Fasting for detoxification? Bullshit or not?

[SpeedRacer 1]

I have read some new agey ads & articles saying that fasting is a way of removing impurities from your body. The idea is that the toxins in your diet are the problem, and you need to periodically let your body rest (by not making it have to deal with more food containing more impurities) so it has time to eliminate the toxins.

Two problems with that reasoning:

1) The mechanisms by which your body removes toxins take energy, and should therefore work better when you are well nourished

and
2) Where is the clinical evidence showing any reduction in specific toxins after a fast?

The people usually trying to sell this claim usually say the same thing that snake-oil salesmen say, which is that the entire medical/scientific community is engaged in a conspiracy to lie to the public, so that they can keep us all sick & continue to make money treating us.

And here the new age salesman is this great selfless hero coming to save us with the REAL TRUTH. ( shipping and handling not included)


Seriously though , can anyone show a peer-reviewed article that demonstrates that fasting promotes a reduction in toxins in the body?

Speed Racer
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[mnealtx 0]

I tend to look at it in the same light as all those "purge" products... it *MAY* do some good...but probably nowhere near as much as what they're claiming...

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[quade 3]

I think it's all a lot of BS.

The human body is omnivorous and evolved to deal with a continous intake of a wide variety of natural food.

If you really wanted to "cleanse your body", you'd just stop eating processed food altogether. This would include an AMAZING array of foods we normally consume on a daily basis, so, unless you were a very committed person, good luck on that.

Personally, I don't have the self control and like Oreos way too much.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[BillyVance 34]

Prunes and water!

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[RevJim 0]

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Prunes and water!

Close, Billy. One of the best "Cleanse and detox" methods is simply eating nothing but fresh (uncooked) fruits and veggies for about 2 weeks. You'll lose weight, and feel damn good too. And that first big ol' New York Strip tastes soooooo good after no meat for a couple of weeks.

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[riddler 0]

The best way to find out is try it out yourself and see how you feel.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[Squeak 17]

Starving you body is never a good idea try high fibre and lots of water (which is what Pastor James stated)

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[ACMESkydiver 0]

I did the 7 day detox many years back...I didn't get through day 7 though. That's a water fast for 3 days, then just fruits and veggies I believe to round out the 7.

Every time I've given up refined sugars and processed foods (pretty much what I'm doing now, but now I'm not eating fruits and 'whites' -rice, flour, mashy tatos...) I feel a whole lot better.

The last time I gave up refined sugars and processed foods was for Lent before Easter, and I lost 6 pounds (no exercise; not really 'trying' to lose weight) and I felt great...up until Easter and we just gorged on candy and cheeseburgers.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[riddler 0]

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Starving you body is never a good idea

I'm curious why you would think this. Not trying to be argumentative. But here's a few examples of why I think the opposite. (I would like to add that I've never done a "serious" fast, such as a water-only fast).

1. Digestion takes between 1/4 and 1/3 of your total energy, depending on how you add up all the pieces/parts of this rather complicated process. Next to cardio-pulmonary functions, it's the second largest energy demand on the body. Assuming you have enough energy reserves (fat, which most Americans have plenty of), then it seems to me that your body could use this energy for other purposes (such as healing or cleansing itself) while you're fasting.

2. Most other creatures on the planet experience regular periods of fasting, because their food supply is not year-round (such as artic foxes) or not always close at hand (for example, pelagic fishes and mammals). Humans and all other hominids experienced regular and consistent periods of famine for their entire evolution (about 7 million years). Our bodies were designed by evolution to adapt to not having food for short periods, or having only limited quantities of food for long periods. We were not designed by evolution to eat all year around; it's only been in the last few hundred years that technology and social change has enabled humans to eat all the time. It seems that if anything, eating all the time is less "natural" than having periods of fasting.

I think that starving yourself would not be a good idea if you are attempting to add muscle mass via rigorous exercise. But moderate exercise, even during famine periods, is very common among african tribes (think tribal plainsmen running across the barren desert between the stormy seasons). OTOH, if you are attempting to cleanse your body in a low-energy environment (such as sitting at work in front of a computer), my thinking is that fasting might not be such a bad thing.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[Squeak 17]

using an analogy with animals that regulate their metabolism is not even close to a fair comparrsion.

I'm not talking about missing a days food here and there, I'm talking about going several days in a row with out food, it not a good idea, you body requires nutrient continually, now i'm not saying you have to eat big, quite the contrary, if you are eating fresh nutritous fruits and vegies and legumes you can easily get by with very little food intake.
Bu Starving yourself of all nutrients is of no benefit from a physiological POV

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[riddler 0]

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using an analogy with animals that regulate their metabolism is not even close to a fair comparsion.

Well, maybe not. I always feel a little bad bringing up evolution as an argument, because I believe very much in it, but I know a lot of other people do not. As far as I know, every mammal (and many other species) has the ability to regulate their metabolisms, but some do it much faster and easier and to greater extent than others, and there's the question of which ones do it consciously (and many people that don't consider humans as animals will often argue that animals have no conscious anyway).

But I'm sure you probably believe in history. And I think that just about every sane historian will tell you that most people in human history did indeed "starve" (or just not eat) for short or long periods of time. I guess I don't think of not eating as starving - I think of starving as when you have completely depleted your body of energy stores. If you don't eat for a day, or even a few days, I don't think you starve, just as I would say you don't need to fill up your gas tank if you only have 3/4 or 1/2 of a tank left (but I do know a few people that do that too ).

I've heard a few other people that state that by not eating for a few days, you are starving. I know at least one of those people was very much into high-energy sports and had been told by a few physical trainers that they need to eat a lot. I don't dispute that for an athlete that's training hard, you need to keep up your intake of nutrients. But that's not most Americans. The original post was about detoxification, and I believe that if someone chooses to go for some days without eating in a low-energy environment, that doesn't justify calling it "starving". I agree that starving your body is never really a good idea, but is it really starving if you have reserves left?

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[Squeak 17]

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*** I agree that starving your body is never really a good idea, but is it really starving if you have reserves left?

Ok well if we soley focus on the detox, to rid the body of most impurities you need to expell them, and as such you need to have an inake of fibre inoder to maintiain the digestive process and to create waste output. one of the best way to get that required roughage isto east freash fuits, and juices, again this does not require you to neglect you nutirtion.

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[bch7773 0]

Quote

The people usually trying to sell this claim usually say the same thing that snake-oil salesmen say, which is that the entire medical/scientific community is engaged in a conspiracy to lie to the public, so that they can keep us all sick & continue to make money treating us.

And here the new age salesman is this great selfless hero coming to save us with the REAL TRUTH. ( shipping and handling not included)

there is your answer.

The people supporting this crap cannot usually tell you exactly what these "toxins" are, or how we get rid of them by not eating.

MB 3528, RB 1182