Fasting
When people think of fasting, often they get the idea that there’s only one way to fast. The truth is, there are many different fasts and they can be used for different purposes. Fasting does not have to mean complete abstinence from all food and beverages. A fast consisting of only water, known as water fasting , would be the strictest type of fast and is not always the most beneficial; a water fast should always be supervised by a doctor. In fact, any fast should be done with your doctor’s approval.
A juice fast can provide a wonderful means of detoxifying the body and is an easy and effective way to lose weight quickly. When juice fasting , you get significant nutrition by consuming plenty of freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices while abstaining from solid foods. Juice fasting is a potent method of detoxification because your body can divert the energy typically needed for digesting food and use it to cleanse itself; eliminating old, unneeded tissue. An added benefit for those people looking to lose weight, is the fact that when fasting weight loss can be very fast giving a quick boost to your diet program .
Most people don’t realize that our bodies use a considerable amount of energy digesting our meals each day. It is estimated that approximately thirty percent of our energy is used in digesting food and when our bodies are called on to digest heavy meals and things like meat and carbohydrates, the energy demand is high. On the contrary, the energy needed to digest a meal consisting of fruits and vegetables is considerably less. A fast diet can be extremely beneficial because it allows the body a break from the job of digesting.
A very popular fast or detox diet commonly known as the Master Cleanse Fast or Master Cleanse Diet is similar to the juice fast. This diet is often called the lemonade diet because it consists of lemon juice and honey mixed with water and a little cayenne pepper. This cleansing diet is very effective and has a tremendous following.
Not only does juice fasting give your body large stores of energy that can be used to cleanse and heal itself, but it can also be a quick and easy way to lose weight. In fact, if you need to lose weight, the pounds and inches will seem to melt off in a matter of days. It’s not unusual to lose 10 pounds in the first week of a juice fast. However, if you don’t have excess weight to lose you won’t whittle down to nothing; you’ll simply not lose much weight. Our bodies know how to take care of themselves if we let them.
One of the reasons juice fasting is so effective for weight loss is because your liver, the bodies main detoxification organ, is also the primary organ used for fat burning. So, when your body is detoxified, you free up your liver’s fat burning resources. When your body is overtaxed with the job of detoxifying itself from all the junk it’s called on to digest, your liver has a hard time freeing up the resources to burn fat.
Nature has designed our bodies to function best with an occasional fast. Many studies have shown that reducing caloric intake can lead to improved health and a longer life. Today, we are regularly exposed to many harmful substances such as pesticides, chemical drugs, plastics, vaccines, hormones in foods, and a host of man-made chemicals. These toxins and poisons are almost impossible to avoid as we consume each meal, glass of water and breath of air. Giving our bodies a rest and allowing them the opportunity to heal and cleanse can have a profound effect on our health and well being.
