Among the more popular topics in natural health circles there are few that command as much as attention as fasting and detoxification. When examined in any detail, however, most of these practices promoted by non-experts lack a sound rationale, and are often little more than a repackaging of old time-y folkoric practices, paired with a dogmatic philosophy reminiscent of Victorian beliefs that we’re all dirty inside. In recent years, this has been further amped with the belief that eating meat and even just existing is a form of ecocide, and thus you should also feel horrible about yourself. Unfortunately, the debate over this topic has been convoluted further by medical experts that claim as a point of principle that fasting and detoxification is new age nonsense. In reality, fasting and detoxification are comprised of sophisticated practices, and is an important topic in Ayurveda. It is one of the six measures of internal medicine, i.e. langhana chikitsa, employed before pancha karma and/or rasayana (rejuvenation) therapy, and on its own, is a general measure to treat most disease. This lecture will share these important principles used in Ayurveda, and how to safely employ them in a Western context.