To quickly reduce inflammation in your body I recommend a Green Fast. I believe this is an improvement over the traditional water fast or Master fast of lemon juice and maple syrup. The green fast works on several different pathways at once. Like a traditional fast it removes the offending pro-inflammatory foods. This piece alone is huge and is the main reason fasting has been used for centuries successfully all over the world as a therapeutic regime. In addition however, the Green Fast adds a huge amount of phytonutrients to fight inflammation directly.
It also has the advantage of keeping the bowels moving to flush toxic waste out of the system. This was always a disadvantage to traditional fasting. As a fast progresses your liver will dump a ton of toxic waste into the intestine expecting it to be carried out of the body. It is important to do this quickly as gut bacteria will attack the toxic waste and release it to be reabsorbed through the gut wall back into the blood stream. This is the reason for most of the nasty symptoms during fasting. (This has been called retracing by some health gurus and thought of as a sign of healing – it’s not.)
An additional benefit to the Green Fast is that the herbal properties of the bitter greens is to promote even greater liver and gall bladder flushing than normal during a fast. (For those of you who do not like the bitter greens I recommend using the supplements Bilemin or AFBetafood to achieve the liver flush action.) Additionally, to promote proper liver breakdown of the toxins I recommend lipotrophic factors such as those found in the product Metacrine DX. (These are for phase ll liver conjugation of the toxins.)
A still further benefit is that the Green Fast will still induce a ketogenic fat burning state in the body which promotes greater toxin removal from the body as many toxins are stored in fat. This is a low carbohydrate and low fat and low protein protocol. The low protein decreases liver and kidney stress, and is no problem for the body since we are only doing this fast for a week to ten days (unless you use the intermittent fasting protocol described at the end of this article.) However, this is not a recommended protocol for anyone with a wasting disease like cancer - there you need your proteins carefully controlled. This protocol is for inflammation reduction.
The last benefit is that you get the benefits of fasting while still eating. This is a huge value as most people have a mental barrier to simply not eating even though it is a normal process that our bodies expect (and in fact depend on) in order to do cleanup work in the body.
So what do you eat? Green things – especially leafy green plants.
Eat lots of Kale, Chard, Celery, Spinach, Collards, Dandelion, Broccoli Raab, Romaine lettuce, Leafy Lettuce (not iceberg), Parsley, Beet Tops, Asian Greens, Cabbage (red and green), Basil, Daikon, Mustard Greens, Leeks, Bok Choy, Endive, Escarole, and Watercress. Sprouts are also an excellent addition except the common alfalfa sprout (it inhibits toxin removal). You may also include smaller amounts of the green solid vegetables (up to 2 cups per day): Asparagus, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cucumber, Green Olives, Jicama, Japanese Radish, Okra, Peppers (any color and heat), Snow Peas, Tomatoes, String Beans, Zucchini and other summer squash. We are looking for low carb veges here so no winter squash, fresh corn, cooked carrots, cooked beets or other tubers (like potatoes, yams, etc.).
You also can use most herbs; especially you want to include plenty of Turmeric, Ginger, Cayenne, and Garlic, as they are anti-inflammatory and detoxifying. You also want to use Lime Juice and Lemon Juice in your cooking for its alkalinizing effects. Use only small amounts of real Sea Salt, or even better Fish Sauce. The oils to use are the non-inflammatory oils, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Ghee, and Grape Seed Oil. No other oils are to be used. You may also use Stevia (or Dr. Dave's 2X Sugar), Apple Cider Vinegar, Rice Vinegar, Distilled Vinegar, or Wine Vinegar (no Basalmic vinegar). With these ingredients you can make a huge variety of wonderful salad dressings that will also actually help you cleanse.
You may also use Shirataki noodles, preferably the oriental kind that are made solely with the Konjac root. Flaxseed or almond flour focaccia "bread" is a high fiber and low carb addition that greatly helps pull the toxic waste out of the body. A tablespoon or two of soaked raw nuts each day is also ok.
That’s it! Prepare the greens as a raw salad, or lightly steamed, or gently stir fried, or fermented and enjoy. My favorite preparation method is to lightly steam the greens then blend them up in my blender with herbs, spices. and bone broth to make a delicious soup.
Eat as much as you like. Even better is to eat more than you probably want as the usual motivation to eat provided by the addictive drugs of sugar, grain, and dairy will be missing. Their absence will likely produce cravings from their withdrawal for 2 to 3 days. Generally after day 3 things are smooth sailing until you reach the end. Be sure to drink at least 8 glasses of good water each day (yes it can be flavored with herbs or natural flavor essences and sweetened with Stevia, but no artificial sweeteners.) In addition you may use Green Tea as another anti-inflammatory booster – as much as you like. This may be repeated 2-3 times a year for overall health maintenance.
Intermittent Fasting Protocol: A simplified protocol for those unaccustomed to fasting is to follow the green fast guidelines every other day or just on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays for a month or more. It is very important to keep your total carbohydrate count below 20 grams per day the whole time. I suggest you eat as much as you want of the proteins and fats the first three days while your body gets into the "fasting" state (ketone/fat energy burning state) then switch to alternating green fast days with days that include plenty of protein (I use a high protein smoothies with chia seed added on these days) and more fat. In this way your body will not go into energy conservation mode thinking that it is about to starve. Use Ketone urine test strips to test each day that you are staying in the ketone/fat burning state. This will keep your energy levels up so that you can engage in all your normal daily activities except eating junk/ high carb food.
For the average person the Intermittent Fasting protocol is probably more useful and achievable, as it will keep your energy at a higher level. The straight Green Fast is more for people that have greater health problems that need stronger intervention more quickly. With straight Green Fasting it is best to be able to not have your normal daily demands pulling on you while you fast and heal. Either way this system will make massive changes for the better in your health and how you feel.
Enjoy your renewed health – David