extreme health

holiday time again!

Well, I'm off on my holidays to the Caribbean. Will be looking out for any extreme health activities while there. Please keep your comments coming and I will try to respond. If not, see you all in three weeks.

hello out there!

Is anybody reading this blog? Actually, I know that many people are, and my friends who keep commenting on it certainly are. But I wonder why so few people are posting questions and comments.

For example, last week I offered to give my superfoods muesli recipe to anyone who was interested. I guess there is so much out there that one more recipe does not sound very special or interesting. But, I assure you this is a life-changing muesli! This week I have added two more superfoods to it, Rumanian bee pollen and Brazilian suma root powder. The bee pollen is an energy booster and is considered one of the most nutritious foods available for vegetarians, containing excellent protein, the complete vitamin B complex and all 28 minerals. It is also very colourful, being collected by bees from over forty wildflowers. The suma root powder has been used by Amazonian rain forest Indians for centuries, also as an energy booster and to increase libido and balance hormones. It has recently become quite popular with athletes due to its anabolic agents which help to increase muscle-building and endurance, as a safe and effective alternative to the use of steroids. It is a powerful natural antioxidant.

If that interests you and you want to know more about the other thirty or so ingredients in my muesli recipe, then just ask. Look forward to hearing from you.

Officially extreme at last!

The more I look at the evidence relating to the effects of fasting, the more convinced I am that this is going to be the area of the future of health science research. What else can offer regeneration and rejuvenation, which is what I believe we all want? As the American novelist Upton Sinclair once wrote: "The great thing about the fast is that it sets you a new standard of health." And Alec Burton, naturopath, adds that "while regeneration of the body is a ceaseless process, rejuvenation is certainly not. It can be achieved only by fundamental and radical lifestyle changes. But fasting enables the body to abort the processes of degeneration and effect a higher standard of health...fasting rejuvenates (and) is visible through the disappearance of many lines, wrinkles, blotches, pimples and pathological pigmentations; the skin becomes much more youthful...the eyes are clearer and brighter; one looks younger and more vigorous..." All these effects were very apparent to me after my recent 20 day fast. Now the harder work of changing my lifestyle begins!

I thought I would share with you details of my diet, starting with my own super-foods muesli. This I make daily from at least twenty-five ingredients, including grains, seeds, dried fruits and berries, nuts, fresh fruit, sprouted linseed, dried barley grass, maca, raw cocoa and anything else to hand! It is a delicious and nourishing way to start the day. Please let me know if you want the recipe.

I have been overdoing the exercise and yoga since I returned from fasting with all that extra energy. The result is that I have injured my knee and have to rest it for a few weeks. So no astanga vinyasa intensive just yet, but I hope to be fit for it by July and will report then.

At last it's official, I am an extremist! According to Marks and Spencers anyway. I tried to buy some trousers in one of their bigger stores at the weekend. I am a 32 inch waist, which used to be a very average size and easy to find. Not any more, all their trousers seemed to start at size 34. The assistant explained to me that size 32 was now an "extreme size" in all styles except those for teenagers. I think there must be a lot of people out there who need to fast!

home again!

Well, after my epic fast of three weeks, I took myself off to the Lake District to attend the annual naturopaths' conference. Although they are a rather sober lot, and mostly over eighty, they do know how to enjoy themselves. After a full programme of meetings, seminars and workshops, they kept busy attending tea shops, climbing mountains and going to the theatre. I could hardly keep up with them in my post-fasting state! But I think I managed to let my hair down sufficiently to join in most of the once-a-year festivities. After they left I stayed on to do some more walking in my beloved Lake District - this is surely one of the great European landscapes, spectacularly beautiful and amazing walking, swimming and climbing terrain. I could live there! I hope to return to Keswick for the Mountain Festival one of these years and will keep you posted.

Now that fasting is over, I will be preparing for a special (raw or largely raw) diet  over the next three months to maximise the benefits of the detoxification. Also, I will be doing an Astanga Vinyasa programme for one month to intensify the process. Watch this space!

at last it's nearly over!

Hooray! The last day of my three-week water-only fast has arrived. Tomorrow I can eat again. What have I achieved? First of all the knowledge that fasting long-term is hard work, can be boring, frustrating and very challenging at times. It requires motivation and commitment and understanding of the process, physiological, mental and spiritual, through which one passes. But the rewards can be more than worth the effort. First of all, weight loss. I have shed one and a half stone, down from twelve stone to ten and a half, in twenty days. That's without even wanting to lose weight! However, I like the new super-slim me and will try to keep my weight closer to eleven stone in future. Then there is detoxification, rejuvenation and the therapeutic benefits of complete physiological rest. I will go back to normal life with a new perspective, not to say a missionary zeal to spread the word about fasting.

