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#1
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Are You Worried about Fasting and Blood Sugar Levels?
As great as fasting is for health, several people's first reaction
when it is suggested to them is the weakness they may experience from low blood sugar considering the absence food. Though it is an important factor, there are some tips one can implement to prevent or alleviate such an experience from fasting. Now, I was discussing with a friend at work about the issue of juice and water fasting. Incidentally, she is a Christian so she knows what fasting is all about at least from a Christian or spiritual fasting point of view. She told me that as much as she may like the concept of fasting for cleansing the body, she always worried about her blood sugar levels while fasting and felt that about the only way she could be successful at it was if she took some days off to be away from even the mildest of physical exertions. She is quite correct. However, from my experiences with Christian and juice fasting, if one uses the following fasting diet or juice recipe it will be safe to say that one's blood sugar level while fasting would not be too low, consequently weakness may not be experienced in excess. First, here are the necessary ingredients. -Grade B Maple Syrup (Organic preferably) -Organic Valencia Oranges -Chilled Water (distilled, reverse osmosis or filtered) The basic recipe is this For each medium size to large orange and 2.5 (or slightly less) oz of maple syrup, add enough cold water to make a pint's worth of juice. The Genuine Maple Syrup has a balanced mixture of sugars (unlike honey, which is a big no! no!) and when thoroughly masticated (the fasting juice that is...) it is released with even more ease into the blood stream, consequently it makes the blood sugar levels while fasting more leveled out. Admittedly, one may feel a little tired now and then, that is more of a detoxification symptom rather than fatigue as a result of a low blood sugar levels from fasting. This is why to slow the immense detoxing down, it is best to consume adequate (if not exclusive) amounts of fruits and vegetables to build an alkaline reserve in the body. These will also serve as intestinal brooms and moreover, initialize the detoxifying so by the time you engage in a juice or even water fasting session, you will be much cleansed for the process. So don't let the fear of low blood-sugar levels scare you from a fast when needed, with the tips above, you will definitely be just fine in using a fast for improving your health. Here's to Health and Wellness, Foras Aje is an independent researcher and co-founder of BodyHealthSoul LLC. He invites you to visit his blog for more on Fasting for Weight Loss and Health Today at http://www.bodyhealthsoul.com/fastin...ightloss-blog/ |
#2
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Are You Worried about Fasting and Blood Sugar Levels?
Mr. Aje wrote: As great as fasting is for health, several people's first reaction when it is suggested to them is the weakness they may experience from low blood sugar considering the absence food. Though it is an important factor, there are some tips one can implement to prevent or alleviate such an experience from fasting. Now, I was discussing with a friend at work about the issue of juice and water fasting. Incidentally, she is a Christian so she knows what fasting is all about at least from a Christian or spiritual fasting point of view. She told me that as much as she may like the concept of fasting for cleansing the body, she always worried about her blood sugar levels while fasting and felt that about the only way she could be successful at it was if she took some days off to be away from even the mildest of physical exertions. She is quite correct. However, from my experiences with Christian and juice fasting, if one uses the following fasting diet or juice recipe it will be safe to say that one's blood sugar level while fasting would not be too low, consequently weakness may not be experienced in excess. First, here are the necessary ingredients. -Grade B Maple Syrup (Organic preferably) -Organic Valencia Oranges -Chilled Water (distilled, reverse osmosis or filtered) The basic recipe is this For each medium size to large orange and 2.5 (or slightly less) oz of maple syrup, add enough cold water to make a pint's worth of juice. The Genuine Maple Syrup has a balanced mixture of sugars (unlike honey, which is a big no! no!) and when thoroughly masticated (the fasting juice that is...) it is released with even more ease into the blood stream, consequently it makes the blood sugar levels while fasting more leveled out. Admittedly, one may feel a little tired now and then, that is more of a detoxification symptom rather than fatigue as a result of a low blood sugar levels from fasting. This is why to slow the immense detoxing down, it is best to consume adequate (if not exclusive) amounts of fruits and vegetables to build an alkaline reserve in the body. These will also serve as intestinal