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Fasting The Undercut

There are on the market a great many books on the subject of fasting. None of them seem to mention the phenomenon that the food allergy/addiction patient will encounter: withdrawal reactions. Naturally, their authors believe in the health-giving properties of a fast and go on to extol the virtues of a ‘good clean-out’: purification is the ritual word often used. I think a great many readers of these tracts must be severely disappointed and feel misled when they feel bad on a fast – and make no mistake, it is possible to feel dreadful.

Because of the food addictive effect, individuals beginning a fast may experience very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Without an understanding of this phenomenon, the response becomes confusing. In many cases, I feel sure, the difficulties may lead to a premature abandonment of the attempt, whereas of course the worse the symptoms due to a fast the more significant the cure – and only persistence brings this.

Moreover, I have seen very little stress laid on the length of time needed for an effective fast. To read some enthusiastic proponents you would imagine that all the benefits are to be had starting the first day, yet this is rarely so. Many even speak of a three-day fast. All this misguided advice is missing the point: it takes about four days to be sure the bowel has cleared, and to fast for a shorter period means you are not free of all foods. So you cannot truly tell your response to a fast without persisting at least this many days. Patients with a stubborn bowel may need to allow even longer.

Preparation

It is a good idea to prepare for a fast with a few days of good, nutritious eating: DO NOT OVERLOAD. I do not recommended that you fast following a period of severe restrictions on your food intake such as might occur while experimenting with elimination. If that applies to you, return to a full eating program temporarily. This does not mean that junk food must be reintroduced, but simply that you should consume a proper balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat.

The only exception to this advice is when reactions on the elimination diet are so severe that it is easier just to give up eating altogether and slip into a fast for a few days. This usually cuts short the suffering – a process which can be further speeded up by taking Epsom salts, one or two teaspoons in half a glass of warm water, to clear the bowel. Vitamin C (two to ten grams a day) also appears to help, as it often does with toxic reactions. This high dosage should be curtailed as soon as symptoms begin to diminish. Don’t wait for a complete recovery, as the vitamin C might itself cause a reaction. This is rare, but if I tell you that most vitamin C is manufactured synthetically from corn derivatives you will see at once why that could apply: Corn is one of the commonest allergens of all.

Avoid chemical exposures during a fast

In my experience, people who are intolerant of foods also have a lot of trouble with chemicals. I have even observed that a chemical exposure can trigger a strong food craving (probably caused by hypoglycemia).

This may not apply to you, but why give yourself an unnecessarily hard time? Don’t take risks. It is much more sensible when planning the fast to arrange that you will have as little exposure as possible to any noxious substance. For example, try to avoid urban traffic with its exhaust fumes even if it means staying at home. See to it that no aerosol spray of any kind is used in your presence. Remove perfumes and cosmetics from the bedroom. Do not use powerful detergents, solvents, cleaners or bleach during this period.

Needless to say, you should not smoke during a fast. I repeat again: tobacco is a toxic substance and is almost universally a masked allergy among smokers. Also avoid smoky environments. I have seen smoking a cigarette, or even inhaling second-hand smoke, trigger severe food cravings in sensitive individuals.

Keep away from cats, dogs, dust, pollen and moldy environments if at all possible. If you can’t avoid them completely, keep exposure to a minimum.

Paint, especially the gloss type, can be very offensive: make sure you have no contact with freshly decorated rooms. The consequences can take several days to clear up.

Finally, avoid anything you have found by experience to be inimical to you. ‘Don’t court symptoms’ is the summary of this section!

How to come off a fast

OK, you have carried out the fast for five days minimum and you feel good. Now you can start re-introducing foods. Instructions for doing this step correctly are even more important than for carrying out the fast itself.

The secret to getting the best outcome is to begin with foods which are most unlikely to be a problem. We want to build a platform of safe foods as quickly as possible. Understand this: if you do get a reaction to a test food and it causes symptoms as a result, you will have to wait until the reaction clears up before going on to the next item. While this is not a disaster, it will certainly be most inconvenient: the last thing we want is for you to have to fast for several more days while the symptoms clear!

So we begin with fairly exotic items on the first day. Choose foods you wouldn’t normally eat or never have. The table below offers some suggestions, but it is important that you understand you are free to pick your own menu. Add three new foods a day maximum. If a food is safe, you may repeat it again as often as you like; so, for example, if salmon is OK you may eat it at every meal along with each new test food until you get bored with it. However, as always, it is better to not be too repetitious – once you have several choices available, make the changes.

After just four days you will have a fallback position of around a dozen safe foods. You won’t starve!

From then onwards, test your more usual foods but once again start with those that you consider relatively unlikely troublemakers (meat, fruit and vegetables). Don’t risk wheat, milk, coffee, eggs or other ‘bogey’ foods at this stage, no matter how much you miss them. Try to expand your available diet as far as possible before getting too adventurous.

Finally, of course, you must face up to introducing the probable villains. Remember the reactions can be surprisingly severe. Don’t forget to warn your family or friends about this point in advance. If you are unlucky enough to have a bad reaction and – after all, in a way, that’s what we are seeking – continue eating the foods so far found safe. Take the Epsom salts and bicarbonate mixture described elsewhere. Just stop testing new foods until you feel well again; then continue.

Re-Introducing Foods

I have given you suggestions for re-introducing foods in the video. Watch it again and make notes if you have to.

If you are doubtful about a particular food, do not try it again for several days, otherwise you may not see a reaction because of the masking effect. Wait five days and then try again. If the second challenge, several days later, is still equivocal, then it is best to treat the food in question as a probable allergen and remove it from the schedule. Do not disregard minor symptoms; these could be significant. Continue only with foods which are demonstrated without doubt to be safe. Incidentally, you may increase the accuracy of these tests by using the pulse check as explained in Chapter 12.

It may happen that without any specific reaction you find yourself unwell again after a number of foods have been reintroduced. Stop as soon as this happens; don’t just plough on with more tests. Think back to what you were eating when you were last doing fine and eat only those foods till you feel better. Then go on with a different set of new foods. Finally, return to the doubtful ones and sort them out as best you can.

If it still isn’t clear which is to blame, abandon them all for ten to twelve weeks and try again. In this way, within ten to fourteen days you should have built yourself a safe diet which you can follow without any untoward symptoms. If so, congratulate yourself: you have done very well. Patience, care and forbearance have brought you their reward: a knowledge of your health that is priceless and could not have been gained any other way.