Fasting - duration - one-day fasts?

[Guest guest]

Bill Schoolcraft Wednesday, June 08, 2005 3:47 PM Re:

[Raw Food] Fasting - duration

Elchanan> If you talk to some of the " old timers, " they may say something

like the following:

 

- Short fast, two weeks or less.

- Medium fast, 15-30 days.

- Long fast, longer than 30 days.

 

And they may add that, in years past, it was quite common for people to

come in and fast 3-6 weeks. Upon completion of such a fast, one's life may

truly be changed.

 

Nowadays, most people are " busy, " think they cannot afford it, etc.

 

<humbly_snipped>

___

Now I have a question....

 

For those of us who, for many reasons (mortgage, rent etc...)

cannot take the few weeks off to fast seeing it more or less

requires a low energy pace, can we do, as I've heard in the

past, simple " one_day " fasts?

 

Any pros or cons to the one day fast, I'm curious.

 

Namaste

Bill Schoolcraft

_____

Hey Bill, Nice to " hear " from you! Are you a UNIX " guru " ? If so, another

conversation.

 

Anyway, we must always consider the distinction between what is ideal and

what is viable. If you have no " big symptoms " or major diagnoses AND if you

do no drugs of any kind, then in all likelihood you can approach fasting

from a schedule-first perspective. You just won't get the " full benefit, "

but you will definitely benefit. The key is to have your eating patterns

where you want them BEFORE you fast, that way you are most likely to retain

your benefits following the fast. Also, there are some important things to

learn about breaking a fast and refeeding that can significantly influence

the degree to which benefits are retained. These 2 factors, preexisting

eating patterns and refeeding, are the primary determinants of benefit

retention from fasting for most people.

 

Regarding the one-day or 36-hour fasting, there are actually 2 schools of

thought on this. One is much as Bob Farrell has already responded, I have

known people who do this for years and seem quite happy with the pattern.

OTOH, there are some, mostly experienced fasting supervisors, who caution

against such a pattern especially in any long-term sense. These individuals

generally express concerns about shocking the system.

 

When we begin to fast, it takes about 3 days, give or take, for the body to

fully realize it IS fasting, to trust the process and begin shutting down or

resting the digestive system and other related processes. Then as the fast

proceeds over time, the system progressively shuts down or rests additional

functions. With each increasingly deep level of rest, an increased

percentage of total available energy is redirected toward the cleansing and

building activities inside the body, and so the cleansing process gains

momentum. This is why some say that the " deepest " cleansing occurs largely

during later weeks, and why one longer fast typically yields dramatically

different results than a series of shorter fasts of similar aggregate

duration.

 

But returning to the topic of short fasts, when the body begins to reorient

its metabolic functions toward fasting, then is called upon quickly to

return to a nonfasting orientation, some believe this " misleads " the body,

or shocks it. I personally do not have a strong opinion along these lines,

but some VERY experienced fasting supervisors do so believe.

 

Of this I am certain: no one-day fast can ever put the body into any real

fasting biochemistry (except perhaps for those rare individuals who have

been squeaky-clean raw for years). The most this practice can do is give a

basic mechanical rest to the digestive system, allowing it to " catch up " a

bit. Watch out for binge-inducing cravings, though, following such a fast.

How you go about it, how you break the fast, make all the difference here.

Suggest you reread Lynne's recent posts in this regard.

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

 

 

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