brooms and moreover, initialize the detoxifying so by the time you engage in a juice or even water fasting session, you will be much cleansed for the process. So don't let the fear of low blood-sugar levels scare you from a fast when needed, with the tips above, you will definitely be just fine in using a fast for improving your health. Here's to Health and Wellness, Foras Aje is an independent researcher and co-founder of BodyHealthSoul LLC. He invites you to visit his blog for more on Fasting for Weight Loss and Health Today at http://www.bodyhealthsoul.com/fastin...ightloss-blog/ Reading your post reminded me of the fact many people drink a lot of juice. Nutritionists have recently been speaking out against it...including the 100% juice, since it has so much sugar in it. I realized I have not had any juice to drink in years. Apparently there are others who drink it mostly at breakfast and others who drink a lot of it. I much prefer the fruit from which the juice is derived. That tends to give you less sugar and more fiber too. For people watching their weight, juice can be a nemesis since you can drink a lot of calories in a very short time. I did read where calcium is absorbed much better with acidic drinks like orange juice where some companies add calcium. If I were concerned about getting enough calcium, I might consider drinking that, but otherwise, juice doesn't seem very healthy. Considering fasting, I don't buy into any cleansing that occurs with fasting. If you want to be cleansed, drink a lot of water and some fiber. About the most you can say for fasting, is that the body is very versatile and adaptive, and it won't kill you to fast. I understand the spiritual ramifications though. The Sioux men do their sweats once a month but the Sioux women are already purified by menstration they say. While this sounds superstitious, so is most of the ideas floating around about nutrition. At one time the Dairy Counsel had us convinced you needed to drink milk and eat cheese to get enough calcium, yet osteoporosis is a major problem in America. Africans, on the other hand, which are mostly lactose intolerent and drink no milk, do not have the problems with osteoporosis. You can debunk the protein myth the same way, by showing that vegetarian diets alone provide plenty of protein. Those starving kids they show on TV with the swollen stomachs do have protein deficiency, but it is due to an overall caloric deficiency. If you get enough calories on almost any diet, you will get enough protein. It does seem to me that maple sugar and honey are almost all sugar, so in spite of your opinions, I am not convinced either is very good for you. There again, some feel there can be an allergy-fighting advantage to locally produced honey, but that has not been proven. Certainly maple syrup and sugar won't hurt you, but it is still almost all sugar. dkw |
#4
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Are You Worried about Fasting and Blood Sugar Levels?
Mr. Aje wrote:
As great as fasting is for health, several people's first reaction when it is suggested to them is the weakness they may experience from low blood sugar considering the absence food. The human body produces enough blood sugar that its level does not go too low in the long term. The few Inuits who still live the traditional hunting lifestyle on the ice can go months without eating any sugar at all and other carbs so low they can be numbered in one digit numbers of grams per day. Once you're already within a fast, blood sugar levels are not a problem. So in general "the way out is through". Stick with the fast for another day and blood sugar levels are gone. But that's the long term. Some will slip into a fast without blood sugar swings. Others will have a temporary low swing. The question is what causes that low swing. It's excess insulin. So there's a strategy for someone with hypoglycemia to get past that initial trouble - taper into the fast by tapering down carb intake across some span of days and then once at a low carb intake drop the protein and fat to start the fast proper. On the other hand, having hypoglycemia symptoms generally makes fasting a bad idea. In other words, I suggest that working with sugary fruit juices is the wrong way to go. It's battling the symptom without knowing the cause of the symptom. And without knowing that low blood sugar swings is a short term issue for most best handling by getting through it not by pouring sugar on it to keep it happening. |
#5
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Are You Worried about Fasting and Blood Sugar Levels?
I would like to add a point here, that if anyone has Diabetes, fasting
is never appropriate. The concept may seem appealing, but it does not work! It is especially a concern if you continue to take your meds as you were before the fast! Whether you are sustaining on only fruits and vegetables or juice, or whatever the plan may be, it is essential that you discuss your plan with your MD or dietitian beforehand! Please :-) |
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