Have you ever experienced a feeling of lowness and lethargy for no apparent reason? Well, it could be that your body is working hard by itself to get rid of toxins and thus the feeling of nastiness.
Fasting has long been associated with religious rituals, diets, and political protests. Now new evidence demonstrates that routine periodic fasting is also good for your health, and your heart.
When a healthy body reaches an overload of toxins from the pollutants in the air we breathe, the chemicals in the food we eat, the poisons in household cleaning products, etc, etc, it tries to eliminate these toxins and symptoms may also include headaches, and depression.
By fasting we can help our bodies to get rid of these toxic matters faster and more effectively. The lesser the degree of toxic overload, the better our digestive tract will work, and the stronger our immune system will be. A fast will give our organs a well deserved rest.
Fasting during an illness can speed up recovery as the body can use all its energy to eliminate toxins. After all, when an animal is sick, it does not eat because nature knows it is better to use body energy to get rid of the germs than wasting it on the digestive system.
Since the bulk of the toxins in your body are stored in your fat reserves, the longer you fast on water only, the more fat you’ll burn and the more toxins you’ll eliminate from your system.
Put another way, your body does not experience significant detoxification during the first 12-24 hours of a water-only fast.
During any fast it is of utmost importance to prevent dehydration by drinking plenty of water. Water only fast is not recommended as a water only fast release toxins too quickly, which will result in headaches and malice. Rather follow a live-juice diet (1 part water to 3 parts homemade juice) as it helps to remove toxins but also provides nutrition. Use Spirulina while on a fast as it is high in protein, vitamins and minerals (this is a must if hypoglycaemic). Before a water/juice fast, eat raw fruit and vegetable for two days as this will prepare the body for the ‘shock’. Then do a three day water and live juice fast, but remember to drink also extra water. Follow this then with a two day raw fruit and vegetable diet, rather have small portions more frequently.
A three day fast (with diluted live juices) will help the body to get rid of toxins and purify the blood. A five day fast will heal and rebuild the immune system and a ten day fast can prevent some illnesses to become a major problem.
During a fast, as toxins are released from the body, you may experience headaches, dizziness, fatigue, skin eruptions etc.
Never fast longer than 3 days without the guidance of your health care practitioner and any person with chronic health problem should consult their doctor first. Never fast when pregnant or lactating.
While fasting, avoid strenuous exercises.
Health Researchers are reporting that fasting not only lowers one’s risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes, but also causes significant changes in a person’s blood cholesterol levels. Both diabetes and elevated cholesterol are known risk factors for coronary heart disease.
This recipe calls for cooked pea beans or garbanzo beans (chickpeas). If you use chickpeas, begin soaking them 3 ½ hours before you make the soup. After 2 soaking hours, cook them in boiling water for about 1 ½ hours – until comfortably chewable. If you use pea beans, you needn’t soak them, but give them 1 ½ – 2 hours to cook. In either case, if you cook the beans in plenty of water, save the extra water to use as stock for the soup. You’ll have a fuller-flavoured, higher-proteined minestrone.
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