Is fasting popular in Germany?

My German neighbor recently completed a fast where she only drank liquids and got a type of "fasting kit" from the apotheke that I assume provided the liquids.

The idea was to clean out her system and she said it worked quite well and it was nothing too extreme. Have any of you done something similiar?

Is this popular in Germany?

Have also tried fasting with copies amounts of beer. The only thing is, when finished boozing the urge is to much to resist a gyros mit pommes. Then the next weekend comes and its back to square one to try again.

Have tried though.

Not the answer you were looking for me thinks.

Taxi...

Lots of people here fast and think it is good for you, getting all of the poisons out of your body.

As an American, this sounds highly unhealthy to me and I would never do it.

why specifically do you think it is unhealthy?

I've never done it unless I was ill and was not able to eat anything.

Well, because eating is fairly necessary for survival and it is unnatural not to eat for days at a time. Especially for someone with weight problems, your body goes into starvation mode and as soon as you start eating again it starts storing energy for future emergencies.

Plus, you run around weakened and like a zombie. I don't think I could manage to work while starving myself, and that seems to be an indication that it's not good for you.

So I have no proof, it just seems like a silly thing to do to me. I don't think there are poisons in our system which don't come out unless you stop running the system...seems they'd come out just fine with stuff running through you.

A (German) friend of mine just did this recently for 5 days as she had had an op and wanted to get all the toxins from the medication out of her system. I thought she was mad but she said Heilfasten is very common here and that she knows many people who routinely do it once or twice a year. She just drank lots of water and pure juices. I was strangely drawn to the process so tried it but only lasted a day - I just can't cope with hunger! She insists that after the second day you don't feel the hunger any more.
I don't know about the physical benefits for sure but can imagine that psychologically the feeling of cleansing can be needed/beneficial.

EDIT: Dunno how to put this link behind the word Heilfasten above, but here's the lowdown: http://www.heilfastenkur.de/

EDIT: It's not about dieting. I agree that as a diet it would be stupid. It's about cleansing.

Totally agree. It's the most retarted way of trying to diet.

Some colleagues of mine have done F.X. Mayr spa cures and my personal belief is that such fasts should only ever be done under close medical supervision.
Mayr Therapy website

I don't think they use it to diet but rather as a physical & mental purification activity (pseudo-religious).
I completely agree that fasting for more than a day or two could be pretty dangerous as many things start to happen in your body, like dropping blood-pressure, lowered immune system activity, etc... After a few days, because of chemical reactions within your body, you start to give off a bad 'corpse-like' odour.

They are not using it as a way of dieting, it is a way of getting rid of toxins from the body... Every day our bodies have to struggle to cope with the crap thrown into it, full of sugar, salt, alcohol, preservatives and other chemicals, etc and it probably makes sense to give it a break from time to time...

Many people do it, but I recently read an article that said it's absolutely unnecessary and not healthy as the liver and kidneys do a well-enough job of ridding your body of toxins.

Not totally true - depends on your lifestyle... If you eat a lot of things that are difficult for the liver and kidneys to process and drink loadsa alcohol, your body is going to suffer and not function as it should...

Obviously, but in that case, I do not think a day of fasting is going to help much. I guess in that way then I am always fasting.

Edit: Here is the article (it's in German as I found it when doing research on this a few weeks ago for myself):

http://www.aok.de/bund/rd/166303.htm

My first healing fast was actually in the German hospital in Berlin where they had me fast to help heal an infection that I had. I was surprised at how easy it actually is it has not ruined my metabolism. The Europeans have a much different idea about fasting than Americans so most Americans will tell you it is bad while most Europeans will say it is ok.

Since the German doctors suggested it and it did not hurt me, I think it is ok to fast with supervision and knowledge of what you are doing.

I don't think this person is trying to diet.


A lot of people must do this in some form to rid their innards of problems such as constipation, stomach cramps, infection, etc. There are healthy ways of doing it, but definitely consult a doctor - don't just rely on SELF magazine's fast for a week program of peppermint tea and vegetable broth, for instance.

Heilfasten is not a diet for weight loss but a detox and I don't think you should do it if you have to work, as you should have a quiet relaxing time doing it.

I've never tried it before but some work colleague of my mum swore by it.

