[thejuice12]

Hi,

I'm scheduled to have ACL surgery on March 12. I want to do a juice fast as soon as possible after the surgery. A juice fast basically means that freshly made vegetable and fruit juice, water and teas are the only substances ingested for a prolonged period - no solid foods whatsoever. How soon after the surgery can I do this without having adverse effects on the healing process?
My main concern is protein deficiency because I imagine the knee will need a lot of protein to repair itself, but I've read that during fasting one can drink powdered yeast and/or algae drinks to provide more than adequate amounts of protein. Is this true? Thanks for your advice.

[shygrneyzs]

I would say the best advice will come from your surgeon. Ask him(or her) about your plan and ask if going on the juice fast will complicate any of the healing process.

[lovelesspa]

This is truly something you need to discuss first with your surgeon or after care Nurse/Doctor, its so important # 1 because of your surgery and it's a major dietary change. The information I'm giving is not intended to recommend fasting or dietetic deprivation insufficient protein intake done improperly can cause health risks.

Juice fasting does clean out toxins, fresh juice boosts the immune system. Juice fasts can include fresh fruit, herbal teas, veggies, veggie broth, barley green, wheat grass juice and "supplements"! During fasting your body burns up and excretes hugh amounts of wastes. The guideline I believe in are:

Raw fruit and veggies are not always compatabile when eaten together, apples are the exceptions so check on correct combinations.
Melons should always be juiced by themselves.
Avoid pre sweetened juices
Don't add 25% green juice to your veggie juice, (its really hard on the stomach, may make you sick)
Dilute all fruit juice with water, 1 part juice 2-4 parts water and drink throughout the day
Veggie juice doesn't have to be diluted. The yeast and algae will be a plus for added protein.
Be prepared for excretion of hugh amounts of wastes. Some symptoms you might experience after a few days are: fatigue, body ordor, acne, headache, dizziness, dry skin, sinus discharge, irritability, anixety, insomnia and excessive perspiration. Some recommend at least 8 -8oz glasses of water per day plus 2 cups of herbal tea with the diluted juices. But I can't emphasize enough to discuss this first with the people working with your surgery.:rolleyes:

[hpotterva]

Proper nutrition leads to proper healing, esp after surgery. I'm not sure the purpose of your 'fast' but the word itself implies some sort of limitation. If you were completely healthy (ie. Not post-operative), then a limited fast would have been fine. But seeing as how you'll be in a post-operative state for some time (healing will take a while), I'd highly suggest you not engage in such a fast until your surgeon has given you the greenlight about your healing process.

[jkcmartin]

Hi,

The purpose of fasting is to allow your body to do as God intended it: to clear it of all the toxins, so that it can do its job efficiently--healing you. It won't let you down. If you are a regular faster, then your body will not so much need to detoxify, but it can focus on healing from your surgery. If you aren't or have never fasted, you're in for a detox shock. Fasting cleanses all the filth that is the mainstay of the America diet. It gets rid of mucus, pesticides, free radicals, a lymph system that's a clogged mess, etc. Even true proper nutrition will do a body clogged with toxins no good. The best thing you can do for yourself after surgery is to fast, as it allows your body to function as it should. A water fast is best and a week of that right after surgery would be awesome, followed by 1-2 weeks more of a juice fast.

Protein is not an issue for even a 30 day juice fast or a shorter term water fast. Your body will heal itself quickly and thoroughly.

Asking a doctor is also a wasted effort. They are familiar with how to prescribe more toxins (which they think is just fine) and give information that the AMA regulates. You will have quite a time finding a doctor (or most people in general) that will think outside the box. Anyway, if anything, find yourself an ND for advice. They will work with your body, not against it.

I hope your surgery goes well and your healing goes even better.

[Lowtax4eva]

Look all this stuff about cleansing your body of toxins is just fine but don't try fasting after a surgery, you need nutrients and a strong immune system to fight off possible infections and going on a juice or water diet is fine if you wait till your completely healed.

This isn't a time to be trusting holistic medicines.

[jkcmartin]

What makes your immune system strong is having a clean, functioning body. There is no such thing as a strong immune system without fasting-- not with the standard American diet.

First, I want to say that healing comes from God and most healing would not be needed if we took care of ourselves. I'm not giving diet or fasting the glory, but He can heal illness when we use the fuel he intended; when we care for the temple He's in; when we stop abusing ourselves. He gave us a path for health to follow and if we're not on it, we'll get sick—it's inevitable. He gave us tools and that's what I'm talking about here today. Having said that …

I will never trust a doctor simply because they have a PhD. They have their place, but that's in the case of trauma. I used to think like you all do, but I've learned the hard way many a time and learned where true health comes from as well as where it doesn't come from--a pill bottle or the food pyramid. In the majority of cases, a doctor's advice is flawed at best. Unfortunately, because they're revered, all advice is taken and used by a good majority of people. We have one of the sickest societies in existence. If folks aren't in hospital beds, then they're walking around with this malady or that, suffering at the hands of those who are supposed to have their very best at heart and not questioning anything.

