Cleansing - Cayce Apple Diet/Fast question

[Innerfocus]

Shalom all,

I started the Cayce Apple Diet today for purifying/Cleansing and my question is if anyone knows if I should not do this for the next 3 days because I woke up sick with a cold/sore throat.  

Does anyone feel I shouldn't do this fast while I am sick, and why?

Warmly, in Peace and Love,
Innerfocus

[AgentSartori]

I don't know much about the Apple Diet ( I did just look it up though). Personally, I veer far far away form anything with the letters d-i-e-t in it that claims to "cure what ails you". Granted, diet ( in the sense of what you eat normally, not in the sense of "watching what you eat" and being on a diet)  is of utmost importance to keeping a balanced body (mind, and spirit) and so one should make informed decisions about what one eats (the phrase you are what you eat is so true, I think). But anyway to answer your question:

I would not fast while sick. During an illness, the body requires certain nutrients and proteins to heal itself and replinish the reserves it uses to promote healing. If you are fasting (or otherwise dieting) you are restricitng the intake of needed nutrients, thereby interefering with healing. If you truly want to follow this cleansing diet, I would wait until you are feeling "well" again and then give yourself about a week to feel fully recovered before attempting to fast.

[You]

Diets are stupid. Eat healthy and smart, but god, eat more than apples.

[neutrino]

During illness, your body needs its energy to heal, not digest heavy food. This is an ideal time to just have apples, as fruit is extremely easy to digest. Your body has plenty of nutrient reserves, so you won't beome deficient in 3 days! Look at animals in the wild - if they are injured or ill, the first thing they do is to stop eating & just rest. Humans would do the same if we hadn't lost touch with our natural healing instincts. I recommend reading some of the fasting literature such as 'The Mirale of Fasting' by Paul Bragg, or 'Juice Fasting & Detoxification' by Steve Meyerowitz. Long fasts should only be done under supervision, but a 3 day apple 'fast' should cause no problems - just the opposite.

[You]

Just because people can survive it without permanent diet doesn't mean it's healthy for you. Explain why it is.

[neutrino]

Fasting or eating lightly is not intended to be a permanent diet, but a temporary healing tool that gives the body a break from the constant burden of disgesting food. Digestion is very energy-intensive, and during illness, as I mentioned, this energy is needed for fighting the infection, repairing damaged tissues etc. To consume large amounts of food at this time would just delay or suppress the healing process. Sometimes temporary detox symptoms such as headaches, sore throats, etc, might occur in an apparently healthy person who decides to spend a few days on juices, fruit etc,   but these generally pass within a few days, or when the normal diet is resumed. A person unused to eating healthily or detoxing shouldn't go for more than a few days on such a regime (at least not without supervision), but over time, short cleanses will be beneficial for almost everyone. Such a person who is feeling ill might feel better after eating a heavy meal, not because the food has given them energy, but because the body has to divert the energy it was using for healing to digestion, thus temporarily stopping the symptoms caused by toxic waste removal.

Just because something is harmful if done on a permanent basis, doesn't mean that it can't be beneficial if used in moderation. Most people today constantly stuff their bodies with an overabundance of refined processed junk food that the body is not physiologically designed to handle. These 'foods' contain various harmful substances, both in the form of additives (some E numbers, pesticides, refined sugar & salts etc), and in the form of substances formed during the refining process itself, (such as trans fats, acrylamides etc). Our natural eliminative processes become overwhelmed, the rubbish builds up, and eventually, disease results. Periodic detoxes such as fasts or just eating fruit for a few days enable the body to eliminate some of this backlog, and reduce the risk of diet-related degenerative disease occurring in the future.

[You]

Food provides energy for digestion though. The only foods I wouldn't recommend for eating during illness are things like celery, because fiber-induced-bowel-movements aside, foods like that use up more energy being digested than they provide to the body.

Any foods that provide more energy than it takes to digest them would be good to eat during illness... are you recommending apples only because they provide so much energy? If so, I don't see why you couldn't eat similar high energy foods.

[neutrino]

If a person doesn't want to do a complete (water) fast, but prefers to eat, then yes, you're right, foods that provide a large amount of energy relative to the amount of energy  needed to digest them are the best choice. But foods which are high in energy, but difficult to digest (such as meat) are best avoided during illness. Fruits such apples are recommended because they are so light & easy to digest, and also because  they are high in pectin, a soluble fibre that helps to carry toxins out through the bowel. Apples are especially beneficial for that reason, but other sweet fruits, such as grapes, melon etc, are also good.  

But if there is no appetite for food (which is common with many illnesses), then it's usually best if  no energy is used for digestion, to maximise the energy available for healing. The body stores energy in the form of glycogen in the liver & muscles (which will last for about 3 days), and also in body fat (which lasts up to 40-60 days, or more for an overweight person), so there is no need to eat for energy during a short detox period. This assumes that the person can also have complete bedrest at this time. Certainly if that isn't possible, and they have to carry on working etc, then light food or juices should be taken, but it's still best not to overload the body with heavy food.

[You]

Fine, 1-2 days with just water and tea are okay, but nothing more.

[neutrino]

It depends on what you want to achieve. Many people fast for 2-3 weeks or sometimes even more, and experience dramatic improvements in their health. Some experience problems, particularly if they lack skilled supervision, or conduct the fast wrongly, or break it with the wrong foods. But long fasts have been known to reverse so called 'terminal' illnesses where conventional treatment has failed.

But for the average person who lacks fasting experience & knowledge, who isn't chronically ill, and just wants to do a bit of light detox, or who has lost their appetite because they've got the flu or whatever, then yes, up to 3 days should be the maximum. (And BTW black tea's not the best choice, due to the caffeine content - water, fresh juices & maybe herb teas are better.)

[You]

Yeah I meant Green Tea, I like it a lot more than normal tea (though Earl Grey's okay). Green Tea still has caffeine, but not really that much. Camomile might serve better, or Red Tea.