As someone who has never Fasted beyond experiencing Ketosis (which naturally occurs to some extent, if one ever experiences Intermittent Fasting)…the big jump to Fasting…the real thing!.. has always been a psychological barrier. It is now worth canvasing the things I know!…That fasting is an excellent way to jump start aging stem cells. And here I am going to digress somewhat for a fuller comprehension of this fascinating Stem Cell frontier in Health Care!
We know the following: Fasting…and I am not talking Intermittent Fasting as that does not really accomplish the jolt necessary to wake up aging stem cells!..all it does is to condition the body to the concept, idea, and physiological experience of Fat Burning…that is an ongoing and temporarily permanent process in a true fast…so those who have experienced fat burning, and that is a rarity in this day and age, have an advantage of conditioning which is really a prerequisite for a true Fast of say some five days. Consider this five day period now to be optimal after range of expert reviews. Valter Longo is particularly thorough in this regard! Anyway Fasting is one method, and as Dr. Joseph Mercola has mercurially stated in the past to the effect it is an economic way, to health care and longevity, with Stem Cell rejuvenation! The other is the Injection of ground zero stem cells (umbilical cord and amniotic material that is obtained from Caesarian section in the US) This procedure is carried out today effectively in Panama! The reason? simply because in the US the rules against using Stem cells are complicated and maybe illegal. Better to have the very best health care in a benign or even pro-stem cell therapy jurisdiction!
Now at this juncture there is somewhat of a confusion in my mind because there may be a third route!! I have listened to Dr. Tami Meraglia who has a stem cell clinic in Seattle and takes a holistic approach to medicine. Her forte is to extract and use andipose fat cells and not that much of it, and culture them to vast numbers of stem cells. But she primarily accomplishes this by sending the extracted cells off to the US storage center in Florida. There they apparently multiply the stem cells many times. She then uses this for both general therapy throughout the body in generalized terms and specific procedures usually relating to joints. It is really, as she describes, the replacement of a typical joint cortisone shot..one that she is used to from Sports medicine!
Now I am puzzled. It seems that these cells are effective and the key is the number. So the downside of aging is that we produce fewer stem cells but if they are multiplied many many times then their direct effectiveness still seems to be there! These are not ground zero…and not someone else’s cells! It may be that using ground zero has that wake up effect on one’s own aged stem cells…but these are aged stem cells that seem to be effective providing provided in quantity… anyway! I am pretty versed in this sector and notice no commentary from Meraglia discussing this…just that it works!
Then we have some concerns that fat burns..which is what metabolically occurs during a Water Fast… unleash toxins that are stored more easily in fat…this is called lipolysis and means the mobilization of fat-soluble toxins. It seems that to avoid absorption or re-absorption by the body it’s important to take binding agents, when fasting, and to sweat out toxins, like using a sauna! Apparently having urine pH of 7.5 or above greatly increases the excretion of acidic xenobiotics and other toxins. The pH of the urine dictates whether a xenobiotic on its way out gets reabsorbed or gets excreted..thanks to Dr. Mercola for this! So maybe distilled water…boiled water?!…with lemon?…and plenty of it! And perhaps a small amount of cruciferous vegetables? A kind of modified Valter Longo FMD or Fasting Mimicking Diet. TrueNorth Health Center, the largest fasting clinic in North America, have taken 16,000 people through the water fasting process, many up to 40 days. But the essence here is that one is medically supervised on a continuous basis. It may be that just water fasting outside such an environment for most really is too risky, unless one has been exposed to ketosis before and have some physical experience! Bryan Walsh thinks that the vast unwashed are just not healthy enough just to water fast! He may be right! No Fuss Fasting…Pragmatic But Careful!
The reason toxin levels go up when fasting is because most toxins are fat-soluble and thus stored in fat. When you’re fasting or on a low-calorie diet, you’re primarily burning fat as fuel. When the fat is being burned for energy, it releases the fat-soluble toxins stored within the fat cells — water-soluble toxins you are hopefully excreting every day through sweat, urine and feces. No Fuss Fasting…Pragmatic But Careful!
Lipolysis is the process of breaking down stored fat, and anything that induces lipolysis is going to mobilize stored fat-soluble toxins. The more lipolysis takes place, such as during fasting or time-restricted feeding (intermittent fasting) or exercise, the more toxins will be mobilized and released from your tissues. Brassica vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are excellent for this, as are garlic, onions, leeks and chives. Dr. Bryan Walsh uses Chitosan and Charcoal…and in his unique FMD he appears to limit nutrients such as green tea etc. and incorporate fiber belonging to the Brassica group above, as effective detoxification binders. His theory that if is very difficult to remove the toxins from the gut if there is not some passage…its not just drinking its not just sweating you have to bind…you have to move that stuff along! So, to effectively detox, you first need to mobilize the toxins, then optimize your detox pathways, and finally bind the toxins flowing through your system so that they can be eliminated through your urine, feces or sweat.
For these reasons, Bryan Walsh’s program includes very few supplements. It’s mostly food-based, as you’re not likely to harm or create adverse effects on any of the detox pathways with food. As such, it seems to be one of the most pragmatic, safe and relatively inexpensive ways to detox. But we should not get too hung up, as the incredible interview that is highly technical between Dr Guido Kroemer of the University of Paris and Dr Rhonda Patrick whom I respect for her profound research knowledge…suggests! This man Dr. Guido Kroemer has but one meal a day…is a coffee addict and justifies it… exercises and conducts two water fasts per year…and minimizes the gusto around those fasts..! I love the fact that cheeses and moldy cheeses are a positive … Spermidine source…smelly often, such as blue cheese…think of extreme…smelly fruits… Durian!… together with his excuse for Resveratrol with Red wine! But he may well have something as he is implementing many pathways for Autophagy… short of complete fasting… and with complete fasting for an optimal period about 5 days, without a lot of squeamishness! No Fuss Fasting…Pragmatic But Careful!
