Beware of going on a “fast” or out for “fast food!”

The rigors of diet extremes can be very harmful to your health.  Eating a steady stream of junk food has been proven in many studies to be damaging to your health, but so can the opposite extreme – fasting.  As a rule, we don’t recommend eating fast food, and we don’t recommend you embark on a fast unless it is monitored very closely by a healthcare professional.  While many benefits result from fasts, the side effects are unmonitored and can be very uncomfortable and even dangerous.  When fasting, some of the side effects you might expect to encounter are severe headaches, nausea, and dizziness.  And, if your body is already being stressed by other health concerns (like being overly acid), this additional stress could be devastating.  As with exercise, you must be sure you are healthy enough to start such a program.

Over the years of treating patients in our clinics and our personal care programs, we have had a lot of experience with various fasts, from water fasts to juice fasts.  As you would think, those who are on a water fast eat no food and drink only water.  People on a juice fast consume only juice, which is typically pure fruit or vegetable juice.  The goal of most of these fasts is to cleanse the body, especially the colon.  However, a cleansing of the colon can also be accomplished without fasting. There are some very good colon-cleansing products on the market today, including our Alka•Cleanse® product, which is all-natural and has not been heat treated. 

While we are on the subject of diet extremes, another thing that can be damaging to your body is “yo-yo dieting.”  You probably know what this is and maybe have even done it yourself some time in the past.  Many people go on a strict diet, reduce calories to a bare minimum, and lose weight quickly.  Then, upon reaching the desired goal, they eventually return to their old diet, whatever it was, and put all the weight back on (and most often add even more weight to the problem).  When the “fat” weight is reached again, they go back on the next fad diet to take off those unwanted pounds quickly.  And the cycle continues.  This up-and-down, roller-coaster diet scheme can be damaging to your health.  Your body was not designed to deal with such dietary stress!  While keeping your weight under control is a worthy goal, a series of fad diets is not the way to reach or maintain that goal.  A steady, consistent intake of good, natural whole food (a diet of 75% fruits and vegetables and 25% grains, nuts, and meats) will help you maintain the necessary alkaline reserve while giving you the energy and vitality you need.  In general, alkaline-producing foods are low in fat and simple carbohydrates, which allow the body to attain and maintain its ideal weight.

Link to Morter March Monday Rebroadcast