I will never forget the day a friend mentioned the use of a fast to me as a means of getting rid of my acne. I owe that guy for giving me my life back-literally. Now, just as he helped me a few years back, Friends, allow me to introduce you to what has been coined by Philippus Paracelsus as “the greatest remedy-the physician within”. This is a fast and for acne, it works. What is a Fast? Quite simply, a fast is simply abstinence from solid food for a considerable length of time in the aim of giving the digestive organs a rest. Not to mistaken for starvation, this practice greatly benefits our overall health and is by far a greater cure of our ills-both physical and mental-than all of the drugs of the medical fraternity combined. There are many types of fasts and for treating acne (and dare I say any health problem-at least in their early and un-fatal stages), they are all quite effective. They include: 1. The complete water fast: This, admittedly, should be conducted with extreme caution or in a specialized sanitarium if undertaken more than 3 days. 2. The Juice Fast: This is much easier for the general populace and can be undergone as long as you feel like it. 3. The Fruit Fast: This, well, is really not a fast per se…but when one lives exclusively on SEASONAL ORGANIC fruits for days on end…meaning mono meals (2 at the most ) of only one kind of fruit say Apples in Fall, Melons in summer for a week plus, you will be bound to see the benefits. How to Fast Being radical in nature, fasting must be undertaken with care, however from my experience with it, here are a few tips to hopefully get you started. 1. Prepare yourself for a fast by gradually tapering off of acid-forming aka “junk foods and commence to consuming raw and cooked fruits and veggies to begin a milder cleansing process as these items are the best intestinal brooms for the colon. 2. Every now and again, 3 hours after supper and say an hour or so before retiring to sleep, drink an herbal tea laxative such as “Smooth Move Herbal Tea” during this preparatory stage. 3. Drink 1-2 quarts of unflavored lemonade in the mornings to balance the chemical reactions within the body and to restore it to an alkaline state. 4. Be mentally prepared for the task ahead of fasting. 5. Take things a little easier while fasting or on a mono-diet of fruit. 6. Avoid using microwaves at all costs-can’t go into detail as that is another subject, however, TRUST me. You want to exclude the use of this so-called convenience device not only while fasting put permanently. 7. Taper off a water fast by using the second type (juice fasting) for a few days, then gradually going to the third (mono-fruit fasting), then afterwards you could (like I do most of the time) simply stick to tons of fruit as the core of your diet or include properly cooked roots, steamed or raw leafy vegetables. Whatever you do, just please don’t go back to eating the old junk stuff. To explain why in a nutshell, here are two quotes: “You are what you eat” and “Let your foods be your medicine…” Other tips to augment these dietetic suggestions are of course proper hygiene which includes making sure we change our pillow-cases daily, use only one towel (or paper towels) for our faces, steering clear of harsh acne medications (I just use plain cool water and facial massaging) and keeping dirty fingers off the face. I really think options 2 and especially 3 as ways for treating acne (in regards to the types of a fast) are quite easy for any and everyone to do. So why not give it a shot? I can confidently say fasting-just like it did for me-can and will work wonders for your skin and overall health. Here’s to a clearer skin naturally.