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zacdhaenkeau · 6 years

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Work Smarter, Not Harder, With Bing Ads Scripts

Feeling crunched for time? Consider automating some of your more tactical and time-consuming tasks. If you aren’t already using scripts to manage campaigns, then you need to take a serious look. In case you’re unfamiliar with them, scripts—i.e., snippets of JavaScript—are part of the Google Ads and Bing Ads search interfaces and allow you to use JavaScript to automate processes and tasks within your PPC accounts.

These little bits of code are big game changers because they can enhance your campaigns and save you tons of time. They automate time-consuming tasks like moving budget across campaign-based budget caps and performance. They also do the work that no search marketer has time to do manually, such as checking for 404 pages and pausing ads for out-of-stock or seasonal items. No amount of manual effort can outmatch a script.

Do scripts require a background in coding or highly technical resources to implement? Not anymore! Scripts provide the benefits of a large-scale API project with the fragment of the cost and hassle. Both Google and now Bing have easy-to-use interfaces so that more search marketers can leverage the power of automation.

Below I’ve outlined some of the virtues of scripts and ways to free yourself from some burdensome tasks. So, you can do other things—like spend time with your family, kill it at the gym, or respond to that backlog of emails.

Some of the awesome things that scripts do

Scripts can handle a multitude of tasks. Here’s a quick snapshot of the things they can do for you.

Campaign Management

Easily make large and cross-account changes based on performance indicators

Adjust budgets across campaigns

Ad Copy Management

Pause and resume ads across campaigns (for promotions)

Negative Keyword Management

Find and implement negative keywords, including cross-account negative keywords

Search Query Management

Pull out a specific query term for analysis and optimization

Anomaly Detection

Create email alerts when KPIs hit benchmarks or deviate from historical performance

Campaign Health

Easily identify and pause all broken URLs/404 pages/out-of-stock products

Enhanced Reporting

Gain fully customizable visibility into almost any scenario you can dream up

Track Quality Score

Store and track quality scores by account, campaign, and ad group

How Bing Ads Scripts compares to Google Ads Scripts

Bing Ads Scripts functionality quietly rolled out in October 2018. If you compare Bing Ads Scripts to Google Ads Scripts, you’ll find that although there are some differences, they offer comparable functionality and usability. The two platforms look and feel similar, both with how they are accessed and the user interface.

What I personally like about Bing Ads Scripts is that you can paste existing Google Ads Scripts into Bing’s editor and it will automatically find and replace function names of classes AND highlight any unsupported features or unrecognized names that you need to manually edit.

While I’d like to say that Bing Ads Scripts has achieved 100% parity with Google Ads Scripts, I can’t—at least not yet. But with available workarounds, such as this one highlighted by Fred Vallaeys for sending emails and creating labels, I think you’ll find that it’s a great tool—and one that I believe will make your life easier. Much easier.

Three scripts you should be using now

New scripts pop up each day that can solve almost any search need. Widely available online, they can be downloaded, oftentimes at no cost. While every search marketer has unique needs, here are a few scripts that I highly recommend.

1. URL Checker Script

A good URL checker is essential for search marketers, especially for those who manage larger websites, where it’s next to impossible to manually maintain the performance that customers expect. This automated script continuously scans landing pages for 301, 302, and 404 errors and out-of-stock messaging. There are two versions of this script. The first is the Link Checker Script from the Google Ads Scripts site (probably the most current), and the second is the Disable Ads and Keywords for Out-of-Stock Items Script from FreeAdWordsScripts.

2. Search Query Manager Script

There are tons of ways to use the Search Query Manager Script. Created by Marchela De Vivo of Gryffin and Fred Vallaeys, its purpose is to drastically reduce campaign management time. The script allows you to create almost any custom rule you’d like, both from the campaign level and across accounts. You can set custom threshold minimums for impressions/clicks/spend and generate both positive and negative keywords. This script can even pull out the specific keywords that meet or don’t meet performance thresholds.

3. Anomaly Detector Script

Remember that time when you accidentally blew through your budget at lightning speed? Well, the Anomaly Detector Script from Daniel Gilbert at Brainlabs helps prevent such mishaps by watching out for budget anomalies within your account—specifically over- and under-spending across a campaign. When it detects an anomaly, you get notified right away—which should help you sleep at night.

OK coders: these scripts are for extra credit

N-Gram Analysis Scripts

Ever heard of n-grams? They’re generally used for data mining, and I hadn’t fully appreciated their brilliance until I encountered this amazing script from Daniel Gilbert at Brainlabs back in 2015. An n-gram is a word or phrase sequence consisting of a certain number of “n” words, such as a 1-gram/unigram (one word), 2-gram/bigram (two words), etc. By using grams, we can aggregate data to more easily detect performance trends that we might have otherwise missed.

Part 1: N-Gram analysis for search queries

Gilbert applied the n-gram concept to search queries. In search, they can be used to slice longer keywords into smaller n-grams to find hidden insights. For instance, the word “luxurious” could be mapping to the keyword “luxury,” which may be interwoven throughout your keywords and within the actual search queries. Now, as a 2-gram phrase, performance may be so-so, but when you isolate “luxury” and “luxurious,” you may find it is associated with higher average order value and higher conversion rates. Such insights can help in many ways: writing ad copy, creating new ad groups around high performing n-grams, expanding keywords, developing negative keywords, and finding words of user intent.

Part 2: N-Gram analysis for ad copy

Fred Vallaeys of Optmyzr took Gilbert’s Search Query N-gram script a step further to create an ad copy script that identifies and analyzes the most commonly found word sequences in ad copy. What I love about this script is that it allows you to find more specific word-sequencing trends. This is great, especially if you use phrases like, “Get Up to 10% Off” across both headlines and description lines. It gives you more granularity to determine what is driving the best results.

So here comes the extra-credit piece: although these n-grams scripts are compatible with Google Ads Scripts, you’ll have a harder time making them compatible with Bing Ads Scripts, due to the lack of read/write to spreadsheet functionality. So only tackle these scripts in Bing if you’re up for a challenge. Meanwhile, I’m working to get help editing these scripts with compatible Bing Ads Scripts workarounds and will post them when they’re ready.

Other super-cool stuff scripts can do

Keep in mind that scripts aren’t limited to search data. For instance, you may have a business that is highly impacted by weather, such as an ice cream shop. Scripts allow you to set up weather-targeted campaigns to increase bids on hot days. Google offers a pre-built weather script. You can actually integrate scripts with any type of data set, including proprietary business data.

Also, Bing’s new editor now lets you easily reuse your AdWords scripts by copying and pasting. Bing users will find the scripts page under bulk operations. From there, you should click on create script where you can write or paste a script or find a list of example scripts. This makes it easier than ever to use scripts in Bing since Bing automatically changes and renames any necessary objects. If any code is not transferable, red squiggly lines appear.

Ultimately, scripts are only as powerful as the marketers behind them. Good scripts take time, thought, and customization. Scripts can break and time out and should be tweaked for better performance. Human judgement remains the most effective search marketing tool of all—especially when empowered with automation. Happy scripting!

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Sign up for Hanapin’s PPC Hero Sumit happening on March 6th where Hanapin’s Associate Director of Analytics, and Optmyzr’s Co-Founder, Fred Vallaeys, will give you the pro tips on how to get started with scripts and provide prebuilt examples you can use.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 https://www.ppchero.com/work-smarter-not-harder-with-bing-ads-scripts/

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racheltgibsau · 6 years

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Work Smarter, Not Harder, With Bing Ads Scripts

Some of the awesome things that scripts do

Scripts can handle a multitude of tasks. Here’s a quick snapshot of the things they can do for you.

Campaign Management

Easily make large and cross-account changes based on performance indicators

Adjust budgets across campaigns

Ad Copy Management

Pause and resume ads across campaigns (for promotions)

Negative Keyword Management

Find and implement negative keywords, including cross-account negative keywords

Search Query Management

Pull out a specific query term for analysis and optimization

Anomaly Detection

Create email alerts when KPIs hit benchmarks or deviate from historical performance

Campaign Health

Easily identify and pause all broken URLs/404 pages/out-of-stock products

Enhanced Reporting

Gain fully customizable visibility into almost any scenario you can dream up

Track Quality Score

Store and track quality scores by account, campaign, and ad group

How Bing Ads Scripts compares to Google Ads Scripts

Three scripts you should be using now

1. URL Checker Script

2. Search Query Manager Script

3. Anomaly Detector Script

OK coders: these scripts are for extra credit

N-Gram Analysis Scripts

Part 1: N-Gram analysis for search queries

Part 2: N-Gram analysis for ad copy

Other super-cool stuff scripts can do

—

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 https://www.ppchero.com/work-smarter-not-harder-with-bing-ads-scripts/

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maxslogic25 · 6 years

Text

Work Smarter, Not Harder, With Bing Ads Scripts

Some of the awesome things that scripts do

Scripts can handle a multitude of tasks. Here’s a quick snapshot of the things they can do for you.

Campaign Management

Easily make large and cross-account changes based on performance indicators

Adjust budgets across campaigns

Ad Copy Management

Pause and resume ads across campaigns (for promotions)

Negative Keyword Management

Find and implement negative keywords, including cross-account negative keywords

Search Query Management

Pull out a specific query term for analysis and optimization

Anomaly Detection

Create email alerts when KPIs hit benchmarks or deviate from historical performance

Campaign Health

Easily identify and pause all broken URLs/404 pages/out-of-stock products

Enhanced Reporting

Gain fully customizable visibility into almost any scenario you can dream up

Track Quality Score

Store and track quality scores by account, campaign, and ad group

How Bing Ads Scripts compares to Google Ads Scripts

Three scripts you should be using now

1. URL Checker Script

2. Search Query Manager Script

3. Anomaly Detector Script

OK coders: these scripts are for extra credit

N-Gram Analysis Scripts

Part 1: N-Gram analysis for search queries

Part 2: N-Gram analysis for ad copy

Other super-cool stuff scripts can do

—

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 https://www.ppchero.com/work-smarter-not-harder-with-bing-ads-scripts/

0 notes

archiebwoollard · 6 years

Text

Work Smarter, Not Harder, With Bing Ads Scripts

Some of the awesome things that scripts do

Scripts can handle a multitude of tasks. Here’s a quick snapshot of the things they can do for you.

