Dr. Mercola December 27 2007 46,642 views
Shiva—Anything is possible. Perhaps there may be some benefits from fasting. It is just my opinion that the good benefits do not outweigh the potential bad effects.
Skipping a meal here or there or fasting a bit here or there is probably not going to kill anyone. All I am stating is the known biochemical/endocrinology effects of fasting. Unfortunately while fasting, though it may feel good (physically and spiritually), there is the known unfortunate side-effect that muscle mass and bone density are broken down to keep the body going rebuilding hormones, neurotransmitters, etc. that are used once and thrown away.
How much is broken down each time one skips a meal or fasts for 24 hours? I’m not aware of any specific study quantifying it. It is known that the ability to build muscle mass and bone density becomes increasingly difficult after age 35. Every time one skips a meal or fasts there is a slight loss of lean body mass. Small bits here and there can add up to osteoporosis and the inevitable loss of muscle mass that plagues people as they get over.
I choose not to drink a soda here or there or have pizza now and then not because the will kill me, but it know it all adds up. I personally put fasting in the same category, but that is just me.
Having been a diabetic and reversed it, building muscle mass was extremely important for me. Body builders know that they can’t build muscle without good food going in. I thus, made sure I never skipped meals or fasted as any small decline in muscle mass for me would mean increased insulin resistance.
I found this quote from “The Schwarzbein Principle” by Diana Schwarzbein, M.D. interesting:
My husband fasted 18 years ago for 22 days under the guidance of Dr Douglas Graham, and that fast started a life changing spiral in our foods, our philosophies, and our lives..........all for the better.
FASTING HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME. Growing up Catholic (ugh), we were encouraged to fast on Fridays. Fasting is done in many religions for clarity of mind and clarity of soul.
Look at today’s foods and tell me that going 1-3 days without food isn’t not a great thing. Your body does not turn against itself and start eating away muscle and good tissue..........as a matter of fact - given time a fast will actually eat away the bad stuff that may be plaguing the body.
The man in the bed next to my husband came to Dr Doug’s with arteriosclerosis and was ready to go under the knife.........41 days later, his problem was gone.
When he returned to his medical idiot, um excuse me, I mean doctor - the man was amazed and couldn’t understand what had happened.
FASTING GIVES THE BODY A CHANCE TO CLEANSE AND REJUVENATE.
I have even gone 3 whole days with out fasting (AND NOT taking my diabetic meds) and at the end of it I feel MUCH better. Do you think I play 'mother may I' with my doctor about this? yeah, right! . . . . NOT.
I am a nutritionist and will share some of my experiences in 10 years' work with clients with you: I believe that short fasts can be beneficial but ONLY if one is strong enough to do so. This means that the person doing the fast should have been on a healthy diet and should have a strong enough life force to handle the fast appropriately. (Or in more scientific terms,have healthy mitochondria). Physiological detoxification occurs in two phases: Phase 1 turns fat soluble toxins into water soluble molecules and phase 2 joins the toxin to a molecule (an amino acid) to get it in a form that can be excreted fromthe body. A juice fast or waer fast upregulates phase 1 and down regulates phase 2. this can be a big problem because the intermediate substance created after phase 1 can be more toxic than the original toxin. This is why protein is important for detoxification (for phase 2). Dr. Jeffrey Bland, a noted nutritional biochemist, has said that the horrible feelig you get on day 2 of a fast is not the "healing crisis" some people say it is, but is rather all about crisis and nothing about healing.You want to get those intermediates out of the body as fast as you can. But detoxification is also an ongoing process. All of you reading this are detoxifying right now. A fast accelerates the process, but one needs to be mindful of the abovementioned physiology. I have noticed that some people feel better after being on a fast but when they go back to their former way of eating (even if it is healthy) they lose that good feeling. I have found that this is often because they have food sensitivities or allergies and while on the fast they were not eating those foods. Once they identify their sensitivities and stay off of these foods they feel better on a more regular basis.
Isaiah 58 says that "by fasting, your health will spring forth speedily," I personally know 2 people who have cured MS and Liver/pancreatic cancer by organic juice fasting. One did Dr Richard Schulze's 'The Incurables diet' and the other did something similar called 'The Hallelujah diet'. Both prescribe 64 ounces of organic carrot, beet and wheatgrass juice everyday to give you nutrition to power your immune system but still allow your body to go into the state of fasting. 30 days cures most anything but some need up to 90 days but I am told it will cure anything.
Hi Kelly,
I recently attended a workshop on improving the quality of life for adults with MS. I went as a therapeutic assistant, offering a particular kind of clinical therapy, particularly anxiety reduction and valued living (cognitive alterations only; no drugs!) However, I couldn't help but think of potential natural and healthy ways to rid people of such an unfortunate disease, and it seems you've given my question some hope! Do you think you could post some more information on these diets? I'd love to spread the word.
Xtina - Anyone suffering from MS or one of many, many other degenerative and auto-immune disorders should be tested for lyme disease ASAP. It is a difficult problem to diagnose and cure, but so many people with these diseases are finding when the lyme is gone, so is the associated disease! Lyme is spread by many other ways than tick bites. Be prepared for much misinformation from official sources before you find the truth about it.
Andy