You can disagree with me; you can call my advice bad, but the proof is in the pudding. You can't judge correctly what you haven't done. You can't know the benefits of something you reject without thought. A body socked up with toxins won't benefit regardless of what you try to do. If you think the poison that doctors prescribe is good, perhaps you ought to spend a moment on this site and see firsthand what doctors' "help" can do to destroy a little life: Our Family's Health It's an eye opener. It's just one story out of countless ones and it's far from rare. I linked you with only one section, but you can see all he's gone through by looking through the site.

Doctors are worshipped, reverenced and placed on a pedestal. This should not be! They only know what they're taught and treating sickness with poison is dangerous and that's their objective most of the time. Have you ever been to a cancer ward? Most aren't dying of cancer; they are dying a slow, horrible death from chemo and the infections it allows to ravage the body and that's if a patient gets far enough in treatment to accomplish that—some don't get past the stroke they have as a result of side effects or the fungal infection that got in their lungs. It's disgusting. "Medicine" has caused death, stroke, brain swelling, brain damage, heart attack, suffocation, meningitis, fungal infections (simply can't get rid of them medically and on and on and on is goes. That is just the tip of a very big and ugly iceberg. So, why trust holistic? It works with your body, has no side effects and most of all because it WORKS. It's not immediate in most cases, which is hard for a "gotta-have-it-now society to stomach. I don't use holistic medicine per se; I do use correct diet, fasting and herbs for wounds and the like. Holistic meds have their place, but again, it's when diet is bad that it's needed. The hard and fast truth is, if you take care of your body the way that God made it to be cared for, it will take care of you. Even if you spent years on an awful diet, abusing your body, it can be rectified and quickly.

Trust in doctors if you wish, but there may come a day where you learn that that isn't wise practice; as many have. I wish that wasn't the case, but it is. YOU and you only are in charge of your health. My good friend's mom has several conditions that are killing her. She trusts her doctor with her life. Her doctor pumps her full of drugs that are further killing her and breaking down what little strength her body has left. You know what's ironic? She could have each of these conditions changed in a week (as with blood pressure) or 6 months (as with diabetes) with proper diet and regular fasting. Don't believe me? It happens all the time. Cancer has been cured, lives have transformed all from these simply things. The food we put in the body breaks it down until it cannot function and shuts down. Yes, that includes all processed and refined foods that the FDA says is just dandy for our bodies. Doctors treat the breakdown with synthetic this or that, which makes the body rely on the medicine to function, when all that needs to be done is have the diet go back to what God intended and the body will eventually repair and function as it's meant to. That and a thorough cleansing from all the abuse the body has taken over the years, so it can work again.

Remember, I used to believe like you do. It took many years of study and experience to swallow the hard truth: 'nutrition' that's accepted in this country is not nutrition at all and doctors have tunnel vision consisting of either drugging or cutting. I know most mean well, but that doesn't negate the horrible outcomes.

I would suggest that you read "The Maker's Diet" by Jordan Rubin which discusses nutrition in depth and study fasting and its vast benefits. Think outside the well wrapped box that is the American mentality on nutrition and you'll find what is so rare these days--health. Please don't take that as being snotty. The American mindset is a dinosaur in a box that's been fed by the pharmaceutical companies and media and it's not something I'm shy to talk about.

Having health restored is a powerful thing. You never know just how sick you are until you get healthy. I don't know about you, but I won't suffer with arthritis or some other “normal with age” issues just because a doctor says it's the way it is. That IS NOT the way it is and it doesn't have to be. When we stop blaming heredity or bad “luck” (I don't believe in luck) for health problems, we'll all be much better off. Heredity is simply the passing on of a diet and it's effects to the next generation. I hope that all of you look into this more. At the very least you've benefited in learning about what you didn't know about before. No matter how vehemently you disagree, you may always change your mind. I'm sure you've had other things you disagreed with 10 years ago and now have the opposite mindset. I've been there, done that. Time and experience have a way of reeducating you.

I won't have the opportunity to check back here, so I wish you all the best.

[lovelesspa]

You need an over all healthy diet in order to have any kind of good health, depriving your body of overall nutrients can never be wise. You need to eat an approprate number of calories froma a balanced diet that includes fresh fruits, veggies, whole grains and lean meat with fat free dairy. Any fasting over 24 hrs, is depriving your body of necessary nutrients, God helps us in a lot of ways and give us a lot of knowledge but you need to trust in your Doctors>