Using Fasting for a Natural and Effective Daily Detox for Optimizing Health

Fasting has gained trendy popularity for its ability to help support weight loss, increase energy, and support overall health improvements. Unlike more extreme weight loss methods, fasting can be a simple, affordable, accessible, and meaningful way to incorporate healthy habits into our lifestyle. It also works for most people making it a great approach that can be adapted for personal needs. The problem is however, most don't know how to tap into fasting safely or use it in a way that promotes long term results.

Fasting is not a new health strategy

Given its popularity, it can be easy to think that approaches like Keto are new age. Fasting has been used for centuries in many cultures for many reasons, including religious and sacramental purposes, meditation, general health needs, and of course detoxification. It is a proven method for supporting health specifically with detoxification to support root cause issues.

Unlike more extreme detox methods, fasting is able to intentionally support restoring balance quickly. The reason for this is our own human design. Even though they lacked white coats and fancy books, anicent medicine people used fasting as a way to stimulate healing in the body. They understood food interrupts what the body needs to eliminate and through elimination we can feel better. Healing physically also involved spiritual healing, a whole body approach to health care. Rebuilding the balance in the body across mind, body, spirit and emotions was central to the approaches taken. This is why we see religious practices tied to fasting - to stimulate healing on a spiritual level as much as we do it on a physical level.

Fasting is ancient medicine referenced throughout all historical medical documents.

Modern life has distorted this balance through our very sedentary lifestyle, highly processed diet and exposure to chemicals. Fasting helps break through these barriers to restore the original function of organ, cellular, and nervous system function to promote health and well-being.

Detoxing is Important for Your Health

Your body was designed to eliminate what it does not need. It is equipped with several filtration methods including the liver, kidneys, bowels, lungs, and skin. With the constant bombardment of toxins in our life from processed foods, environment pollutants, and every day chemicals, it is easy to see how these filtration systems can become clogged. The result is what we see as fatigue, anxiety, inflammation, digestive issues, brain fog and even chronic illness and diseases.

Supporting regular detoxification through methods like fasting help support the body's natural filtration processes to keep things running well. What we quickly notice is improved energy, less anxious feelings, better navigation of stress and overall just feeling better. Long term this can lead to weight loss, decreased risk for illness and disease.

Fasting for Weight Loss

When I learn a client uses fasting it is often because they heard it was good for weight loss. There are a lot of inconsistent uses, however, that result in quick rebounding of weight and long term can result in metabolic resistance making future weight loss harder. As a result, I do not recommend weight loss dieting through the use of fasting. I believe Keto methods are fabulous but unless we are going to do them correctly alongside other changes, which most diet approaches don't, it will not provide the long term results the client is seeking. It can also damage our body causing other complex health concerns. Plus, let's be honest for a moment, no one wants to re-lose the weight again, right?

Instead I recommend fasting as a detox support tool. Keto is just one type of a fasting method that promotes detoxification resulting in the desired improvements of health, including weight loss. When viewed like this Keto is no longer just being used for weight loss benefits. This is a distinct difference that may just appear to be semantics but it helps clients realize weight loss is a side effect of taking care of their body and not the primary driver. Weight is very often the result of a lot of different events that led to a weight concern. It takes significant lifestyle changes to lose and maintain weight, dieting through fasting is not enough and results in misuse of this important health method.

How Fasting Helps the Body Detox

Detoxification of the body occurs through many channels. Fasting promotes the shift of the body's operations from digestion and assimilation to filtration. It's similar to switching a pool from adding more water to cleaning out the water it already has in it. The result is a cleaner pool at the right water level.

In terms of the body's use of fasting, we see the results as:

Cellular Autophagy from Fasting

When you fast, the body goes into a state of autophagy; a natural process where cells break down and remove damaged components, recycling them for energy. This is a self-contained cleaning mechanism to eliminate dysfunctional cells, reducing inflammation and preventing regeneration of dysfunctional cells that lead to diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's.

Improved Gut Health through Fasting

Many people see improvements in their digestive problems from regularly fasting. This happens because a digestive system break from eating allows the digestive system to repair and rejuvenate. During fasting, the gut lining can heal from daily wear caused from food and drinks. This can reduce inflammation and improve overall digestive function.

This is also where we can greatly influence our microbiome resulting in a stronger immune system response. The microbiome is especially sensitive to fasting's effects for detoxification. This can help support other functions as well including fertility, kidney function, brain function, and inflammation.