Campaign Management

Easily make large and cross-account changes based on performance indicators

Adjust budgets across campaigns

Ad Copy Management

Pause and resume ads across campaigns (for promotions)

Negative Keyword Management

Find and implement negative keywords, including cross-account negative keywords

Search Query Management

Pull out a specific query term for analysis and optimization

Anomaly Detection

Create email alerts when KPIs hit benchmarks or deviate from historical performance

Campaign Health

Easily identify and pause all broken URLs/404 pages/out-of-stock products

Enhanced Reporting

Gain fully customizable visibility into almost any scenario you can dream up

Track Quality Score

Store and track quality scores by account, campaign, and ad group

How Bing Ads Scripts compares to Google Ads Scripts

Three scripts you should be using now

1. URL Checker Script

2. Search Query Manager Script

3. Anomaly Detector Script

OK coders: these scripts are for extra credit

N-Gram Analysis Scripts

Part 1: N-Gram analysis for search queries

Part 2: N-Gram analysis for ad copy

Other super-cool stuff scripts can do

—

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 https://www.ppchero.com/work-smarter-not-harder-with-bing-ads-scripts/

0 notes

artsoccupychi · 6 years

Text

I Went Fasting Without Food for 40 Days | Here’s What I Learned

I’m completely fascinated by the process and benefits of fasting without food. I’m talking about “eating absolutely nothing for a long period of time.” (With water, it’s called “water fasting,” or without water, it’s called “dry fasting.”) And, I’ve always felt that when Christians, Muslims, and Jews quit fasting routinely, we lost something important. After all, some sects in those religious traditions used to fast, at length, for weeks at a time.

Fasting Without Food | Beneficial Things I Discovered

In this article:

Fasting-Mimicking Detox

Why I Didn’t Do My Water Fasting at Home

What It’s Like to Fast at Siddhayatan

Should You Try Water Fasting?

What Are the Side Effects of Fasting Without Food?

What Does Research Show the Benefits of Fasting Are?

Is Fasting Without Food Good for Weight Loss?

How Can I Get the Benefits of Fasting Without Actually Fasting?

Who Shouldn’t Fast?

What I Learned From Fasting Without Food

Fasting-Mimicking Detox

Now, my research into fasting—including doing it myself 4 times in the past 2 years (for 12 days, 9 days, and 7 days twice, and some shorter fasts in between)—has less to do with spiritual fasting or purification and more to do with the health benefits. I developed what qualifies as a fasting-mimicking detox, five years ago, which 13,000 people have now done. (By “fasting mimicking,” I mean you can eat three times a day, but food is completely prescribed to achieve similar benefits to fasting.) And, I do not honestly believe that most people can or will do what I just did. (Go completely without food for a week or more.)

In fact, I’m not sure they even should. More on that later.

Let’s talk about what crazy, slightly disgusting and simultaneously amazing things happen in the human body when you fast for a long period of time, why I keep doing this, what I get from it, and why you might want to consider doing it.

Why I Didn’t Do My Water Fasting at Home

I have very little self-discipline. I’m not a biohacker, constantly using technology on myself, to experiment. I’ve never run a race longer than a 10k and don’t plan to. And, I don’t have any self-denial fetishes. I don’t just do every hard thing, because it’s a challenge.

Besides being raised Mormon, where we fasted Saturday night to Sunday night one Sunday every month from the age of 8, I have absolutely no reason why fasting for 40 days would be easy for me.

I’m one of those people who, if something hurts, or I’m hungry, everybody around me is gonna know about it.

In fact, I knew I couldn’t do it at home.

I would start with the best of intentions, I’m sure. I might even last a whole day. But, the fridge would be right there 100 steps away. My car would be in the garage. I live just 10 minutes away from food, really good food.

No, wait, it’s worse than that. There’s a Thai restaurant literally 3 minutes away from my house.

My willpower is nothing when I get ferociously hungry. I’m a vegetarian, and very frankly, I’d eat a t-bone cooked rare if I got hungry enough – maybe even a hot dog. (I suffered actual pain writing that.) So, I flew to a spiritual retreat in Texas run by Hindu monks and nuns to fast. It’s called Siddhayatan.

What It’s Like to Fast at Siddhayatan

Siddhayatan is in Nowhere, Texas. Truly, it is miles from anything, and you cannot use your Uber or Lyft app from there to sneak out and get food in a moment of weakness.

It’s insanely cheap, maybe the cost of a Motel 6.

It makes sense, considering they’re feeding you nothing, and you might be sharing a bathroom, or staying in a room with no drywall, and only a naked lightbulb is your form of light.

I could go to True North in California where they’ll “medically supervise” me, and the lodgings are really nice.

But heck, while I’m facing all my addictions, might as well face my addiction to upper-middle-class luxuries.

I take a sliver of soap and a towel. (Correct, the Hindu ashram does not provide a towel or washcloths.)

I take a $100 Uber from the airport, where you can actually get a ride. You can Uber to the ashram, but not back to the airport.

Later, I’ll have a private car company drive me back. But, you can’t just call them when you’re freaking out and wanting food. You can schedule them to pick you up tomorrow.

So, this saves me from my freakouts. I mean, freakouts are by definition short-term.

You see how it’s the perfect place for water fasting for 40 days? Temptation is completely removed.

Also, you “can” have a meal there if you find you aren’t doing well in fasting without food.

You would have to be in a serious crisis to just drop in for lunch, though. First of all, that would be embarrassing.

You’re supposed to give them a heads up because this is the most frugal place you’ve ever been.

The monks and nuns (dressed all in white) make a homemade vegetarian Hindu meal three meals a day, but they make just enough for the exact number of people they have there doing the yoga, meditation, silent, and spiritual retreats.

(You, the water faster? No soup for you. They didn’t plan on you crashing the meal.)

So, besides being embarrassing to fail to ask well in advance if you can eat a meal with everybody else, you might actually be causing everyone they did plan for to not get enough to eat if you just crashed a meal.

I know, it’s really Dickensian.

So, my point is, your food cravings are not easily indulged at this place. And for me, that’s half the battle.

There are the actual hunger strike and physical weakness itself—sometimes even symptoms from long-term fasting without food (I’ll get to that)—but the constant temptations you’d have at home are removed.

I know a guy at home who recently fasted for 23 days. He went out to lunch and coffee with people, the whole time, and just abstained.

I guess some people are motivated or more self-disciplined than I am.

I almost lost my mind watching Netflix on my laptop during my last fasting.

(Do you know how much food they show, on most movies and TV shows? No, you don’t. You notice this kind of thing only when you’re fasting.)

So, some people might have an iron will and be able to fast at home, but I am not one of them.

The total isolation at Siddhayatan is hard (I like being around people!), but it’s also helpful.

Should You Try Water Fasting?

Now, if you’re thinking about this for yourself, there are a few caveats.

One, there is no medical supervision here. No nurses or doctors. They have people fasting here all the time, without serious incident, but people have actually died from prolonged fasting before, or so I’ve heard.

I mean, the odds of you dying from fasting are probably about as high as you dying from taking most over-the-counter medications or driving in a car.

That is pretty low.

But, when I interviewed Valter Longo, Ph.D., a fasting and longevity expert and author of The Longevity Diet, he did cite two deaths he knows of from people fasting for a length of time, one of them with diabetes and one with multiple sclerosis.

While Longo recites the many incredible health benefits of fasting, including rebuilding myelin sheath and regenerating insulin-producing capacity of the pancreas—long-term benefits, not just short-term, after the fast—I imagine he doesn’t want the liability of people at risk fasting for long periods of time, due to his recommendations.

Frankly, neither do I, in an age of litigiousness.

This seems ridiculous, given that millions of people have fasted, accidentally due to lack of food, or on purpose, for literal millennia. But, here we are in 2018 where most Americans have never gone a whole day without food, and some tell me they’ve never even skipped a meal. I think we’re more in need of fasting than any culture in the history of mankind.

So, here’s my onerous disclaimer: if you undergo a water-only fast or dry fast longer than a day, don’t say that I told you to do it. Please do it under the supervision of a trusted functional medicine practitioner.

This blog post is about my experience, is not medical advice, and does not substitute for competent medical care.

What Are the Side Effects of Fasting Without Food?

Hunger and Energy Fluctuations

It goes without saying that you’re really insanely hungry the first few days. Then, your body and mind settle in.

Some people describe having lots of energy. Most don’t! Generally, the longer you fast, the more your cravings for food subside, but so does your energy.

Your spirit will stay higher if you’re “doing the mental work” of challenging yourself with the task of confronting your addictions, congratulating yourself on your progress each day (or hour), reminding yourself of the health benefits, and staying positive.

If you’re smart, you don’t take a laptop with a huge writing project and deadline, like I do. (Every single time, a single mom’s gotta work!)

If you can afford the time off from life, you can just lie in bed and take short walks now and then, but not do much of anything unless you feel like it.

That said, you know yourself, and some of us do better when we’re as productive as energy allows.

I think fasting without food would actually be harder for me if I were like everyone else at the Siddhayatan retreat and didn’t work at all.

On about day 4, I start to have periods of not feeling hunger. One of the nuns told me that this is my body and mind “accepting” the fast.

