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Staying Healthy Today With Kirk Hamilton
April 12, 2010
The Power of Fasting
I have always said that "Food Elimination" is the "Most Powerful Tool" in medicine. Recently I was reminded of how powerful food elimination can be and my original "roots" in integrative medicine. In the April, 2010 issue of Dr. Julian Whitaker's Health and Healing - Dr. Whitaker, to his credit, shares that he had not been practicing what he had been preaching, and his health had been adversely affected. So he decided to check into a health center called TruNorth Health in Santa Rosa California and undergo a medically supervised fast for 7 days. In the process of this water fast he lost 21 pounds, had significant drops in his blood pressure, blood sugar, lipids and his energy improved. The fast was broken with juices, then a low-fat vegan diet. Aside from the quick improvement in some important physiologic parameters, and his sense of wellness, a key realization was that after several days on the fast (two days) his cravings for sweet, fat and salty foods were virtually gone. He felt some sort of withdrawal phase had passed. This process of taste change is called "neuroadaptation" and is explained in depth in Dr. Alan Goldhamer's book entitled, The Pleasure Trap (co-authored with Douglas Lisle, PhD). Dr. Goldhamer is the founder and director of TruNorth. The modern, processed food diet high in fat, salt and sugar can lead to food addiction. A temporary fast can help break this addiction.
Other things a fast can do are: 1) Get you off foods you may have some type of intolerance to; 2) Rest your bowel so it may "heal," or become less permeable, subsequently reducing food intolerance and systemic reactions in other places in your body; 3) Rest your overall immune system from chronic challenge that may not only reduce food reactions, but improve autoimmune type illness; and 4) Smart, supervised fasting can help just about any collection of symptoms or illnesses, and create quick success to help people feel hopeful and motivated to continue more permanent lifestyle changes. Dr. Whitaker's water fast was ended with juices then a reintroduction of a low allergy, vegan diet. A very similar approach has been used for many chronic conditions including rheumatoid arthritis (Kjeldsen-Kragh J, et al, The Lancet, October 12, 1991;338:899-902) and other autoimmune disorders (Alternative Therapies, Fuhrman J, et al, July/August 2002, 8(4);112).
My own roots in fasting were doing 1-3 day water fasts in college for spiritual and political reasons and noticing how my body did so much better off dairy products. Then, in the first clinic I ever worked in, I personally experienced 1-3 week juice fasts and watched hundreds of patients go through the clinic's famous "detox program." Everyone who came into the clinic went on a two week vegetable puree, a psyllium fiber supplement, lots of water and some vitamins. This is where I saw virtually any symptom you can think of improve when people eliminated the foods they were eating in this modified fasting approach. First you want to eliminate all unhealthy processed foods, secondly you want to eliminate healthy foods that just don't agree with you.
I personally have experienced that "neuroadaptation" after fasting. A simple apple, carrot or potato with nothing on them had pleasurable and distinct tastes after I ended my fasts.
While water fasting should be medically supervised, people can do modified versions safely by eating just vegetables, or vegetables and fruit, for 3-7 days plus water. A simple and safe way to start would be to just eat fruit, vegetables, beans and non-glutinous grains off the BED Diet List (under Educational Handouts at Prescription2000.com) with all the foods being organic if possible, and more than half your food intake as vegetables. Though this is not technically a fast, you are eating nutrient dense, whole foods without any oils, sugars, added fat, salt, additives and common allergens that will probably induce weight loss and help you feel better. Some people will have dramatic health improvements even with this modified fasting approach. The bottom line is many people (including most health professionals) have no idea how significant the foods they are consuming regularly are responsible for creating their symptoms of ill health. Most are unaware of their physiologic food addiction as well. It is very clear when you are off foods for a while then reintroduce them, that the foods you eat regularly affect your daily wellbeing. Try a modified version by just eating only plant food and no nuts and seeds off the Basic Elimination Diet for one to two weeks. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Expert Interviews by Kirk Hamilton at Vitasearch.com
Hypertension and Hibiscus Tea, Diane L. McKay, PhD, FACN, USA, 4/2010
Cognitive Function, Memory and Concord Grape Juice, Robert Krikorian, PhD, USA, 4/2010
Staying Healthy Today Show Interviews By Kirk Hamilton
Diabetes and Lipid Management Using The Dietary Portfolio, Nuts, Prebiotics and Soy - An Interview With David J.A. Jenkins MD PhD DSc
Chronic Disease And A Century of U.S. Food Consumption Patterns - An Interview With Jean C. Buzby PhD
Nutrition for Exercise Performance and Preventive Health - An Interview With Ironman Champion Dave Scott
Memory and Cognitive Improvement With Daily Grape Juice Intake, and, Other Natural Approaches To Memory and Cognition - An Interview With Robert Krikorian PhD
Staying Healthy Webinar Series With Kirk Hamilton at EnergeticNutrition.com
Completed 6 part webinar series is available for FREE in video, audio or for download. Topics include: Staying Healthy Parts I & II, Diabetes, Obesity & Heart Disease Reversal, and Healthy Aging
Staying Healthy Today - Current Nutrition & Prevention Research
Breast Cancer - Disposition Of Soy Isoflavones In Normal Human Breast Tissue.
