Jennifer Thompson

Which is better?

Fasting Once A Year or Every Six Months?

Many people wonder what the best type of cleanse is and how often one should cleanse. It’s a difficult question to answer since every person has a different ‘re-tox’ level in between their cleanses. But, on average, every 6 months is actually considered ideal. If you don’t have the time or resources for that, consider doing a ‘mini-cleanse’ on the 6-month mark and doing a full 7-day program yearly. For your ‘mini-cleanse,’ you can do 3 days of 100% raw food or 5 days of the Master Cleanse or even 7 days of 100% Green Smoothies.

Anything you do will be better than nothing!

A lot of you may have done colon cleansing for your 7-day program, but did you know there are other types of fasting as well? Juice fasting is when one only takes juices and usually no supplements or detox drinks of any kind. In this fast, there can be daily enemas or not – it depends on the type of cleanse.

People can juice fast, or ‘Juice Feast’ for anywhere from 40 to 60 days. Remember, your body is still getting all the nutrients it needs from the juices!

Water fasting is much more intensive and involves only ingesting water with no supplements, juice or detox drinks. With water fasting, the main focus during the fast should be to rest as much as possible. This type of fasting is extremely effective at cleaning the tissues and cells very quickly. People can safely fast on only water for up to 40 days. But, this type of fasting is not to be taken lightly. Going into and coming out of a water fast needs to be done very carefully. If you have never done this before, I advise you to do a guided program. I personally have done 40 days of only water and I can tell you that it is an amazing experience. My eBook, 40-Day Water Fast: Comprehensive Guide & Personal Journal, details my experience and explains how to do a long water fast.

So, when breaking a fast, what is the best meal? Well, there are many different opinions out there. For a water fast, the breaking of the fast is much more strict, but for juice or colon cleansing, you have a few options. I usually suggest breaking a fast on fresh fruit with high-water content, such as watermelon or papaya.

You can also break a fast with a Green Smoothie. Because the smoothie is already blended, it is actually a great transtion from liquids (juices) to solids (food).

Some people break their cleanse with a green salad and I would say this is also ok, but be sure to chew your food very slowly and avoid nuts and high fats, such as avocado, in the first few days after the cleanse.