Just wondering what your thoughts are on fasting/detoxing/liquid only diets. Do you think they are good for you?

I personally am yet to be convinced. I think the body has a pretty effective way of detoxing itself, without an additional (and sometime, very expensive) help.

I don't think it’s a healthy way to lose weight and I don't think it was ever designed to do that, but I do think a lot of people buy into healthy and weight loss being the same thing, which people in the detox/weight loss capitalise on.

I'm not looking to convert anyone, just wondering what your thoughts are really.

Detox is a myth that pharmaceutical and food companies use to push products. Liver and kidneys are doing a great job of cleaning our blood from toxins and there is no medical evidence that any kind of diet or product can aid the natural process. Even if we consume alcohol in a lethal dose, the body will recover 100% within 36 hours without any aids.

In fact many of the diets and supplements are extremely dangerous. Example => ephedra...

Eating well is sufficient enough to help us be healthy, if we make the right choices which are a matter of common sense. Eating fresh, seasonal, local, organic and non processed is more than enough. And of course keeping hydrated.

As for fasting, it is a joke. Someone has to be really masochistic to do that to him/herself. I only fast when my doctor asks me to before certain blood tests.

i have to respectfully disagree. fasting to loose weight is misconstrued. however, as for fasting for other health benefits, i dont see how unless youve tried it before, you could say its a joke. yes our bodies do a good job of expelling toxins, however our bodies are not designed to deal with the amount of toxins and kind of toxins that we ingest.

i personally have fasted before and find that it "resets" everything digestively if you catch my drift. i live my life with stomach issues. i do my best in not eating processed foods, cooking for myself, eating local and seasonal fruits and veggies, etc, but i have to say, my tummy has never been happier than it was after a fast. and they keep me regular for quite a while after.

that being said. i dont buy into any of the pharmaceutical or food company nonsense. fasting has been around a whole lot longer than industrial capitalism. when i do it, i cook my own broth and drink it, make my own juice and drink it, make my own tea and drink it, and drink tons of water. and im not a masochist.

There is no scientific proof that fasting is good for the body, there is no such thing as a therapeutic fasting.

Maybe spiritually it has some meaning and I totally respect those who fast for their beliefs, but as a diet, detox, and therapy it is nonsense.

Fasting forces our body to release toxins, because when you stop eating completely, even if you take in plenty of water, you start breaking down protein from your own muscles. The sugar in our body is consumed within the first 12 hours and after that the body makes glucose from amino acids stolen from muscle protein, and when you lose a protein cell it is hard to replace it. When ketosis occurs (starvation) ketone bodies are produced that dehydrate you, and have toxic metabolic effects.

Those popular 2 day detox fasts are the best way to lose muscle, lower your immune system and feel weak.

BTW you mention you consume broth and juice, that is you provide yourself some nutrition therefore it is not a fast.

fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. so although im supplying myself some nutrition, its still a fast.

i suppose we can agree to disagree. all i know is that i have done it in the past for my own personal reasons and have had great experiences as a result and just wanted to share them with other people on the forum that might not feel the way you do about them :)

fongchau - Fasting and detoxing has ties to religious/spiritual beliefs. Obviously when you dehydrate the body and/or don't consume the same quantity of food on a regular basis, you'll lose weight. So while an individual may be fasting as part of their religious requirement, they observed a decrease in weight and therefore determined it to be a positive effect.

With that being said, it isn't meant to be used as a weight loss tool. That was NEVER the intended purpose.

lily25 - ephedra was banned because quite simply, people don't follow directions. They abused the directions and thought more was better. So they essentially overdosed on the product, and that led to health problems and in some cases, death. Additionally, ephedrine can be converted to meth. Both of these elements (but primarily the first) led to a ban on this product as a supplement. The product alone isn't dangerous, as it can still be found as the active ingredient in other products at your local pharmacy.

I am fully aware of the spiritual and religious ties fasting has and it was never my intention to question these. If I have caused offence to anyone on this forum then I am mortified and offer my unreserved apology.

Fasting and detoxing for perceived health benefits is what I wanted to debate. Is there any science to it? I've seen the detox drinks for sale at my local pharmacies for upwards of £20 ($30) but I don't know what's in them. And I can't personally see any benefit to them.

Also interested to know how not eating for a day can have any health benefits?

I've heard lots of what sounds like rubbish faux-science, like toxins bind themselves to fat cells so when you detox you lose fat cells too.

And what toxins are people trying to cleanse themselves of?

I am currently fasting due to my belief and I do find certain posts here offensive.
We can debate about fasting but one thing for sure, overindulgence on food causes more health problems, obesity, diabietes, stroke..etc..then fasting!

bagaholic85 we can agree to disagree! I totally respect your experience with fasting, it obviously was a good experience for you, imho it had a spiritual positive impact.

Quote:

And what toxins are people trying to cleanse themselves of?

Toxins are poisonous substances, like the poison from a jelly fish or venomous animals, the toxins from bacteria, toxins from fungi (mold), botox is a toxin ( botulinum toxin) etc...

Have you ever had diarrhea from shell fish poisoning? Our body detects immediately the toxins from the shell fish, within 30 min the toxins are causing the intestines to react with profuse diarrhea.

And of course there are the toxic metals like lead, mercury, cadmium, and radioactive metals that are dangerous. I never heard fasting or drinking special detox drinks (available in the super markets) is the right method to treat a toxic metal poisoning.

Vitamin D in large doses is also toxic.

