Juice Fasting and Detoxification

Don't listen to the reviewers who gave this book low stars and complained that it was "too simple" or "cultish" or "anti-religious" or "too religious". They obviously didn't understand, apply, or perhaps even read through the information. The author presents the facts on a controversial subject in a very easy to read and understand format. Those who bash juice fasting or this book are resisting something that could help them greatly. Juice fasting does FAR more than just "eating less and exercising." The point of juice fasting, as the author explains, is to give the body a break from solid foods. This will allow the body to rejuvinate itself. No medication can do this. I'm not religious, but I've fasted many times and the experience really does make you feel more spiritual, grounded, and in touch with your inner guidance. This is what the author was trying to convey with some of the drawings.

A friend recommended JUICE FASTING & DETOXIFICATION by Steve Meyerowitz . . . and though the title might not ordinarily interest me, I figured that with that with Yom Kippur upon us (and me celebrating ALL holidays), what would be so bad about a fast? Besides, I have gained a few pounds over the past few months. So that said, I delved into JUICE FASTING with great enthusiasm; i.e., until I got up to page 27 . . . then I came across the following almost stopped reading: Speaking of activity, sexual activity should be avoided while fasting and until full strength is recovered. Sex redirects the amount of available energy to the sexual organs for stimulation. This is a setback to the fasting process and a stress on your whole system since the sexual organs are dormant and would need to be revitalized. Fortunately, Meyerowitz goes on to say that the above recommendation applies to water fasting . . . and he typically doesn't recommend that; rather, he urges people to be into juice fasting. Also, I learned that such fasting can have many other benefits, including detoxification, healing, spiritual, help to break addictions, political/social, and dental work. In addition, fasting helps a wide variety of conditions, such as allergies, asthma, hay fever, hives, migraines, obesity, insomnia, high and low blood pressure, acne, rheumatism, ulcers, liver problems, gall stones, constipation, and diarrhea. I also learned several other things from reading JUICE FASTING; among them: Nothing is more nutritious than juice. Imagine eating a meal of spinach, parsley, sprouts, tomatoes, lemon, celery, radishes, green pepper, and cucumber. Ordinarily, considering the normal state of our digestive systems, we would be lucky to digest 70 percent of it. But once you extract the liquid portion of these vital foods, you can assimilate and absorb up to 99 percent of the food value even if you have weak digestion. In fact, the beauty of it is that it barely takes any digestive energy at all, which is why it is so suitable for fasting. This condensing of pounds of valuable foods into a single glass while simultaneously maximizing assimilation is what makes drinking juices special. Take carrots for example. It takes a pound of carrots to make a 10 ½ ounce drink of carrot juice . . . mmm, delicious. But could you consume that many carrots? Absolutely not! Yet all the enzymes, water-soluble vitamins, minerals, and trace elements in those carrots are extracted (assuming it is a quality juicing machine) and condensed into the glass of juice. Don't get too excited about guzzling down delicious fruit juices unless you plan to make them yourself. Bottled juices must be pasteurized in order to have a shelf life. Of what significance is that? Pasteurized juices are boiled to sanitize these foods against bacteria and disease organisms. Unfortunately, enzymes and may vitamins are destroyed along with it. Your only source of nourishment is these juices and you cannot afford

This is an easy to read book on how to fast for your health: mind, body, and spirit. The author does not try to convience you that this is the ultimate in health but educates you on the benefits of fasting, why it should be practiced, and how to go about it.The book touches on the different types of fasting, the duration of fasting, how to start, and importantly how to come off of a fast.There are several different kinds of fasting but what suprised me was the benefits of fasting during short periods of time: 24 to 36 hours. I had several misconceptions of fasting: that it was a long period of complete deprevation, I was wrong. The book outlines the benefits of short term and long term fasting and the effects of detoxifying the body with fasting.Other topics discussed is fasting for weightloss and the nutritional balance of certain juices during fasting.If you are new to the fasting concept and practice this is a great book to start.

This book is both informative, and an easy, pleasant read. In sharp contrast to several other books I've read, Meyerowitz doesn't force feed raw food diets or fasting down your throat with threats of disease and disaster. His approach is simple, direct and well-organized. The book begins with a discussion of what fasting is and why it can be beneficial and continues on to descriptions of how to begin, how long to continue and how to come off a fast. Other important sections include a systematic description of how the body detoxifies, what to expect as this occurs and what can be done to help the body during the cleansing process. All in all I found this to be a well-balanced and informative book that I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who is new to the concept of water or juice fasting.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but I can't imagine why anyone would give this book a two star review and say that it does not contain enough information. This book is full of information. I have just finished reading this book, as well as the author's wheatgrass book (which I would also strongly recommend), and the amount of specific information that he packs into such a slim book is impressive. I can't think of a single question which was not answered for me somewhere in the book. Any concerns or questions you might have about this controversial subject are answered with real facts, not hype or new age mumbo jumbo. The author's writing style is also very easy to read. I have not tried a juice fast yet, but after reading this book I am getting ready to, and I know I'll be coming back to the book for consultation as I go.