Of course, a fast does not end when you start to take food again. It can be said that the most important aspect of a fast is how it is broken, and that real and lasting benefits only come through adopting a better lifestyle. This applies particularly to diet. A fast should be broken with juices or fruit only, preferably water melon, which is the most complete food and the most easily digested. After that, a transitional diet of largely raw, salad-type food for the next few days. Then is the critical point. If you return to your normal diet, your weight will bounce back to possibly even higher than before, due to the body's improved capacity to assimilate and absorb food. As Herbert Shelton said, if we eat more food than the body needs, the surplus will become fat, mucous or be eliminated, placing more strain on the organs of elimination. Therefore, I will be, over the next four to six weeks, when my tissues are renewing thmselves and my muscle reforming, be following a strict diet. This will be, naturally vegetarian/vegan, organic, wholefood, largely raw (80% is ideal) and locally sourced and seasonal wherever possible. With this in mind I am now off to investigate the local farmers' market and Waitrose in search of real food to break my fast tomorrow. For the next weeks my theme will be the optimal health diet, and I hope to share with you some of the many mouth-watering recipes I have been gathering over the years, as well as testing new ones suggested by readers. After that I want to explore the raw food diet and juicing.

As I said earlier, this weekend I am off to the beautiful Lake District for the annual naturopaths' conference. I hope to renew old acquaintances and friendships, and if possible do some hillwalking, and maybe take a dip or two in Derwentwater! I have been missing my daily cold water swim, having to make do with cold showers every morning! We are hoping that the fine weather holds out over the weekend. More news at the beginning of next week, when I will back at my computer.

...more on Gandhi

As we know, Gandhi was assasinated before he was able to undergo his study of naturopathy, of which fasting is an integral and important part. But it is still possible to visit the National Institute of Naturopathy, in Pune, India, which was established by Gandhi in 1946. I spent a fascinating time there, exploring their archives, and then went on to their rural retreat centre outside Pune, where it is possible to undergo a supervised fast. This might be of interest to readers who are looking for supervised naturopathic fasting, now almost non-existent in the UK. You will have to go to the USA, Australia or Germany to get the kind of expert treatment offered by Dr Sidhwa for the last fifty years. Who will take over Keki's role? On Friday, I will travel with Keki to the Lake District, where the naturopaths' annual conference will take place. Keki is expecting to be made the president of the organisation, a fitting tribute to a lifelong pioneer and a belated recognition of his outstanding contribution to fasting. He will make an impassioned plea for more training, research and funding of fasting studies in the UK. Let us hope he will be listened to, after a lifetime of being derided as a crank. I think maybe his time has come, and have noticed a new interest in fasting for health in the media (recent articles in the Times and Financial Times have profiled Keki). This bodes well for the future.

On a different note, as I come to the end of my three-week fast here, feeling relaxed, energised and rejuvenated, I have been looking for a new mobile phone. My vintage model smartphone has finally given up the ghost and I have been searching for a similar replacement. Alas, everything on the market seems to be clogged full of features and unnecessary functions. I only want a phone to make occasional calls and send the odd text massage, with easy navigation and good sized keys, maybe with a basic camera built in. Preferably one that can be used on any network and is open for use abroad. Can I find such a thing! Everything but what I am looking for is available in the shops. Ahy suggestions from readers would be appreciated.

into the last week!

I have now entered the third and final week of my water-only fast here at Dr Sidhwa's rural retreat centre. It feels great, I am lighter, clearer, rejuvenated - a brilliant spring clean which I recommend to all once a year.

One of the things that long-term fasters often complain about is the boredom of long periods spent sitting or lying around, doing nothing except sleeping, reading or listening to the radio. However, for me this is a marvellous opportunity to catch up on a mountain of unread books and listen to music. I have been working through the complete works of JS Bach, a box set of which I bought recently - 153 CDs - which is something I rarely seem to get time for at home.

One book I have been reading is "The Bloodless Revolution", by Tristram Stuart, a fascinating account of radical vegetarians and the discovery of India. It traces nearly four hundred years of interaction between east and west, and tells how vegetarian ideas came from India to the west and then back again to be taken up by Gandhi and others. Gandhi was inspired by Thoreau to become a vegetarian, undertook a twenty day fast to promote better relations between Hindus and Muslims, and intended to devote the rest of his life to the study of naturopathy. More later...

ten days to change your life

They used to say that most women go through life wishing they could lose ten pounds in weight. These days it probably applies to most men as well. Well, after spending a lot of time reflecting on what women want, I think I can help in the weight reduction department. Ten days fasting will not only shed the pounds but could change your life forever.

I have lost over a stone in weight (down from twelve stone to under eleven) in ten days of fasting here at my idyllic rural retreat in Dr Keki Sidhwa's fasting centre. I feel renewed, energised, clear-minded and content - and this is only the half-way point of my fast. What comes next is the really interesting part.

I can't deny that I have occasional severe hunger pangs, especially when I see or smell food, any food. But a little suffering is well worth the end result. My first taste of food will be spectacular, probably a glass of carrot juice some time next Thursday.

