I’ve been reading a lot about fasting to kick start your immune system and how it can completely adjust your body’s way of fighting disease.
It’s quite a new approach called FMD which means Fast Mimicking Diet. You do it for 5 days every few months and the results have been quite spectacular. Mainly for people with auto immune illnesses.
Apparently, by reprogramming your gut and cleaning out all the history in your body - an internal spring clean if you like - your immune system is able to start from scratch.
Just wondered if anyone had heard of it or tried something it?
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Jules13
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Not recommendedUNLESS done under, approved, closely monitored, medical supervision in appropriate setting. (Also, not recommended for underweight, frail, or elderly in poor condition).
Otherwise, if medics approve & you’re closely monitored in an appropriate setting, you may well achieve outstanding results. 🤗
People’s reactions to the various antigens can be very different. Dairy products, eggs, beef, wheat, and corn are the most common culprits, but there are many others, some of them quite obscure.
If a person suffering from rheumatoid arthritis wants to find out what foods he or she is sensitive to, the best way to go about it is to undertake a period of fasting (ingesting only pure water), followed by a period of rotational feeding. . . . During the fasting period, it is common for joint pain and swelling to totally disappear.
This pain-free period provides welcome relief, but proper refeeding after the fast is crucial. In fact, there is no point in undertaking a fast if your intention is to go back to your previous way of eating because this behavior is part of the problem (possibly the major part).
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Life after the fasting
During the refeeding period we can find out which foods are contributing to the joint pain. We introduce various foods slowly, one at a time, starting with those that are least likely to cause problems. Ideally, every patient would eat the diet we recommend at the Center-a plant-based diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, and the variable addition of nuts, grains, and legumes. This diet is low in fat, low in protein, high in fiber, and contains no animal products. But some people’s systems are intolerant even to some of these plant-based foods.
Arthritis patients need to learn which foods they can eat without inducing symptoms, and how much they can eat of those acceptable foods. Some people find that they cannot tolerate very much fruit; others find that they can tolerate some vegetables but not others. Simply eliminating the worst offenders-meats, dairy products, eggs, and wheat-may not be adequate to relieve the pain in a particular individual.
Re-feeding is a learning process. Each person is different, and each person must learn how he or she needs to eat (and live) in order to remain free from arthritis pain. As a result of their new awareness, many people come to consider their arthritis a kind of “blessing” because a reoccurrence of their arthritic pain reminds them of their need to adhere closely to a health-promoting lifestyle."
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Kindly reflect on what’s being shared, 💎💎s1️⃣3️⃣. Those who’ve actually ‘lived the experience’, "know of what we speak". None of this is embarked on lightly, foolishly. For every obstacle that arises, there are workarounds — troubleshooting solutions. Skilled, experienced, knowledgeable people guide you. Thoroughly doing your research 🕵️♀️🔎 & thoroughly understanding 🤔 😌 the process will help you (& your medics 👩⚕️👨⚕️ ) arrive at a decision that makes sense for you. 😌 🙏
Well I’m overweight because the damn steroids inflated me like a balloon, I’m not old (ahem, only 49) and I’m not frail. Well maybe physically a bit rubbish right now but I think I could handle a 5 day fast. Will ask my nurse today. X
I hear ya, I hear ya 💎💎s1️⃣3️⃣. My simple laymen’s understanding is you can "fast till the cows come home" 🏡🐄 , but being on steroids is the issue (one of the factors) as far as weight increase is concerned). The ‘steroids’ cause (contribute to) the ‘ballooning’ 🎈, no matter how sparsely one eats 🍽 (or doesn’t eat). [Again, merely my non-medical-degree, (over?) simple understanding? 🤔 ]
It seems the priority is: (1) get inflammation/ pain/ disease progression down, (2) over time reduce/ eliminate steroids (if possible) — while implementing dietary/ nutrition/ movement, etc. changes.
Over time, the weight ‘melts off’ effortlessly as a ‘by-product’/ ‘side-effect’ of the aforementioned strategy. That is, once the disease process gets ‘under control’/ ‘properly managed’ (the need for steroids reduce) our body ‘right-sizes’ on its own. 💃
Fasting’s goal (in autoimmune disease) is to "manage disease" — not ‘weight loss’.
And, not to put too fine a point on it 👉, it’s what we ingest after the fast that’s critical in managing inflammatory process/ pain.
[Hope this makes sense, 💎💎s1️⃣3️⃣. I realise this can sound terribly convoluted ➿/ tops-turvy. 🙃 ]
If you follow a process "in sequence" 🔢 — there’s ‘method to the madness’. (There’s logic/ reason to it.)
