Does Fasting Cleanse The Colon?

Fasting is one of the most effective strategies for natural health and healing. Did you realize that the first thing that most animals do when sick or injured is to fast? The reason is simple, it's because during a fast the body doesn't need to spend energy on digesting food. That means all of its energy can go to healing.

Over the course of the last 100 years, many natural health practitioners have helped people achieve phenomenal results through fasting. Dr. Norman Walker, for example, helped 1000s in the early 1900s through a strict 4-6 week diet of nothing but fresh juices. His patients recovered from anemia, healed eczema, eliminated tumors, overcame cancer and more through these relatively long fasts.

But, does fasting cleanse the colon? The short answer is yes, but only partially, and the results depend on the length and type of your fast.

On a short 1-3 day water or juice fast, you shouldn't expect to get much additional release from the colon. But on a 7-21 day fast on water or on green juices only (spinach, celery, cucumber, kale, etc.), you are likely get some release of toxins and undigested food matter. The longer the fast, the better the results.

In my experience, even the longest fast I've done (30 days) left some of the mucoid plaque in my body untouched. I know this because when I completed a thorough herbal cleanse after the fast, my body released almost 1 meter (3 feet) of this dark rubbery plaque that lines the intestines. The 30 day fast softened the plaque and helped the herbs release it, but without the herbs, the plaque would still be in there.

So, in the end, is fasting a good strategy for people who want to colon cleanse?

If you're willing to fast for more than 7 days on green juices and water, I'd say yes, it's a good beginning. I'd then follow it with a thorough herbal colon cleanse.

If you want a gentler approach, try an herbal colon cleanse right from the beginning in conjunction with an 80% raw food diet and, if you're up for it, some limited fasting.