Nearly 20 years ago the AANP held one of its first annual conferences in Oregon, with the theme of honoring our elders. I had agreed to give Dr. William Babnick a ride to the conference, which was held near Mount Hood. As I welcomed him into my car I offered to play him one of my favorite bluegrass tapes, to which he replied, “Why would we want to listen to music when we can talk naturopathy?” His gravelly voice still resonates in my mind as it does in so many of his students’ and peers’. A few nights later at dinner I turned to the doctor on my left and asked him, “Now that you have a college named after you and the profession is rapidly growing, what is the greatest fear that you have about our future?” To this Dr. Bastyr replied, “That we will become enamored with the shiny new toys and forget our foundations.”
Fasting is certainly well within the foundations of naturopathy and plays a valuable role in the removal of environmental toxins. Fasting is, however, not always indicated as a first step in detoxification. Choosing the right type of fast is also of great importance. Understanding the patient, their present condition, and their history is imperative before commencing a fasting program. Patients will often come to me wanting to do a fast now and end up doing many months of work before I deem it time to utilize this most powerful natural therapy.
In the chapter entitled “Prognosis” in Hippocratic Corpusis found the true meaning of this commonly misused term. To Hippocrates, a prognosis meant knowing the current state of a patient, being able to tell them the origin and then predicting the outcome and which therapies, if any, should be employed. Likewise, found in The Yellow Emperor’s Classic is the realization that, as opposed to those from the north, south and coastal regions, those people living in the central valley were too toxic to respond to needles alone and required the first step of poisons (herbs and fungi). Arnold Ehret speaks from the hygienist viewpoint in Rational Fasting when saying that many people require extended lemon juice and honey diets, for as long as six months, before they can safely attempt a water fast.
In our ethical requirement to “do no harm”, we must know how to proceed safely in the care of our patients. We need to understand the nature of their toxic accumulations and the many physiologic and natural ways to remove them. We should only recommend those therapies that they can safely and effectively comply with. We should educate them with words they understand, put in a manner that they also can understand. Take the time for them to tell you what they’ve heard, if there is any doubt about the process. Give thanks for the honor of service and approach them always with a compassionate heart.
I always want to know the digestive health and normal eliminatory functions of my patients. I use a simple bowel transit test utilizing 10 charcoal tablets as a marker. This is outlined in my book The Fasting Diet. For most cases of toxicity I will employ an organic vegetable juice fast, adding garlic if I believe there exists significant alimentary yeast. Vegetable juices quickly create an alkaline environment in a person, reducing the discomfort and inflammation, taking place during beta-oxidative conversion of fats. They also will provide most of the nutrients involved in the secondary hepatic hydrolysis. Your patients will feel better and you will do less harm.
When the suspected toxins are of a lipophilic nature, consider adding to a customary juice of carrots, celery and beets, such foods as burdock, garlic, black radish and dandelion roots. Always make sure the juices taste good to the patient. This not only stimulates the immune system, but also makes longer juice fasts possible. Always ensure that people slowly reintroduce foods and work to improve their diet as they proceed.
To put a more personal touch on this philosophy, I provide the following examples. While it is true that I have taken thousands of people through group fasts with little or no review of their pre-existing conditions, and well over 95 percent of these people have successfully completed this program, I take a much different approach to individual fasts. When someone comes in for a first visit specifically to do a fast, I need to know much more than that they feel toxic and really want to do a fast. I want to know about their antibiotic history, how much amalgam is in their mouth, what environmental toxins they have encountered, and a little about their bowel habits. I will often put off the fast to do a complete one-week diet diary and bowel transit test using Requa charcoal tablets. I have been using charcoal tablets for over 20 years and can read much into how it shows up in their stool. Any time charcoal appears prior to 18 hours, there is a strong probability that they do not digest proteins or raw vegetables adequately. When charcoal appears more than two times, there is a strong indication of hypermotility of the small intestine, a condition that is referred to as dysbiosis by our non-anthroposophical doctors. When charcoal appears after 72 hours, there is a high probability of toxic states of the liver and entire body. Each of these conditions leads me to particular protocols to normalize and optimize digestion prior to fasting.
This winter I had a woman come to me wanting to do a juice fast. She had been on a path of diet improvements and self-growth. She reported normal bowel habits (not always enough) and gave all indications of being up to the task. I counseled her about the concerns for fasting in winter months as solid food digestion produces free heat for the system, while cool juices do not. I had her see me for instructions on the pre-fast bulking diet. I then saw her prior to starting the juice phase to discuss juice recommendations and how to do enemas, as well as providing non-enema options. Finally, there must always be a discussion on how to gradually reintroduce solid foods based on the digestive requirements of food groups. Reintroduction should start with non-starchy vegetables and fruits, then progress through cereals, grains and starchy vegetables, then fats and finally proteins. As I normally do, we set a five-day juice program as the goal with the option of extending this phase by decision on day four or five. She wanted to extend, so we chose a 10-day program. I always like to specify a set time limit so people keep their eyes on a goal and stubbornly do not proceed until their cravings destroy their gradual reintroduction. She just completed a successful 30 day juice fast, lost over 20 pounds and reported feeling better than she had for decades. We look forward to working together to find the natural health within, so stifled by the 21st century’s oppressive environment.
Consider some of the pearls of our history prior to proceeding with the fast. A quality dental detoxification product, mud baths, hydrotherapy, exercise, meditation, humor, deep breathing, saunas and loving kindness can greatly assist in preparation of fasting. Doing some fasts yourself makes you a much greater teacher and leader of your patients’ journeys. Fear of fasting must be removed or fasting will be dangerous. Remember the words in the I Ching that say “only a gentle wind can bring strength”. Be patient, available, thankful and thoughtful and you will find that fasting can be one of your safest and most effective methods of calling forth nature on your patient’s behalf.