Muscle, Tissue, Organ, and Fat Cleanup

But, I also, in each of my last 3 fasts, start to have lower back pain on day 4. Since I never experience this at home, I researched it, and I believe it is—don’t be scared now because this is going to sound scary—my kidneys backlogged with broken-down muscle tissue, possibly compounded by over-drinking water (which is easy to do when that’s all you can have).

Yeah, your muscle breaks down a little bit. This may sound like a bad thing.

But, if you’re a weightlifter and your trainer has you believing that all your nutrition habits should be geared to just one thing—preserving and building muscle mass—let me share a revolutionary concept, well, two of them.

One is every time you lift weights, you’re tearing down muscle fiber. And, as it builds, that’s how your muscles grow.

And two, your muscle needs cleanup, just like your organs, joints, or even every cell! If a tiny amount of your muscle breaks down, it was the body tearing out the parts that needed rebuilding anyway.

Don’t overattach, as the Hindu monks would tell you.

Remember, the fasting process doesn’t want to break down a healthy muscle. It’s strong, and it is serving you well.

As you deprive your body of food, it’s nasties like bacteria, cancer, and yeast that are gobbled up like crazy, and belly fat!

Fasting Without Food Is Different For Everyone

My friend Katie Wells, who has one of the most popular wellness blogs online, “The Wellness Mama,” recently water fasted for 2 weeks and found that after the first three days of weakness and hunger, she was insanely productive.

She cooked for her family of six children and just went abstaining from food.

As I mentioned before, if I was at home cooking for my own children, I lack confidence that I wouldn’t cave and throw in the towel, after a day or two, promising myself, “I’ll start again tomorrow.”

Total isolation and removal from food temptation, like I get at the Texas ashram, is very beneficial to me (also a little lonely).

Fasting without food gets you “up close and personal” with all your addictions. You know how you need a coffee to wake you up? (Or, in my case, you like it as a pick-me-up while you’re working, in the afternoon.)

Well, you can’t have one. You can’t have a glass of wine (or three) on Saturday night, you can’t snack, and you can’t even have a cup of tea.

And, this becomes an interesting deep dive into your soul, where you learn how addicted to stimulation, in general, you are.

What will you do with that knowledge? I think even the awareness is helpful towards managing addictions and moving through them to a healthier place.

I think that if you can soldier on and do your work and tend to your family, the time will pass more quickly than if you do what I do:

Sit around in bed, mostly, working on your laptop and watching movies. P.S. Try not to watch movies about food.

When I was hitting a wall, in my most recent 7-day fast, on day 3, the nuns told me about some of their other water fasters.

The longest? An older man fasted for 40 days without food. Pretty Biblical, right? They said he would pretty much lay in bed the whole time and was very, very weak.

But, the woman who stayed in my room before me had come for a 30-day fast, brought her dog, and planned to confront her emotional eating problem.

She ended up extending two more days. (Wow.)

Another woman came for three weeks and walked 10 miles a day.

Like I said, fasting is different for everyone. In fact, while each of my long fasts has had similarities, my process, struggles, and epiphanies are different each time, too.

What Does Research Show the Benefits of Fasting Are?

There are a host of health benefits that result from giving your body and your digestive system a break.

Anti-cancer Benefits

I was first handed a bibliography of books on fasting by Thomas Lodi, M.D., when I was on a worldwide research tour of 19 clinics, studying non-toxic cancer treatment.

Lodi feels that fasting for 30 days is the best thing a cancer patient can do. Those books on fasting are found in the References section below.

Some disagree. In fact, Valter Longo, Ph.D., who specializes in fasting and in oncology in his research, feels that fasting while doing chemo is highly effective, protective of healthy cells, but he says that in both animals and human studies, he’s never seen fasting alone turn cancer around.

And, I think it’s clear that when a patient is in Stage IV and cachexia has set in, where the body is metabolizing muscle to feed cancer and stay alive, fasting may be a very poor idea.

But, Dr. Lodi maintains that the evidence shows it to be a powerful cancer preventative and treatment adjuvant.

With quite a bit of cancer in my family, my primary reason to fast, periodically, is cancer prevention.

Anti-diabetes Benefits

One study shows fasting to be regenerative for insulin production, as the pancreas repairs itself during a period with no food. And, the results weren’t short term: months later, they remained.

This is especially true when the person fasting begins “refeeding” on a plant-based diet. (Longo says the evidence is clear that the plant-based diet is best, for longevity, with small amounts of wild-caught fish as well.)

Several studies in Longo’s book cite turning around Type II diabetes, though Longo feels that a “fasting-mimicking diet” is preferable and less risky. Those taking insulin should not go without food for a long period of time.

Our 26-day detox qualifies as “fasting mimicking.”

You’re eating three meals a day, but all the food is easy to prepare, high in fiber and micronutrients, and the detoxer is eating no processed food, no animal products, and no highly allergenic foods.

There are periods of significant calorie suppression, which Longo’s research shows to be powerful in increasing stem cells, increasing human growth hormone and disease reversal.

Having guided 13,000 people, now, through our detox program in the past 5 years, I agree with Dr. Longo that many people are simply too toxic to do a full-blown fast, with no food at all.

(Some feel great the whole 26 days, but others struggle, even with eating three times a day on the detox, as they come off their caffeine, alcohol, sugar, salt, and other addictions.)

However, with rare exceptions, anyone can do our 26-day detox protocol, Longo’s “fasting mimicking diet,” or “FMD” five-day monthly protocol.

Autophagy Benefits: Cleaning Out for Better Rebuilding

At the water fasting retreat I did in 2016, I met a man named Eric.

His reason to fast was that a practitioner told him to do it for 20 days, to burn out a severe candida overgrowth.

Eric had been a heroin addict for many years, and he’d been hospitalized for the effects of his drug use, where he contracted MRSA that required a month of antibiotics. And, as you likely know, antibiotics usually lead to gut issues.

His were extreme. Absolutely anything he ate bloated his otherwise flat stomach to looking like he was 8 months pregnant. He was miserably sick, and desperate.

He was desperate enough to stop eating for 3 weeks.

However, contrary to Eric’s belief, arriving at the retreat, the primary benefit of fasting isn’t ketosis, although you are definitely in ketosis after a day or two.

Eric was after “ketosis,” where the body burns ketone bodies in the brain for fuel, which is all the rage currently with practitioners.

(I predict the obsession with ketosis, which is actually the body in crisis, will eventually go the way of the dodo.)

I explained autophagy to Eric, which is far more interesting to me.

It is literally defined as “self-eating,” because when the body has no other fuel, it feeds its cells and does cleanup work by metabolizing cancerous growths and breaking down yeasts, mold, fungi, viral, bacterial, and many other aberrant cells and growths.

Longo’s research culling epidemiological studies, as well as centenarian studies and his own research with various populations, points to not just the “self-eating” phenomenon of autophagy burning out aberrant cells first (not muscle mass, my friends, not unless that muscle needed replacing) but also the efficacy and power of the rebuilding process, which happens after the fast.

Amazingly, 3 weeks of water fasting rectified Eric’s desperate situation, and a few months after finishing his fast, he texted me that he was still feeling great.

Neurological Benefits

Not only does fasting help our bodies, but it also benefits our brains. New studies show that fasting may actually ward off neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and even improve our memory and mood.

Dr. Longo cites a study showing that fasting contributes to stripping down and rebuilding the myelin sheath, an exciting possibility for multiple sclerosis patients.

Other studies reveal a correlation between fasting and improved neural connections in the hippocampus (the part of our brain that plays a critical role in memory). It has also been shown to reduce the number of amyloid plaques—the proteins associated with Alzheimer’s.

Fasting has also been shown to increase the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that contributes to the growth and maintenance of the brain’s nerve cells and has an anti-depression effect.

Mark Mattson, a professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, explained in Johns Hopkins Health Review how fasting produces changes in the brain.

When you eat, glucose (or sugar) is stored in your liver as glycogen. Once the glycogen is used up, in about 11 hours, your body starts burning fats that are converted to ketone bodies.

It is these acidic chemicals that actually produce positive changes in the structure of synapses—or the gap that transmits information from one nerve cell to another. These cells have been shown to transmit signals to and from the brain at speeds of 200 mph.

When we constantly eat, our bodies don’t have a chance to produce these ketones. It’s interesting to note that exercise has similar positive effects on the brain.

Immune System Regeneration Benefits

The results of yet another study conducted by Professor Longo and his colleagues at USC surprised even them, deeming the unexpected outcome “remarkable.” The research consisted of asking a group of people to fast for two to four days on a regular basis for a period of six months.

What surprised the researchers was this: fasting caused the immune system to regenerate. They believe that the body, put into a state of low reserves, does what it can to save energy.

The result is that a lot of damaged immune cells, along with glucose, fat, and ketones, are broken down. The depletion of these immune (white blood) cells results in stem cell-based regeneration of new immune cells.

Another one of their findings was a noticeable decrease in the production of the enzyme PKA, a hormone that has been associated with an increased risk of cancer.

The reduction in PKA allows the stem cells to switch into regeneration mode, ultimately rebuilding your entire immune system.

It’s pretty incredible.

Anti-aging Benefits

Researchers from the Department of Medicine at the University of Virginia found that fasting for just two days produced a 5-fold increase in human growth hormone (HGH).

This hormone that diminishes as we age is associated with muscle and bone growth as well as sugar and fat metabolism. It has also been shown to significantly reduce the symptoms of congestive heart failure.

In addition, clinical findings showed a decrease in cholesterol and triglycerides as well as inflammation which, as we know, is associated with a number of chronic diseases such as arthritis, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, and high blood pressure.

Asthma Benefits

In another study conducted by Mark Mattson’s team, participants with moderate asthma cut their caloric intake down to about 1/5th or 20 percent of their normal consumption every other day for eight weeks (this would be an example of a “fasting-mimicking diet”).

