Water Fasting

Water fasting is the complete abstinence from all forms of nourishment except water.

Animals frequently do this. If an animal is not feeling well it refuses food until the illness has passed and then resumes feeding.

We can always learn a lot from animals as they have not dumbed down their natural instincts.

Whenever we become ill we are advised to 'eat to keep up our strength'. But if you've lost your appetite, that is your bodies way of telling you that it would be better not to eat.

Your body does not have the energy to both digest food AND fight the infection. So your constant feeding is counter productive and results in a longer illness.

We all fast every time we go to sleep

That is why we call the first meal of the day break-fast.

Water fasting is a very natural thing and not to be confused with starvation.

The average well covered individual has enough reserves to last 40 days and more on water alone, and even very thin people have reserves for at least a few weeks.

In our current society, our diets are generally so bad that if we miss a single meal, we start to feel ill. We get headaches, stomach aches, fatigue or dizziness.

These symptoms make us anxiously assume that missing a meal is a very bad thing. But these symptoms are not the symptoms of true hunger, they are simply detoxification.

As soon as your body has relieved itself of its digestive load from the previous meal, it can turn its attention to detoxification.

For most people, this results in very uncomfortable symptoms. This doesn't mean that it's bad, quite the opposite!

The worse you feel when you've missed a meal, the more your body could use a break from feeding!

I have done water fasting on two separate occasions, ten days each.

I will not pretend that it was easy. In fact, from what I've read, most people tend to have a much easier time of it than I did. I did abuse my body a heck of a lot over a number of years, so my body has a lot of work to do.

People undertake fasts for a number of reasons, including general detoxification, weight loss and anti aging, but the most common reason people have is to cure themselves of illness.

Within 48 hours of water fasting for women and 72 hours for men, the body switches from burning its stored reserves of carbohydrates to burning fat

This metabolic change is known as ketosis. Most of our toxins are stored in our fat cells. The body breaks down these cells and deals with the toxins stored there.

This can cause quite severe symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.

On my third day of water fasting I vomited, and the nausea continued for the rest of the ten day period.

During a fast the body consumes everything that is not essential to its functioning, such as viruses, fibroid tumours, cysts and stored fat.

During the first couple of days the body uses its stored carbohydrates for fuel, but usually by the third day the metabolism has shifted to ketone production and when this happens the body's protein is ruthlessly conserved.

The body is beautifully designed to withstand long periods of insufficient availability of food

Prior to water fasting a person should eat only raw fruits and vegetables for a few weeks, or AT LEAST for the same number of days that they plan to do the fast.

Though it is completely safe, you shouldn't attempt it for longer than 3 days without the guidance of an experienced practitioner. Dr Joel Fuhrman, a former Olympic athlete sustained a severe leg injury. He was told that his only hope was highly experimental surgery. He booked himself into Dr Herbert Shelton's clinic where he fasted for 46 days. At the end of this period, his leg was completely healed.

While in the clinic he saw people recovering from so called incurable diseases like diabetes, arthritis and heart disease. He was so inspired that he went to medical school and now helps many to heal in his work as a physician in New Jersey. His book Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease is a fantastic resource.

Breaking A Fast

The way you break an extended fast is crucial. The best way is to have half an orange or a fist sized amount of watermelon every two hours for the first day.

On the second day eat four small fruit meals, evenly spaced.

On the third day add a salad. Eat only raw fruits and vegetables for at least the same amount of time as you fasted.

Water Fasting Weight Loss

While many people choose fasting to lose weight, and while it is enormously effective in the short term, if you do not follow an excellent diet afterwards, you will REGAIN all the lost weight.

Your metabolism slows down, and it can take from 6 weeks up to several months for it to return to pre-fast levels!

Remember too, that you have lost muscle AND fat, so the weight gain afterwards will be ALL fat, so you may end up fatter than before.

While water fasting weight loss generally averages between 1 and 2 pounds per day, a LOT of this is water weight and SOME of it is muscle loss, so your FAT loss may not be much more significant than if you simply ate an excellent low fat raw vegan diet!

But the difference is that an excellent raw vegan diet will not leave your metabolism slower than before!

I definitely do NOT recommend fasting to lose weight!

Your primary reason should be something OTHER than weight loss. Fasting to cure yourself of illness is a much more likely scenario for success, than successfully curing yourself of excess fat.

If weight loss is your major goal, then a low fat raw vegan diet with exercise will be much more effective.

Trust me on this!

I spent two 10 day periods on water only and I only succeeded in making myself fatter than before.

When I had completed the 10 days I felt an almost insatiable hunger and did not stick to exclusively raw fruits and vegetables, and gained all the weight back, plus a bit extra.

I had lost a little muscle tone as well so I not only made myself fatter than before, but made it so much harder for myself to lose the weight once it was regained, as I then had to deal with a super slowed up metabolism too.

The health benefits of fasting can be amazing!

If you are ever considering a face lift, do yourself a favor and do a few days on water instead!

It will be a lot better for you and it will do a way better job!

Your skin glows with health, your eyes become clearer than you ever imagined they could, your digestive system gets a chance to thoroughly clean house, and your absorption of nutrients is massively increased which leads to much greater levels of energy.

If you have established a good relationship with food and are following an excellent diet, and would like to start water fasting periodically then a good way to start is just to do 24 hours from time to time.

24 Hour Water Fasting Tips

The best way to do this is to eat a big fruit breakfast and then don't eat again until the next day at breakfast where you can break it with some fruit.

Or, if you prefer, eat a big raw dinner and then don't eat again until the next day at dinner. But remember it's not going to do much for you if you're chewing gum or drinking tea or coffee. It has to be a complete break from everything except water.

You can gradually build up to doing 48 hours or even 72 hours.

24 hours is easy and, because of our stored carbohydrates, does not result in any loss of muscle mass, however any longer than this, I would not do on a regular basis, especially if you're into building up your muscles.

Preferably save it for when you have a good reason, such as if you have come down with an illness and lost your appetite.

And while you're at it, get as much rest as you possibly can. The body needs to have all its energy available for the cleansing taking place.

So don't even exercise. If you want to do some gentle stretching then great, but don't do anything too vigorous as it will be counter productive.

Enjoy your cleansing!