December 23, 2019
Clint Young

Holly,

I have known for some time about the power of fasting. I just did not know how to best apply it to a consistent lifestyle until several years ago.

When I was in my 20's, I would fast for up to 11 days ingesting only water. I did this multiple times. I wanted to fast longer, but my body would not allow more than 11 days. After 11 days, my body was pouring out too many toxins, too fast. This resulted in some pain that was telling me to break the fast. At that point it was not safe to fast any longer. I had no alternative but to break the fast.

Four decades later, I would not attempt to go anywhere close to this long a fast. I am pretty sure I would not be able to get anywhere near 11 days. And it could now cause bodily harm.

Fortunately, in those days I knew how to slowly break a fast. So I was always able to safely come back to eating normal without harm. What I did not know was how to prepare my body for an extended fast. I was rather unprepared in this area and did some stupid things for someone going into an extended fast. None of the fasting books that I had access to went into how to prepare your body for an extended fast. There was no internet back then. So information was pretty limited compared to today.

I have found a better way to gain the tremendous benefits of fasting. That is intermittent fasting. From the time we go to bed until we eat after waking, usually the following morning, is one's daily fasting time. The word "breakfast" comes from when we break our fast each day. If one fasts 16 hours, this is called "intermittent fasting".

Only pure water, tea, or coffee should be ingested during the time of intermittent fasting. Caffeine in teas or coffees should be minimal or better is no-caffeine. The most good can be achieved when one intermittent fasts every day. There are many good articles on the internet about the great positives of intermittent fasting. So, I am not going to go into the specifics of the many positive things that intermittent fasting can provide for the body.

I am permanently installing intermittent fasting into my lifestyle. I have attempted to do this multiple times in the past and failed. This time is different because I first went to the Heavenly Father and asked for the measure of discipline I needed to permanently install this very valuable way of life. I asked for more discipline 9 days ago. And I do think I received the measure of discipline needed to incorporate intermittent fasting permanently into my lifestyle.

As I write this article, I have completed 7 days of intermittent fasting. I have not intermittently fasted this many consecutive days since in the Philippines last year. I do feel better than a week ago. My breathing through my often clogged nostrils has cleared. I have a little more energy with less overall body pain. I am thinking clearer and have more drive towards good spiritual things like reading the Bible and prayer.

I was able to go 7 days straight with intermittent fasting despite some of this time being the Thanksgiving holidays. One real problem I have with intermittent fasting here in the states is so many delicious foods readily available at my home. With 4 rather good cooks living here it takes a lot more discipline for me to intermittently fast at my home here in the states versus the Philippines.

Several days ago I received a thought that I think is directly related to going into intermittent fasting. That thought was "the hours a person fasts each week is about their average longevity." 

The average longevity in the USA is around 79. This is about the same number of hours the average person fasts each week when their 7 daily fasts are added. This comes out to be around 11.3 hours each day for a total of 79 for the week. I don't know for sure there is an exact hour to year correlation. However, I do know that there is a correlation between weekly total fasting times and longevity for most people in a stable society.

Daily fasting is very important for the detoxification processes. When adequate detoxification is impaired, a host of physical problems come to the forefront which definitely can be and often are life threatening. Both heart disease and cancer are initiated from either one tissue or multiple tissues being too toxic.

It is best to intermittent fast on a daily basis. If intermittent fasting can not be achieved, most will be benefited by extending their daily fast a little at a time. For example, if one is daily fasting 10 hours each day, they may want to extend that time by 15 minutes. This will add 1 hour and 45 minutes to their weekly fasting total. This will allow their body to detoxify just a little bit better which will help their body be a little better detoxified each week. Gradual steps of this nature can be of great benefit over time.

I hope this short article on fasting as one of the ways of life can be of help to you and yours.

Clint Young