The result? The symptoms associated with their asthma “improved significantly.”

Is Fasting Without Food Good for Weight Loss?

Fasting is great for weight loss. But, then again, that’s not a great primary reason to fast. I’ll explain.

First of all, there are much, much easier ways to lose weight. Faster isn’t always better.

Second, you will gain back some or most of the weight you lost, and that’s a good thing.

You have to understand that fasting is a two-part process.

There’s the first period where you aren’t eating. As discussed before, your body is breaking down old cell parts, tissues, and fat stores, and healthy cells are consuming dead cells for fuel and so that they don’t swamp the filtering organs like the kidneys.

But, there’s also the “refeeding” process. That’s where you give the body very healthy fuel, after your fast, to rebuild the broken-down tissues.

Because “you are what you eat,” then you want to eat lots of the cleanest foods possible, that is, nutrient-dense, organic plant foods, including greens, vegetables, nuts and seeds, fruits, and legumes. And, if you eat animal products, eat very clean ones, and sparingly.

So, one of the first parts of the body to break down is fat stores, especially belly fat, according to research literature cited by Longo. But, as you may know, fat cells don’t disappear.

They only shrink. So, if you go back to your old ways of eating, you can fairly easily rebuild those belly fat deposits.

You’ll have to end your fast with a commitment to eating mostly plant-based whole foods if you want the belly fat not to return.

Some people respond to the idea of fasting with this: “That’s a terrible idea because you’ll lose muscle mass!”

This seems to be a vestige of the protein-obsessed fitness industry, who thinks that (a) anything that builds muscle mass is good (not true!) and (b) anything that decreases muscle mass even to the smallest degree is bad (also not true!).

Remember, any muscle tissue that your body breaks down in the fasting process (a) needed to be broken down and metabolized anyway, which is hard on the kidneys but great for your stripped-down and rebuilt lean muscle, and (b) will be the first to be rebuilt, along with healthy organ tissue, like pancreas, kidney, or liver.

I recommend if you fast and you’re interested in weight loss, you should not weigh yourself before and after.

You’re going to lose how much you lose. And, in the “refeeding” process, you will gain some of the weight back. (You need to.)

Just trust the process, don’t make weight loss the primary goal, and focus on the health benefits.

Start with a “fasting-mimicking” diet, like our 26-day detox, know that you’re giving yourself an amazing health reboot—with some loss of fat stores being an inevitable result and some increase in human growth hormone and stem cells—and congratulate yourself on your wins, as you think about taking it a step further, potentially, later.

How Can I Get the Benefits of Fasting Without Actually Fasting?

Like Dr. Longo, I wouldn’t tell any first-time faster, someone who has never done a committed detoxification protocol or a long-term (4+ days) fast without dipping a toe in the water first. Here are some ways to do that:

1. Longo’s Own 5-Days-a-Month “Fasting-Mimicking Diet” Is a Place to Start

That’s one idea, and you can read about it in his book The Longevity Diet. (In his program, you’re eating plant-based meals, of 800 to 1,200 calories a day.)

2. 26-Day Detox Protocol

A second option, as I’ve mentioned, for a hard reboot of the body’s digestive system and a lot of breakdown of old material and eliminations of chemicals in organs and fat deposits, our 26-day process is highly effective, based on the research and practice of the “greats” in the field of human detoxification.

These include Dr. Max Gerson, Dr. Bernard Jensen, Dr. Ann Wigmore, and Dr. Richard Anderson, among others, who have influenced my own 20-year dive into how the body purifies itself, and now to nurture it, in that process.

3. You Could Skip Lunch or Dinner Each Day For An Extended Period of Time

Eat only two meals and an approximately 100-calorie snack (like an apple or a small green smoothie).

And, this is my suggestion: significant evidence shows breakfast to be very important, especially as brain fuel if you work for a living or go to school. Children critically need breakfast, as this study and others show. So, skip lunch or dinner rather than breakfast.

4. You Could Do Alternate-Day Fasting

You fast one day a week, or every other day, to slow the process and shorten the refeeding cycle.

5. Dr. Bryan Walsh is An N.D. Detoxification Practitioner and Feels That No One Should Undergo a Fast Without a Sauna

And, I agree with him. There is such a flood of chemicals and metabolic waste coming through; a daily sauna session would be more than helpful.

The ashram has not invested in one. (I’ve offered to help.) Virtually, all other places I’ve been worldwide, who treat disease holistically, offer infrared sauna sessions.

Having one at home is potentially one of the most useful things you can invest in for your health. Make sure it’s a low-EMF sauna using untreated cedar wood.

Fasting, or even a fasting-mimicking diet, will be massively assisted by daily sauna sessions.

6. Coffee Enema

I think a coffee enema would be very helpful as a daily practice throughout a fast. (Not allowed at the ashram either. They don’t want any potential messes in the residential rooms.)

The caffeine in the organic coffee is instantly taken up by the hemorrhoidal vein to the liver, which not only produces a lot of glutathione (the master antioxidant) but also dilates the liver bile ducts, to release a lot of toxicity into the lower colon.

This allows it to release immediately, rather than recirculate over and over through the blood.

Our detoxers who do this optional but encouraged practice report quick and highly reliable relief from headaches, constipation, and many other symptoms of detoxing (called Herxheimer reactions).

This practice was pioneered by Max Gerson, MD, about 100 years ago, and I personally have used it with astonishing results in my own detoxification experiments and working with 13,000 detoxers, over two decades.

Dozens of holistic clinics around the world employ it, as well, especially for cancer patients to help eliminate tumors breaking down. (For example, this Swiss clinic of biological medicine I take my readers to each summer for a liver detox.)

Who Shouldn’t Fast?

People with renal (kidney) damage shouldn’t fast. (I aborted my last fast 2 days earlier than planned when kidney pain cropped up. However, I’d had annual testing the month before and knew my kidneys to be in perfect shape.)

Pregnant and nursing mothers

Children (In fact, children shouldn’t do severely “time-restricted eating” or “intermittent fasting” that involves skipping breakfast, either, according to this study.)

People with significant diagnoses shouldn’t fast without recommendation and supervision by your functional medicine practitioner.

People with diabetes

(If it were me, as noted earlier, I’d start with one of the options in How Can I Get the Benefits of Fasting, Without Actually Fasting before jumping right into a long water fast.)

Obese people are most likely to fast, and I’ve read of some fasting for 8 weeks or more. Obesity itself presents an enormous risk of death, and so do possibly even more extreme solutions like gastric bypass.

But, those with extreme fat stores are also storing more toxins, as fat attracts chemical toxicity. So, likely, all the risks of long-term fasting are much higher for obese people.

They should be under very close medical supervision. Because while it may be tempting to think “go big or go home” with the long water fast, the risk of cardiac arrhythmia and renal damage or hyperacidity is also higher.

What I Learned From Fasting Without Food

As I strip down broken parts and bits of organs, fat stores, and muscles and tissues, a similar process occurs in me, emotionally and mentally.

I break down, a bit, and rebuild.

And, this is why the spiritual seekers and mystics fast, for even longer periods of time than I do to allow spirit triumph over the body, for a time, and to bring the mortal body low, to humble it, so that only the spirit is strong.

For many, fasting is a way to humble oneself to be more capable of giving thanks and worshiping divinity.

For me, too, it’s my shield against living in a world where I have to breathe cadmium and arsenic in the air, occasionally, despite my significant efforts, eat genetically modified foods and refined foods with carcinogenic chemicals added, and drink water with plastics or antibiotics or fluoride in it.

In my weakness, I also learn how strong I am. I discover that I can do hard things and that I can mentally overcome the weakness of the flesh.

Amazingly, while my most recent 7-day fast was the hardest, I think it was also the most emotionally cathartic.

I learned how my brain, deprived of fuel, affected the way I view others. I decided to observe it rather than judge it.

Basically, I was mad at everyone and everything, for two days, as energies and matter moved through me—another reason I’m glad I was at an ashram far from home.

This PubMed article explains why adrenaline is increased in many who fast for several days. (This also explains why I had a resting heart rate of 78 when my normal is 55, and in the last few days of my fast, I felt my heart pounding in my chest.)

I was working on my laptop, and occasionally phone, and I found that things I would normally take in stride provoked a surprising amount of irritability and flashes of anger. It lasted two days, and then I woke up, peaceful, the last morning.

My awareness was heightened. I thought a lot about my weaknesses and addictions, and I stared at them without shaming myself. I was just observing.

I realized—without even tea, or chewing gum, to entertain my mouth and my senses—how many times, during any day, I do something to increase or decrease my energy, my anxiety, or my ability to rest.

It’s not like I’m taking depression meds, sleeping pills, or painkillers or street drugs.

But, I do drink coffee to power through an intense afternoon of work, and I do drink wine to lubricate a stressful social engagement with strangers.

I do jumping jacks next to my desk to manipulate my energy, and I play sports every morning not just because you’re supposed to break a sweat, for your health, but also for the adrenaline rush and endorphins I draft on, all day.

It is an interesting and useful exercise to fast for a week or two, where all these tactics are off the table. And, I have nothing to rely on except my mind.

And, I find that my mind is strong enough to conquer difficulties. This is good to know, because if we know one thing about life, it’s that we will face serious challenges in the future.

The main thing I accomplish, then, when I fast, is strengthening my body and mind.

Next: I made two Facebook Live videos during my most recent water fast, answering viewer questions and giving more detail. Watch them here:

How do you plan to start fasting without food? Share your thoughts in the comments section!

