Throughout a fast it is important to be aware of your body. It is constantly sending messages and signals to you. Are you hungry? Are you detoxing? Do you feel really good? Are you experiencing a healing crisis?
You should have a rough idea of the day you will begin eating solid foods again. Ideally you will have some flexibility with the timing but this is dependent on individual circumstances.
The golden rule is to not stop fasting in the middle of a healing crisis. Wait until you are through it and feeling good again before you start eating.
As the "break-fast" meal approaches, give some thought to what you will eat. You need to be mentally prepared to ease back into solid foods.
Breaking the Juice Fast With High Water Content Fruit
Grapefruits are a great food to break a fast with. They have a very high water content and are easily digestible by the human body. Mandarins and other citrus fruits are also suitable.
It is essential that you eat raw foods during the transition from fasting. Cooking evaporates the water content of food, making it harder to digest. Half an apple is another option for breaking a fast.
Make sure that, whatever option chosen, the food is thoroughly chewed and thoughtfully consumed. Be aware of your body restarting the digestive process.
Getting Your Digestion Working Again
Fasting for longer than three to four days slows your digestive system almost to a halt. The arrival of no solid food into your stomach and intestines stops peristalsis. If you have been consuming juices through your fast, you will have been nourished by all the necessary nutrients without the need of the digestive system.
Digestion needs to be awoken and gently prompted back into life. If your fast has been ten days or longer, extra care needs to be taken. The shock of excessive cooked foods right away is devastating to the whole body.
Half a grapefruit or an apple is very gentle and will restart your metabolism slowly.
Slowly Increase Your Food intake over the First Three to Four Days
Several days are required before your diet will return to normal. It is wise to continue consuming large quantities of vegetable juice, broths and herbal teas during the transition. This ensures the continuation of nutrition and enzymes reaching your cells.
Paavo Airola was pioneer of juice fasting in the 20th century. He supervised many hundreds of individual fasts for people with many different ailments. He recommended at least three days on a transition diet and an extra day for every three to four days spent fasting.
Below is an adaption of a sample transition diet taken from his monumental work on How to Keep Slim Healthy and Young With Juice Fasting.
- Day One: one whole apple/grapefruit in the morning and a very small bowl of raw vegetable salad at lunch
- Day Two: soaked prunes or figs, with the soaking water for breakfast; small bowl of vegetable salad for lunch; vegetable soup without salt for dinner and two apples eaten between meals
- Day Three: same as day 2 but add a glass of nut milk and a banana for breakfast; oncreased salad portion for lunch with a boiled or baked potato (if you want to eat cooked foods); soaked nuts, salad and sprouts for dinner
The experience of fasting is a time of spiritual and physical cleansing. Breaking the fast in the right way ensures that optimal health benefits are gained through the fasting experience.
Small portions of fruits with a high water content make the ideal meals for fast breaking. Follow on with increased amounts of raw vegetables and then on to nuts, grains and other cooked foods if you so desire.
Links to Related Articles:
Philosophical Approach to Beginning a Raw Food Diet
Sources:
Airola, Dr Paavo. How to keep Slim, Healthy and Young with Juice Fasting. Arizona: Health Plus Publishers, 1982.
Cousens, Dr Gabriel. Conscious Eating. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2000.
Bernard Coogan - I am passionate about real health which I believe can best be achieved through consuming organic raw foods. A raw food diet is full of ...
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