Cardiovascular Disease - Meta-Analysis Of Prospective Cohort Studies Evaluating The Association Of Saturated Fat With Cardiovascular Disease.
Cardiovascular Disease - Saturated Fat, Carbohydrate, And Cardiovascular Disease.
Chronic Disease - Associations Of Very High Intakes Of Eicosapentaenoic And Docosahexaenoic Acids With Biomarkers Of Chronic Disease Risk Among Yup'ik Eskimos.
Colorectal Cancer - Isothiocyanate Exposure, Glutathione S-Transferase Polymorphisms, And Colorectal Cancer Risk.
Depression - Updated Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of The Effects Of N-3 Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids On Depressed Mood.
Diabetes Mellitus - Differential Effects Of Coffee On The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes According To Meal Consumption In A French Cohort Of Women: The E3N/EPIC Cohort Study.
Diabetes Mellitus - Effects Of Coffee Consumption On Subclinical Inflammation And Other Risk Factors For Type 2 Diabetes: A Clinical Trial.
Diabetes Mellitus - Effects Of N-3 Fatty Acids On Macro- And Microvascular Function In Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
Diabetes Mellitus - Prevalence Of Diabetes Among Men And Women In China.
Kidney Stones - Effects Of A Low-Salt Diet On Idiopathic Hypercalciuria In Calcium-Oxalate Stone Formers: A 3-Mo Randomized Controlled Trial.
Lung Cancer - Isoflavone Intake And Risk Of Lung Cancer: A Prospective Cohort Study In Japan.
Lipids - Low-Fat Dietary Pattern And Lipoprotein Risk Factors: The Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial.
Muscle Weakness - Once-Weekly Dose Of 8400 IU Vitamin D(3) Compared With Placebo: Effects On Neuromuscular Function And Tolerability In Older Adults With Vitamin D Insufficiency.
Obesity - Reducing Obesity In Early Childhood: Results From Romp & Chomp, An Australian Community-Wide Intervention Program.
Obesity - Trends In Food Availability, 1909-2007.
Overweight - An Anti-inflammatory Dietary Mix Modulates Inflammation And Oxidative And Metabolic Stress In Overweight Men: A Nutrigenomics Approach.
Probiotics - Safety Of Probiotics In Patients Receiving Nutritional Support: A Systematic Review Of Case Reports, Randomized Controlled Trials, And Nonrandomized Trials.
Prostate Cancer - Intakes Of Meat, Fish, Poultry, And Eggs And Risk Of Prostate Cancer Progression.
Vegetables - Portion Size Can Be Used Strategically To Increase Vegetable Consumption In Adults.
Visual Acuity - The DIAMOND (DHA Intake And Measurement Of Neural Development) Study: A Double-Masked, Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial Of The Maturation Of Infant Visual Acuity As A Function Of The Dietary Level Of Docosahexaenoic Acid.
Weight Loss - Lack Of Suppression Of Circulating Free Fatty Acids And Hypercholesterolemia During Weight Loss On A High-Fat, Low-Carbohydrate Diet.
Weight Gain - Physical Activity And Weight Gain Prevention.
Remember Until Next Time, Stay and Be Well
Kirk
Kirkhamilton@prescription2000.com
www.prescription2000.com
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