JUICE FASTING
Alternative oriented doctors feel that freshly pressed vegetable and fruit juices, given to the patient during fasting, will speed recovery. That is because these types of juices, freshly made, are rich in vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and trace minerals which help to alkalize and normalize the bodily processes which speeds recovery. Fresh juices are also easily assimilated into the bloodstream without putting a strain on the digestive organs.
Why juice and not just eat raw foods instead?
Although fiber is important for a healthy diet and a clean colon, during fasting, fiber slows down the healing process and does not allow the digestive system to sleep. Whole vegetables and fruits contain insoluble fiber which stimulates the intestines to move. If you eat five pounds of raw carrots rather than drink the juice, your body will have to do the work of extracting nutrients and moving the fiber by peristalsis. Allowing the digestive system to rest is essential in healing. When the intestine is emptied the digestive enzymes are able to work on the hardened deposits in the corners and folds. As fasting continues, more embedded toxins are released. For this reason, juice fasts are more effective in healing the body and the intestines.
Is Fasting Safe?
Nobody has ever died as a result of a few weeks of intentional fasting. If it makes things better in your home, call it a liquid diet. If you talk to anybody about fasting, most people will think you have totally lost it. Don’t listen to them. Get educated! Before fasting you should have a thorough understanding of all the steps involved and you should become acquainted with a practiced practitioner who knows what they are doing (and has done a fast of the duration you would like to do) that you can call to ask any questions if necessary.
After juice fasting, you should feel stronger and more revitalized, your health will improve, your physical and mental working capacity will increase and you will look younger than before you started the fast.
Fasting is the oldest therapeutic method known to man. Fasting was used by Galen, Plato and Socrates to “attain mental and physical efficiency.” Pythagoras fasted for up to 40 days at a time. Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, prescribed fasting to his patients. And the great physician, Paracelsus, said, “Fasting is the greatest remedy.”
Swedish Fast Marches led in the 1950’s and 60’s, by Dr. Lennart Edren proved to the world the safety of fasting. Participants of these fasts marched 325 miles—that’s 33 miles/day—for ten whole days without solid food! And their health improved. As a matter of fact, participants had more energy AFTER the fast than before.
It was observed that serum albumin levels remained constant, as did blood sugar levels, even though no protein was consumed over the course of the 10-day march. Body protein is in a dynamic state of breaking down (catabolism) and building up (anabolism). When old or diseased cells decompose, the amino acids are simply recycled to build young, healthy cells.
One doctor, Otto Buchinger, Jr., has supervised over 90,000 successful fasts. Russian doctors have found that fasting is the most effective treatment for schizophrenia—64% of the patients improved mentally after 20-30 days of controlled fasting.
Edgar Cayce believed that fasting was of the mind and involved a setting aside of self in order to become a clearer channel for creative and spiritual energies. He recommended fasting for poor diet, poor assimilations, poor eliminations and incoordination between the sympathetic and cerebrospinal nervous systems, imbalances or toxins in the circulatory system, improper acid-alkaline balance, glandular malfunctions and general congestion of the body.
A 54-year old Scottish woman juice fasted for 249 days. Not only did she not harm herself, but she lost 74 pounds and got rid of her arthritic pain.
Fasting extends your life.
One experiment done on rats showed that limiting them from overeating and systematically starving them increased their lifespan 2 ½ times! Proponents of fasting declare that aging is not commensurate with calendar years, but rather with the health of the cells. During fasting, the concentration of toxins removed from the body and appearing in the urine can increase ten-fold.
What Conditions Does Fasting Help?
Allergies
Alzheimer’s disease
Angina pectoris
Asthma
Atherosclerosis
Back pain
Benign ovarian and breast tumors
Bronchitis
Bulimia
Cardiovascular disorders
Chronic constipation
Chronic Streptococcus infections
Cold, flu and fever
Coronary artery disease
Crohn’s disease
Diseases affecting locomotion
Diseases of the liver and gallbladder
Disorders of the stomach and intestines
Eczema
Environmental allergies
Epilepsy
Fever
Fibroid tumors
Glaucoma
Heart attack prevention and recovery
High blood pressure
Insomnia
Insulin resistance
Joint and vertebral degeneration
Lagging libido
Lipomas
Low blood pressure
Mental illness (especially schizophrenia)
Migraines
Muscle and connective tissue disorders
Nasal polyps
Obesity
Post-treatment for malignant disease (The residue of a dying cancer cells can be highly toxic. A fast does more than detoxify noxious by-products of malignancy; it degrades abnormal cells and tumors, releasing cellular toxins and by-products into the circulation for elimination.)
Psoriasis
Psychosomatic disease
Respiratory diseases of all kinds
Rheumatoid arthritis
Sinusitis
Skin diseases
Tonsillitis
Ulcerative colitis
What Happens To The Body During A Fast?