Don't think it's unhealthy under supervision and only lasts a week or so. It is probably more unhealthy to eat too much of the things we eat in the 'Western' world.

they recently had a tv program in the uk which tested two groups. they were students who'd just completed their exams and had gone on the typical bender for days. the first group got to continue eating and drinking what they wanted and the second group fasted on water and a few grains etc.

after a few days they were tested in various ways for toxins, weight change, etc, etc and surprise, surprise, there was no difference. it was quite amusing to see the reaction of the group who had fasted. during the experiment, they complained of headaches, nausea, there were noticably wild mood swings and even signs of depression. all for... nothing.

i view this german belief along with wearing a scarf in summer if you have a 'bit of a sore throat' and being afraid of opening the window because you'll die from the breeze, yet going cycling and thus creating an even greater breeze. naive or immersed in old wives' tales? you tell me.

It's been done through the ages, typically in Asia where it is considered a spiritually motivated endeavour. To strengthen the mind by training it to disregard the body's demands, and the body to heal by cleansing it of all that is unpure. What are the statistics re. a person deprived of food, and that of one deprived of liquids? Obviously this proves that liquids are the more essential, and thus, a short-term responsibly performed fast is not 'retarded' nor 'unnecessary'. Forms of fasting (or deprivation) are even present in Catholicism and Islam, Lent and Ramadan respectively.

I also don't understand what 'being an American' has to do with the validity of the concept.

Yeah, I do think if you do it for that reason it can be helpful, but not to physically cleanse your body.

I suppose you'd have to try it to know.

I tried it and agree with Mariposa

doesn't green tea help rid your body of "toxins" i mean i drink it because it tastes good but i've heard it has the same effect.

I've done it twice over the past few years and whilst it certainly did me no obvious harm I can't honestly say it did me any good either.
I like my food so it was a bit of a sacrifice. The 5kg I lost over the 5 days was soon found again (that was not the goal)...

For me I thought it just time to give my body a break from meat and the rest of the crap that had been going through the system for 40 years or so and ease the burden by only taking in liquids. Although the phrase "never touch a running system" springs to mind...

The feelgood factor I had after doing it could maybe have been achieved in numerous other ways.

edit: just reread the posts from Mariposa & Sharpe and I suppose that may have been an advantage. The same feeling after I ran my first marathon... triumph of mind over body.

Looking at life expentancies between East and West, and also taking into account their traditional diets points towards the fact that the modern Western diet (and maybe not just the modern) is full of harmful toxins and general crap. A one-week fast IMO will surely be healthier than the regular eating/drinking pattern of most of us.

I read that certain Chinese fast regularly.

They drink a lot of liquids but take no food.

Apparently it is very healthy.

I fast once a year (25 hours no food or drink) on religious grounds. Its peezy, although one gets light headed with about 4 to 5 hours to go. The idea is that abstaining from the mundane/physical allows one to focus on the spiritual.

I tried it once. But soon I started to feel dizzy and weak, and could not think of anything else but food. Finally when I gave up fasting, it was such a relief. But that was the most difficult time of my life. Those 15 minutes. Just kidding.

I do fast routinely, once in 2 - 3 months, one day at a time, not for losing weight, but just to give the body's systems a little rest. They serve me so well the rest of the time, I owe it to them.. I give up regular meals, I eat some fruit, drink liquids.

I have a German friend who continues with his normal activities even while he fasts for a few days at a time. He goes jogging, lifts weights as if he were eating normally, and goes to work. Not only is he one of the strongest people I know, his willpower is beyond belief.

I am convinced that fasting is good for health, if one is in normal health and knows how to manage one's energy balance.

Another way to look at it is, 'if you are thin, don't eat fast; if you are fat, don't eat. Fast!'

er...what is a 'toxin'??? seems to be a nebulous term that people latch onto to validate any one of a number of their own personal neuroses - anything that is a genuine 'toxin' is excreted by your liver and kidneys (or kills you!)

people that 'belive' in toxins believe articles in magazines, and we all know that magazines are just there to sell you things don't we?

Toxin - anything harmful to your body (whether in large quantities or small). Artificial sweetners, colours, flavours, alcohol, excessive hormones found in meat etc. etc.

Fags, booze, coffee and drugs make me feel crap but don't quite kill me.

I'm not neurotic about it. I just acknowledge that I am paying the price. What goes up must come down.

I think they qualify as "toxins". Toxic simply means "not good for you". Something can be highly toxic (polonium) or not lethal in smaller doses (nicotine). Although pure nicotine is, I believe, lethal.

yes they are not necessarily good for you, which is why your body gets rid of them, by itself, every day, with no need to fast.

