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There are known cases of complete retreat of psoriasis with the use of therapeutic fasting alone. These cases are usually exceptions due to that not too many people can fanatically and regularly adhere to therapeutic fasting. Fasting requires a certain willpower as well as the possibility to abandon the usual way of life for a while; it is hard if not impossible to keep going to work while fasting, to keep cooking for someone else etc. But many people with bad cases of psoriasis or a sudden bad psoriatic flare-up often are motivated enough to give the therapeutic fasting a try.
So what is therapeutic fasting?
Nowadays it is almost impossible to maintain a completely healthy lifestyle. A completely healthy lifestyle is the combination of an appropriate diet, physical activity, being psychologically healthy and positive etc. How to achieve this our days, with the fast food restaurants on every corner, with not enough rest due to huge work loads, and with no time to spare for relaxation or healthy physical activity?
As the result of this come the diseases that every one of us experiences. For someone it will be an ulcer, for another - a heart attack, and for 2-3% of population it will be psoriasis.
Often the best means to restore damaged health is therapeutic fasting. The fasting allows the body to heal from inside better than any medicines, the remainders of which in our body will create even more toxic substances.
Therapeutic fasting is a complete abstinence from all substances (food, drinks, smoking etc.) except for pure water. Therapeutic fasting should only be conducted in the environment of a complete rest.
Working, exercising, worrying etc. while fasting is not a therapeutic fasting and may actually do harm. The same thing is with the wrong exiting from the fast - like throwing in a big tasty burger right in the middle of fasting.
Stressful environments will not let the body self-heal. Therefore complete rest is essential for therapeutic fasting.
Temporary diets and a constant healthy eating have a huge impact on the health. But if you could not achieve that, you may as a starter try the therapeutic fasting and to see the results for yourself.
Therapeutic fasting is a two sided blade - it can heal you (if done right) or hurt you (if done wrong). Therefore if you do decide to try a therapeutic fasting - you have to do it right or not to do it at all.
First of all - therapeutic fasting improves the state of our immune system. Many dermatologists believe that specific immune system defects in people with psoriasis do not let their immune system manage its neutralizing function, which leads to aggravation of psoriasis. Classic psoriatic aggravations occur in the late fall and in early spring - i.e. the periods when the body is most subjected to viral diseases. Another (secondary) problem of the people with psoriasis is the increase of certain pathogenic and conditionally pathogenic micro-flora on their skins, both on the lesions and on the skin with no visible psoriasis manifestations. Psoriatic lesions become the place of a "stay and feed" for these microorganisms, which aggravate the lesions.
The stabilization of the work of the immune system can be achieved with the aid of therapeutic fasting.
Fasting also normalizes the metabolism (sum total of all processes in the body and its cells, such as when foods are turned into energy, tissue, and waste products).
Intermediate products of metabolism possessing toxic properties, substances that accumulate in the body after the use of various drugs, bad diet and different substance abuses (alcohol, smoking etc.) damage our liver. The liver stops managing its functions, the toxic substances start being excreted through the skin and as the result we get are new psoriatic lesions on the skins. This is a vicious circle but there is a way out of it - the removal of the huge amount of harmful remainders with fasting, which gives "new life" to our bodies for many months.
There is one more additional valuable feature of fasting. During even short term therapeutic fasting (9-12 days) occurs a subconscious harmonization of individual food predilections. For 2-3 months after the fast we become absolutely indifferent to "undesirable products", which we usually crave so bad: chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine (for those who smoke) etc. This way we prolong the period of time when we eat healthy and well-balanced, without straining our desires.
The fourth feature concerns allergies which have become worse over the last century. Often reaction to some substance brings on an allergy, and in people with psoriasis - also the psoriatic flare-up. Gradual conclusion of allergens from our body can also be reached with a cycle of therapeutic fasting.
Finally, the fifth feature - it is important for those, who are disturbed by the problem of an excessive weight. Therapeutic fasting resolves this problem by the most natural and harmonious way - by the normalization of the metabolism (sum total of all processes in the body and its cells, such as when foods are turned into energy, tissue, and waste products). This solution of course is not eternal - you will have to maintain a healthy diet after the fasting to prolong its effect. Underweight people, even though it may sound paradoxically at first glance, obtain a certain increase in weight after the exiting from the therapeutic fasting - this is again due to the normalization of the metabolism.
Loosing the excess weight not only makes us more attractive and more mobile, but most important, it facilitates the work of all body systems. Many people suffering from psoriasis have noted the aggravation of psoriasis with the gaining of excessive weight and an improvement of psoriasis after their weight returns to normal.
In spite of all of the above, we may create various self-justifications in order to put off the powerful health-improvement tool of therapeutic fasting to a indeterminate period! Practically all of those justifications are based on misunderstanding. People often ask - how can I fast for a week if I can't even manage it for half-a-day and start feeling sick? If you did not eat due to some force of circumstances, it is hard and unpleasant. But the therapeutic fasting has a preparatory period - just as a warming up used by athletes before training.
In the case of therapeutic fasting the warming up is the drinking of juices, eating porridges, fruits and vegetables for a week before the fasting. This way we make practically imperceptible the discomfort connected with the conclusion of toxins from the body etc. Naturally, frequently there arises the following question: "How can I live without food for such a long period of time? Even when I'm full I still feel like munching on something!" In reality it will be hard only for the first 2-3 days of fasting. The body without obtaining food gets reconstructed to an endogenous feed mechanism and appetite disappears, and the desire to eat becomes an abstraction.
Are there any negative features in therapeutic fasting? As any really potent healing mean, fasting has some negatives. However, they are very insignificant. One of those is the feeling of discomfort during the so-called acidosis purifying peaks, when there occurs the most active conclusion of toxic substances from the body. As a rule, there are just 1-2 of such days during a 10 day fasting. Try not to forget about the mechanical cleaning of the tongue from the toxins both during the fasting and afterwards. It is possible to do it with a toothbrush. Sometimes there was noted a worsening of the tooth enamel with super-long fasting (longer than 3 weeks). Frequent fasting may unfavorably influence the fermentation system. Another "side-effect" is the insignificant smell from the mouth, somewhat resembling acetone. But does it outweigh the unparalleled benefits of fasting? I don't think so.
The benefits of therapeutic fasting are huge. Try it - and your main enemy (psoriasis) will step back, and the results may even exceed your expectations! As always you should consult with your doctor first!
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