In this blog, we explore a three-day bone broth fast and why it’s good for you.
Too much food, especially food rich in carbohydrates, and alcohol over Christmas can leave you feeling overweight and sluggish. However, doing a short fast straight after the festive period can help you to lose a few pounds and kickstart a healthier January.
Why a three-day bone broth fast?
Our bone broth is a great food to fast on. This is because the macronutrients of our bone broth are mostly protein, in just 100g of our beef bone broth, there are 5.5g of protein and 3.6g of that protein is collagen (glycine and proline). The other proteins are amino acids – glucosamine, chondroitin, and glycine. Collagen is particularly important because glycine and proline can aid cell repair in the gut, as well as inflammation reduction [1]
Fasting on bone broth also means that this super food will help reduce hunger pains. As our bone broth doesn’t contain any carbohydrates, you will not experience sugar spikes in your blood. Carbohydrates are responsible for your blood sugar levels rising and falling multiple times throughout the day. Simpler carbohydrates, such as sugary treats and alcohol, cause your blood sugars to rise and fall quickly and this can result in sugar cravings and hunger once you experience your sugar crash. Removing carbohydrates from your diet will help your blood sugar levels to maintain normal levels and therefore reduce the desire to constantly eat.
When you eat too many carbohydrates than what your body needs, the extra energy will be stored in fat cells because your body thinks you may need the extra energy later. This cycle of too many carbs, then storing as fat, will continue until you reduce the number of carbohydrates in your diet. Therefore, many people experience significant weight loss when they explore a low carbohydrate diet.
For Type 2 diabetes, a low carbohydrate diet is often prescribed as positive natural treatment for the condition. When you have Type 2 diabetes, your cells are unable to absorb glucose, which means the glucose stays in your bloodstream. Insulin is the hormone that helps glucose be absorbed into cells which are then converted into cell energy (ATP). Each cell (and you have trillions of them) requires energy to function, this energy ATP comes from the conversion of glucose and from fat. When glucose stays in the blood stream, this means your blood sugar levels are much higher than normal and can in extreme cases be fatal. However, removing all sugars from your diet (carbohydrates) reduces glucose in your blood and therefore helps to maintain normal blood sugar levels.
Finally, eating less carbohydrates in your diet, means that your body will use your fat cells for energy. When you have glucose constantly circling, your body will always use glucose for energy first, but when glucose isn’t available for energy, your body will revert to using fat and therefore begin breaking down the fat cells in your body.
How to fast with our bone broth?
We recommend any of our bone broth for fasting, a combination of beef and chicken can work well. However, for taste, some people prefer chicken, especially as you will be drinking bone broth for three days straight. The lamb, however, is high in collagen but it can be difficult to drink on its own unless you are a real lamb lover.
On each of the three days, fast for as long as you can in the morning until you start to experience hunger pains. Then heat 100ml – 200ml of bone broth and drink slowly. Wait until you feel hungry again, then push past your hunger pains for at least another hour. Then drink more bone broth, approximately the same as you had before. Repeat this throughout the day. Aim between 3 – 6 servings of bone broth for the three days.
Make sure you are drinking water throughout the day too.
Supplements
We highly recommend you take 3 x milk thistle tablets daily. Milk thistle supplements are excellent for supporting your liver. This can be particularly important if you have had a time of drinking a lot of alcohol. We sell supplements, so be sure to purchase them too.
After the three days of bone broth fast move into our 30-day digestive boost program or be strong and have 4 weeks off from carbohydrates and alcohol.