I read an article on this subject a while back: Detox diets are a waste of time and money, say scientists

As Mariposa already mentioned, it stated that "the liver and kidneys are highly efficient organs that have evolved to break down and remove toxins from the bloodstream, and their function is not helped by" such diets. The diets "will not influence the rate at which the body rids itself of toxins, and any beneficial effects would be matched at much lower cost by drinking plenty of tap water, eating fruit and vegetables and getting a few early nights".

My husbad fasted once a few years ago. It was quite a complicated process if you wanted to do it properly - he took a week off work, drank "Glaubersalz" (some kind of extreme laxative) the first day to clear out his system and then only drank juice, water, tea and clear soups for a week. After that, he spent another week weaning himself back onto food. He said he felt great afterwards...

Can't understand the German obsession with purgatorial therapy. A recent German TV programme showed an elderly couple at a luxury spa undergoing starvation, needles and enemas. They seemed really impressed: "It's expensive, but we feel really light and have lost a lot of weight". Obviously worth every penny, at least to the people in white coats, who also flogged them a year's supply of pricey "vitamins" to take home.

No matter if detoxing does do any good, if people think it does their body good, they should do it.

I think detoxing is good and you do feel better. If I binge on too many crisps, chocolate etc i feel worse than if I eat more healthily.

er...because there's nothing that germans like better than playing with their poo?

I thought that was Gillian whatshername of 'You are What you Eat' fame...

Even if they're paying through the [insert appropriate orifice] for something which is not medically necessary or beneficial?

she's an honorary german. a first vanguard in the german stealth retribution for WW2, before long we'll all be wearing lederhosen and thinking drafts can kill you

Each to their own - and as regards medical efficacy, I'm sure there are just as many sources expounding the benefits.

yes...but many of the people expounding the benefits will have a vested interest in doing so.

As with life in general. I'm sure there's no clear cut answer either way.

Still think it is beneficial - but I'm no doctor. But apparently not even doctors/experts can agreee if it is or is not... Same for other things as well.

just like to add that many people regard sugar and fat as 'toxins', when in fact they are nothing of the sort.

The same TV programme showing the couple at the luxury spa showed doctors in Germany attending a meeting at which they were shown (by a former doctor who now ran some kind of private health business) how to generate extra cash by encouraging their patients to buy health treatments (vitamins, minerals, etc.) which, while not having any proven medical benefit, wouldn't do them any harm.

They are if you eat too much of them.

If you generally eat healthily, you probably won't find a detox beneficial, but if you have only eaten junk since decades a detox can be good for you.

Or just switching to a healthy eating lifestyle would probably be just as good. Of course it is easier to change your habits juts for a week, and then going back to eating junk.

but what actually IS junk? the food we eat now is infeasibly better for us than what our caveman ancestors ate. it is a myth to believe that they lived a 'healthier' lifestyle. even the word 'healthy' is a nebulous term.

Your body LIKES fat and sugar, thats why we hang onto it. so technically, this does not make them unhealthy in any way. the reason they become bad for us is that people simply do not perform enough exercise comparitive to the fat and sugar that they now take in. simple. it's not your diet thats a problem, it's your lack of exercise.

I did a week of fasting (...long ago) as a group event in combination with psychotherapy / self improvement sessions.
It felt great and was very intense for all us. The weakness and so called detox symptoms were only around the 3rd day. I couldn't say whether it was the fasting, or the group retreat as a whole, or maybe some happy-hormones the body might have produced during fasting, or all the energy which the body normally needs for digestion. It was some kind of spiritual experience for me (but at the time, I was completely into anything esoteric/spiritual, so probably today I might experience something different).

I think it can be a good kick-off to change your eating behaviour, or to stop smoking, because after a week of fasting I ate less, more conscious, slower, the taste of everything (good and bad) got stronger, and I just wouldn't have been able to eat any junk food for a while. I lost 3 kg, felt (and was) slightly underweight, so took I care to gain back the lost kgs soon.

I would not recommend to do it without supervision (only if you have experience), and today I don't believe in any "detox" at all.

I believe foods that are kept as 'natural' as possible are best for us. Of course you can eat processed things as well in moderation, but I just don't think eating 'junk food' and exercising ist the way forward.

The problem with food nowadays is, is that everything contains substances it shouldn't and they just can't be particularly good for you.