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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by missamor on March 1, 2004, at 11:23:19
I am interested in doing a 3, 7 or 10 day fast for health and psycological benefits. I was wondering if anyone had a good site that is credible with different fasts, or if anyone currently does this. I believe in the many benefits and though weight loss is inevitable that is not the goal. So I am not looking for a "quick weightloss" type of gimmick and thats all ive found online. just a cleansing type fast, no colon machines or anything like that, im not that hardcore. i just would like to do this. any thoughts, ideas, experiences or references would be very appreciated.
thanks in advance-
Posted by badhaircut on March 3, 2004, at 5:36:34
In reply to Fasting?, posted by missamor on March 1, 2004, at 11:23:19
This didn't get moved when the thread was redirected, so I'm reposting it...
> I am interested in doing a 3, 7 or 10 day fast for health and psycological benefits.
There's not a lot of info out there — except on "juice fasting," where you consume nothing but raw fruit & vegetable juices for several weeks. And most of that info is, IMHO, utter nonsense. (Juice-fasters seem especially attracted to enemas.)
The most rational fasting book is New Jersey physician Joel Fuhrman's 1995 "Fasting and Eating for Health". About half the book discusses a low-sugar, low-salt, low-fat vegetarian diet, but he talks about fasting for weight loss, heart disease, asthma, arthritis, and intestinal problems. He tries to back up many of his claims about diet & fasting with scientific studies, but he also makes unsubstantiated claims and makes too much of some studies (like the so-called "China Study"). Fuhrman has a web site promoting his diet, but it is silent on fasting.
Fuhrman's fasting mentor was the late Herbert Shelton, who ran a clinic in Texas. Although often labeled a dangerous quack and although he had nutty ideas like "food combining," Shelton's 1973 book "Fasting Can Save Your Life" is still available and explains the (as far as I know unproven) theory behind physiologically therapeutic fasting better than Fuhrman does. Fuhrman doesn't actually say much about theory.
Both of these guys discuss long fasts (7-40 days & more) in which nothing is consumed except water. Both strongly advise not undertaking a fast of over 3 days unless you are under experienced supervision including blood tests, preferably at an in-patient clinic. Things can go wrong in a fast; also, any excess demands made on your body during an extended total fast, including emotional stresses, can be dangerous and disrupt the therapeutic process. And you probably won't have the energy to handle household tasks for yourself.
Both pooh-pooh the idea of juice fasts. Shelton says that by taking in nutrients every day, the juice-faster doesn't allow her body to consume enough of its own diseased or toxin-filled tissue to get any benefit.
Neither of these authors has much to say about direct psychological benefits of fasting. Fuhrman cites a Japanese study of fasting as treatment for depression but gives no details. Fuhrman & Shelton say that spiritually-motivated fasts, which are generally under 3 days, are probably not physiologically significant.
If you are contemplating a fast for psychological reasons, I encourage you to visit http://www.beyondveg.com/ . It has a lot (a *lot*) of very thoughtful, first-person accounts of people who took healthy dietary ideas including fasting to unhealthy ends. A great site for perspective before starting any diet program.
I'd be interested to know how you came to consider fasting. I can't remember how it first piqued my curiosity.
-bhc
Posted by missamor on March 5, 2004, at 1:11:58
In reply to Re: Fasting? » missamor, posted by badhaircut on March 3, 2004, at 5:36:34
ok bad haircut, end of fast 3rd day. i did a little research, (thank you for responding by the way,) read a pretty decent book on detoxification, but had a little slanted view. but basically took from here and there and made my own fast. i started off only wanting to go three days, i thought i had weekend plans that would make it very uncomfortable. but i think ill go ahead and do it for 5. more is always better right? j/k i dont want to be to freaky with it, but i should detox myself (at least every quarter century?) i had a lot of advice from my aunt who does crazy 10 day cayanne pepper, lemon, water ones. that makes my eyes water to type it. im doing fruit juices, lots of h2o, tea, vitamins and supplements. so ill keep you posted. so far i feel good, cant believe it really. i thought it would be so much harder, i am really pleased. i kind of wished i would have weighed myself. next time i will, just to see what i lose and gain back. now im considering how to eat after. i eat healthy and know alot about nutrition, i was a personal trainer in college. but my diet wasnt as clean as id like, black beans in a can are essential for training (canned tuna, ect.) and i was always training. part of my prob! like i was in a bodybuilding competition or something. but in past co years i have tried to eat cleaner, more organic, more whole wheat, ect. and chilled at the gym i guess i realized i was over the limit when i didnt get my period for one year, and i am in my early 20s. but i really wanted to feel like i had cleaned out anything bad left and start fresh. i consider micro. diet and other things ive read about but think ill continue on diet as is and possibly fast a co times a year if i enjoy the effects. i dont really why i became interested in fasting, my mom and aunt do it, but i just had been considering the postives recently.
anyway ill keep you posted.
how bads the cut?
i wish it were safe enough to post pics, id show you a pic of me with a cut that would put you right at ease~
Posted by badhaircut on March 5, 2004, at 16:09:22
In reply to Re: Fasting?, posted by missamor on March 5, 2004, at 1:11:58
Very interesting! Please keep us posted. Interesting that your mom & aunt have done it, too.
> how bads the cut?
I think I'm turning into Shaggy from "Scooby-Doo" right now.
-bhc
Posted by bookgurl99 on April 5, 2004, at 16:50:21
In reply to Re: Fasting?, posted by missamor on March 5, 2004, at 1:11:58
This is supposed to be a good time of year to do it.
I'm thinking of a fast, but first I need to really change my diet. I have several symptoms -- migraines, autoimmune problem, memory problems, incredibly sensitive to stress -- that could be related to poor adrenal glands. I think I may have worked them over when I was living on coffee for a few years in college, and then the stress of young adulthood.
I think changing your diet is _really tough_, but worthwhile. Did fasting help break any bad habits for you?
Posted by spoc on April 10, 2004, at 20:06:56
In reply to Re: Fasting?, posted by bookgurl99 on April 5, 2004, at 16:50:21
> I'm thinking of a fast, but first I need to really change my diet. I have several symptoms -- migraines, autoimmune problem, memory problems, incredibly sensitive to stress -- that could be related to poor adrenal glands. I think I may have worked them over when I was living on coffee for a few years in college, and then the stress of young adulthood. >
Hi Bookgurl, can I ask how coffee could make a change in adrenal glands? Was wondering if you meant there is some stimulant connection there. Seems logical of course. I'm always interested in tracking down clues to my own undiagnosed "maladies," and as I was on a stimulant last year that lead to some weird and severe symptoms that continued long after stopping (and still recur), I wondered if whatever I did might fall into the nature of the thing you're referring to. Thanks for any response you may have. : )
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