Fasting alongside herbs

Phase one of a detox — drainage opening, bitters in, gentle movers. Skipping a meal or running a 16:8 window gives the liver bandwidth it doesn't get when it's processing food. Light fasting layered onto phase one is genuinely powerful.

It's also useful in maintenance phases — once you've been through a few cycles and your body is mineralized, intermittent fasting is a solid daily practice.

Phase two. If you're killing parasites or mobilizing heavy metals, your body needs nutrient density to process the burden. Fasting through phase two leaves you depleted and the die-off recirculates because nothing is escorting it out.

Specifically — phase two is when you eat MORE, not less. Greens, mineral broths, fatty fish if you eat fish, root vegetables. Keep the fuel high while the work is heavy.

We don't run extended fasts — three days or more — alongside any of our protocols. The herbs do enough. Adding a long fast to a structured cleanse is asking for a hard reaction.

If you want to do an extended fast, do it in a maintenance month. Run a clean 30-day protocol, take two weeks off, then fast — your body will handle it much better than fasting cold.

If you want to fast, run a 16:8 eating window during phase one and phase three of a 30-day protocol. Eat normally during phase two. That's the rhythm we walk our regulars through.

In practice: eating between 11am and 7pm, fasted morning and overnight. Water and bitters are fine in the morning window. Tea is fine. Coffee is not the move during a cleanse.

Anyone with a history of disordered eating. Pregnant or nursing women. Type 1 diabetics. Anyone underweight or recovering from illness.

For everyone else, the question isn't whether you can fast — it's whether the timing fits the cycle you're in.