You need to understandwhat you’re doing & why you’re doing it. 😌 It’s an experiential learning process. 👩🎓
Your juggling 🤹♀️ several glass balls 🔮 🔮 🔮 in the air all at once, & you can’t drop one.
It’s not easy, yet it’s doable. You have to know what you’re doing, 💎💎s1️⃣3️⃣.
Yes, yes, work with your medics. 👩⚕️👨⚕️
Fasting for 5 days — if by fasting you mean no/0 food & only water 💧 🚰 — in your home by yourself (‘Home Alone’ 😱 upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe... ) I suspect it would not be advised/ allowed (by anyone on your medical team 👩⚕️👨⚕️ ). You don’t know how your body (& mind 🧠 ) will react 🤪. (You can’t predict it.)
You can pass out 🤤 & not be found till days later. 🤦♀️ You need to be monitored/ watched 🧐. Best if someone is in the house 🏠 with you 👫 — so at the very least, there’s someone there to scrape you off the floor & get you to medical services. 😳 🙃
Five days ‘on paper’ may not sound like much — till you actually live through each day — 1 by 1 by 1 . . . 📆 📆 📆 📆 📆 🤯
Again, you need to know 🤓 what you’re doing, 💎💎s1️⃣3️⃣.
Learn from people who’ve actually fasted. Nicole ( healthunlocked.com/cure-art... ) has actually fasted & you may be interested in what she has to say. 😌 🙏 🍀 🌺 🌞
Hiya Jules. You may receive all sorts of info online on this but always check reputable unbiased sources, not reviews of specific diets or eating plans. All I'll say is you can't fast forever! As an example this is from Arthritis Research UK
Fasting for short periods can cause a short-term improvement in the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, although they quickly return once you go back to a normal diet. We don’t recommend fasting as a treatment for arthritis. However, if you do wish to try it, it should only be done for one day at a time and under expert supervision.
It’s actually a doctor that developed the fast for auto immune diseases. You only do it twice a year. And obviously this is on top of a healthy diet anyway. It wouldn’t work if you fasted and then ate chips and processed food! It’s healthy eating (which I do) and then the occasional fast.
I cannot seem to shift the weight from medications. Steroids and now methotrexate. I eat very healthily. No crap, and I walk and it still won’t budge. So thought it might be worth a try. And if it rebalances the immune system even better. X
If you do choose to fast, please check with your doctor first, especially if you’re on medication. Some should not be taken on an empty stomach.
And how did they measure this improvement ? Fasting is never a good idea really, how can the immune system be fooled that easily? Sounds like snake oil idea so if you think it will work it probably will but for me the real danger is RA makes people susceptable to other conditions like blood clots so can fasting impact negatively on that as Riveroxaban for exzmple must, must be taken with food or it can't work.
The immune system isn’t fooled by fasting, it apparently readjusts itself because it has to work differently when it’s only on a 1000 calorie intake. This isn’t a fast like juice and water. It’s still a 1000 calories a day but it makes the body work harder at different times of the day. It’s called fast mimicking. Not fasting like we know... so the body doesn’t go into ketosis. It’s really interesting actually.
Hi Jules
Havent heard of that but will look it up,anythings worth a try. I did 5/2 diet before RD. Limited calorie intake 2 days a week, 500 i think, lost weight, supposed to be healthy, michael mosely. Im sure you ve heard of it. Might be an option if 5 day fast too much. Tbh don't feel like eating much on mtx snd hydroxyc, both make me nauseous. Good luck
Haven't done it since having RD but might try again and see. Like you eat healthy and little due to constant nausea but don't seem toi be losing much. Methotrexate? Let us know how you get on.
Fasting and changing your diet to ease your symptoms or possibly cure a form of inflammatory arthritis?,,,, Yes, this will work if your inflammatory arthritis is gout or pseudo gout,,,but...No, it will not work for RA. As of today, Feb 4 2018, there is no cure for RA.. Hopefully they will find a cure soon.
There are a small % of people who have been misdiagnosed with RA ( like my hubby and me). Being misdiagnosed with RA and discovering you have another type of inflammatory arthritis is both devastating and exciting. Quite an emotional roller coaster for us EX - Seropositive RAers....but I find it immoral & selfish for people to "cash in" off the backs of people suffering with RA. Shame on them. They should be informing the public on being mistakenly misdiagnosed with RA....not making money on pushing their false cures.