I think the terms are misused often. You body already detoxes rather well, and anything your body can't handle, a friggin drink you buy OTC isn't gonna handle. When these people claim "detox", they're basically implying that your body is going to cleanse itself of all the bad stuff within your digestive tract, which is half true. Sure, when you drink a liquid diet or any other type of diet that doesn't include all the nutrients and calories you need, your body won't be excreting all of those calories and other nutrients, so you might have different looking BMs or less dense stools, etc. It's just common sense that if you drink juices for a week, you're not gonna poop a lot. But that's not your body detoxing or cleansing...it's still doing the same job working with what you give it.
Then you have the weight loss. Again, when you drink juice for a week, you're gonna lose weight. And yeah, sure, you might feel great, but that's cause your body is lacking vital nutrients, which does have an effect on your brain activity. A lot times it can cause a euphoric feeling, but depriving your body of vital nutrients is not the best way to achieve that feeling.
Bottom line, if you want to lose weight, eat a diet that causes a caloric deficit. If you're out to "cleanse" your body, you're wasting your time.

I know this is an old thread, but it was one of the first ones I found on waterfasting/ detoxing etc.

I AM NOT A DOCTOR

i am just speaking on my personal experiences. About 5-6 years ago i was really over weight went from 180 (yes 180, making it even WORSE i am just barley 5ft tall) to 100lbs in about 6 months. I kept all of it off (fluctuating 10 lbs or so here and there) until a couple years ago after my grandmother passed away (went into a deep depression, but thats besides the point) so i gained about 20 lbs after she passed, which sounds worse than i think it is since all my clothes still fit me, just a bit snugger lol and i have fluctuated from that 20 lbs to loosing it and back up again since her death. But i really think fasting is what triggered my weight loss a few years ago....

When i had decided to loose weight it was literally a wake up the next morning decide to restrict calories, and i just did it.

But I have to say, the best thing i discovered was fasting!! In between every maybe month or so I use to fast for a week, granted it wasnt just water, i would add diet coke and black coffee to help surpress the hunger the first 3 days. But my gosh i cant explain how amazing you feel after!! the longest i had ever gone was only about 8 days because i wanted to get back to running and didnt have the energy to any more. But its amazing. Food tasted SO much better, and you lost all cravings for junk food and craved healthy greens. It also helped me quit smoking right after, which was weird, since during the fast i wanted to smoke more. ( I have since started smoking again). not to menion i lost 2 lbs a day, after the initial 5lbs the first day, which is mostly water weight.

You will gain back about 1/2 of what you lost probably within a month after you start eatting nromal again, which is normal since your body is regaining some water weight and all that fun stuff.

Anyways thast just my personal opinion, i know a lot of girls on youtube have gone much longer.

Oh one more thing, its the funniest thing fasting, day one the first 24 hours is kind of hard because tis the first day you are getting use to not eatting, but day two isnt bad DAY THREE is the worst day ever for me, after day for and 5 you have no hunger at all what so ever, i didnt at least.

Anyways, aside from wanting to loose the few lbs I gained in the past couple years and for "detox" reasonings, I want to start a fast again! I am going to try really hard to go 20 -30 days :X ahhhh

Maybe i will start a thread on here as encouragement to stick to it!!


EDIT: PS DO NOT EAT A BURGER lol or other junk food when you finish your fast. YOU WILL GET SICK you will feel like CRAP... end the fast easy with soups the first couple days then maybe raw greens, and keep going slowly though

Originally Posted by bagaholic85

fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. so although im supplying myself some nutrition, its still a fast. i suppose we can agree to disagree. all i know is that i have done it in the past for my own personal reasons and have had great experiences as a result and just wanted to share them with other people on the forum that might not feel the way you do about them :)

I know this is old but i 100% agree with you. Fasting has been the best thing i ever did in my life lol .... i havnt done a fast for more than a qucik 2 days in so long but Im thinking of starting up a 20 day one 30 if i feel like i can keep going

I don't understand any of this.
Sounds like you are going on the supermodel diet. Coffee, Cigarettes and Diet Coke (although to be a true supermodel you need to substitute for the other coke).
So did you lose weight after you started smoking again? 'Cause you know, when you smoke, your lungs are working harder to filter out the $hit, thus burning more calories in the process. It's more aerobic.
If you gain back half of what you lost from the fast, wouldn't it just be better to eat sensibly and lose the same amount of weight in twice the amount of time? This fasting thing seems like two steps forward, one step back.
I'm wondering if our idea of a fast is different. Does a 20-30 day fast mean you put nothing in your body except water, Diet Coke and coffee for that time period?
Please don't do that.
If the goal is to "detoxify" your body of impurities, don't ingest them in the first place. Hello Aspartame? Nevermind - that's way too simple.

Why on earth would you want to fast for 20 days? Do you know how terrible that is for your body?

Fasting is good for the body and soul. It purifies your body and it helps remove the toxins from your body and gives your body a rest from food. Also, it causes you to be grateful, because you experience hunger and there are many people who are less fortunate than you and you feel how they feel. Also, it is very spiritual connection with God when you fast.

There are many types of fasting. Muslims fast but they eat what you call Suhoor. It is a breakfast eaten in the wee hours of the morning. We don't eat until iftar that is when they break the fast which is at sunset. Actually, it's Ramadhan now and I am fasting.

Then there are liquid fasts where people don't eat any food but they drink vegetable juices.

Then there are body cleanes which I have spoken about below and I mentioned doing the colon cleanse.




I also think that the body cleanses are good too because it cleanses the toxins from your body. I usually do colon cleanses and I feel really good afterwards. They are doing so many things to the food these days. Drinking lots of water can help purify your body that's why it is so important that you drink water.


This is a very good article about fasting: http://www.mysticsaint.info/2006/09/...nefits-of.html