Therapeutic fasting is not religiously motivated and is intended to cleanse and purify the body. There are different types of therapeutic fasting.
What is therapeutic fasting?
Therapeutic fasting is intended to activate the body’s self-healing powers, stimulate the body to detoxify and initiate purification. Fasting is the complete or partial renunciation of food. Fasting can be for a few hours, several days or even weeks. For many millennia, people have been fasting for a variety of reasons. Even Hippocrates recognized fasting as a medical therapy. Some people have to fast because of bad harvests or because of wars. Fasting is also often religiously motivated. However, these motives do not play a role in therapeutic fasting. Therapeutic fasting is done either for medical reasons or for preventive reasons. Therapeutic fasting is intended to activate the body’s self-healing powers, stimulate the body to detoxify and initiate purification. Also mental changes can be desired with chamfering. For example, abstaining from food should make it easier for the fasting person to see inside.
Function, effect and goals
There are different types of therapeutic fasting. Common to all forms, however, is that they are intended to prevent and alleviate illness. More and more people are suffering from diseases of civilization such as obesity, gastrointestinal diseases, diabetes mellitus or high blood pressure. Many foods contain preservatives, colorants and flavor enhancers. Supporters of alternative medicine assume that the body stores many of these substances. During the chamfering cure the body is to be freed from the deposited toxins. The metabolism is to be relieved by the renouncement of the food, so that the body has more time to eliminate unnecessary things. Expulsive procedures such as colon cleansing or detoxification teas can support the body in this task. The best-known variant of fasting is tea-juice fasting according to Otto Buchinger. The internist Otto Buchinger recognized that complete fasting leads to discomfort in many people. Buchinger fasting involves vegetable broth, juices and honey. A calorie intake of 500 calories per day is not exceeded. Thus a load of the metabolism is avoided. At the same time, the body continues to receive important nutrients and vital substances. In addition, enemas are performed. These serve to cleanse the intestines. Other metabolism-supporting measures such as liver compresses or dry brushing are also part of the Buchinger cure. A further chamfering variant is the Breuss cure. It is used in the alternative medicine accompanying in the cancer treatment. With the Breuss chamfering for 42 days solid food is renounced. Fruit juices and herbal teas are permitted. According to Breuss thereby the cancer cells are to be starved selectively. The thesis is however strongly disputed. The following applies to the Breuss fasting cure: the less juice drunk per day, the better the effect of the cure. Breuss also recommends a special juice mixture with carrots and beet. A well-known fasting cure is the F.-X.-Mayr cure. Main goal of this chamfering cure is the intestine reorganization. The cure explicitly does not serve the weight reduction. Warm water with Epsom salt is drunk daily in the morning on an empty stomach. This serves the intestine cleaning. It has a laxative effect. Afterwards light movement and change showers stand on the program. During the cure, a lot of herbal tea and mineral water is drunk. Clear vegetable broth is also allowed. In the evening, a course roll is consumed together with milk. The bread roll serves as training for the salivary glands and as a chewing trainer. In fruit fasting, only fruits are consumed. Vegetables, herbs and nuts are also allowed. In contrast, whey fasting does away with any solid foods. Instead, one liter of whey, half a liter of orange juice and three liters of still water are consumed per day. The whey is to reduce protein loss during the fast. The orange juice is to provide minerals and vitamins, and the mineral water is to promote detoxification. In addition, a glass of sauerkraut juice is drunk each morning for cleansing.
Risks, side effects and dangers
Many doctors are rather skeptical about therapeutic fasting. For a few days, healthy people can usually fast without problems. However, a doctor should always be consulted before longer fasting cures. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should not fast at all.Children and people with increased bleeding tendency should also refrain from fasting. Fasting is also not suitable for people with hyperthyroidism, for people with circulatory disorders of the brain, for type 1 diabetics, for the underweight and for eating disorders. People with mental illnesses should fast only after consulting the doctor treating them. If the body is not supplied with usable food, the metabolic metabolism briefly turns into a catabolic metabolism. Blood pressure and blood sugar levels drop. In order for the body to obtain the energy it needs, it breaks down fat and muscle tissue to obtain proteins. During prolonged therapeutic fasting, so-called keto bodies are produced during fat breakdown. These include acetone, 3-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacet. This condition can develop into ketosis. In ketosis, excessive ketone bodies are found in the blood. There is also increased excretion of ketones in the urine and exhaled air. A fruity mouth odor is typical of ketosis. Due to the catabolic metabolism, the uric acid level also increases. This favors the formation of kidney and bladder stones. People with gout can suffer a gout attack due to the increased uric acid levels during fasting. Fasting can also cause headaches, fatigue and weakness. Impaired performance and mood swings may also occur. Normally, however, the symptoms subside completely after a few days. Otherwise, the fasting cure should be discontinued immediately.
