Ah, spring! Astronomically, it’s around the corner (though where I live in NH, one is hard pressed to believe that from looking out the window). Something about the promise of spring brings to mind transition, renewal, and clearing away the stagnancy that may have accumulated during the winter.
For my mother, it meant deep cleaning, with rugs washed and put out to air dry, windows cleaned inside and out, and even regrouting of the bathtub. If you’re someone who resonates with a sparkly home, you might also be someone who desires to feel sparkly fresh on the inside. Enter a fast. Or a “cleanse.” A “reset.” What better time to engage in such an endeavor then spring—especially for anyone who has fallen short of their Jan 1 health resolutions. Spring gives you the opportunity to resurrect those goals and be in shape by beach season, so the promise goes.
Fasting, particularly intermittent fasting, is a hot topic. Nutritionists and coaches who specialize in it abound. There is research to support that it can improve insulin management and inflammation and also promote cellular autophagy (the process where damaged cells are broken down and recycled). Some argue that we were never meant to eat all the time but should mimic the diet of our caveman ancestors, who had limited access to food. Some argue that our digestive systems need a rest.
So, what’s true, what isn’t, and is fasting during the spring or any other time right for you?
Since my primary area of nutritional concern is psychiatric nutrition, my blanket sentiment about fasting is that it be avoided for anyone that has ever struggled with food choices or eating behavior. While fasting, particularly for religious reasons, can have modest psychological benefits for some, for others, it can destabilize mood and increase anxiety. among those with eating disorders The likelihood of backlash from abstinence of any particular food, extreme caloric restriction, or fasting can trigger overeating. In those with established eating disorders, intermittent fasting has been shown to lead to restrict-then-binge cycles, while scheduled meals have reduced those cycles.
In Ayurveda, as in many traditional approaches, fasting is primarily used as a physical adjunct to spiritual transformation. It is only pursued for a brief period of time and often at retreats with supervision. It can be helpful to restore gut motility, but only if food reintroduction is done gradually.
For the average person, I recommend the idea of a “kickstart” if you need some motivation and a feeling of renewal. Add a few new healthy habits to your routine each month. For me, I started with a morning Qi gong routine in January that now has become habit. For others, it might be switching from regular to organic coffee or white rice to brown. How about a weekend morning of self-care? Putting down a device in favor of a good, old fashioned book at night before bed?
A tactic I use with many of my clients is to take their most usual daily diet and tweak it. For example, a recent client eats cheese nearly everyday but needs to manage salt. Replacing cheddar with Swiss saves him ~400mg of sodium per serving, but he still gets to eat cheese.
Keep it simple, not extreme. Green shoots don’t burst out of the frozen ground overnight (though they might seem to). They start inching their way a micromillimeter at a time with consistent determination. The result?
Daffodils!