Up Next: 10 Amazing Treatments By Europe’s Biological Medicine Doctors (You Can’t Get From Your U.S. Medical Doctor)

Resources:

Longo, Valter Ph.D. The Longevity Diet. Avery. 2018

Wells, Katie. My Experience with Water Fasting & Why I’ll Do It Again. Wellness Mama. 03/2018. https://wellnessmama.com/345549/water-fasting/

Sugarman, Joe. Are There any Proven Benefits to Fasting? Johns Hopkins Health Review. 2016. http://www.johnshopkinshealthreview.com/issues/spring-summer-2016/articles/are-there-any-proven-benefits-to-fasting

Wu, Suzanne. Fasting Triggers Stem Cell Regeneration of Damaged, Old Immune System. USC News. 06/2014. https://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-old-immune-system/

Hartman, ML. et al. Augmented growth hormone (GH) secretory burst frequency and amplitude mediate enhanced GH secretion during a two-day fast in normal men. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 04/1992. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1548337

Johnson, James B. et al. Alternate Day Calorie Restriction Improves Clinical Findings and Reduces Markers of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Overweight Adults with Moderate Asthma. Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 03/2007. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S089158490600801X?via%3Dihub

Grantham-McGregor, S. Can the Provision of Breakfast Benefit School Performance? Food and Nutrition Bulletin. 06/2005. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16075563

Zauner, C. Resting energy expenditure in short-term starvation is increased as a result of an increase in serum norepinephrine. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 06/2000. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10837292

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that help support the GSG mission without costing you extra. I recommend only companies and products that I use myself.

Editor’s Note – This post was originally published on April 19, 2018, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

[Read More ...] https://greensmoothiegirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/calm-water-clear-drink-glass-fasting-without-food-px.jpg https://greensmoothiegirl.com/water-fasting/

#infrared saunas #healthy

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almostdiplomatic · 7 years

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If there’s any award for having the most backlog, I’m pretty sure I’ll win it. So, here I am today trying to lessen my load. One article at a time. Today, I’ll be sharing about my visit to the Jewish Museum Berlin. My husband Alvin and I have been saving the museums for winter. We wanted to savour the sun all throughout summer (and what’s left of it in autumn) by exploring the city. However, when my friend Armi visited in August and said she wanted to see this museum in particular, I knew I had to go with her.

Alvin was jealous, of course. However, I promised I’d go back with him once the weather calls for more indoor activities.

The museum’s Libeskind Building

Armi and I went on a weekday at around 10:30 in the morning. Lines were already quite long, especially for the cloak room where visitors are made to leave big bags and backpacks. Security is also pretty strict in the building so make sure you think of that too when planning and budgeting time for your visit.

Architecture of the Jewish Museum Berlin

One of the first things visitors notice about the museum is the beautiful mix of classic and modern architecture. The Libeskind Building was the first thing we saw, coming from one of the museum’s side streets that lead to an Ubahn station.

The tall, dark, and rather imposing building zig-zags through the garden. It was designed by American architect Daniel Libeskind who calls it ‘Between the Lines‘. Much like the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, it leaves people confused and evokes a feeling of restlessness as you look at it. Inside, the feeling multiplies and rather consumes you. But I’ll get to that later.

Visiting the museum means you’ll be entering through the Old Baroque Building. This was the former Collegienhaus (Supreme Court building) and was built in the 1700s. This is where you’ll buy your tickets and go through security. The museum shop and the café are also here along with rooms for special exhibitions.

The Glass Courtyard was also designed by Libeskind, giving a nod to the Jewish harvest festival called Feast of the Tabernacle. In Hebrew, they say Sukkot. The glass panels open to the beautiful gardens just outside. Sadly, it was a quite a rainy summer day so exploring the garden further would have to be on another visit.

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Inside

Once you show your ticket to the staff member, you will be asked to descend a long, uneven staircase. It’s a little dark and you don’t actually see where it leads you. This is how your journey into a dark, hurtful past begins.

You’ll then find yourself in a long tunnel that branches into smaller ones leading to other exhibitions. It’s quite easy to get lost here but thankfully, there are enough signs. Just look up at the walls around tunnel intersections and you should be fine. Some of the walls are just long and bare, giving you a sense of emptiness. Despite the group of students we were exploring the tunnels with that day, it was quite easy to feel alone.

Here in the underground tunnels (Axis of Exile, Axis of the Holocaust), you’ll find personal items of Jewish people who were killed during the Holocaust. They come with stories, letters, and some facts about the people who owned them. I won’t be posting a lot of these photos so as not to spoil your visit. But believe me when I say you’ll have to really toughen up not to cry while reading about the items on display.

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At the end of one of the tunnels is the Holocaust Turm (Holocaust Tower). Outside, it’s seen as an isolated structure. The only access to it is through a heavy door at the end of one of the tunnels. Inside, there is nothing. A bare, empty room with a sliver of daylight penetrating through a small crack high up the walls.

This is one of my favourite parts of the museum. People are just standing, looking up. The longer you stay in the room, the more you feel the hopelessness and the oppression the Jews felt back then.

Cherchez la femme

Up the stairs we went towards the rest of the exhibits. That day, we were lucky to chance upon Cherchez la femme, an exhibit that ran from March till August of 2017.

The exhibit showed the various ways women covered their hair in different parts of the globe and at different times in history. Both traditional and modern ideas were presented as well as how women who cover their hair for religious reasons incorporate their traditions with modern fashion.

Personally, I found it very interesting as this is something that I feel strongly about. I do love hats myself and have used a silk scarf to cover my hair while travelling to keep it from frizzing up. I’ve also tucked my hair in a turban-style beanie to keep it from being rained on and I enjoyed how that looked on me.

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I only cover my hair for fashion or to tame my curls but at the same time, I respect women who do this for religious reasons. As long as women choose to cover and are not forced into doing so, then I’m ok with it. Just my two cents.

I have some friends back in Malaysia who have chosen to cover their hair and I love how they style their tudungs. Some of them even taught me how to do it in what they call ‘Audrey Hepburn style’. It looked utterly fabulous on every single woman who tried it out that day.

Beyond the Holocaust

Just in case I haven’t mentioned it, the Jewish Museum Berlin is not a place for heels. Thank goodness I was wearing my trusty Stan Smiths that day. There’s a lot of walking and going up and down the stairs. The staircases are also high, narrow, and steep. So I would highly recommend wearing comfy shoes.

The museum doesn’t just focus on the Holocaust. It also talks about the daily lives of the Jews before and after World War II. Businessmen, doctors, lawyers – professionals. People who loved art and had careers and lives before the war. People who were able to pick themselves up after such a tragedy started by one, evil man.

The museum also talks about how such atrocities should not be repeated. Some of the exhibits are even interactive – a great way to teach the younger generation lessons from the past.

Thinking of buying a souvenir? Armi and I each bought small artworks made by Jewish artists to support the community in Berlin. And they only cost EUR2. You get them from a vendo machine at one of the Libeskind Building’s higher floors.

The catch is you don’t know what kind of art you’ll be getting. I got one that’s functional which made me very happy. It was a set of wine glass markers in the shape of dreidels designed by Shai Keren in 2013. Will definitely be using them next time we host a dinner at home.

Jewish Museum Berlin

Hours: Open daily from 10 am to 8pm (Mondays, till 10pm) Closed on Jewish holidays like Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah

Tickets: EUR8 for adults, students pay EUR3, and children up to six years old can enter for free Audio guides can be rented EUR3 each

Address: Lindenstraße 9-14, 10969 Berlin Nearest Ubahn station: Bahnhof Hallesches Tor

More later.

Love,

Carol xx

Visiting the Jewish Museum Berlin If there's any award for having the most backlog, I'm pretty sure I'll win it. So, here I am today trying to lessen my load.

#Berlin #Cherchez la femme #Germany #Holocaust #Jewish Museum Berlin #Libeskind Building

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easyweight101 · 7 years

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Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream Review (UPDATED 2017): Don’t Buy Before You Read This!

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream is an overnight eye cream designed to address the full range of eye aging concerns. This formula targets dark circles, dryness and uneven skin tone in equal measure.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream is a silky, cream made with plant extracts, hyaluronic acid, squalane and more—which work together to smooth and hydrate skin. Despite the name, this product may be used in the morning and at night.

Kremovage is the perfect cream for consumers with all types of skin. This solution contains a blend of gentle, yet potent components like squalane, ocean-based retinol, and peptides, which work together to firm and lift, erasing wrinkles, age spots, and more. Click the link for details on using Kremovage to treat wrinkles, sun damage, and sagging skin.

Do You Know the Best Eye Creams of 2017 ?

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream Ingredients and Side Effects

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream contains a long list of plant-based ingredients, oils and hydrating compounds. We did not list everything present in this blend, opting to limit things to a list of the most active items:

Lactic Acid Bitter Orange Titanium Dioxide Meadow Sweet

Wheat Germ Extract: Wheat germ extract is used to soften the skin. It’s also a good source of B complex vitamins and vitamin E—as well as an effective defense against incoming free radical damage.

Soybean Extract: Soybean seed extract is used to add moisture to the skin. It may also deliver amino acids to the skin, as well as vitamins and minerals.

Caffeine: Caffeine is used in a number of eye creams due to its ability to reduce puffiness with use, as well as constrict the blood vessels just below the skin—this reduces the appearance of dark circles caused by concentrated blood pigments.

Sodium Hyaluronate: Sodium hyaluronate is the salt of hyaluronic acid, a substance that keeps eyes and joints naturally lubricated. This ingredient works like hyaluronic acid, keeping skin moisturized.

Chamomile Extract: Chamomile, though often used to make tea, is also quite soothing when applied topically. This ingredient is antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory—working to heal red, irritated skin.

Algae Extract: Algae is rich in vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants. Antiaging products often rely on algae to deliver key benefits—providing much needed nutrients to the skin and promoting cell turnover.

