way to turn around those depressing moods we can get into during the colder, darker months of the year.
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