Fasting

[super-sally888]

Hi,

Am reading up on elimination diets. Fasting often comes up as a means of cleansing/purifying the body (from a health perspective as well as a religious perspective).

I am wondering if anyone has tried this? Am thinking about trying it for a short time (maybe 1-2 days just purified water, then use just juice for a few days, and then get into an elimination diet). I kind of feel something drastic might get this started on the right track. Today's allergy testing episode (see previous post) has kind of scared me....

Btw... I am not at all underweight (about 20 lbs overweight) I have hypothyroid, but never suffer from hypoglycaemia.

S

[RiceGuy]

Personally, I doubt fasting is a good idea for most if not all Celiacs. It seems to me that the malabsorption issue would mean the body already cannot derive a full set of nutrients, so denying the body of much needed nutrients would only make the resulting conditions more pronounced. I mean, it's the lack of nutrients which causes many of the problems we have, so would it make sense to deliberately withhold nutrients?

That's my two cents, for what it's worth. Perhaps those whom have tried it can relate their experiences. I could never even try. Heck I ate only four hours ago, and I've been hungry for nearly an hour now. I literally stuff myself at every meal - monster size proportions.

[zansu]

If you've never fasted before, going 2 days is too much, your body won't be able to deal with it. Most people who teach fasting to _healthy_ people recommend skipping one meal the first time. Then doing a 12 hour fast, then a full 24 hour day. Those who fast regularly frequently eat lightly the day before (and after) the fast to prepare the body. If your body is accustomed to food on a regular basis, it is too much shock, especially if you're still healing.

A modified fast may be what you need: limited, known-safe food. only fruit or unprocessed juice for the day is an example.

Be careful. And don't overexert the day you're not eating. And have someone around who knows what you're doing in case there's a problem.

[ianm]

Only if you're healthy. I like to do a 24 hour fast once a month and find it really helps. I make sure that I have nothing going on that day because I do get tired quickly when fasting. The following day I eat lightly and don't do anything too strenuous. By the following day I feel really great and have lots of energy.

[BRUMI1968]

A couple weeks ago I decided to fast because no food was interesting me, and I was not feeling too well digestively, though nothing too intense. I thought I'd start over by erasing the blackboard, so to speak -- fast and then start over. I also was thinking that I have a lot of things right now I'm trying to get out (a lot of intense writing and memory work) and so putting more stuff IN was just hindering that effort.

So I went 24 hours - from waking up in the a.m. to about 8 at night, when I finally had some applesauce and a boiled potato.

I'm not sure how it went. I didn't feel better, and in fact, had more intestinal problems afterward...but who knows what that's from...long term it didn't seem to do me any good, but probably not much harm either.

For me, I think the best way to do a fast is to do it with a spiritual bent. And be able to have the freedom of time to really BE with that spiritual work while fasting.

Good luck.

Sherri

[NicoleAJ]

You might want to try a modified elimination diet where you avoid most foods for a week but still get enough nutrients through the foods you do eat, then you start to introduce foods one at a time (much less traumatic than an extended fast). This worked really well for me. I fasted for a week last month (only ice chips), but I was in the hospital on bowel rest for paralytic ilius. I was on constant iv potassium chloride and about 15 different medications. I would not recommend fasting without a doctor's supervision if you've never done it before.

[brendygirl]

Be Careful, as anorexia is a side effect of celiac, since you feel so good when you don't eat.

[Nancym]

You might want to look up Intermittent Fasting. It's an interesting new topic. I did it for about 3 months. I think fasting can help with some things, I know a lot of people with my particular autoimmune disease use it to control flares. I think it starves out some of the bad critters (bacteria) that can live in the digestive tract. But other than that, I don't think it is particularly useful. Your body detoxes itself using the liver and chances are, you're probably increasing the burden on your liver by freeing any pesticides or whatever that is locked up in body fat. So I don't really buy into that whole detox thing.