Peptides: Peptides are simply short strings of amino acids—not quite long enough to be proteins. Peptides, when applied to the skin, may help stimulate the production of collagen and elastin—improving the structure of the skin, as well as the tone and texture.

Squalane: Squalane is a natural emollient and antioxidant that works to hydrate the skin and reduce signs of aging.

Check out the best eye creams for treating under eye dullness—more details on the website.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream Quality of Ingredients

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream contains a long list of hydrating ingredients, along with peptides and algae extract—among others—which repair and smooth damaged, aging skin.

For the most part, we’d say that this product is made from a good blend of ingredients. The formula lines up with the advertised benefits—for example, a night cream should contain things like a blend of oils and hydrating components like squalane and hyaluronic acid.

That said, there are some problematic items included in the mix—petrolatum, a petroleum product, for example. Or vinyl and dimethicone—things that aren’t necessarily toxic, but may clog pores.

Overall, there’s a bit of give and take here, but this seems like a good product for people who want meaningful hydration. Based on the formula, this might not work well with makeup.

Give droopy eyelids a much-needed lift. More details on finding an eye cream that really performs here.

EDITOR’S TIP: Combine this product with a proven eye cream such as Kremovage for better results.

The Price and Quality of Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream is available directly from the Estee Lauder website for $60. Each unit comes with 0.5 ounces of cream.

Users are able to find this product through a number of in-person and online channels. Estee Lauder is a well-known brand with a significant reach across department stores and specialty cosmetics retailers like Sephora and Ulta.

Most retailers that carry this item do offer it the list price—you’re unlikely to find this on sale at Macy’s or Nordstrom, but Amazon currently has it discounted down to $48. We’re not sure if this is an authorized retailer, as Estee Lauder is not involved with this listing.

That said, none of the reviewers have left comments claiming the product arrived damaged or expired, as you’ll sometimes run into on Amazon.

$60 is a fairly reasonable price for such a product—especially given the long list of active ingredients present in the formula.

Get the latest thinking on how to put together the regimen best-suited for your skin type.

Business of Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream was created by cosmetics company, Estee Lauder. Here is a little more about this company:

Phone: 212-572-4200

Address: Corporate Headquarters 767 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10153

Estee Lauder was founded 1946 and has since been selling a range of skin care products, cosmetics, and scents. Estee Lauder products are sold in a number of retail stores and available in 135 different countries.

The Estee Lauder site is very informative. The company has provided consumers with detailed information about how to use their product, the ingredients used to make them, as well as a deep backlog of product reviews. It’s worth pointing out that most reviews on the official website are positive—so readers should consider that it’s possible some reviews may have been removed.

The site offers free samples with every $25 purchase and users can enroll in an Estee Lauder rewards program for further savings.

Customer Opinions of Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream is available from several different channels—many of which offer a place for users to share their comments.

Overall, people had a positive opinion of the product—with many claiming that it helped them maintain a youthful appearance. There were no complaints about the formula, no instances of irritation, as far as we can tell. Here are some of the comments left by past reviewers.

“Excellent product—I’ve been using this for several years to combat wrinkles and dark circles. It’s super useful.”

“My dark circles are still present, but this has been the best thing for my eyes. Wrinkles and dry spots are much improved. I definitely recommend this product—it’s not especially expensive, either.”

“I don’t mind spending money on quality products, but in this case, I’m not blown away. I haven’t noticed a huge difference, but my eyes are less swollen. I’ll use this up, but not sure I’d buy again.”

“Dark circles are not as dark, but they’re still somewhat noticeable. I haven’t noticed much in the way of wrinkle improvement, but I’ll give it a little more time.”

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream has glowing reviews, for the most part. We’d say that most people felt this product was effective for soothing away wrinkles and tackling issues with dry skin.

This product appears to have a modest effect on dark circles, but those with hereditary dark circles might not have the best luck with this cream.

That said, users were pleased with the powerful hydration and reduction in wrinkles.

Creams, gels, serums and more. Here is a look at the products you need for younger, more radiant skin.

Conclusion – Does Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream Work?

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream looks like it might be a good solution for users who are after a younger, hydrated look. Despite its primary function as a night cream, it seems this product can be used around the clock—though it may be a little oily for use under makeup.

While some people may find this cream a little pricey, it’s relatively modest compared to other creams in the higher end of the market.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream clearly has some good benefits, but users looking for a versatile eye cream, or one with more of an effect on dark circles.

Kremovage is the top product for aging eyes, according to our team of skincare experts. We’ve found this product consistently offers the results users are looking for in an eye cream. With hydrating plant oils, potent peptides, and plenty of antioxidants, it’s no wonder this product brings noticeable results with daily use.

Kremovage was made for consumers of all skin types. It gently erases unwanted skin concerns using a diverse blend of proven ingredients Click here to view the full list of ingredients and find out how to buy Kremovage yourself.

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artsoccupychi · 6 years

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I Went Without Food for 35 Days. Here’s What I Learned.

I’m completely fascinated by the process and benefits of fasting.

I’m talking about eating absolutely nothing for a long period of time. (With water, it’s called “water fasting”–or without water, it’s called “dry fasting.”)

And I’ve always felt that when Christians, Muslims, and Jews quit fasting routinely, we lost something important.

After all, some sects in those religious traditions used to fast, at length, for weeks at a time.

Now, my research into fasting—including doing it myself 4 times in the past 2 years (for 12 days, 9 days, and 7 days twice)–has less to do with spiritual purification, and more to do with the health benefits.

I developed what qualifies as a fasting-mimicking detox, five years ago, which 13,000 people have now done.

(By “fasting mimicking,” I mean you can eat three times a day, but food is completely prescribed to achieve similar benefits to fasting.)

And I do not honestly believe that most people can or will do what I just did.

(Go completely without food for a week or more.)

In fact, I’m not sure they even should. More on that later.

Let’s talk about what crazy, slightly disgusting and simultaneously amazing things happen in the human body when you fast for a long period of time.

And why I keep doing this, about every year.

What I get from it. And why you might want to consider doing some form of fasting.

Why I didn’t do my water fasting at home

I have very little self discipline.

I’m not a biohacker, constantly using technology on myself, to experiment. I’ve never run a race longer than a 10k and don’t plan to.

And I don’t have any self-denial fetishes. I don’t just do every hard thing, because it’s a challenge.

Besides being raised Mormon, where we fasted Saturday night to Sunday night one Sunday every month, from the age of 8, I have absolutely no reason why fasting for a long period of time would be easy for me.

I’m one of those people who, if something hurts, or I’m hungry, everybody around me is gonna know about it.

In fact, I knew I couldn’t do it from home.

I would start with the best of intentions, I’m sure. I might even last a whole day. But the fridge would be right there. 100 steps away, max.

My car would be in the garage, with food just a 10-minute drive from food. Really good food.

No, wait, it’s worse than that—there’s a Thai restaurant literally 3 minutes from my house.

My willpower is nothing, when I get ferociously hungry.

I’m a vegetarian, and very frankly, I’d eat a t-bone cooked rare, if I got hungry enough. Maybe even a hot dog. (I suffered actual pain, writing that.)

So I fly to a spiritual retreat in Texas, run by Hindu monks and nuns, to fast. It’s called Siddhayatan.

What it’s like to fast at Siddhayatan

Siddhayatan is in Nowhere, Texas. Truly, it is miles from anything, and you cannot use your Uber or Lyft app, from there. To sneak out and get food, in a moment of weakness.

It’s insanely cheap, maybe the cost of a Motel 6.

Which makes sense, considering they’re feeding you nothing, and you might be sharing a bathroom, or staying in a room with no drywall, and a naked lightbulb your only form of light.

I could go to True North in California, where they’ll “medically supervise” me and the lodgings are really nice.

But heck, while I’m facing all my addictions, might as well face my addiction to upper-middle-class luxuries, as well.

I take a sliver of soap and a towel. (Correct, the Hindu ashram does not provide a towel or washcloths.)

I take a $100 Uber from the airport, where you can actually get a ride. You can Uber to the ashram, but not back to the airport.

Later, I’ll have a private car company drive me back. But you can’t just call them when you’re freaking out and wanting food. You can schedule them to pick you up tomorrow.

So this saves me from my freakouts. I mean, freakouts are by definition short-term.

You see how it’s the perfect place for water fasting? Temptation is completely removed.

Also: you CAN have a meal there, if you find you aren’t doing well, fasting.

You would have to be in a serious crisis to just drop in for lunch, though. First of all, that would be embarrassing.

You’re supposed to give them a heads up, because this is the most frugal place you’ve ever been.

(You, the water faster? No soup for you. They didn’t plan on you crashing the meal.)

So besides being embarrassing to fail to ask well in advance if you can eat a meal with everybody else, you might actually be causing everyone they did plan for, to not get enough to eat, if you just crashed a meal.

I know, it’s really Dickensian.

So my point is, your food cravings are not easily indulged at this place. And for me, that’s half the battle.

There’s the actual hunger and physical weakness itself—sometimes even symptoms from long-term fasting (I’ll get to that)—but the constant temptations you’d have at home are removed.

I know a guy at home who recently fasted for 23 days. He went out to lunch and coffee with people, the whole time, and just abstained.

I guess some people are motivated or more self-disciplined than I am.

I almost lost my mind watching Netflix on my laptop, during my last fast.

(Do you know how much food they show, on most movies and TV shows? No, you don’t. You notice this kind of thing only when you’re fasting.)

So, some people might have an iron will and be able to fast at home, but I am not one of them.

The total isolation at Siddhayatan is hard (I like being around people!) but it’s also helpful.

Should you try water fasting?

Now, if you’re thinking about this for yourself, a few caveats.

