Fasting and detoxification

Fasting and detoxification

We are in the Christian period of lent. We are told in the Bible that Jesus went to the desert and fasted for 40 days and nights. According to tradition, Christians were encouraged to fast, eat less and remove various foods from their diet, for example meat. A fasting period is not unique to Christianity as every major world religion such as Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism have fasting traditions. We can even go back further in time to the indigenous peoples. Spiritual traditions such as the American Indians or Australian aboriginals all encouraged periods of fasting. In fact nearly every human culture or society had some form of fasting in it. Fasting was used to cleanse and purify the body in spiritual traditions.Spiritual fasting was a period to feed the spirit not the animal body.

Natural medicine emerged from religious/spiritual traditions and fully agrees with various forms of fasting as a time to rejuvenate, detoxify and heal the body. There are numerous methods of fasting, for example eating a limited diet such as fruit and vegetables for a period of 7 to 10 days. The removal of processed foods and a simplification of your diet will allow your body to focus on house cleaning. Juice fasting is another level up and even gives a greater rest to your digestive system as you are not consuming the fiber in fruits and vegetables. Water fasting is when a person only consumes water for a number of days. Water fasting is a really powerful way to detoxify your body.

Fasting can either be elected, for example you pick a time to fast or it can occur naturally during times of illness or a healing crisis. Natural medicine encourages fasting during times of sickness, simply observe a dog when it is sick and it refuses its food. People are the only animals who continue to stuff food into the digestion system when sick. So when you are sick reduce your food intake or water fast and it will allow your body to fully focus its energies on healing rather than healing and digestion. The digestive process requires a lot of energy. This energy is better focus on overcoming your illness than digesting last night’s pizza.

If you have any questions in relation to fasting and detoxification please contact The Natural Path Clinic.