Can fasting ever make our health situation worst? Has anyone ever had a bad experience with fasting or is it always a positive experience with a happy ending? Can fasting actually not help a health situation at all?

I'm asking this because my acid reflux situation is just not getting better and fasting has been suggested. It could actually be that my valve between my esophagus and stomach just doesn't close properly and so I'm having constant burning of the throat and constant heartburn.

Yes, there are certain diseases for which fasting is not recommended. It could make the symptoms worse. I am not sure which specific diseases. It would be best to consult with a fasting expert.

My doctor is an expert on fasting. Dr. Steven Bailey, he wrote a book called "The Fasting Diet"

For your situation, I think a green juice fast would provide more benefits than a water fast.

Make the juices on the second page of Gabriel Cousens' food chart:

www.treeoflife.nu/dl/Summary_of_Rainbow_Green_Cuisine_Phases.doc

I recommend two pints of green juice a day. The celery juice is one of the best foods for improving your symptoms

Regarding your acid refulx, it is probably a sign that your entire body is too acidic. YOu need to fast with alkalizing juices and not just water. Green veggies would work. Do some research on your body's PH balance and you should see a dramatic reduction in your acid reflux. I did.

I have lemon water every morning. Then I have Dr. Robert Young's Super Greens. It is a great start to alkalizing your body. He even has a book entitiled The PH Miracle. Try it and see what you think.

Fasting isn't always the best thing, but this more often has to do with the emotional issues of the person involved, plus circumstantial factors like work schedules, family obligations, etc. There are some rare diseases, also, for which fasting is not the best. These are AIDS and cancer, in the advanced or 'wasting' stages, since when disease is this far advanced there is usually not sufficient reserve fuel on the body to sustain a fast. Obviously anorexics should not fast either, but this isn't a hard and fast rule because it depends on the extent of the problem. With these exceptions, fasting is always best for the body. The only time fasting makes a health problem worse is when a person comes off a fast wanting to eat everything in sight and ends up in a spiraling backslide wherein more harmful foods are eaten than otherwise would have been. This is a common enough consequence to give pause to anyone trying to decide whether to fast.

There's no question that not putting food down your alimentary canal would allow your acid-irritated tissues to heal the quickest. Tissues in the gastro-intestinal tract heal very fast, according to what I've heard and read, when the causes of the problems are removed (as they would be in fasting, or radical dietary improvement).

If you can't do a supervised fast, you can proceed cautiously by either eating only fruit for a few days (as an alternative to fasting) or trying a fast of short duration. The way you feel before you eat breakfast in the morning will give you some indication whether you can handle fasting. I.e., are you desperate for food? Weak, lightheaded, faint? If you do a short fast, closely observe your feelings and behaviors after the fast. If you end up overeating or backsliding significantly, it would be best to either keep the fasts short enough so that this doesn't happen, or make sure you are supervised so that your re-feeding can be closely regulated.

All the best,
Nora
www.RawSchool.com

-I would say that those who are excessively 'toxic' should probably focus on improving their health through better dietary, exercise, light juice fasting, and improved life-emotional habits before engaging in more intensive fasting.

-Just my opinion.

-David Mason

Felix,

A good chiropractor should be able to adjust the valve so it closes.

Also, IMHO even aside from the acid reflux situation, if you have been eating really badly it might be a good idea to build up the body with lots of good fresh juices before fasting.

Not to scare anyone but a fellow in my home town got enamored of fasting. I don't know what his complete fast consisted of but he was using Dr. Young's products, which includes some sort of packaged green drink sold via MLM. The fellow developed serious heart problems and my personal hunch is that he wasn't getting enough potassium.

Dr. Schulze's incurables program which includes fasting, has people consume huge amounts of juice and a potassium broth. It seems to me that would allow the body to rest at the same time as flooding it with nutrition. It's not as purifying as a water fast but it's safer.

"Not to scare anyone but a fellow in my home town got enamored of fasting. I don't know what his complete fast consisted of but he was using Dr. Young's products, which includes some sort of packaged green drink sold via MLM. The fellow developed serious heart problems and my personal hunch is that he wasn't getting enough potassium."

Greenie, I think you are on the mark here. Fasting if done incorrectly can cause your body to dump loads of minerals. My particular problem with fasting is getting deficient in sodium. I have to be sure and drink plenty of celery juice to calm my heart from all the pounding.

I believe that people who are "older" and inexperienced with fasting need to have some sort of supervision by a health practicioner familiar with the fasting process!!!!!! Otherwise it can potentially be detrimental to your health.

mtnkathy:
"I believe that people who are "older" and inexperienced with fasting need to have some sort of supervision by a health practicioner familiar with the fasting process!!!!!! Otherwise it can potentially be detrimental to your health."


I agree completely.

Thanks to all that have replied!

Started Mike's green juice suggestion yesterday. Also started drinking minimum 8 glasses of water a day.

As far as fasting I've been told that I am too thin and do not have any reserves for a fast. I'm 57 years old, 5 ft 7 in, and weigh 110 lbs.

Been on a 99 % raw eating program since April 17 but still have the problem.

Thanks again to all!

cabbage juice is supposed to be good for ulcers
so maybe that will help u with your acid reflux
worth a try

hey felix
good luck

keep us posted with your progress

me,
i like greens a lot
no fruit in my juices

celery is cool
as a base

Thanks la_veronique. I have cabbage and parsley and spinach on my shopping list along with celery and romaine and carrots. Will be using carrots to give a taste to the juice and use a bit of spinach and celery, supposed to be very good for ulcers also. I hope something works.

What fruits are suggested to eat when one has ulcers?

good question
i haven't thought about it

all i know is that cabbage juice is supposed to be numero uno
for taking care of ulcers

as for fruit?

dunno

if there is a fruit that is supposed to be good for ulcers


Felix..are u a cat??

nice name

Felix the cat, that's me! LOL

Apparantly bananas, grapes, and apples are supposed to be good for ulcers. If one can believe google search.

I hope this works for me.

something about the sulfurous compounds or whatever
balancing the acidity

that's in cabbage

not sure if the fruits above u mentioned are as good

don't have any more books on this stuff
gave em all away

but i just remember something strongly about the cabbage

so i sound like a broken record

CABBBBBBBBAGGGGGGEEE cabbbbbaagggggggge cabbbbaaggggggggee
JUICE!!

meow!!