Hormones are Positively Influenced through Fasting

During fasting, the regulation of hormones occurs which can help influence metabolism and weight. This is the most popular reason most people try fasting. However, in addition to fasting insulin response, we see other hormones positively influenced too. Women who are in peri-menopause or menopause see an improvement in the severity of hot flashes. We also find those who fast regularly have improvements in hormonal responses including those adrenal triggers of cortisol during stress. By balancing the hormones we see improvements in energy, depressive tendencies, and weight loss.

Liver function Improvements from Fasting

The liver is the body's primary detoxification method. It is responsible for filtering out toxins throughout the body on a daily basis. The majority of these occur while we sleep each night. Fasting decreases the workload of the liver and allow the filtration process to work more optimally. In this case, fasting also triggers the release of stored fat which the liver can covert to ketones providing alternate energy source for us. Consider it our own green energy source if you will.

Mental Clarity is Boosted through Fasting

Fasting increases the production of brain neurotrophic factors (BDNF) which is a protein supporting brain health, promotes new neuron growth and supports cognitive function. Detoxing through fasting helps the brain eliminated accumulated waste which can result in reduced brain fog, improved focus, enhanced memory and improved cognitive function.

For those at risk for Alzheimer's, and 1 in 5 people are, this can help reduce risks. Given the severity of this devastating disease, my personal opinion is that any action we can take to reduce our risk for it is worth considering.

Incorporating Fasting into Your Routine for Optimal Health

Fasting does not have to be a long, drawn-out process that is complicated or restrictive. Even using short, regular fasting windows can offer detoxification benefits. A few naturally effective ways to help incorporate this into daily life include:

Intermittent Fasting

This is one of the most popular means of using Keto. However, again most don't do this consistently or well resulting in mediocre results that don't last. The basic method is to fast for 16 hours and then during an 8 hour window eat highly nutritious, clean, organic foods.

16 x 8 Fasting Chart

The easiest way to do this is to stop eating 3 hours before bed and then from point count out 16 hours. For most people this would equate to begin eating around noon the next day. By eating a nutritious lunch and healthy dinner with proteins, non-starchy vegetables and high fiber fruits we can quickly see benefits including weight loss.

During the fasting window your body has time to cleanse and reset resulting in improved energy, focus, sleep quality, and reduced inflammation.

Because 16 hours can at first be intimidating I suggest client start with a 10 or 12 hour fasting window and increase it over time. Eating during daylight hours only is a traditional Chinese teaching about nutrition that supports optimal digestive processes. This aligns well with the 16-8 fasting method.

Time Restricted Eating

Similar to Intermittent Fasting, time restricted eating involves eating all meals at a certain time frame, typically between 8 and 12 hours. Outside of this window you body detoxes from fasting. Here too, eating during the daylight hours as the 8 to 12 hour window optimizes the processes for detoxification in Chinese medicine. This can greatly influence alignment in our mind, body, emotions and spirit that will play a role in our overall health improvements.

More Advanced Forms of Fasting for Detoxification Benefits

Two more advanced forms of fasting are alternative-day fasting and 24-hour fasts. In these approaches, we are seeing eating occur less frequently which increases the rate at which cell autophagy occurs. It also helps increase the rate at wich we burn glucose leading to more efficient toxin removal.

While these methods may appear favorable to you, I caution those with conditions such as diabetes or other health needs that may require more frequent consumption of food. Fasting can be done by almost everyone but it is important we choose a method that is right for our individual body while still delivering benefits.

Typical Fasting Cycles

Why Fasting Is Essential for Optimal Health

With a balanced diet rich in whole, natural foods is essential for good health, incorporating fasting into your routine adds an extra layer of support for your body’s natural detox systems. Modern lifestyles often bombard the body with toxins and stress, which can overwhelm our detox organs. Fasting offers the body a reset—allowing it to repair, rebuild, and restore balance.

Fasting can improve digestion, support healthy weight management, reduce inflammation, and even enhance cognitive function. It’s a holistic approach that not only helps detoxify the body but also supports long-term health and well-being.

If you’re new to fasting, start slowly and choose an approach that fits your lifestyle. Always consult a healthcare provider before beginning any fasting regimen, especially if you have underlying health conditions. With consistency and mindfulness, fasting can be a powerful tool in your wellness toolbox, helping you achieve optimal health by allowing your body to naturally detoxify and thrive.

Also, it is most important to be aware that fasting is not for everyone. Yes, there are multiple benefits with it but fasting is a tool. It may not be right for your specific health needs, goals, conditions or journey. Working with a trained professional is the best way to have guidance on this decision and finding the right fasting approach should you choose to use it.

To work with me in-person or through a virutal session, please schedule at www.dragonspitapothecary.com

Dragonspit Apothecary LLC