One, there is no medical supervision here. No nurses or doctors. They have people fasting here all the time, without serious incident, but people have actually died from fasting before. Or so I’ve heard.

I mean, the odds of you dying from fasting are probably about as high as you dying from taking most over-the-counter medications. Or driving in a car.

That is, pretty low.

But when I interviewed Valter Longo, PhD, a fasting and longevity expert and author of The Longevity Diet, he did cite two deaths he knows of, from people fasting for a length of time, one of them with diabetes, and one with multiple sclerosis.

While Longo recites the many incredible health benefits of fasting, including rebuilding myelin sheath and regenerating insulin-producing capacity of the pancreas—long term benefits, not just short term, after the fast–I imagine he doesn’t want the liability of people at risk fasting for long periods of time, due to his recommendations.

Frankly, neither do I, in an age of litigiousness.

Which seems ridiculous, given that millions of people have fasted, accidentally due to lack of food, or on purpose, for literally millenia.

But here we are, in 2018. Where most Americans have never gone a whole day without food, and some tell me they’ve never even skipped a meal.

I think we’re more in need of fasting, than any culture in the history of mankind.

So here’s my onerous disclaimer: if you undergo a water fast or dry fast longer than a day, don’t say that I told you to do it. Please do it under supervision of a trusted functional medicine practitioner.

This blog post is about my experience, and is not medical advice and does not substitute for competent medical care.

What Are the Side Effects of Fasting?

Hunger and energy fluctuations

It goes without saying that you’re really insanely hungry the first few days. Then, your body and mind settle in.

Some people describe having lots of energy. Most don’t! Generally, the longer you fast, the more your cravings for food subside, but so does your energy.

Your spirits will stay higher if you’re “doing the mental work” of challenging yourself with the task of confronting your addictions, congratulating yourself on your progress each day (or hour), reminding yourself of the health benefits, and staying positive.

If you’re smart, you don’t take a laptop with a huge writing project and deadline, like I do. (Every single time. A single mom’s gotta work!)

If you can afford the time off from Life, you can just lie in bed, take short walks now and then, but not do much of anything unless you feel like it.

That said, you know yourself, and some of us do better when we’re as productive as energy allows.

I think fasting would actually be harder for me if I were like everyone else at the Siddhayatan retreat, and didn’t work at all.

On about Day 4, I start to have periods of not feeling hunger. One of the nuns told me that this is my body and mind “accepting” the fast.

Muscle, tissue, organ, and fat cleanup

I also, however, in each of my last 3 fasts, start to have lower back pain on day 4. Since I never experience this at home, I researched it, and I believe it is—don’t be scared now, this is going to sound scary—

–my kidneys backlogged with broken-down muscle tissue. Possibly compounded by over-drinking water (which is easy to do, when that’s all you can have).

Yeah, your muscle breaks down. A little bit. This may sound like a bad thing.

But if you’re a weight lifter and your trainer has you believing that all your nutrition habits should be geared to just one thing—preserving and building muscle mass—let me share a revolutionary concept. Well, two of them.

One, every time you lift weights, you’re tearing down muscle fiber. And as it builds, that’s how your muscles grow.

And two, your muscle needs cleanup, just like your organs, joints, even every cell, does! If a tiny amount of your muscle breaks down, it was the body tearing out the parts that needed rebuilding anyway.

Don’t overattach, as the Hindu monks would tell you.

Remember, the fasting process doesn’t want to break down healthy muscle. It’s strong and it is serving you well.

As you deprive your body of food, it’s nasties like bacteria and cancer and yeast that are gobbled up like crazy. Oh, and belly fat!

Fasting Is Different For Everyone.

My friend Katie Wells, who has one of the most popular wellness blogs online, “The Wellness Mama,” recently water fasted for 2 weeks, and found that after the first three days of weakness and hunger, she was insanely productive.

She cooked for her family of six children, and just abstained.

Total isolation and removal from food temptation, like I get at the Texas ashram, is very beneficial to me. (Also a little lonely.)

Fasting gets you “up close and personal” with all your addictions. You know how you need a coffee to wake you up? (Or, in my case, you like it as a pick-me-up while you’re working, in the afternoon.)

Well, you can’t have one. You can’t have a glass of wine (or three) on Saturday night, you can’t snack, you can’t even have a cup of tea.

And this becomes an interesting deep dive into your soul, where you learn how addicted to stimulation, in general, you are.

What will you do with that knowledge? I think even the awareness is helpful. Towards managing addictions and moving through them to a healthier place.

I think that if you can soldier on and do your work and tend to your family, the time will pass more quickly, than if you do what I do:

Sit around in bed, mostly, working on your laptop and watching movies. p.s. Try not to watch movies about food.

When I was hitting a wall, in my most recent 7-day fast, on day 3, the nuns told me about some of their other water fasters.

The longest? An older man fasted for 40 days. Pretty Biblical, right? They said he would pretty much lay in bed the whole time and was very, very weak.

But the woman who stayed in my room before me had come for a 30-day fast, brought her dog, and planned to confront her emotional eating problem.

She ended up extending two more days. (Wow.)

Another woman came for three weeks, and walked 10 miles a day.

Like I said, fasting is different for everyone. In fact, while each of my long fasts have had similarities, my process and struggles and epiphanies are different each time, too.

What Does Research Show the Benefits of Fasting Are?

There are a host of health benefits that results from giving your body and your digestive system a break.

Cancer benefits

I was first handed a bibliography of books on fasting by Thomas Lodi, M.D., when I was on a worldwide research tour of 19 clinics, studying non-toxic cancer treatment.

Lodi feels that fasting for 30 days is the best thing a cancer patient can do. Those books on fasting are found in the References section below.

Some disagree. In fact, Valter Longo, PhD, who specializes in fasting and in oncology in his research, feels that fasting while doing chemo is highly effective, protective of healthy cells, but he says that in both animals and human studies, he’s never seen fasting alone turn cancer around.

And, I think it’s clear that when a patient is in Stage IV and cachexia has set in, where the body is metabolizing muscle to feed the cancer and stay alive, fasting may be a very poor idea.

But Dr. Lodi maintains that the evidence shows it to be a powerful cancer preventative and treatment adjuvant.

With quite a bit of cancer in my family, my primary reason to fast, periodically, is cancer prevention.

Diabetes benefits

One study shows fasting to be regenerative for insulin production, as the pancreas repairs itself during a period with no food. And the results weren’t short term: months later, they remained.

Especially when the person fasting begins “re-feeding” on a plant-based diet. (Longo says the evidence is clear that the plant-based diet is best, for longevity, with small amounts of wild-caught fish as well.)

Several studies in Longo’s book cite turning around Type II diabetes, though Longo feels that a “fasting mimicking diet” is preferable and less risky. Those taking insulin should not go without food for a long period of time.

Our 26-day detox qualifies as “fasting mimicking.”

There are periods of significant calorie suppression, which Longo’s research shows to be powerful in increasing stem cells, increasing human growth hormone, and disease reversal.

Having guided 13,000 people, now, through our detox program in the past 5 years, I agree with Dr. Longo that many people are simply too toxic to do a full-blown fast, with no food at all.

(Some feel great, the whole 26 days, but others struggle, even with eating three times a day, on the detox, as they come off their caffeine, alcohol, sugar, salt, and other addictions.)

However, with rare exceptions, anyone can do our 26-day detox protocol, or Longo’s “fasting mimicking diet” or “FMD” five-day monthly protocol.

Autophagy benefits: cleaning out for better rebuilding

At the water fasting retreat I did in 2016, I met a man named Eric.

His reason to fast was that a practitioner told him to do it for 20 days, to burn out a severe candida overgrowth.

Eric had been a heroin addict for many years, and he’d been hospitalized for the effects of his drug use, where he contracted MRSA. That required a month of antibiotics. And as you likely know, antibiotics usually lead to gut issues.

His were extreme. Absolutely anything he ate bloated his otherwise flat stomach to look like he was 8 months pregnant. He was miserably sick, and desperate.

Desperate enough to stop eating for 3 weeks.

However, contrary to Eric’s belief, arriving at the retreat, the primary benefit of fasting isn’t ketosis, although you are definitely in ketosis after a day or two.

Eric was after “ketosis,” where the body burns ketone bodies in the brain for fuel, which is all the rage currently with practitioners.

(I predict the obsession with ketosis, which is actually the body in crisis, will eventually go the way of the dodo.)

I explained autophagy to Eric, which is far more interesting to me.

It is literally defined as “self eating,” because when the body has no other fuel, it feeds its cells and does cleanup work by metabolizing cancerous growths, and breaking down yeasts, mold, fungi, viral, bacterial, and many other aberrant cells and growths.

—but also the efficacy and power of the rebuilding process. Which happens after the fast.

Amazingly, 3 weeks of water fasting rectified Eric’s desperate situation, and a few months after finishing his fast, he texted me that he was still feeling great.

Neurological benefits

Not only does fasting help our bodies, it also benefits our brains. New studies show that fasting may actually ward off neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and even improve our memory and mood.

Dr. Longo cites a study showing that fasting contributes to stripping down and rebuilding the myelin sheath, an exciting possibility for multiple sclerosis patients.

Fasting has also been shown to increase the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that contributes to the growth and maintenance of the brain’s nerve cells, and has an anti-depression effect.

Mark Mattson, professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, explained in Johns Hopkins Health Review how fasting produces changes in the brain.

When you eat, glucose (or sugar) is stored in your liver as glycogen. Once the glycogen is used up, in about 11 hours, your body starts burning fats that are converted to ketone bodies.

It is these acidic chemicals that actually produce positive changes in the structure of synapses–or the gap that transmits information from one nerve cell to another. These cells have been shown to transmit signals to and from the brain at speeds of 200 mph.

