Why would fasting help detoxify the body? Good question. When one stops putting toxins in the body the body will begin to release them. The body is really very smart. It will do everything in its power to heal given a chance. Eating onfast food row multiple times a week, eating conventional (not organic, cage free, free range, grass fed, no hormones, no antibiotics, no pesticides, etc) meats, vegetables and grains is not conducive for great health. Sorry, but that is the truth.

When you stop eating for a time period, you allow the body to start “house cleaning” if you will.

There are many types of “fasts”. The simplest is to not eat for 12 hours every day. Stop eating about 7pm and eat breakfast after 7 am. Simple. Besides you should stop eating about 3 hours before you go to bed. You will sleep better.

Like wise, you can “fast” from eating between meals. One type would be to eat 2 small meals and 1 larger meal. The 2 small meals would equal the larger meal and no snacks.

You can do “fast” from one food or a group of foods for a period of time. For example, people give up soda pop for lent. Lent is  a time of fasting and abstinence. In Lent Catholics give up meat on Fridays. Hence fish fry Fridays.

 I used to love ice cream. I mean LOVE ice cream. I would eat it every day. Ice cream isn’t the best food in the world to eat. Dairy produces mucus along the intestinal tract. There is a LOT of sugar in it as well as manufactured sugars and substances that I can’t pronounce. I would “fast” from ice cream during Lent. I have done this many times. It was interesting to note that early in Lent, I would go nuts without ice cream. By Easter Sunday (6 weeks later) I could care less about ice cream. I would usually have ice cream on Easter or sometime that week. After a short while I would be back on my daily ice cream “fix”. After giving up ice cream for Lent for several years, I lost the craving for ice cream. Don’t get me wrong. I still like and enjoy ice cream every once in a while. I no longer crave it. Interestingly, when I eat ice cream now, I notice a lot of mucus before I even finish the dish.

You can go on a food group “fast”. Give up meat, or give up red meat for a period of time. Some food groupings you might want to think about giving up include: sugar, dairy, meat, and wheat. You will need at least 21 days off a food group to appreciate and changes in you body.

There are day long “fasts”. Some people “fast” one day a week.

There are “juice fasts” where you drink prescribed vegetable or fruit juices and not eat for a period of time. And there are “water fasts” where one drinks only water and eats nothing.

Fasting is a great way to help the body detox. There are many books on “fasting”. I like the book “The Miracle of Fasting” by Paul and Patricia Bragg. Do your research. Know why you are “fasting”, how long the “fast” is, and how to break the “fast”. That last part is very important, “breaking the fast”. “Fasting” can help you detox, regain your health and maintain healthy weight.

Here’s to a new you, from the inside out.

Would you like a free report that includes tips for weight loss, some very interesting food facts and more? Click here. It is yours. Here’s to a new healthy you, one healthy choice at a time.

Blessings.  Mary Pat

Mary Pat FitzGibbons RN MS