Introduction
With Ash Wednesday two days away, the old Catholic in me is thinking about what I will do for Lent. Living in China during the COVID-19, I am thinking about how can I improve my immune system. Being on lockdown due to the quarantine, I am getting out of shape. One way to kill all these birds with one stone is by doing a 40 day fast/diet, which I am going to coin a "faset".
I have done numerous diets, fasts and lifestyle changes over the years but the one I have found to be the most effective can be found in this book. I learned about Dr. Luc De Schepper from an amazing Natriopath called Allison Vidotto, back in 2006. I had a disease called Candida that was causing me to have Chronic Fatigue Syndrom. I had to sleep each lunchtime in my classroom and was in bits. After over a year of doctor visits that did not help, this faset cured me in just over two weeks. As I start this I weigh 178 lbs.
Week 1 - The Premise
The idea is to create the conditions in the body for peak immunity to be achieved. This is done by removing anything processed, with unnatural sugar, caffeine or anything that ferments. It incorporates the theory of food combining to create an optimal digestive system. The faset is extremely difficult and takes much planning and motivation to pull off. The results, however, are so good they are hard to describe. I hope to do that in Week 4. I am 178 lbs after Week 1.
Week 2 - The Pain
If this is your first time to do this faset or you have not done it in years, the pain will be terrible. The body gets a shock as it runs out of caffeine, sugar and all the other junk you have been giving it. This usually happens about three days in. This time both my wife and I are doing the faset. She has not done it in about 6 years, but I have done it more recently. We both had a bad headache around day two when our brains realized the caffeine was not going to come. This just lasted about a day, but my wife then started getting pains in her back and her neck. Her neck is actually stiff and has been frozen in position for the past couple of days. My skin is bad and there are spots appearing on my back. This is a sign of the toxins leaving. All I can say during this time is, stick it out. As it is about to get a whole lot better. Towards the end of Week 2, I started to feel foggy, sores appeared in my mouth and I felt like a sore throat was coming on. I weighed 174.5 lbs. Each day I was getting about 1500 calories which puts me very much in a deficit of my usual 2000. I would also like to note that I discovered a negative reaction to potato during Week 2 so I cut them out. With the high levels of starch in potato, I am surprised they are not on the forbidden list below.
Week 3 - The Food
Section 3 is taken directly from Full of Life by Dr. Luke De Schepper (p.164-167), as it is vital information to do the faset.
THE GOOD FOOD LIST
(It's a good idea to rotate foods to achieve variety and to eliminate allergies and sensitivities)
Fruits: Papaya, mango, kiwi, pineapple, banana, honeydew, melon, coconut, guava, grapefruit, berries and lemons. Eat in the morning at breakfast. Do not eat after meals. About 10% of patients will not be able to eat fruit at all because of the high fructose content (such as bananas) or because of high acidity (pineapples). CFIDS patients should eat fruit sparingly during the first four weeks of the program.
Juices: Water with lemon juice, fresh-squeezed vegetable juices, unsweetened cranberry juice, wheatgrass juice, fruit juices of allowed fruits (in moderation), coconut milk.
Grains: Brown rice, wild rice, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, popcorn, corn tortillas, corn chips, "polenta", teff.
Brown Rice Derivatives: Mochi, brown rice syrup, rice cake, rice crackers, riz cous, creamy rice, "Rice and Shine", "Creamy Rice", brown rice cream (a hot cereal), rice dream beverages (almond, carob).
Beans and Legumes: All beans are allowed including garbanzos, hummus, lentils, black beans, pinto beans, etc.
Meats: Chicken, turkey, veal, lamb and rabbit.
Fish: The National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report on low-and high-risk seafood varieties. Tuna generally has low levels of environmental contaminants. Cod pollock and haddock are found in deep offshore waters, also making them low in chemical contaminants. Ocean-caught salmon is notorious for parasites and should be fully cooked to destroy worms and amoebas, but is otherwise free of contaminants.
Canned tuna is rarely a cause of food-borne illness unless mishandled by food preparers. Beware of shrimp though because these scavengers of the sea are frequently mishandled in the store or in the home. As an extra precaution, consumers may want to reheat shrimp to destroy and possible bacteria or parasites. The greatest number of illnesses from finfish come from come from the tropical varieties, mahi-mahi, bluefish, barracuda, grouper and tropical snapper.
Freshwater fish from the Great Lakes, such as whitefish, from Santa Monica Bay, from Puget Sound and Chesapeake Bay may carry undesirable levels of chemical contaminants. Swordfish can carry elevated mercury levels and should be avoided, especially by women of child-bearing age.
The highest-risk seafoods are mollusks - oysters, clams and mussels - eaten raw. The intestines and viscera are the parts that we consume, and they contain all possible kinds of contamination, natural and man-made.
Dairy: Goat's milk, goat's cheese, goat's yogurt, butter and eggs. For those with high cholesterol levels, butter and eggs should be eaten only on an occasional basis. When you do this and leave out sugar and other foods on the "no" list, you will decrease your LDL (bad cholesterol) and increase your HDL (good cholesterol).
Oils:
Olive oil: use only organic cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil. (So-called pure olive oil or virgin oil are second-rate)
Sunflower and safflower oils: chose the unrefined high-oleic varieties of these oils for cooking and baking.
Canola oil: the newest oil on the market is also the best. It contains linolenic acid, the Omega-3 fatty acid that reduces blood cholesterol levels and prevents clogging in the arteries.