When we constantly eat, our bodies don’t have a chance to produce these ketones. It’s interesting to note that exercise has similar positive effects on the brain.

Immune System Benefits

What surprised the researchers was this: fasting caused the immune system to regenerate. They believe that the body, put into a state of low reserves, does what it can to save energy.

The result is that a lot of damaged immune cells, along with glucose, fat and ketones, are broken down. The depletion of these immune (white blood) cells results in stem cell-based regeneration of new immune cells.

Another one of their findings was a noticeable decrease in the production of the enzyme PKA, a hormone that has been associated with an increased risk of cancer.

The reduction in PKA allows the stem cells to switch into regeneration mode, ultimately rebuilding your entire immune system.

Pretty incredible.

Anti-aging benefits

Researchers from the Department of Medicine at the University of Virginia found that fasting for just two days produced a 5-fold increase in human growth hormone (HGH).

Asthma benefits

The result? The symptoms associated with their asthma “improved significantly.”

Is Fasting Good for Weight Loss?

Fasting is great for weight loss—and then again, that’s not a great primary reason to fast. I’ll explain.

First of all, there are much, much easier ways to lose weight. Faster isn’t always better.

Second, you will gain back some or most of the weight you lost, and that’s a good thing.

You have to understand that fasting is a two part process.

There’s the first period where you aren’t eating. As discussed before, your body is breaking down old cell parts, tissues, fat stores, and healthy cells are consuming dead cells, so that they have fuel, and so that they don’t swamp the filtering organs like the kidneys.

But there’s also the “refeeding” process. That’s where you give the body very healthy fuel, after your fast, to rebuild the broken-down tissues.

Because “you are what you eat,” then, you want to eat lots of the cleanest foods possible:

That is, nutrient-dense, organic plant foods, including greens, vegetables, nuts and seeds, fruits, and legumes. And if you eat animal products, eat very clean ones, and sparingly.

So, one of the first parts of the body to break down is fat stores, especially belly fat, according to research literature cited by Longo. But as you may know, fat cells don’t disappear.

They only shrink. So if you go back to your old ways of eating, you can fairly easily rebuild those belly fat deposits.

You’ll have to end your fast with a commitment to eating mostly plant-based whole foods, if you want the belly fat not to return.

Some people respond to the idea of fasting with this: “That’s a terrible idea, because you’ll lose muscle mass!”

This seems to be a vestige of the protein-obsessed fitness industry, who thinks that (a) anything that builds muscle mass is good (not true!), and (b) anything that decreases muscle mass even to the smallest degree is bad (also not true!).

I recommend if you fast, and you’re interested in weight loss, that you not weigh yourself before and after.

You’re going to lose how much you lose. And in the “refeeding” process, you will gain some of the weight back. (You need to.)

Just trust the process, don’t make weight loss the primary goal, and focus on the health benefits.

Start with a “fasting mimicking” diet, like our 26-day detox, know that you’re giving yourself an amazing health reboot–with some loss of fat stores being an inevitable result, some increase in human growth hormone and stem cells–and congratulate yourself on your wins, as you think about taking it a step further, potentially, later.

How Can I Get the Benefits of Fasting, Without Actually Fasting?

Like Dr. Longo, I wouldn’t tell any first-time faster, someone who has never done a committed detoxification protocol, or a long term (4+ days) fast without dipping a toe in the water first. Here are some ways to do that:

1. Longo’s own 5-days-a-month “fasting mimicking diet” is a place to start. That’s one idea, and you can read about it in his book The Longevity Diet. (In his program, you’re eating plant-based meals, of 800 to 1,200 calories a day.)

2. A second option, as I’ve mentioned, for a hard reboot of the body’s digestive system, and a lot of breakdown of old material and eliminations of chemicals in organs and fat deposits, our 26-day process is highly effective, based on the research and practice of the “greats” in the field of human detoxification.

3. Third, you could skip lunch or dinner each day, for an extended period of time. Eat only two meals, and an approximately 100-calorie snack (like an apple, or a small green smoothie).

And, this is my suggestion: significant evidence shows breakfast to be very important. Especially as brain fuel if you work for a living or go to school. Children critically need breakfast, as this study and others show. So skip lunch or dinner, rather than breakfast.

4. Fourth, finally, you could do alternate-day fasting, where you fast one day a week, or every other day, to slow the process and shorten the refeeding cycle.

5. Dr. Bryan Walsh is an N.D. detoxification practitioner and feels that no one should undergo a fast without a sauna.

And I agree with him. There is such a flood of chemicals and metabolic waste coming through, a daily sauna session would be more than helpful.

The ashram has not invested in one. (I’ve offered to help.) Virtually all other places I’ve been, worldwide, who treat disease holistically, offer infrared sauna sessions.

Having one at home is potentially one of the most useful things you can invest in, for your health. Make sure it’s a low-EMF sauna using untreated cedar wood.

Fasting, or even a fasting-mimicking diet, will be massively assisted by daily sauna sessions.

6. I think a coffee enema would be very helpful as a daily practice, throughout a fast. (Not allowed at the ashram either. They don’t want any potential messes in the residential rooms.)

The caffeine in the organic coffee is instantly taken up by the hemmorrhoidal vein to the liver, which not only produces a lot of glutathione (the master antioxidant), but also dilates the liver bile ducts, to release a lot of toxicity into the lower colon.

This allows it to release immediately, rather than recirculate over and over through the blood.

Our detoxers who do this optional but encouraged practice report quick and highly reliable relief from headaches, constipation, and many other symptoms of detoxing (called Herxheimer reactions).

Who Shouldn’t Fast?

• People with renal (kidney) damage shouldn’t fast. I aborted my last fast 2 days earlier than planned, when kidney pain cropped up. However, I’d had annual testing the month before and knew my kidneys to be in perfect shape.

• Pregnant and nursing mothers shouldn’t fast.

• Children shouldn’t fast for longer than a day.

(In fact, children shouldn’t do severely “time restricted eating” or “intermittent fasting” that involves skipping breakfast, either, according to this study.)

• People with significant diagnoses shouldn’t fast without recommendation and supervision by your functional medicine practitioner.

• People with diabetes, on insulin, shouldn’t fast.

(If it were me, as noted earlier, I’d start with one of the options in How Can I Get the Benefits of Fasting, Without Actually Fasting. Before jumping right into a long water fast.)

But those with extreme fat stores are also storing more toxins, as fat attracts chemical toxicity. So, likely all the risks of long-term fasting are much higher for obese people.

They should be under very close medical supervision. Because while it may be tempting to think “go big or go home” with the long water fasts, risk of cardiac arrhythmia and renal damage or hyperacidity is also higher.

What I Learned From Fasting

As I strip down broken parts and bits of organs and fat stores and muscle and tissues, a similar process occurs in me, emotionally and mentally.

I break down, a bit. And rebuild.

And this is why the spiritual seekers and mystics fast, for even longer periods of time than I do.

To allow spirit triumph over body, for a time. To bring the mortal body low, to humble it, so that only spirit is strong.

For many, fasting is a way to humble oneself to be more capable of giving thanks and worshiping divinity.

For me, too, it’s my shield against living in a world where I have to breathe cadmium and arsenic in the air, and occasionally, despite my significant efforts, eat genetically modified foods and refined foods with carcinogenic chemicals added, and drink water with plastics or antibiotics or fluoride in it.

In my weakness, I also learn how strong I am. I discover that I can do hard things. That I can mentally overcome the weakness of the flesh.

Amazingly, while my most recent 7-day fast was the hardest, I think—it was also the most emotionally cathartic.

I learned how my brain, deprived of fuel, affected the way I view others. I decided to observe it rather than judge it.

Basically, I was mad at everyone and everything, for two days, as energies and matter moved through me—another reason I’m glad I was at an ashram far from home.

This PubMed article explains why. Adrenaline is increased in many who fast for several days. (This also explains why I had a resting heart rate of 78, when my normal is 55, and the last few days of my fast, I felt my heart pounding in my chest.)

I was working on my laptop, and occasionally phone, and I found that things I would normally take in stride, provoked a surprising amount of irritability and flashes of anger. It lasted two days, and then I woke up, peaceful, the last morning.

My awareness was heightened, I thought a lot about my weaknesses and addictions, and I stared at them. Without shaming myself. Just observing.

I realized–without even tea, or chewing gum, to entertain my mouth and my senses–how many times, during any day, I do something to increase or decrease my energy, my anxiety, or my ability to rest.

It’s not like I’m taking depression meds or sleeping pills or painkillers or street drugs.

But I do drink coffee to power through an intense afternoon of work, and I do drink wine to lubricate a stressful social engagement with strangers.

I do jumping jacks next to my desk to manipulate my energy, and I play sports every morning not just because you’re supposed to break a sweat, for your health–but also for the adrenaline rush and endorphins I draft on, all day.

It is an interesting and useful exercise to fast for a week or two, where all these tactics are off the table. And I have nothing to rely on except my mind.

And I find that my mind is strong enough to conquer difficulties. This is good to know, because if we know one thing about Life, it’s that we will face serious challenges in the future.

The main thing I accomplish, then, when I fast, is strengthening my body and mind.

Next: I made two Facebook Live videos during my most recent water fast, answering viewer questions and giving more detail. Watch them here:

Resources

Longo, Valter PhD. The Longevity Diet. Avery. 2018

Wells, Katie. My Experience with Water Fasting & Why I’ll Do It Again. Wellness Mama. 03/2018. https://wellnessmama.com/345549/water-fasting/

Wu, Suzanne. Fasting Triggers Stem Cell Regeneration of Damaged, Old Immune System. USC News. 06/2014. https://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-old-immune-system/

Grantham-McGregor, S. Can the Provision of Breakfast Benefit School Performance? Food and Nutrition Bulletin. 06/2005. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16075563

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