During fasting, the body burns up and excretes huge amounts of accumulated wastes. This process can be assisted by drinking alkaline fruit and vegetable juices and potassium broth. The sugars in the fruit juice strengthen the heart and are extremely beneficial in normalizing all the body processes, assisting the body’s own healing and cellular regeneration. Juices require no digestion and are easily assimilated. Minerals are increased within the tissues. Therefore increased oxygenation occurs acting to reverse the aging process. (Look at Jack LaLanne. He’s been around forever doing his exercise show and drinking juices. He sells his juicer on infomercials.)
General Juicing Rules:
· Drink freshly prepared juice and do not store the juice for over 24 hours. If you can’t drink it immediately, put it into a glass jar (filled to the top) and put a lid on it to prevent oxidation. Juice rapidly loses therapeutic and nutritional value during storage
· Raw fruits and vegetables are not always compatible when eaten together. Apples are the exception. You can also mix pears with Jicama.
· Melons should be juiced by themselves. Making the entire meal melon is an option.
· Avoid using pre-bottled or sweetened juices. All the live enzymes are inactivated when they are pasteurized.
· Juices don’t stimulate acids to be released from the stomach, but orange and tomato juice are high in acids and you may want to mix these juices with other less acidic ones.
· I’ve read that cucumbers may not be good to mix with other vegetables as they are in the melon family, but it seems to work fine for us. We do limit cucumber to less than 25% of the total volume however.
· Don’t add more than 25% green juice to your vegetable juices (unless you have a barf bucket handy!)
· Juicing Greens—you might want to do this in between harder vegetables, the juice sludges at the bottom and doesn’t pour out easily if you juice them first. For example, I juice a couple of carrots, then a bunch of parsley, then cram a couple more carrots in after the parsley to get the juicer moving again.
· Dilute all fruit juice with water (one part juice to 2-4 parts water) and drink throughout the day. We’ve found that 2 cups fruit juice blended with ½ tray of ice cubes comes up to 4 cups—the perfect dilution and it’s frothy cold.
· Vegetable juices need not be diluted.
What to Juice?
Vegetable Juices:
· Asparagus—Kidneys, diuretic, blood purifier, bowel health, soothes nervous system
(Note: urine will turn dark and have a different odor to it when you eat or drink a lot of asparagus. This is normal and harmless and will pass.)
· Beet greens—Gallbladder, liver, osteoporosis.
· Beets—Blood cleanser, liver cleanser, menstrual problems, arthritis, lymph glands, flushes the kidney and bladder, and is good for low blood pressure.
(Note: never drink it straight)
· Brussels sprouts—Good for diabetics and hypoglycemia, makes for healthy skin, increased male potency and stomach ulcers.
· Cabbage—Colitis, ulcers, and it curbs alcohol cravings.
(Note: Do not store cabbage juice because its Vitamin U content can be quickly lost.)
· Carrots—Eyes, liver problems, high cholesterol, protects skin fro UV rays, nervous problems (like Multiple Sclerosis), arthritis, osteoporosis, and low blood pressure.
· Cauliflower—Breast cancer
· Celery—Kidneys, diabetes, osteoporosis, good for people who sweat in excess, muscle cramps, fatigue, anxiety, stress, insomnia, headaches, air pollution, sweet cravings, low blood pressure, and obesity.
· Comfrey—Intestines, hypertension, osteoporosis.
· Cucumber—Edema, diabetes, tendonitis, skin tone, muscle tone, complexion problems, poor nail growth.
· Dandelion greens—Spring tonic, strengthens blood and bones, increases stamina and energy.
(Note: eat them early in the summer as they get bitter as they age.)
· Fennel—Night blindness, eye disorders, flatulence, blood strengthener, migraines, nausea.
· Garlic—Allergies, colds, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, high fats, diabetes, immune booster, anticarcinogen, antibacterial, antifungal, rids body of toxins through the skin, low blood pressure.
· Ginger root—Circulation, motion sickness, nausea, laryngitis, clears mucous in the throat, sinuses and lungs.
· Greens (Collard, Mustard, Turnip, Kale, Parsley, Spinach, Turnip, Chard)—Cardiovascular disease, skin, eczema, digestive problems, obesity, breath.
(Note: Greens contain more than 100% of the RDA for Vitamin C and Vitamin A)
· Jerusalem artichokes—Diabetes.
· Jicama—Sooths upset stomachs, osteoporosis/osteopenia, and hemorrhoids.
· Kale—Constipation, bladder problems, arthritis, also see Greens.
· Lettuce—Lung cancer prevention, hair and nail strength, skin problems.
· Onion—Normalizes nervous system for sympathetic dominance, stimulates beneficial bacteria, breaks up mucous, low blood pressure
(Note: If you juice onions, put them in the juicer first THEN the other vegetables so the odor does not stay on the juicer parts.)
