Ever noticed after a slightly heavy meal that dragging feeling at the pit of your stomach? What, you notice a slight "down", a heaviness after every meal you eat?

Sometimes this effect builds up slowly so we forget, meal by meal, snack by snack, what our bodies feel like when digestion is easy and elimination thorough. We don't notice until it is so pronounced we can't avoid feeling sluggish indigestion.

There are many ways to remedy this feeling. Most often our culture suggests adding elements into our already overloaded stomachs: products that take away the immediate symptoms of stomach bloating, gas, etc. but do nothing in the long run to help our bodies achieve optimum health. In some cases, these very products cause more stomach distress and long-term digestive "dis-ease" than if they were not taken in the first place!

The cause of most of these run of the mill stomach maladies is that our digestive tract, lined as it is with countless tiny pockets to allow the most possible length in the most compact space, retains minute particles of food. These particles build and build along the length of the digestive tract until instead of being pocketed and bumpy, the tract is smooth. This smoothness is a symptom of less effective digestion.

Now to reverse this trend the easiest, most effective method is the fast. To fast on a regular basis allows the internal tubes to clear of most of the recent debris and then begin to work on that which has been lying dormant for a longer time. This toxic material goes into the system to be eliminated in the usual ways: through the skin, lungs and of course Anus.

Fasting is therefore something which must be done with care. The most effective way may be to simply allow eleven or twelve hours every day in which no food, and only water as a liquid passes into your system. If this becomes part of your daily routine, your first meal of the day will indeed be the "break-fast."

A second order of fasting may be to refrain from food for one entire sun-cycle. From sun-up on one day to sundown the next, no food whatsoever is taken. As an additional boost to the fast itself, drink copious amounts of clean, pure water.

To turn the experience into a cleanse of optimum quality, add the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon into the water, along with a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a teaspoon or so of maple syrup.

For most people this liquid combination is quite good tasting and easy to take.

Always consult with your physician before fasting, in case some underlying situation exists which would be made worse for fasting.

Once the benefits of fasting begin to show, (increased ease of digestion, increased vitality, an increased sense of the taste of food and oh yes, increased ease in loosing weight) you will find the practice itself easier and easier to sustain.

Good eating, and good fasting!