8 Practical Tips for a Successful Rice-Fast
If you feel inspired to start your own cleansing and healing process, you can find some practical guidelines and tips below. If you are not sure what a rice-fast is and how it would cleanse and heal your body, you can find all you want to know about it in the blog ‘How rice-fasting transforms your health’.
1. What rice to choose
Organic, good quality brown basmati rice would be the ideal choice. As you want to detoxify your body, you want the rice to be chemical free. Brown because you want the nutrients and basmati because this type is believed to be the most neutral type of rice regarding yin/yang energies which is important for restoring proper balance in your body.
2. How to prepare the rice
Soak your rice overnight, rinse and cook well. Soaking reduces cooking time which enhances taste and structure, and soaking decreases the amount of arsenic by 50 percent. Make sure your rice is well-cooked to make it more easy to digest.
3. How much to eat
Many different approaches are possible and depending on your metabolism and level of activity during the day you might have to adapt until you feel what works best for you. Take three meals a day as a starting point allowing yourself a small bowl of rice per meal. Don’t be too strict in the beginning: you will see that after a few days you probably don’t even finish your bowl. If you have to be very active during the day, if your metabolism is very high or if you find it impossible not to snack: allow yourself a good spoon or two in between the meals.
4. Drink water only when thirsty
Generally it is often suggested to drink a few litres of water daily when doing a cleanse ‘to flush out all toxins’. George Ohsawa, the father of the macrobiotic diet, states that the kidneys are a much more complex organ than a ‘steel pipe that needs to be flushed through’. Best is therefor to drink only when thirsty. During the first days one is perhaps not tuned in yet with the body finding it harder to feel how much water is needed. One should urinate 2-3 times a day and not more than 6 times during the rice-fast. Don’t worry if your bowel movement is irregular during the fast; this will return back to normal once restarting normal diet.
5. No water before, during and after meals
To digest food well, the stomach reacts with releasing enzymes, digestive juices to help break down the food and absorb nutrients. When drinking water, these digestive juices are diluted making it harder to digest the food and the so called ‘digestive fire’ is weakened. To improve digestion, best is to drink up to 30 minutes before a meal and wait with water until 2 hours after eating. Make sure the water you drink is room- or even better body temperature.
6. Chewing 50 times
Digestion doesn’t start in your stomach, the process already starts in the mouth. By chewing every bite at least 50 times, the whole process of digestion will consume less energy saving more energy for your body to repair itself. Also keeping the food in the mouth for longer will help you with becoming more present and being mindful of eating.
7. Avoid chemical beauty and care products
You are detoxifying your body. Take a moment to check the beauty and care products you use to make sure you are not bringing any more toxins into the body: Is your deodorant aluminum-free? Is there fluoride and sorbitol in your toothpaste? Are your shampoo, body lotion and lipstick free of parabens? Choose for products with 100 percent natural ingredients or make products yourself. I for instance love using almond or olive oil on my skin and I make toothpaste from coconut oil, baking powder, salt and peppermint essential oil.
8. Mental detox & meditation
It’s not just a physical cleanse; it’s also a detox for the mind. Before you start your diet, prepare a place where you can meditate every morning and evening - just for five minutes. The evening before you start your fast, take a moment to sit down with closed eyes, connect with your breath, become aware of how your body feels and set your intention for the fast. Repeat mentally to yourself that you will take the time to observe and connect with your body and mind during the fasting days, and that you will give your body the time and energy it needs to detoxify and repair itself.
Every morning and evening you sit down to check your physical and mental well-being and take a moment to thank your body for its hard work, you let go of tension and come back to a positive mind. Nothing long and complicated: just long enough to take a few calm breaths and reconnect with yourself, your process and a positive mindset. That’s it.
By the end of your fast, you do a final meditation session to become aware of how your body feels. You will see meditating changed a lot, your mind is more calm and focused and you feel much more connected with your body. Send a big last thank-you to your body for healing itself, to your mind for being strong and to your soul for being you. Thank YOU!
With love,
Harmke