Other oils allowed are avocado, sesame and flaxseed oil.
Nuts, seeds, nut butters and nut milks: (Store in freezer of refrigerator) All are allowed except peanut and pistachio products. No peanut butter! Nuts, seeds and nut butters should be eaten in moderate amounts, since they contain high amounts of calories, especially fats. For instance, one handful of cashews equals 750 calories. Keep in mind that roasted nuts are easier to digest than raw ones.
Vegetables: Steam of stir-fry all vegetables, avoid eating them raw. It is all right to have lettuce with fresh tomatoes and avocadoes and salad dressing consisting of an allowed oil with lemon juice. Sundried tomatoes are also allowed.
Seasonings, Spices, Herbs & Condiments
Quick Sip by Bernard Jenses (a tamari-like sauce)
Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Garlic, Onion, Sea salt (sparingly), dill, thyme, tarragon, rosemary, oregano, curry, basil, parsley, paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, carob, etc.
Beverages
Pau D'Arco tea, water, water with lemon juice, peppermint and spearmint tea (excellent for digestion), Uvi Ursa tea (great for urinary tract symptoms and to help strengthen the bladder).
Other herbal teas (without caffeine) to be used sparingly. Watch out for either dryness or mold content, if they are stored for long periods of time.
Breads: Don't forget, bread has yeast and sugar, so you should avoid breads for the first four weeks of the eating program. Then incorporate them very slowly into your diet. Here are some breads you can choose:
Ponce whole rye (wheat and yeast free)
German sourbread (wheat and yeast free)
Rudolph's 100% rye bread with linseed (also wheat and yeast free)
THE FORBIDDEN FOOD LIST
Breads: including yeast-free wheat and rye breads. However, rice and corn breads, unleavened and ponce breads are fine.
Dairy products: except butter, eggs and goat’s milk, goats’ cheese and yogurt; other yogurts from cow’s milk is not allowed.
Mushrooms, wine, champagne, and beer or anything else that is fermented, such as miso and tofu.
Fruit: especially not apples, pears, and grapes; also no watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges, peaches, prunes, dates or dried fruits (too much sugar).
Wheat and Rye: in crackers, cereal breads, and pasta.
Salt: use sea salt if needed. Absolutely no sugar in any form; avoid Aspartame (NutraSweet, Sweet-N-Low), no honey, molasses or maple syrup.
No tea or coffee, not even a caffeine-free coffee, or herbal teas; exceptions are mentioned further. No fruit juices except the juice of allowed fruits; even then use them sparingly, and certainly do not use fruit juices when fasting.
No tomato or barbecue sauce (unless you make your own without peppers, sugar, vinegar, syrup).
Avoid raw and cold foods (except salads occasionally; more about salads is discussed later). Remember these foods decrease the strength of your digestive organ, the spleen-pancreas.
Absolutely no vinegar: in salad dressings, use mustard and mayonnaise.
No oatmeal, for at least four weeks.
No horseradish, peppers.
No canned foods or fried foods.
Avoid refrigerated left-overs, especially meat; freeze the leftovers and heat them up later (this is especially the rule for meats since they will become damp and moldy overnight).
Avoid ice in drinks.
(This section has been taken directly from p.164-166 of Full of Life.)
Week 4 - The Feeling
I am now in the fourth week of the faset and I am starting to feel great. I am back sleeping well, my energy is up and a niggling cough I have had for over a month has gone. From here on in I will just start to feel better.
Another thing that is recommended in the book is proper food combining. This is great for digestion and is especially helpful knowledge for anybody with digestive issues such as IBD, ulcerative colitis or stomach ulcers. As can be seen from the diagram below you should follow the following principles:
- Fruit should be eaten alone and on an empty stomach. Fruit should never be eaten after a meal as it digests much quicker than other foods. If it is eaten after meat for example which takes a long time to digest it gets stuck in the digestive tract and starts fermenting.
- Protein should not be eaten with starch. Eg. Do not eat steak with chips.
- Vegetables can be easily digested with anything except fruit.
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| Full of Life p.157 |
Week 5 - The Figuring Out
It is advised the on Week 5 you start to reintroduce foods every three days. This way you will see if you have any allergic reaction to the particular food. This may come in the form of an upset stomach, sore throat or evidence of a build-up of toxins. This also stops you from going crazy by going back on everything and getting sick. We reintroduced flour first so we could enjoy some bread, then three days later, which is today actually, we reintroduced cheese. Yum, cheese on toast. Next Tuesday we will reintroduce peanut butter and so on.
People who suffer with Candida (yeast overgrowth, which leads to chronic fatigue), should start to eat large amounts of garlic oil capsules during the last two weeks. This kills off the remaining yeast in your stomach. Take about six capsules with each meal. I am at 173.4 lbs after Week 5.
Week 6 -
During the final week of the fast, the body is operating at peak immunity. As new foods are introduced you get to see if you have any negative reactions to a specific food. For me, it became obvious that I have a reaction to potato. Being Irish, this is a death sentence:-)
Conclusion
Whatever diet or fast you pick be it paleo, vegan, vegetarian or this one, you will find that users share testimonies of their success. The common denominator in any of these diets is eating food in its purest form, be it meat, vegetables or rice. Each diet eliminates processed food. This particular faset is designed to build peak immunity, but you still receive the benefits as in any of the others.