I hope you all have enjoyed the fine weather over Easter and did not over-indulge in those gorgeous Green and Black's and Lindt Easter eggs!

Why fast at easter?

I am staying at Dr Sidhwa's rural retreat for the duration of this fast. There will be no Easter eggs for me this year, which is a pity as I am partial to both the Lindt and Green and Black brands. However, my local health food store (the excellent Halen Centre in Crouch End) no longer stocks Green and Black products. They say that since the takeover by Cadbury's their chocolate is not as organic as it could be. Who can you trust?

This morning is day six of my fast and I walked five miles into town to post this blog from the library (Keki won't let me drive when fasting). Keki does not have a computer or internet yet. Like many people over eighty he is wary of the new technology, and has only now been prevailed upon by his family to take a mobile phone with him on his travels. Yesterday he went to London, where ten patients consulted him. He does this journey once a month, and even after a very long day, he returned home at ten o'clock full of energy and enthusiasm to tell me about his day. I wish I had half his energy - today I am feeling decidedly weak and probably will not be able to post for a few days now. I have lost ten pounds in five days, which is normal, and I expect to lose a total of one and a half stone in the three weeks of this fast.

A reader asks "why fast?" Well, I think of it as a spring clean for the body and so Easter feels the ideal time to do it. The warmer weather means that any feeling of cold, which often is intesified during fasting, is not so bad. So far as the purposes of fasting are concerned, they are many and varied. Dr Shelton (in "Fasting Can Save Your LIfe") says that weight reduction is a desirable goal, but in fasting there should be other physical and health benefits obtainable in a worthwile fast. Certainly, he says, there is no doubt that fasting produces the quickest, safest and most effective avenue available for weight reduction. But, even for overweight fasters, weight reduction is considered an added benefit of the fast, not the sole, or even main, reason for doing it.

There are three main reasons for fasting, according to Dr Shelton. First, what he calls physiological compensation. This means that in the body's functioning, when food is being digested, much blood flows to the digestive organs and as much as eighty per cent of our available energy is being used for digestion. If we fast, then these energies are diverted to other functions like healing. Secondly, fasting secures physiological rest, ie rest of the digestive, glandular, circulatory, respiratory and nervous systems. The body's organs receive a much needed rejuvenation of their cellular structures. Thirdly, is the all important matter of elimination or detoxification. Fasting is the surest way to remove waste from the blood and tissues. When food is withheld, all the organs of elimination increase their activity and a real physiological spring-clean is instituted. As the fast progresses, retained waste matter (toxins) are expelled from the body and the system becomes purified. There is a relief of any symptoms as the whole body is rested and rejuvenated. Obviously, the longer the fast, the deeper can this process go to excrete toxins stored in the body's less vital tissues.

I hope all this sounds like reason enough to consider that fasting is worth the effort. Now I must return to the retreat to rest and enjoy a glass of water. Happy Easter to you all and enjoy your Easter eggs!

fasting news

Why is fasting not more widespread, when there is plenty of evidence, from both observation and also medical research, that it is highly effective? Well, for one thing, it is hard work. It requires commitment, dedication and an acceptance of responsibility for one's own health. Most people would consider the idea of voluntarily not eating for one day bizarre, let alone ten or twenty days or more! It is no surprise that the conventional wisdom is to regard fasting as too extreme and dangerous to bother with. But this is to ignore the fact that fasting enjoys a long and honourable history in medical and spiritual/religious traditions. Not to mention in the animal and plant worlds. I remember that I once had two lovely ginger cats, unusually females, who enjoyed perfect good health due to their macrobiotic diet. One of them caught a nasty infection once and she dealt with it by resting and refusing all food for a week. After that she was restored to full health. That got me thinking about fasting myself, which I did whenever I suffered any minor ailment or infection. From there I became interested in the theories of Herbert Shelton, the great American pioneer of therapeutic fasting and the founder of the "Natural Hygiene" movement. I then started studying Nature Cure, a pure form of naturopathy, where I came across Keki Sidhwa/p> Another reason why people are wary of fasting is that there are very few therapists or institutions which have the expertise and experience to supervise fasts. I must stress that it is important that if you do undertake a fast which is longer than a very short fast (two or three days maximum) then it must be under expert supervision. Dr Keki Sidhwa is one of the view people in Europe qualified to supervise fasts and one of the most experienced in the world. He has fasted over 25,000 people in the last fifty years and remains the pre-eminent authority on fasting in this country (if not the world). I will write more of this remarkable man later but he has an interesting website which you can consult for more information at www.drsidhwa.com I am now in fifth day of fasting with Dr Sidhwa. The first three days are always the worst, now I am recovering my energy and losing the terrible hunger pangs! And I have lost over half a stone in weight, without even wanting to. As I said before "Lose weight - fast!"