I have been fasting on and off for several years. Why do I fast? The numerous health benefits of fasting are part of my ongoing mission of achieving optimal health. In this post, I am going to give you the basics of the 4 Stages of Fasting.
What happens during the 4 Stages of Fasting?
So, if you have been following me, you know that my goal in life is to achieve Optimal Health. Defining optimal health will vary for each individual, but I do believe we can all agree that the lack of disease, the lack of injuries as well as a sense of truly feeling good inside and out, would be the fundamental core of the definition. I have been experimenting with different versions of "fasting".
Here is an excerpt from the British newspaper, The Telegraph, with regards to fasting:
“Fasting was used to treat heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, digestive problems, allergies, headaches – pretty much everything,” says Greenfield. “Fasts were individually tailored and could be anything from a day or two to three months, for obese patients. The clinics would take a full case history to see if people were suitable and they would be closely monitored.”
Eventually, he says, “scientific” medicine became dominant as better drugs were developed: fasting and the “Nature Cure” fell out of favour in Britain. By contrast, in Germany where fasting was pioneered by Dr Otto Buchinger, therapeutic fasting is still popular and offered at various centres. Many German hospitals now run fasting weeks, funded by health insurance programmes, to help manage obesity, while fasting holidays at centres and spas throughout Europe, include Hungary, the Czech Republic and Austria, are growing in popularity.
“In Germany fasting is part of the naturheilkunde – natural health practice,” says Greenfield. “It has remained popular because it became integrated into medical practice so patients could be referred for a fast by their doctors.”
Unfortunately, Western medicine prefers quick fixes and relies heavily on treating the symptoms as opposed to treating the disease. According to Dr. Seyfried, a professor of biology at Boston College, fasting for 7 days could eliminate 90% of all cancers!
Am I suggesting that you fast? Of course not. I am merely suggesting that we open our eyes to a variety of different methods of preventing and curing disease.
Now, on to the 4 stages of fasting.
The stages below are the general concepts that I have found after doing research with regard to fasting. After reading about the 4 stages, you may be surprised by your new inclination to attempting a fast!
Stage 1 (Day 1-2) : "Battery Save Mode"
A couple of hours after your last meal, your blood sugar levels will drop. You will feel hungry and may even get a headache due to the lack of insulin being released. Your body starts to find any sugar left in the body by depleting its glycogen stores (glycogen is the body's storage for sugar). Glycogen also stores high amounts of water which is why the initial stages of fasting produce such an immediate weight loss. As your sugar levels drop, so does your heart rate and blood pressure. The internal cleaning begins and your body starts to clean the blood by "eating" the fat found in the bloodstream. This initial cleaning stage helps to promote a healthy heart by improving cholesterol levels and increasing the "good" cholesterol known as HDL.
Stage 2 (Day 3-7) : "Cleaning Mode"
After all the glycogen has been removed, the body seeks out new sources of energy and reaches the state of ketosis. At this point, fasting becomes easier as the body begins to embrace the fast. The digestive system gets a much-needed break which allows for the body to focus all its energy on "cleaning". The immune cells will have the time to attack "diseased" cells including cancer cells. All other cells start internally cleaning and getting rid of certain cell components that have been mutated or damaged. This stage is very important in preventing future diseases.
Stage 3 (Day 8-15) : "Healing Mode"
Once the body has been "cleaned" the cells can now take the opportunity to begin the repair process. As the cells continue to look for fuel sources, they will inevitably look towards old injuries that have healed. Since the injury is no longer, the cells will take any access to scar tissue and re-purpose the material to create energy. Stem cells begin to regenerate and help create new tissue. Although this process is wonderful, the effects on the individual can be quite uncomfortable. Pain, where the old injuries occurred, is felt with a vengeance but eventually subside when the injury has been repaired.
Stage 4 (Day 16-?) : "Deeper Healing Mode"
This stage is not necessary for everyone and depends purely on the depth of healing necessary. This stage lasts until all pain has subsided and the individual returns to a pain-free life.
Did I pique your curiosity?
If so, I highly suggest that you read The Complete Guide to Fasting by Jason Fung, The Metabolic Approach to Cancer by Nasha Winters as well as Cancer as a Metabolic Disease by Thomas Seyfried. All these books explain in details the research that supports regular fasting.
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