· Parsley—Kidneys, edema, arthritis, tendon and ligament problems, osteoporosis (has lots of natural calcium), one of the most nutritious foods in the world, boils and cysts, increases oxygenation of the blood, bad breath, stimulates normal peristalsis of the gut, vision problems, adrenal exhaustion, thyroid disease, obesity.
· Potatoes—Intestines, ulcer.
· Radish—Liver, high cholesterol, obesity, sinus problems, clears excess mucous, soothes sore throats.
· Spinach—Anemia, eczema, regenerates damaged intestinal tracts, constipation, circulation problems, cleans liver and glands.
· Sprouts—Baldness, morning sickness.
· String beans—Bruising.
· Sweet potatoes—Any kind of skin problems.
· Tomatoes—Use them alone or leave them alone, but adding celery and cucumber to it works fine.
· Watercress—Anemia, colds.
· Wheat grass—Anemia, liver, intestines, breath, excellent antioxidant, Parkinson’s disease.
· Zucchini—internal cleanser, fantastic as a mineral supplement.
Fruit Juices:
· Apple—Liver, intestines, blood cleanser.
· Apricots—High in iron for anemia, silica and vitamin A for hair and skin.
· Bananas—Heart and muscles.
· Cherry, black—Colon, menstrual problems, gout, prevents tooth decay.
· Citrus—Obesity, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, raises body temperature to fry out viruses/bacteria, bruising, heart disease, stroke.
(Note: Don’t juice the skin of any citrus except lemon and lime. They are difficult to digest and can cause colo-rectal problems.)
· Cranberries—Urinary tract infections, antiviral.
· Grape—Colon, anemia, good for kidneys and heart, high in iron, soothing to nervous system, builds hemoglobin, promotes healthy bowel action, liver cleaners, helps to eliminate uric acid, helps with low blood pressure, obesity.
· Grapefruit—High blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, obesity.
· Lemon—Liver, gallbladder, allergies, asthma, cardiovascular disease, colds, obesity.
· Melons—Eat them alone or leave them alone, good for kidneys (diuretic), juicing watermelon rind gives you 95% of the melons nutritional benefits compared to only 5% of juice without the rind.
· Papaya—Stomach, indigestion, hemorrhoids, colitis.
· Pear—Gallbladder, blood pressure, cardiovascular health, digestion, a safe fruit for diabetics.
· Pineapple—Digestion, allergies, arthritis, inflammation, edema, hemorrhoids.
· Strawberries—Strengthens the blood, nerve tonic, keeps glands healthy, protects against cigarette smoke toxins.
· Watermelon—Kidneys, edema, used as a diuretic.
What symptoms may I experience with the first few days of fasting?
Symptoms such as fatigue, body odor, dry/scaly skin, acne, headaches, dizziness, irritability, anxiety, confusion, nausea, coughing, diarrhea, dark urine, dark/foul-smelling stools, body aches, insomnia, coated tongue with unpleasant taste in the mouth, sinus and bronchial mucus discharge, excessive perspiration, and visual or hearing problems. Enemas will help speed up the detoxification process. These symptoms, if you have them, will be mild and transient.
Recommended Liquid Intake while Fasting
Opinions vary on the amount of liquid to consume while juice fasting. Some recommend at least eight, 8-ounce glasses of distilled water per day, two cups of herbal tea, along with diluted juices. I believe it’s a must to see urine that is clear and very pale yellow. Dark colored urine is a sign that you aren’t drinking enough water.
Regardless of your fitness goal, make sure you drink enough chlorine and fluoride-free, filtered, pure spring or distilled water daily. Many diseases respond to adequate hydration, flushing out disease-provoking toxins.
An easy formula for calculating your daily water requirements is to take your weight, divide it in half, then consume that amount of water (or raw juices), generally nine to ten 8-ounce cups daily.
Caffeinated and alcoholic beverages will dehydrate the body and take out essential minerals such as calcium from the bones over time, so for every glass of these beverages you drink; you need to add an extra glass of water.
Herbal teas are also used in the juice fast between juices. Peppermint, Chamomile, Ginseng, Gotu kola, Yerba mate, and Sarsaparilla are a few that come to mind. If you like root beer, you will most likely like sarsaparilla (which is in root beer). The nice thing about this tea is that it is known as an aphrodisiac and contains the sex hormones testosterone and progesterone and the adrenal hormone, cortin. Most of us in society today have lots of adrenal stress and our adrenal glands could use the nourishing.
Contraindications to Fasting:
· Children still forming bone and teeth
· Pregnant and lactating women
· Patients with advanced cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, or cardiovascular disease, should fast only on the advice and direction of a competent medical professional.
Individuals with hypoglycemia should never fast without using a protein supplement such as spirulina, rice protein or egg white powder.
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