Article Tags: Nutrition | detox | lifestyle | health education | integrative medicine clinic
Fasting in Ancient and Modern Times
This process goes back thousands of years, and we might wonder why it is still embraced. That’s because it offers a true healing process for so many issues and offers people beneficial results on many levels.
Easter is on April 20th this year, so if you are practicing Christian traditions, you might be completing the observation of Lent, having given up certain foods or drinks since Ash Wednesday, which fell on March 5th right after Mardi Gras.
This 40-day period of voluntary abstinence reflects the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert when he was 33 years old and faced all kinds of temptations. The word quarantine that we still use today (remember Covid?) refers back to this Biblical story.
Fasting is a common practice in many religious traditions. For example, many Jews fast on six days a year including Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Muslims observe Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, by fasting from dawn to sunset, as well as praying and reflecting more as a commemoration the revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad. The spirituality of indigenous peoples worldwide also includes purifying rites for seasonal transitions, healing and personal insight.
These widespread practices reveal the deeper dimensions of fasting – a topic I explore in detail in my upcoming Whole Self Detox Program starting on April 26th.
In more than 40 years of medical practice, I have utilized various detox and healing/rejuvenation practices extensively both for myself and literally thousands of patients and worldwide participants. I offer seasonal detox classes online through my website www.elsonhaasmd.com. I truly believe that cleansing and detoxification – the Purification Process – is one of the most powerful healing therapies (real healing of ailments and not just suppression of symptoms) that I have witnessed as well as participated in for as long as I have practiced medicine. Its effects offer rebalance for the body/mind and are preventive for many health problems.
I have written extensively about detoxification in my book The Detox Diet: The Complete Guide for Lifelong Vitality with Recipes, Menus, & Detox Plans, and in the last section of my 1,200 page book, Staying Healthy with Nutrition, in which I discuss both the medical and health factors of the cleansing process.
A popular modern version of this ancient practice is intermittent fasting in which you limit your food intake, eating for a shorter period of the day, often around 8 hours. Many people stop eating in the late afternoon and then fast until the following morning so that the body has a longer period of assimilation and time for complete digestion. Research has consistently demonstrated the beneficial effects of this method. For example, a 2017 Harvard study (link) showed how fasting promoted longevity and healthy aging. (https://newatlas.com/fasting-increase-lifespan-mitochondria-harvard/52058/)
The Benefits of Detoxification, in a more general sense, are often an improvement in physical wellbeing, emotional balance, mental clarity, , and spiritual energy, as well as the lessening of many symptoms. And if any of these following problems are relevant, you can lower your body weight, your blood pressure, your cholesterol level, and likely use less medication. Many people claim they feel “better than they have in years.”
In truth, what I attempt to do in my writing and practice is to place your health and that of your family back into your own hands, because so much of it is up to you. Become your own best doctor. It really matters how you live – what you do, what you eat, and what you think and feel. Take hold of yourself and your habits, and do what you can to be vital and healthy. Use the latest rage and the oldest sage – the Purification Process – to improve your health. It is really worth it!
Check out Whole Self Detox HERE