Everyone is
talking about fasting and its vital importance. Great visionaries,
entrepreneurs, thinkers and geniuses have been saying it for a long time and
now it is starting to reach the mainstream. But what is fasting? It is a way to
regenerate your body, to regenerate your mind, to see and discern the world a
little differently, a little more clearly.
There are many
types of fasting and it is important to do it with the advice of a specialist.
Dr. Françoise Wilhelmi de Toledo is vision, profession and experience. And one
of the most recognized voices of fasting techniques: the act of abstaining from
food to regenerate and reconnect. She, and the entire team at the legendary
Buchinger Wilhelmi clinic, are experts in the fasting technique. With more than
100 years of history, they are the pioneers in this method, and they give us
the A to Z of the keys to this millenary technique, which today is once again
on everyone's lips.
What Is
Fasting?
It is the act
of abstaining from eating (totally or partially) for a period of time. This
changes the metabolic program and the body's cells burn fat from adipose tissue
instead of glucose.
Why Fast
Once A Year?
The human being
is genetically prepared and programmed to go without outside food for a long
time. Every moment of fasting helps you to regenerate and rejuvenate your body
and thus treat or prevent degenerative diseases.
So,
Does Fasting Heal and Even Extend Life?
It does in
animals. We are still doing research with humans. But it makes a lot of sense
to think that, if you regularly regenerate your cells and rejuvenate them, you
will live longer and have more resistance against possible diseases that appear
as you age.
What Are
the Effects of Fasting in The Buchinger Clinic?
There are
effects on 3 levels: physical-medical, spiritual and the level of the fasting
community. But the most important thing is that you rediscover the incredible
potentials of your own body. The daily routine is very intense and alienates us
from ourselves to the point where you neglect your body. It is essential to
know your body's needs, take it into account and take care of it in order to
live happily. Give it plenty of sleep, good nutrition, move it and seek a good
emotional balance.
What Happens
in The Body During Fasting?
When we give up
external food, our body mobilizes its fat reserves. The triglycerides and
cholesterol that we have in the blood (and are accessible to the cells) are
also mobilized and normalized. The blood is left as skimmed.
More Fluid?
Yes, it is.
And, in addition, if the liver has stored too many lipids, steatosis occurs.
This disease can train cirrhosis, but if you fast, the excess fat is broken
down. And also, other fat deposits inside the abdomen or accumulated in the
neck, are quickly reabsorbed. While fasting, fat loss is continuous and
visible.
What Else?
When food
intake ceases, the glucose level drops, insulin is stopped and we enter a state
of ketosis.
And What
Exactly Is Ketosis?
Ketosis is a
metabolic situation that induces the utilization of fats in order to obtain
energy, generating compounds called ketone bodies that are a good fuel for the
brain and the rest of the human body organs.
What Happens
in Our Brain During Ketosis?
It improves
mood, reduces the feeling of hunger, reduces inflammatory states, old cells are
eliminated and new structures are synthesized; It provides a sometimes-euphoric
state, anxiety is lowered, we are more positive, even feel moments of euphoria
and also, communication between neurons is accelerated.
Are We More Creative?
In the brain there is a chemical change and we enter a more intuitive state in which you have a better vision of your own life. It even gives you time to feel, get emotional and understand others. You move in a more human way, more relaxed and you reach more inner peace, you even learn to meditate more easily! And at that point, yes, you are more creative.
Gandhi says that fasting is to a person's inner world what his eyes are to the outer world.
Right. It is
also very interesting what happens at night: At first one sleeps in a more
agitated way because of intense dreams and mental activity. Sometimes you have
the feeling that you are not sleeping, that you are in a waking state. But you
are not. He is resting with a kind of lucidity. After a few days, as there is
no digestion, the sleep becomes deeper and shorter. And getting up becomes much
easier.
Is It
Possible to Live in A Constant State of Fasting?
Yes, periodic
fasts of 5, 10, 15 or more days can be done a couple of times a year and always
with medical control. There is also the possibility of intermittent fasting of
10 to 16 hours: This way a short state of ketosis is induced every day, also
for therapeutic reasons, such as to give regenerative breaks to the body and to
maintain a normal weight.
For
Example?
A French monk,
who died at the age of 92, fasted daily, from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day,
because he said he entered a state of joie spirituelle, spiritual happiness. As
this state was so extraordinary for him, he ate once a day and got several
hours a day of this feeling of lightness, well-being and energy.
Although
the Body Does Not Receive Food, You Feel Much More Energy. Why Is This?
It is normal
that you feel more energy because the digestive work alone absorbs 20% of the
energy (which during fasting you do not do). The energy of a cell is produced
in the mitochondria, which are small structures that release energy from food.
They regenerate themselves during fasting.
Do
You Become More Intuitive?
Every day there
are millions of signals, but you don't pick them all up because your head is on
other things, rushing all the time. Fasting slows you down and makes you pick
up all these signals better.
You
Go to The Essence. To the Truth. The Spiritual Dimension of Fasting
When your mental
activity doesn't stop; it makes comments, criticizes, judges and sometimes can
give us a lot of anxiety with negative thoughts. Fasting gives you
opportunities to stop all this useless mental activity. And it can even give
you an openness of spirit as you change the brain fuel that leads you to be
more sensitive and open towards others.
Will
Fasting Make You Mainstream?
I believe so. The positive effects on body, mind and soul are so many that food breaks of a few hours, a few days or a few weeks under medical control will be part of the prevention and therapy of tomorrow's medicine. But be careful not to believe the advertising of pills or diets that want to suggest that fasting is not necessary and can be replaced by a product that mimics some effect of fasting. Your body knows how to fast, in the right dose and at the right time.