>Subject: whey protein van flav. for wt. loss

Hello I wanted to know if I substitute 1 meal with the whey protein van fla. I bought the lg. 2lbs. 908 grams bottle hoping to loose a little wt. I am 56 year old woman an battling the bulge. So someone recommended to try whey protein in a shake in the morning with yogurt, flax seed, bee pollen, and fruit in my bullet, what do you think?

Thanks,
Joann, senior in fla. that needs to tone up and be healthy.
12/21/05<

That sounds like a plan. The protein in the whey and the fat in the flax seeds should provide sufficient satiety value to keep you from getting hungry. But if you don't like the taste of the flax seeds, you could substitute natural peanut butter or other nut butters.

But be careful of the amounts. You probably want to stay under 300 calories. And be careful with the bee pollen. If you hay fever or other allergies, you could very well be allergic to it.

Notes: Various whey proteins are also available from .

>Subject: Cleansing fasts

Gary,

I'm researching and trying to discern how Biblical cleansing fasts are. I fast periodically, for what Rex Russell calls a "normal fast" of one day, but am interested to know if a cleansing fast is 1) Biblical, 2) beneficial, and 3) if yes, to 1 and 2, what is the best way to conduct this type of fast.

Thank you for your time,
Katy
12/29/05

Fasting is definitely Biblical. However, in the Bible, fasts are for spiritual "cleansings" and to reinforce prayer, not for health reasons. I'm not saying they wouldn't have had the "side effect" of being physically cleansing, but it was a by-product, not the main point. So if you want to fast in a Biblical manner, focus more on the spiritual aspects than on the physical.

As for how to conduct it, most recommend doing a juice fast, drinking only fresh vegetable and fruit juices. Others recommend eating just raw fruits and veggies. Either way would work for physical cleansing, but I prefer the latter. Drinking a lot of juice could give you a "sugar rush." I would also recommend using organic foods if possible as consuming that much produce that contains pesticides would be counter-productive.

As for length, usually anywhere from 3-10 days is recommended. But the couple of times I tried the raw fruits and veggies fast, I found that seven days was the longest I could do it.

Rex Russell is the author of What the Bible Says about Healthy Living , a very good book.