Fasting

[Scarlett]

An osteopath told me that I need to do a 3 week fast. Water only- no food. At all. What do you think?! She said that 70% of your energy goes on digesting food, so if you limit your food, your body can concentrate on healing itself and back tracking (like system restore) to when you got ill, and sort it out. I know some cultures fast, so what is the difference?

[boogieboogie]

'Some doctors' you say. Would they be Witch Doctors by any chance.. You say pure water fasting (not for how long) combined with a healthy diet.. isn't that contradictory?

[daffy654]

I have never heard such rubbish as 'fasting could cure asthma'!!!
I have been an asthma sufferer for over 20 years now and if I had ever been told that fasting would cure my asthma I would have done it for sure.My doctors would have advised it too.

[pauliwauli2]

I actually find it really disturbing that a health professional has advised a three-week-fast. It's actually ridiculous.

[wolf63]

Apart from the physical problems mentioned above you would find yourself totally obsessed with food for the whole three weeks.

Weird !

[Scarlett]

boogieboogie--- read my last post.

[Uzoma]

Hi Scarlett.
I really do hate to buck the trend here but fasting is not all bad news. There are definitely some benefits for the body. However, if you have never fasted before, I would not suggest that you do go from nothing to 3 weeks. Your body is likely to be able to cope for up to 40 days without food (that doesn't mean that you should do it - I'm just letting you know). You will feel weak after a few days and you will smell but this is the detoxification processes and they are not permanent. Please do not take my word for it - I'm not a doctor. I just want to bring a little balance here. By the same token, you don't have to take the word of the person who told you to fast but I would say try fasting for a day, then another time for 2 days then 3 days. NEVER stop drinking water. Very risky and of course, always check with your doctor. All the best.

[Ethel]

Scarlett - you have copy and pasted one piece from Wiki that refers to the beliefs of one doctor - Joel Furhman.

That is not extensive research, that is cherry picking to find 'facts' to suit you.

Nowhere does it say how long Dr Furhman recommends fasting.

It took 62 days for an IRA hunger striker to die - his health had irretrievably deteriorated long before that.

[Scarlett]

Ethel- I am certainly not cherry picking facts to suit me! None of this suits me, believe me! I am asking for opinions since I do not have any!!

[Hermia]

I can't believe any "doctor" would suggest someone with type 2 diabetes should fast! Yeah, that's really gonna help those blood sugar levels. As an asthmatic I really don't see what help fasting would have. My asthma is mainly triggered by external factors (pollution, smoke, cold weather) - how would not eating help?! I'd like to see some of this empirical evidence.