Wellbeing & Yoga Blog Posts | Meka Yoga Retreat - MEKAYOGA (2024)

In short: rice-fasting detoxifies body and mind; boosts metabolism; improves brain function; improves immunity; slows down aging; reduces chances of cancer, heart disease and diabetes and brings peace of mind. It balances your energy system; sharpens your senses; makes your skin glow and brings happiness.

What is rice fasting (Ohsawa diet #7)

Fasting is abstaining from all or some kinds of foods and drinks. In this case you abstain from all foods and drinks except water and brown rice. Brown-rice fasting gives similar general fasting benefits as juice-fasting, fruit fasting, or water fasting, and it has its own specific advantages. It is mild because you are still eating carbs making you less hungry, and it’s more grounding and warming than a fruit, juice or water fast. And most importantly, rice, especially brown basmati rice, is considered to be the ‘perfect’ food, as it is believed to have the perfect balance between yin and yang energies which is important for restoring balance in your organs and energy systems. The brown-rice fast that I talk about is the Ohsawa #7 diet. This requires 10 consecutive days of eating brown rice only and drinking just water. There are several versions varying from very strict to more mild regarding the amount of rice and water, adding different types of grains or using additional balancing ingredients. For me the strictest version (#7; 3 meals per day) is easiest to follow and feels most effective.

Origins of rice fasting (Ohsawa diet #7)

Rice fasting in particular gained its fame when George Ohsawa brought his philosophy of Macrobiotics to the West. Ohsawa (1893-1966) was a Japanese philosopher and doctor who lost his mother, brothers and sister to tuberculosis and was diagnosed with this disease himself at age 16. He cured himself and spent the rest of his life spreading his wisdom into the world. It was not just a diet; it was a lifestyle, a philosophy that would bring lasting health and happiness to all. The core of Ohsawa’s teachings is that macrobiotic principles are a means to achieve happiness through health and nutrition. This is a very deep shift in perception and holistic living, and it encompasses everything from how you cook to the freshness and purity of the foods you consume to the attitude with which you eat them. Happiness experienced through balance at the physical level can help lead to the experience of true happiness, that of the Self, is what he believed.
The rice diet refers to his most strict diet and its called #7. In its simplest form, Ohsawa Diet #7 consists of only brown rice and water. Like all of Ohsawa’s principles, this was not a “new” concept in the 1960s—it had been practiced in many cultures going back at least 5,000 years. Its general intention is to give the mind a break from stimulation and the digestive system a dose of simplicity in order to balance the being. Ohsawa described this balancing in terms ofyinandyang, but whatever terms may be used by others—from ancient Hindus to modern dieticians—the underlying principles remain the same.

The benefits

The benefits are endless. In short, a rice-fast will boost your metabolism; your immune system; enhances your brain; detoxify your body; reduces tumors; reduces the risk of developing heart diseases and diabetes type 2; slow down aging and will make you look better. It will balance your energy systems, and sharpen your senses. Below I will elaborate further on these benefits.

Brown rice-fasting

• Promotes detoxification: Toxins from for instance processed foods are stored in fat cells in the body. For long-term energy, fat deposits are burnt and the toxins within the fat cells are released. These toxins are then removed from the body with the help of the liver, kidneys and other organs, leaving your body free of accumulated toxins;

• Boosts your metabolism: When your digestive system is weak, your ability to burn fat and metabolize food is affected. When you fast, your digestive system gets time to rest. When you start eating again, your digestive system receives a boost and functions again with increased metabolism. Other effect of increased metabolism: it slows down the process of aging and it supports healthy bowel movement;

• Improves brain function: When you fast, your brain goes into survival mode, leading to increased ability to focus on the tasks at hand. Fasting has also been associated with a reduction in oxidative stress, reduced insulin resistance and blood sugar levels, as well as reduced inflammation, all of which are good for the health of the brain. Fasting also promotes the production of certain brain hormones that help brain cell repair related to for instance Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, and low levels of these brain hormones are related to depression and several brain problems;

• Improves the immune system: By fasting you give your digestive track the time it needs to repair itself. Did you ever see a sick animal eat? No, its a natural instinct to not stress the digestive system and instead save energy to battle the infection. Research shows that already a 3 day fast can lead to the regeneration of the entire immune system and new white blood cells which have a stronger ability to fight disease;

• Rejuvenates the skin and whitens the eyes: Cell repair will be boosted; toxins will be eliminated and inflammation will be reduced resulting in a more smooth and radiant skin and whiter brighter eyes;

• Improves insulin sensitivity which is beneficial for not developing diabetes type 2;

• May reduce the growth of tumors and cancer: Cancer is a disease that is characterised by the uncontrolled cellular growth which is positively influenced by fasting. Fasting reduces likeliness of tumors to grow and by the detoxification process of fasting, cells will be free of toxins and therefor less likely to develop uncontrolled cellular growth;

• Reduces the risk of developing heart-disease: When fasting, the body burns cholesterol to provide energy to the body. High cholesterol is an important factor in developing diabetes and it contributes to high blood pressure which are both risky for the heart;

• Balances your energy systems: Perfect health and happiness exist when yin and yang energies are in perfect balance. All dis-eases mean misbalanced energies. Restoring your energy systems will eliminate disease and bring back healthy energy into your system.

• Sharpens the senses: Last but not least, when restraining from food, your senses will not get the stimulation they are used to. Rice-fasting is not just a cleanse to your body; it is also a cleanse for your senses and your mind. When our senses get overstimulated, they become dull. We for instance need more sugar, more salt, more fat to reach a certain level of satisfaction in our taste buds. We need louder music to dance, brighter colours, faster movies. Fasting feels like a ‘reset’ button for your senses.Once you start eating different tastes again, tastes are perceived much stronger which can result in an almost high-like experience, and your senses need much less stimulants to reach a similar level of satisfaction as before the fast.

Personally, this sense-strengthening, the balancing of energies as well as the stillness that the simplicity of fasting brings into the mind are the main reasons for engaging in this Ohsawa #7 rice-fast. For this moment, at least. I am now in the sixth day of my second Ohsawa #7 rice-fast, and I intend to do one every January. I have done several other types of fasting like just water for 4 days, juice-fasting or fruit-fasting but this is definitely the one I would recommend most.

Harmke