DIY Holistic Modalities: Fasting

Type of Fasting: Bone Broth fasting (chicken, beef, veggie). I also add Himalayan salt, cayenne pepper to the broth and heat it up. I also drink mineralized water that aids with keeping my electrolytes up. I also drink green tea to boost hydration.

How long: 5 days

My Reasoning for doing this: I do this fast seasonally, twice a year to give my body rest from digesting to support gut health that provides clean energy to heal my body. Anytime I feel out of balance physically or mentally or if I feel my body needs that extra energy to focus (like getting my wisdom teeth extracted) on healing I will engaging in this fast modality.

The Researcher in Me:

So first I would like to provide an overview about the different types of fasting:

• Water

• Juice (veggie or fruit, although I would personally mix the two and get benefits from both

• Intermittent (alternate- day fasting/eating every other day, or time -restricted eating)

• Partial fasting (certain foods or drinks like processed foods, animal products, coffee to be eliminated for a set period)

• Calorie restriction – restricting for a few days every week)

Benefits of Fasting

• Aids in weight loss by limiting caloric intake

• Boost’s metabolism, increasing metabolism and help preserve muscle tissue to reduce body weight and fat

• Increases human growth hormone and important hormone secretion vital for growth, metabolism, weight loss and muscle strength

• Could delay aging and extend longevity

• Aid in cancer prevention and increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy (blocks tumor development and increase effectiveness of chemo)

• Promotes blood sugar control by reducing insulin resistance (good for diabetes)

• Promotes better health by fighting inflammation (inflammation involved with development of chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer, arthritis)

• Enhance heart health by improving blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol levels (lowering risks of coronary heart disease

• Boosts brain function and preventing neurodegenerative disorders (increasing nerve cell synthesis and protect against conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson

What to do Before, During and After a Fast:

BEFORE:

To have a good fast, you must prepare your body for it. It is a slow process so first, ask your doctor, especially if you take prescription meds. Start off slow. Start off by doing one day and then two and so on and so forth.

• First and foremost: HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE, be it water, tea, bone broth (my personal favorite).

• Eat foods high in water content such as: cucumbers, bell peppers, celery, watermelons, strawberries

• Quality carb intake: ok, hold on its not time to load up on any ole carbs, oh no, its got to be grains and fiber, which keeps you full (ex: sweet potatoes, which has fiber and potassium, which is an electrolyte you lose during fasting), others include: oatmeal, beans,100% whole wheat bread, quinoa, barley, these also aid in regulating your blood pressure.

• Quality protein, along side a healthy fat (for energy)

• Decrease caffeine (you will have crazy withdrawals during the fast in the form of headaches)

DURING:

• Stay hydrated (whether it be from water, tea, or bone broths)

• If you are chosen to eat, eat low dense foods (research to see the ones you like, hey try a few new ones, you always should introduce your body to new and different foods, to prevent food allergies

• Get plenty of rest. Take this time to sit in your body. Become aware of your body. If currently, you are just not jiving with the fast, slowly start introducing food back into your diet, but if you want to continue, you will start really benefiting from the fast

AFTER:

This is when you will start introducing food back into your diet. Do not overeat. You do not want to undo all the hard work you just put in.

• Stay away from raw foods for the first day or two. If you were not taking any digestive enzymes, its going to be tough for your body to digest these

• Start with some smoothies. It is a good way to reintroduce the nutrients. Try to get a good healthy mix of fruits and veggies with it. Maybe even through in some supplements or protein shake mix

• Dried fruit

• Soups (protein and digestible carbs {lentils, tofu, pasta}, avoid heavy creams)

• Veggies (cooked, soft, and starchy)

• Fermented foods (yogurt, kefir)

• Healthy fats (eggs, avocado)

My Experience:

I personally like to do a bone broth fast. I like to heal my gut, knowing all the damage I cause in between my two fasts a year. While I fast, I still take my multi-vitamin, supplements and I do enemas during the first day of my fast and on the last day of my fasts. Well, on happenstance, I was watching an episode of Red Table Talk and they had a holistic wellness expert on there who Jada had been seeing for years. Her name is Queen Afua, and she has a special interest in women and their womb, its quite interesting, but I digress, she was talking about fasting on the show and you know your girls’ ears perked up. She did mention how you should do enemas when you are fasting and I was like high fiving myself all over the place because I have been doing that, but what she said next blew my mind. She encouraged enemas during the whole fasting process to continue the normal bowel process even though food was not entering the system. Ahhhh, so right, because the food I ate before the fast was still in the system and I needed to keep the system moving. It was soo eye opening for me. I am going to run down the 5 days of my fasting and what I did during it. First, I would like to give you the benefits of bone broth fasting.

BENEFITS OF BONE BROTH FASTING:

• Stronger immunity against common illnesses or allergies

• Reduced symptoms related to digestive disorders (leaky gut, IBS, IBD)

• Generally enhanced digestion with fewer cases of bloating, diarrhea, gas, acid reflux, constipation

• Healthier joints, ligaments, tendons

• More youthful skin (thanks to collagen)

• Stronger bones

• Higher intake of important minerals like calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium

My 5-day Journey:

Day 1:

Did my enemas and then had my vitamins/supplements

Would hydrate every 2 hours with both bone broth and chase it with tea, because let’s be real, the taste is not the greatest, to me anyways

The first day is always the easiest to me. You are coming off eating the day before and the hunger pains and the energy level is manageable

DAY 2:

Did my enemas and then had my vitamins/supplements

Would hydrate every 2 hours with bone broth and chase it with tea

Not as easy to move around, bouts of tiredness, weakness, and dizziness

Was still able to move around but needed breaks to sit

The sun was SOOO relaxing and made me feel good

My nose was runny (because on my last meal I cheated and decided to have both gluten and dairy, two things I really do not eat. So, I was not surprised when this happened)

DAY 3: this is the day my body really started to benefit from the fast

Did my enemas and then had my vitamins/supplements

Would hydrate every 2 hours with bone broth and chase it with tea

Felt weak at times

Had times when I was sweating and needed some cold air

Had some moments of clear headedness

DAY 4:

Did my enemas and then had my vitamins/supplement

Would hydrate every 2 hours with bone broth and chase it with tea

Felt weak

Had moments of energy where I could move around

Slept well and took a lot of cat naps.

DAY 5:

Did my enemas today but I did not really have the energy to really focus on it, so I phone it in guys. Lol. It was not a good day for enemas. I then had my vitamins/supplements

Could not even get any bone broth down today. My body said nope, and I said message received. Lol. Plus, I needed some energy. Company was coming over and I needed to clean up, so I had to decide and stop my fast a day early.

Wholistic affect: Mind and body~

BODY : The body is 100% positively affected. My body was able to really do its job and heal if healing needed to be done and with the environment today.

MIND: When I fast, I really take the time to show gratitude that I can eat and that at any time I can just pop into the kitchen and make something, but there are people out there that cant do that. So, I really appreciate that time. It also gives me the time to focus on something else. I do not have to plan my meals or worry about what to cook and when I fast, I wait until the kids are at their dads, so I don’t have to mess with food. Normally five days I can handle, this time, like I mentioned, I had company coming and I needed my energy on that day. Lol. Perhaps next time I will wait until I am completely free to devote the time and energy.

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