A little controlled fasting can’t hurt now and then
- Scott Daniels: We Ate Well and Cheaply
- April 5, 2019
- 1057
Last week while bingeing a popular Netflix series, there was a scene in which a doctor walked into an emergency room where someone was waiting to find out why they were sick.
“You’ve been exposed to high levels of mercury. You probably should detox." I was a little taken aback, as it’s my understanding you really can’t force your body to clear itself of specific toxins, especially something as toxic as mercury.
The phrase, “mad as a hatter,” comes from the time when hat makers used mercury to create felt hats, and the exposure eventually drove them nuts — before killing them.
I have to admit, especially in the morning, looking in the mirror triggers a series of alarms. The first is always the shock of seeing the face of a man much older than the one I know.
In my head I still look as I did before I hit 30. And that’s also unfortunate, as at that time I had a stubby haircut, an ill-advised, Snidely Whiplash mustache and a perpetually mystified expression.
It’s that first glance when I get up that always brings a “Yipes. Man, you got old, my friend. When did this happen?”
Looking at the bags under my eyes, the blotchy skin and all the rest makes me wonder if I shouldn’t mend my ways and clear out the junk I put into myself every day. Maybe I should at least flush out the wine remnants.
Detox diets are fairly popular, judging by the heavy push they get online. Short-term fasting while drinking this or that shake or taking expensive supplements promises to bring about fast weight loss. And that’s no doubt true, as you obviously aren’t eating while asking your body to run on a very limited caloric intake.
But as weight loss goes, they’re probably pretty futile. You’re almost certain to regain the weight just as quickly once you start eating normally again. As I’ve shared with you before, any diet which requires a major change in your eating habits and deprives your body of the foods it is accustomed to are almost certain to fail, as your brain is barraging you with “I’m hungry” signals.
I have friends who do a fasting schedule fairly regularly — the thing where you only drink lemon water with some cayenne or something like that. They claim it makes them feel better, and I have no doubt that is true. There is some evidence that fasting in general acts as a sort of reset switch for your immune system.
Your body is actually constantly at work, clearing itself of unwanted clutter. Our liver and intestines, kidneys, lungs — the whole business — has a cottage industry going on to ditch dead cells and wash away things that don’t belong there, and it does a pretty good job.
We can boost those natural efforts by choosing to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, limit fat, and avoid processed, prepackaged foods. Remember your body, within reason, has a size it wants to be.
I say “within reason,” as it’s really not possible to be a healthy 500 pounds. And a person at 30 and standing 5 feet, 8 inches, for example, is not going to be healthy at 70 pounds.
Both represent likely eating disorders needing professional assistance. Otherwise, seeking to be healthy at the weight your body gravitates to every time you stop paying a lot of attention is probably about right — for you.
Be your actual self, not your skinnier, richer, more successful, less anxious, imaginary self.
A little controlled fasting can’t hurt now and then, but paying a lot of money for products that claim to detox your body is a blind alley.