HEARING

DENTISTRY

RESEARCH

ANTIAGING TREATMENTS: WELLNESS

Fasting Program

Fasting is avoiding all solid foods and ingesting approved liquids only. Fasting is considered the most effective of all antiaging treatments, and is the only antiaging treatment which has been well researched. Periodic fasting and caloric restriction can add 40-50 healthy years to your lifespan.

Through fasting and/or calorie restriction is designed to cleanse the body of harmful substances, retard the aging process in order to promote life-extension, and make you feel fitter and healthier.

It is recommended, especially during first attempts, that both fasting and post-fasting phases be closely supervised by a physician or fasting specialist. These professionals will also help you tailor a program to your individual requirements.

Following a fasting program, antiaging candidates should attempt to continue with the regular mini fasting and detoxification programs. More on Fasting Plans

Caloric Restriction / Fasting Program Considerations

It is natural to feel some hunger at the beginning of the fast, but this normally ceases by the second day. Prescribed hunger - suppressing agents may be incorporated at the beginning of the program.

Programs typically consists of a 7 to 60-day program; which includes between one and ten fasting days.
During times of restriction essential nutrients, especially vitamins and minerals, must be maintained.
Protein is reduced during the program, however, minimal essential requirements for protein must be maintained.
The diet focuses on "undernutrition without malnutrition"

Caution: Pregnant and breast-feeding women, people who are underweight or anemic, and those with eating disorders, cancer, cardiovascular and digestive diseases or immune deficiencies should not fast.

Diabetics and people with liver or kidney problems should consult their doctors before beginning a fast.

Avoid water-only fasts.

The Fasting Method

Instead of eating less on daily basis, periodic fasting can produce the same retardation in rate of aging. For many people, fasting may be preferred to calorie restriction as hunger is restricted to one or two days a week.

Water fasts are undertaken, however I recommend juice fasting instead. Juice requires minimal digestion, improves energy, is easily absorbed and assimilated by the body, and supplies nutrients and calories to maintain energy while clearing body waste. Juice fasting may also help decrease the unpleasant detox-withdrawal reaction that can occur.

Plan Type Comparison

The reasons we recommend fasting over caloric restriction are:

Curative Benefits – whilst fasting, an intensification of natural repair processes throughout the whole body occurs, giving the body an opportunity to cure itself. Caloric restriction has not been proven to have the same curative benefit.
Psychological benefits – fasting avoids long periods of hunger experienced on caloric restricted diets. With fasting, you normally do not feel hunger after the second day whereas, on a calorie-restricted diet, you may feel hunger every day.
Pleasure of eating – fasting, say 100 days per year, gives you the opportunity to eat a normal ration of high quality food [e.g. 2500 kcal] rather than a restricted diet [[e.g. 1800 kcal] the remaining days. This also supports the psychology by almost providing “reward days” of normal diet following fasting days.
Religious compliance – fasting provides the opportunity to schedule fasting in accordance with prescribed fasting-days. This provides the spiritual benefits as well as the physical ones.

Typical Fasting Plans

Each plan works to a weekly caloric intake of 10,500 kcal.

PLAN 1: 1x Fasting Day Per Week, [52 days per year]; with 1750 calories on non – fasting days

PLAN 2: 2 x Fasting Days Per Week [104 days per year]; with 2100 calories on non – fasting days

PLAN 3: 4 x Fasting Periods per Year - [72 days per year]; incorporates 1 fasting week, followed by 1 recovery week gradually-increasing caloric intake [5200 kcal week], then 11 normal diet weeks, incorporating 1 fasting day per week.

Hence:

Fasting Week = 0 kcalories

Recovery week = 5,200 kcalories

Normal week = 12,000 kcalories [ 6 days at 2,000 kcal per day; and 1 fasting 0 kcal day]

This gives a total of 137,200 kcal in each 13-week cycle; which averages out to approximately 1500 kcal per day.

Typical Recovery Week

Day 1 = 200 kcal
Day 2 = 300 kcal
Day 3 = 400 kcal
Day 4 = 600 kcal
Day 5 = 900 kcal
Day 6 = 1200 kcal
Day 7 = 1600 kcal

Total = 5200 kcal

Try breaking the fast by eating fruit for breakfast, raw vegetables for lunch, a baked sweet potato and salad for dinner.

Timing Your Fasting

Juice fasting should only be done during the warmer months. You may prefer to wait until vacations or low work-load periods. You may experience some tiredness during the fast, so avoid periods when heavy exercise is scheduled, at least until you are familiar with your own reactions. Activities like walking, yoga, even golf, are perfectly achievable during fasting.

Fasting can sometimes have emotional impacts, so also avoid fasting during times of stress or emotional loads.