This Week is an Experiment in Nutrition

I’ve decided to load up on fruits and vegetables and their juices this week. I am inspired by a book I read this weekend called The Fasting Diet: A Practical Five-Day Program for Increased Energy, Greater Stamina, and a Clearer Mind by Steven Bailey.

I’m 48-years-old, so it’s going to take a lot longer than a week of juicing to give me all those benefits, but I do know I can excrete a great deal of toxins and load up on minerals in that time. I purchased a bounty of produce this weekend: tomatoes, avocadoes, bananas, oranges, plums, peaches, a couple cantalopes, romaine, red leaf, and mixed green lettuces, napa cabbage, leek, grapes, cucumbers, and zucchini. For juicing, I bought a 15-pound bag of carrots, five heads of celery, five beets, cucumbers and parsley. I love carrot, celery, and beet combination. To the right is a picture of my refrigerator. I use a Champion juicer that I’ve had probably fifteen years.

I read the reviews for this book, and they’re varied. One thing you have to keep in mind is that in the world of fasting, like others, there are zealots who think their way is the only way. I used to be such a zealot, but I’ve toned it down. There is no one and only way for all. And while some diets are optimal, they may not be practical. And some people may just choose to eat whatever they want and die a cripple. That’s their right. (I just wish my taxes didn’t have to pay for their medical care.)

Technically, consuming juices is a diet, not a fast. A fast is when you abstain from all food and consume only water. A water fast provides the greatest health benefits of any so-called therapy. The body is completely relieved of digestion and must rely upon its own tissues for nutrition and energy. You have the greatest weight loss during a water fast and the greatest elimination of toxins. I’ve heard of moles falling off bodies and tumors being reabsorbed.

However, the water fast is also very taxing and can be extremely uncomfortable at times. It is not recommended as a first step for the very ill, for those on pharmaceuticals or recreational drugs, or those just starting out on a healthy path. The number of toxins that end up being dumped into the blood can cause severe reactions.

The greatest problem can occur when inexperienced fasters come off the fast. People have been known to die by gorging themselves and filling a stomach that is not ready to digest. People have also died from drugs overwhelming the system during a fast. Another problem occurs when those on poor diets use up stored minerals for toxin excretion during a long fast and so become deficient. If you want to know how toxic you are, don’t eat for twenty-four hours. Typical detox symptoms are headache, nausea, vomiting, shaking, and weakness.

This is not to say that fasts are too dangerous. They’ve been used for centuries for healing, and all animals naturally fast when ill. Eating to “keep up your strength” is a deadly philosophy. When you are ill, your body has little energy for digestion because the energy is being used to fight pathogens or repair tissues or excrete toxins. If you ingest food, that energy must be redirected to digestion. This is why vomiting occurs, because the body just doesn’t have the resources to digest food it can’t use at the moment. The body in its wisdom expels the food. Have you ever eaten a meal and then received bad news causing alarm or sorrow? You know that meal just sat in your stomach, undigested.

Diarrhea is another healing even wherein the body expels toxins from the colon so as to avoid reabsorbing them. It is the fool who tries to stop vomiting and diarrhea, for then you are interfering with intelligent design.

Last year at the veterinarian’s office I read a paper posted on the bulletin board wherein a dog that had been poisoned was brought to the vet. The dog was vomiting and had diarrhea. So they forced drugs into the dog to stop the vomiting and the diarrhea. (You see, doctors deal only in symptoms. Diarrhea? Bad. Must stop. Vomiting? Bad. Must stop. They do not look at the body as a whole, functioning, intelligent organism that acts in its own best interest.) This dog died but not before being tortured by the veterinarian.

In today’s age our tissues are loaded with environmental, ingested and metabolic toxins, and dumping large quantities of these into the bloodstream poses a health hazard. It’s best to go slow and just begin modifying your diet by incorporating more fruits and vegetables, go on several juice diets to build up minerals, try to wean yourself off all drugs. All drugs are poisons. (Hey, I’m not a doctor and do not provide medical advice. Please seek a competent physician prior to making any diet changes or discontinuing medication. Nothing in this post is to be construed as medical advice. Blah blah blah.)

I recommend the book mentioned above. It’s a simple read and the author covers a lot of ground. He describes the digestive process, the removal of toxins, the role of flora in the intestines, a list of diseases that can be reversed through diet, some patient examples, and quite importantly covers food allergies and sensitivities. He also touches on spirituality and health for the mind and soul. The book is hardly comprehensive, but it is a nice introduction to nutrition and detoxification.

However, as with all doctors (be they naturopaths, osteopaths, whatever), the doctor provides advice on helping the body along, such as getting massages during a fast or taking a liver flush. I believe all such “therapies” are unnecessary and complicate matters. Let it cleanse in its own time. It doesn’t need a special herbal tea or sauna or liver flush to detoxify. Your body is always naturally detoxifying (more on that later). Don’t buy into the hype. Trust your body.

Another book I read is this weekend is Dr. Jensen’s Guide to Diet and Detoxification. This book was superficial and full of little bits of “therapy.” Watermelon flush, potato peel broth, herbal teas, grape diet, carrot juice diet, peppermint for digestion, alfalfa, just a cornucopia of silly. Here’s an example:

Digestion is helped by adding pancreatic substance to each meal. Papaya tablets are also very good, and, they are very mild. We find that ginger can also be used. In addition, mint tea is a wonderful gas-propellant, and red clover tea is a wonderful digestant.

In just one paragraph of a 114-page book, he’s got you off buying papaya tablets, ginger, mint tea, and red clover! Folks, you don’t even control your heartbeat; your body does that. Your body knows how to digest food. Health is really pretty simple. Your body is always working toward health, and you don’t need the latest gadgets or essential oils or supplements or herbs. No wonder people give up! As you can see, I don’t recommend this book. Just start improving your health choices, and your body will begin improving function.

I’ll be keeping a diary of this week for your reading pleasure.