ChickSpeak

The old saying “You are what you eat” is more true than you may realize. Upon entering your mouth, food is greeted with enzymes that immediately begin to break down the food, and prepare it for further digestion.

Sliding down your esophagus  and dropping into your stomach, it is then churned and ground with a force no garbage disposal can compare to and turned into a liquid paste that is passed on to the next processing center. There your food winds through nearly 20 feet of small intestine. The first portion of you small intestine is known as the duodenum which is largely responsible for continuing the process of breaking down food. The second and third portions of the small intestine are known as the jejunum and ileum which are mainly responsible for the absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream.

The remaining food, which is now a waste product, is shipped to the colon. The waste product (stool) is made up of bacteria, and food debris that was unable to be digested. The colon removes what from the waste making it form into a solid. The bacteria aids in synthesizing some vitamins and protecting the colon from harmful bacteria. After its journey through the colon your food is sent to the rectum and further expelled from the body.

With the instant gratification of the 24-hour drive-thru and dollar menu, our culture relies heavily on processed and refined foods as means of “nourishment” and hunger satisfaction. Taking a look at the food pyramid one will see that many processed foods are partitioned into the separate categories such as milk, which most of us buy pasteurized, frozen veggies, and fruit juices with additional vitamins.

However, there are many processed foods you will not find on the food pyramid. Refined sugars, foods high in sodium and MSG, and processed meats such as hotdogs and bologna can be high in trans and saturated fats that are detrimental to the over all health of your body.

“At the end of the day you can analyze your body really effectively by looking at what comes out of your body” said Dr. Mehmet Oz. By eating bad foods you can impede your natural way of digestion, and cause irregular bowel movements. Having “one poop a day is ideal” said Julie Kalish a certified nutritionist.

If you aren’t having regular bowel movements that means you have waste sitting in your colon, but for some reason or another it isn’t being properly evacuated from your body. If this happens over a prolonged period of time, your body can start reabsorb the waste causing toxins the enter your bloodstream.

One way to prevent this: fasting.

Fasting is the act of willingly depriving oneself of food and drink, with the exception of some juices and water, for a prolonged period of time. Fasting gives the digestion system a vacation and helps it to regain a state of regularity. One fast that is gaining popularity is known as The Master Cleanse, also referred to as the lemonade diet.

The cleanse lasts from 10 days. Every morning you wake up, you are supposed to prepare your meals for the whole day. These meals consist of:

• 2 liters of water
• 14 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
• 14 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• About ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Throughout the day you’re supposed to drink the mixture in substitute for food. An addition sea salt water cleanse is recommended to do along with the Master Cleanse to aid in bowel movements. Mix 1 tablespoon of real sea salt, not the iodized stuff, in to a 1-liter container and sip on it. This will encourage speedy bowel movements, so it should be done when you have plenty of down time at home.

I did the Master Cleanse a couple of months ago. I would suggest using cayenne fruit pills in lieu of regular ground cayenne pepper. This way, it tastes like real lemonade instead of a cooking experiment gone wrong. Take 1 pill in the morning and another in the evening. If your body can’t handle the cayenne, just remove it from the mixture. Cayenne is intended to jump start the metabolism, which helps keep the body alert and burning calories.

The hardest part of any fast is the war between the mind and the stomach. In the society we live in, we are accustomed to spoiling our visual stomachs. By that I mean, we usually eat with our eyes being bigger than our stomachs. Hunger is not usually to blame, and most cravings are actually mental. If you can overcome the urge to eat the bad foods, and determine mentally to abstain for a little while from these foods, then you can be successful at fasting.

Another to help while fasting is to mediate. Pray, reflect on the good things in your life, do whatever is it is that you do to obtain a sense of peace. Fasting does not only rid your body of toxins, but it is a spiritual cleansing as well. By doing this you take your mind of yourself and consider something else, making it less easy to succumb to the cravings for unhealthy foods.

If you find yourself feeling tired and sluggish, bloated, and well, just plain crappy, it would probably be a good idea to consider fasting to rid yourself of unhealthy toxins caused by the unhealthy foods you eat.

Fatima Meadows is a pre-professional biology major at Appalachian State University. She loves learning about health and is an avid fitness blogger. She tries to fast at least one day a month for spiritual and physical purposes.