Detox vs. Fasting – Which One You should do?

It’s often argued that a detoxification regimen is pointless because the body is always detoxifying. While this is true, there is also a process of “medicinal removal of toxic substances” which is the definition commonly used by naturopaths, and other alternative health care advocates. So, for the purposes of getting past this inane sticking point, let’s redefine detoxifying, and “detox” to mean a method to expel waste from the body at a significantly greater rate than what the body will remove without such aid.

Personally, I think that sounds pretty good. If you’ve got a better definition, I’d love to read it in the comments.

There is a huge difference between detoxification and fasting, and yet the words tend to be used interchangeably. To detox is to facilitate the removal of toxins from the body whereas fasting is a severe restriction of calories. A fast may be a water fast where no nutrients are consumed, but the typically fast is to eliminate all solid foods while drinking a lot of fluids, including juices, to flush out the body. The Master Cleanse lemonade diet is a well-known example. The Master Cleanse does help to detoxify the body, so it is both a detox and a fast.

People often wonder if a beet juice fast, or a watermelon fast, or some other kind of fast is right for them.

Benefits of Fasting to Detoxify

Whether it be a viral, bacterial, fungal, or a parasitic infection, not eating is the easiest way to ensure you do not feed the infection.
Fasting quickly resets the taste buds, which can make it easier to enjoy healthy foods when the fast is over.
Not eating for a while can reset the appetite, allow someone to come off of the fast with more restraint from overeating.
Fasting can break or adjust psychological barriers with weight loss and food.
Fasting can kick start a weight loss diet by shedding pounds quickly.
For people with a severely compromised digestive system, juicing only, or exclusively consuming fruits that are very easy to digest, is often the best way to quickly facilitate healing.
When taking certain tinctures and other herbal formulas, fasting can ensure that no foods or herbs are eaten that could reduce the effects of the formula.
It is difficult for a toxic body to detoxify without supplemental support, even with a very healthy diet. Fasting can overcome this, especially when lots of fluids are consumed, flushing the body.

It’s easier to restore one’s health by eliminating all foods, and then slowly adding produce and then other foods into the diet as health improves, learning along the way which foods should be avoided and why, as opposed to simply learning what foods to avoid.

Fasting is great. It’s got most of the benefits of detoxifying, with additional benefits as well. Fasting, when done right, is powerful. Personally, I recommend fasting regularly, but only for short periods of time.

Once the intestinal tract is capable of properly digesting food, if the person’s health isn’t too poor, introducing the right foods into the diet can aid in the detoxification process.

Benefits to Detoxifying Without Fasting

I highly recommend eating while detoxifying. When made right, salads have amazing medicinal benefits. Try one with as many different vegetables as possible, from dandelion leaves to collard greens, and add a bunch of fresh garlic, lemon, and apple cider vinegar. Salads are the easiest way, in my experience, to digest a lot of raw garlic at once. Even if you don’t care for salads, after a fast, this sort of vegetable medley can be very appetizing. Check out 80% Raw Food Diet for more on that.

It’s possible to sustain a detoxification regimen longer when eating, which is imperative for ridding the body of many serious health afflictions.
Many foods are actually well known to aid the body in detoxification. Great examples are cilantro, garlic, turmeric, and cabbage.
Vegetable, spice, and herb health benefits often have accumulative effects when eaten together.
It’s easier to get a lot of nutrition and a lot of garlic into the body.
When the intestines are healthy, nutrition is better absorbed as food.
Enzymes, found in fresh food, also help the body detoxify and rebuild.

It’s true that the body is always expelling waste. To oversimplify things, a sick body, and a body that is getting sick, expels toxins slower than it accumulates them. A healthy body, or a body getting well, eliminates toxins at the same rate or more quickly than the body accumulates them. The right foods help to detoxify the body. Getting enough nutrition allows the body to detoxify on its own. A healthy person who has practiced eating a truly healthy diet that focuses on fresh produce and eliminates toxic food almost always eliminates more toxins than accumulated. These are the people who do detoxify every day, all day. Some assistance via supplementation, every now and then, can increase the body’s ability to detoxify from environmental toxin accumulation.

Regardless, Get Nutrition

Restricted calorie programs don’t have to restrict vitamins and minerals and other important nutrients. We recommend a good multivitamin/mineral formula regardless of whichever detox protocol you choose. Even when we eat very well, it can be hard in this day and age to get enough nutrition from our food. Especially while fasting, a nutrition powder can significantly affect the results in a positive way.

Make sure any detox you do addresses candida. If you’re looking for an inexpensive, and easy detox, click here, and see Make Your Own Nutrition Formula for a recipe, or check it out to see some of the best ingredients to look for when shopping for yours.

Recommended Supplements:

Benefits of Fasting to Detoxify

Benefits to Detoxifying Without Fasting

Regardless, Get Nutrition

Further Reading:

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