Fasting

[TibetanKF]

I'm starting a 3 day juice fast tomorrow. I've never done this before, so I'm kind of dreading it. Do any of you that have done a juice fast have any advice or pointers that might make it a little easier? Do you think it's beneficial? What was your fasting experience like?

[Helicopter]

Try not to think about food all the time. (You will though ;) )

[Repulsive Monkey]

Why are you doing this? Too be honest from a Chinese Medicine point of view a fast where the only thing you have is juice is not good for the stomach or spleen especially. Is it for religious observations?

[12345]

I used to know a guy that only ate fruit and drank water one day a week in order to lean the toxins from his body - that was what he said - not sure how it got rid on the toxins in the fruit and the water though.

Personally a three day fast sounds a bit excessive to me - then again I know nothing about the subject - do you have medical/scientific back up for your fast or did it just seem like a good idea ? Having said it sounds excessive I'm a big beleiver in listening to your body - you can try it - it wont kill you - and if you feel good afterwards then it has probably worked.

[TibetanKF]

I'm using the fast as a detox. There are no religious or spiritual reasons. Also, I will not be drinking only acidic citrus juices. I plan on a good mix of vegetable and fruit juices as well as herbal teas. I was planning on doing this for the health benefits, but didn't know if it was truely beneficial or just a bunch of alternative medicine nonsense. That's why I was seeking other opinions.

[inic]

I fast every 20 days for 30 hours.... more for religious issues, but also health. I just drink water; alot too! 2 gallons minimum. I take that day to relax and stretch a lot and study or whatever. and save some $! =)

[inic]

If you don't want to drink just water, make your own juices, don't buy pre-made ones. They have way too much junk you don't need, even the so-called "health ones".
make your own V8 or fruit mixes!

[Serpent]

Originally posted by TibetanKF
I'm starting a 3 day juice fast tomorrow. I've never done this before, so I'm kind of dreading it. Do any of you that have done a juice fast have any advice or pointers that might make it a little easier? Do you think it's beneficial? What was your fasting experience like?

Be sure to let us know how it goes. I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on it afterwards.

[TaoBoy]

Where did you get the idea to fast?
Book, advice, friend?

Be careful...make sure you know what this does to your body.

A TCM doc was told me "no food, no function".

Does anyone who fasts find themselves having a lack of energy, mental awareness etc.? Just curious.

[IronFist]

Make sure if you're not eating you keep the activity to a MINIMUM.

Make sure the juices you're drinking won't mess with your blood sugar or insulin levels.

The only way I can go a long time without food is if I wake up late and don't eat breakfast. Once I eat breakfast my blood sugar goes "mmm, food!" and I have to eat for the rest of the day. (Which is part of the reason I like to eat fat for breakfast. Plain cereal and milk will leave me hungry again within two hours. A bratwurst, on the other hand, leaves me full for a bit longer).

Good luck if you go through with it,

Also, if you're not eating, be careful of how much water you drink. You don't want to mess up your electrolites. Again, all these bad things are probably pretty rare but they're still a possibility so I thought I'd warn you. Keep a Sprite or something on hand in case you start feeling dizzy.

Rant off.

IronFist

[Radhnoti]

I went on a three day fast about 6 months ago...just water. I had no bad effects that I noticed. I had class on the third night, and didn't feel dizzy during exertion...though I know some folks who have felt dizzy while fasting.
Man...Watchman had some great info on fasting...saying that he did so semi-regularly. Whatever happened to that guy?
:)
Daniel Reid in his book The Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity HIGHLY recommends periodic fasts...which supposedly lets your digestive tract work on the really nasty stuff it never got around to digesting.
For me, it wasn't hard to fast...and my single experience with it didn't help or hurt my short term health that I noticed.

[yenhoi]

how'd it go?

[Pawa-eri-to]

I would advise against teas since they are diuretics (spelling?) and you will probobly want to keep your nutrient and liquid losses to a minimum if you are doing any fasting for a long period of time (I dont know if 3 days qualifies).

[Repulsive Monkey]

I'm sorry but I don't rate his advice much at all. I bought that book too and found it to be rather different from traditional Taoist precepts of health and cultivation. There are much better books to read than that one. Plus I suspect he doesn't know much about TCM or traditional Taoist medicine either as they all say how regular Fasting is bad for the body. In the Sunwen it explicitly says "...half a day without food weakens the Qi, a whole day without food depletes the Qi". Coming from the Sunwen you don't get more exacting than that.
Still I do not wholly look down on fasts they can have a somewhat detoxifying effect if the body has been under attacj from pathogens, but without food the Spleen cannot produce Gu-Qi to mix with the Zheng Qi of the Lungs to power the body and all the internal organs. Thus one depletes the bodies reserves temporarily witha food fast. from a TCM point of view of course.