My hubby had a severe form of pseudo gout that mimicked RA and changing his diet has put it into remission. Hopefully diet will keep him in remission, only time will tell....and me? Well I have reactive arthritis caused by an inept dentist that mimicked RA. I am now drugfree & almost ReA free.... We both have the medical "paperwork" stating we were RA+ as I'm sure those immoral people selling their "cures" have their medical "paperwork".... What makes hubby & me not cash in on our RA "cures"?....Well besides our morals, we know how devastating & painful living with RA is...and it is a sin to cause more pain and false hope to people who are living with RA.
I guess I wasn’t clear. This scientist has looked into this for years. For auto immune diseases. It doesn’t cost anything. It’s been written about in medical journals and in most of the uk press over the last month. You don’t buy a book or get food delivered. It’s a carefully timed plan of when to eat what over 5 days. No money apart from buying vegetables etc. Have a look at it. Google “Fast Mimicking Diet”. The fast is 1000 calories a day. Not fast as in speedy. X
Sounds like snake oil. But fasting five days every few months is hardly dramatic and why not have a go......if you are patient enough to wait a long time for results and, in any case, how can you calculate improvement (if any). It won’t make an iota of harm to your body’s health in general, please don’t be concerned about that.
I think quite interesting. I went to a clinic in Spain for only four days. Not total fast but no sugar,dairy or meat and very low calorie intake. Macrobiotic so quite a few foods no go for me...potatoes,tomatoes( all nightshade) and sadly no tropical fruit even fruit generally limited😔By the end of the week I felt so much better, I even managed to hit the gym which I really never thought I would get back to. I'm sure all mainly my drug kicking in more but I also think gut health is very linked to disease. I think Gentle fasting good for u .....my husband and I have just end started our 800 calories a day for a week,very doable and no risk......when the warmth comes back,will do a day a week juice fast I think....
Yes I totally agree. The way you eat definitely improves symptoms. Not sure how anyone could disagree with that.
I’ve cut down on dairy, sugar, wheat, caffeine and have upped all fresh fruit and veg and don’t eat anything processed. I’ve done that for the last year and feel great. Apart from the RA. but I also know that if I have s couple of days where I have a pizza, crisps and chocolate and basically am not eating healthily, I feel a bit crap. It’s not rocket science.
So I don’t agree with a few other comments saying the way you eat has no affect on the RA. madness to say that. Healthy eating helps full stop.
I’m just looking into it to feel even better and to lose the steroid weight.
Glad your holiday detox helped. Can’t afford to pay for it but think I might try even a few days. X
Kind of did it for my daughter who has pcos and struggles with eating the right food to control it but it def. kickstarted a change in the way I eat for me. I've been on oral steroids for about a couple of years now,down to 5 mg which is manageable. Puffy face has gone down a bit and weight has been coming off with the diet without trying. The key for me has been soluable grains. Bowl of oat porridge with flax seeds and chia in the morning sets me up for the day!! Lots of homemade soups stuffed with garlic ,red onion and ginger and miso paste plus any veg u fancy. Turmeric popped into anything u can and like u said veg based with the odd fish. U don't need to go anywhere to do it,but it was good to have a nutritionist go through everything...again u can pretty much do this online. Agree,what u eat effects any disease really,like u said ...not rocket science! Be interested to hear how u get on!😊
Turmeric is fabulous. I make my own capsules which saves a fortune. I look like a mad scientist with trays and weights and plastic capsules. Bought organic turmeric. A big bag cost about £5... makes about 1000 capsules. 30 capsules from a health food shop costs about £20!!!
I believe our immune systems that have gone awry have learned to react to certain foods and that’s why fasting seems to help. It cuts done on the inflammation caused by the immune response to these foods. I don’t think RA is cured by avoiding those foods, but the inflammation isn’t multiplied by them. Some people say the problem is sugar, others say beef, and still others say grains. I think it’s different for everyone and that’s why no one can agree—some people have a great result from a limited diet and others not so much.
Yup. You’ve hit the nail on the head. Not every way of eating works for everyone. That’s why it’s trial and error. Cutting things out and seeing if you feel better. Xxxx
There's something similar in my Good Housekeeping mag this month. Will try and post it for you when my phone facility lets me use it. Think it is having two meals a day one of which is soup on this GH thing, which I am not following but have cut out refined sugar all days and 500 calories on weekdays so I'm trying. So far lost 6lbs since 1 January. It's hard to do any diet or fasting too when it's cold. xx
Trouble is, 600 calories a day is actually forcing your body into ketosis. It’s too low a calorie intake. It’s actually a bit healthier to up your calories to 800-1000 for a few days a week but eat a mainly veg based diet. Xxx
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