Season of Fasting

Janice Temple with Dama Bakery Chef

by Janice Temple 


Now that Carnivals have ended and Fat Tuesday has past it is time for the season of fasting. Will you be giving up meat, sweets, fast foods or some other addiction?

Dama Bakery Chef trained by White House Pastry Chef

My personal struggle with sweets is my focus of my fast to gain discipline over my tongue and my eating habits. 


I began my fast last week with drinking Vegan Protein Shakes and Raw Vegetable Soup. The results of fasting for a week included clearer thinking and being more productive. My fast for the next forty days will consist of one shake for breakfast and raw soup or salad for lunch plus forsaking sweets.

Soul Vegetarian Kale Green Salad

Are you new to fasting? Here is some background information on how to fast.


This is an excerpt from the chapter on "Fasting Properly"  from the book Ideas for Transitioning to a Healthier Way of Living from Recipes for a Neo Southern Lifestyle

"Fasting Properly: A Link to Good Health
by Dr. Hugh A. Jenkins, N.D., D.C.

Fasting is the process in which an individual eliminates solid food from his diet for a certain period of time. It is the safest and fastest method to lose with and improve your health. Fasting is a means of cleansing and detoxifying the body of harmful toxins that can break down and destroy the body. It is pertinent to understand that before an individual begins any tupw of fasting program, he must consult his physician first.

A pioneer in natural healing, my mentor, Dr. Alenia M. Fulton, N.D., was an African American doctor of Naturopathic  Medicine." Her extensive 30 year knowledge of fasting spanned worldwide. As a result, she instructed numerous individuals on the process of fasting properly. Many individuals discovered that, while fasting under Dr. Fulton's regimen, they did not experience headaches, lightheadedness, dizziness or any of the other common symptoms acquired while fasting improperly.

While an individual is on a fast, due to the fact that he is not eating any solid food, his digestive system goes to sleep. Consequently, the energy usually needed for digestion is rerouted to other areas of the body for cleansing, healing and detoxifying. Since the digestive system is resting, it gets the opportunity to clean itself out. As a result, any digestive problem the body is experiencing will improve. The body encounters a process called autolysis self-eating during a fast. Throughout this process, the body will eat the fat, wasteful, and diseased cells first and anything that is not needed for the basic function, of the body, is used for fuel.

There are three different types/lengths of fasting. They are the short fast, the medium fast, and the extended fast. The most common fast is the short fast. It consists of fasting 1 day per week or 3 days per month. On this fast an individual eliminates food from his diet for 24-36 hours. It is best to choose a day that fits your schedule and always remember to conduct future fasts on the same day because your particular fasting day, your body will automatically shift into a fasting mode and you will not be hungry.

The medium fast consists of 7-14 days per season and 4 times per year. The extended fast is a total of 21 or more days, biannually 2 times per year.  Both the medium and extended fast require a preparation or cleansing diet of 5 to 7 days before the initial fast. Each of these fasts are scientific, therapeutic and should be conducted under the direct supervision of a fasting specialist.

An example of a short 24-hour fast conducted on a Wednesday is as follows. An individual's
last meal should consist of raw food such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Fasting is the absence of solid food, as a result you only drink fluids. It is pertinent that you drink a minimum of 1/2 gallon of fluid. You can indulge in fresh fruit and vegetable juices, herbal teas, protein drinks, smoothies, and distilled water mixed with lemon juice and raw honey.

The 36-hour fast consists of raw food for dinner on Tuesday night, fast the entire day on Wednesday and break the fast on raw food on Thursday morning for breakfast. if you decide to extend your 36 hour fast you should eat raw food all day on Thursday. If you follow this method, you will have eaten raw food for 3 days and fasted within the same week.

The 3-day per month fast consists of raw food on Tuesday for dinner or the entire day on Tuesday which will lead you into the fast all day on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. You can then break the fast on Saturday morning with raw food for breakfast. You can continue to eat the raw food throughout the day on Saturday, if you like.

The digestive system is the most abused system in the body. As a result, if you follow this fasting regimen throughout the year you will have benefited your system with raw foods. You will also maintain an ideal body weight and slow down the ageing process. Your energy level will increase and mental ability will sharpen. It is suggested that for individuals who have never fasted before, begin the 1 day a week fast of 24 hours and once you have tackled that, gradually go  into the 36 hour fast. Then you can add a day until you reach the 3 day a month fast.

Dr. Fulton died in 1994 at the age of 94. We will forever be grateful for the contribution she made to natural healing field with her research and practice of cleansing fasts."

*Naturopathic Medicine is total drugless/natural medicine.

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Will you be fasting this season?