Water Fasting

[Michelle Marie]

After reading Bill's Post #254, I have started doing more intermittent fasting. I realized when I read it that for 3 days I hadn't eaten until after noon, anyway, and I don't usually eat after 8 at night.

Now, I'm attempting to make a habit of it!

I'm also doing an exercise routine in the morning that I've done on and off for years. Stretching/yoga, 5 rites, and arm weights. Getting in the habit makes it easier.

MM

[TargeT]

Posted by MorningFox (here)
My friend Tim did 35 days on nothing but distilled water..

Distilled water can be dangerous, it lacks all minerals & will deplete your body of minerals faster... Tim seems young, and probably didn't hit any issues, for me the "snake juice" (potassium chloride and sodium chloride mixed) was KEY to successful energetic fasting for reasons described earlier in the thread (our cell's close relationship with those two salts when making energy).

Also the Potasium almost instantly fixed muscle cramps that I had been getting off and on for a while when I fasted too long.

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by TargeT (here)
Distilled water can be dangerous, it lacks all minerals & will deplete your body of minerals faster...

I'd rephrase that to say that exclusively distilled water for 35 days is dangerous.

The key point of a fast, as best I can currently figure, is to remove the sources of energy (carbs, proteins and fats) and of toxins from the diet, so that the body instead works off stored energy supplies in the body, which after perhaps a few hours of working down the excess glucose stores, soon turns to the fat stores. Fat is also a key way that the body sequesters various toxins that it can't find a better way to excrete or neutralize.

If one's body is particularly "toxic", due to consumption of or exposure to too many toxins, for a long time, then the initial toxic burden from dumping into the blood stream and liver the toxins freed up from burning fat can be itself be a sickening challenge. I'd start off with a shorter fast, if that might be my situation. Once one's live and kidney are stronger (perhaps after some shorter fasts, perhaps after a liver flush series, and perhaps after reducing the toxic burden in one's diet and surrounds) then one can more easily handle the toxic burden of a longer fast.

However one still needs some things on a regular, more or less daily, basis, including especially the major minerals (sodium, potassium, magnesium, ...) and of course water. A continued source of the major vitamins A, various B, C, D, ... especially the more rapidly used up water soluble vitamins, is also a good idea.

If one is already seriously short of a key mineral, say magnesium, then a month of distilled water, without some compensating mineral supplementation, could lead to cardiac arrest or some other such life threatening condition ... thus reasonably called "dangerous".

[TargeT]

Posted by Paul (here)
If one is already seriously short of a key mineral, say magnesium, then a month of distilled water, without some compensating mineral supplementation, could lead to cardiac arrest or some other such life threatening condition ... thus reasonably called "dangerous".

I agree with your overall clarification, but I would like to emphasis this one point:

While regulating salt intakes ("snake juice" has a formula, deviate at your own risk) you will find one thing: they become highly effective laxatives when you take too much..... and that's it, it's like; a built in safety valve (remind anyone of cannabis?).

as I have had quasi extreme effects due to lack of salts ( muscle cramps that were so bad I would lose multiple days of sleep with out being able to "walk them off", which was just a temporary fix that effectively depleted my salts even more) I think that it is drastically important to be sure that your water intake during fasting is mineral rich (and NOTHING else). I suggest two minerals that I know studies have proven to be essential (potassium chloride and sodium chloride). I also know that we are all very very custom "units" we all react to stimuli differently and thus should find what works best for us.

I would avoid processed anything on a diet (and F that word... replace it with Life Style... because this will keep you healthy active and virulent), but ESPECIALLY processed water. I am in favor of the complete opposite of distilled water (unless you are consciously/studiedly adding your own minerals to it).

[James Newell]

That first meal after a fast is simply DELICIOUS, it makes it worth having a body...

[TargeT]

Posted by James Newell (here)
That first meal after a fast is simply DELICIOUS, it makes it worth having a body...

when I time restrict it's like a mini version of that, I eat everything in a 2 hour window and it tastes AMAZING.. haha (helps that my wife is a Hungarian gypsy... I think cooking is a part of their DNA).

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Be very careful! And listen carefully to your body all the time.

A quick, minor anecdote. I'd done a fast for 4 days, my first in a couple months, and was intending to go on for a few days longer.

I woke up at 2 am this morning, with my body telling me: Hey! We need FOOD. Please. Really.

So I've been enjoying my papaya and veggie broth today. I checked my weight, and I was down to 154 lbs, having set my arbitrary minimum weight at 150. (More about minimum healthy weight here.)

But that can't be a rigid law, overriding what your body says... it may vary. Just an interesting little story: never overrule what your body is trying to tell you.

[Laurel]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Be very careful! And listen carefully to your body all the time.

I completely agree that you absolutely must listen to your body.

I've been on a low carb diet and Dr. Fung's intermittent fasting routine for the past 3 weeks (I've been on and off low carb for the past several years, so it's pretty easy now). Last Saturday I started a 14-day fast (with water, homemade bone broth, green tea and coffee). I am down 22 pounds as of this morning.

It's been really great, but this morning I was really hungry and very on edge. I was well hydrated, so I knew it was my body saying it needed a break from the fast. I waited it out until the late afternoon to see if it would pass... and it didn't. So I scrambled up a couple eggs and poured them into my egg poacher. I added a little cheese and steamed the little mini souffles for 5 minutes. They completely filled me up and were only around 300 calories total. 3 hours later, I'm still full.

I will restart intermittent fasting tomorrow and try to do 14 days next month.

Also, I bought a Instant Pot which arrived yesterday. I sat down and read the instruction book which included really yummy recipes. Big mistake. Don't look at recipes when you are fasting.

[TargeT]

Posted by Laurel (here)
So I scrambled up a couple eggs and poured them into my egg poacher. I added a little cheese and steamed the little mini souffles for 5 minutes. They completely filled me up and were only around 300 calories total. 3 hours later, I'm still full.

And you ate the best possible thing to not overly disrupt ketosis

Posted by Laurel (here)
Also, I bought a Instant Pot which arrived yesterday. I sat down and read the instruction book which included really yummy recipes. Big mistake. Don't look at recipes when you are fasting.

I have a 6 and an 8 qrt.... those things are MAGIC!!

Fall off the bone ribs in 30 min? Yuuuupppppp

[Laurel]

Posted by TargeT (here)
I have a 6 and an 8 qrt.... those things are MAGIC!!
Fall off the bone ribs in 30 min? Yuuuupppppp

I can't wait to use it! I can't decide what to make first. I have some serious grocery shopping to do tomorrow.

Sorry for de-railing the thread

[TargeT]

Another interesting video from a doctor about carnivore diet... Nothing phenomenally new here, just suggests focusing on diet and trying things to find out whats best for you; though he does bring up the fact that almost all studies painting meat as bad for you are at best correlation (which does not equate to causation) and in fact, he says "barely even a coincidence"...

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=MYyA2PDyOaI

haven't tried it yet, but it's in my future... a completely inflammatory free diet just makes good sense.

[MorningFox]

Posted by TargeT (here)

Posted by MorningFox (here)
My friend Tim did 35 days on nothing but distilled water..

Distilled water can be dangerous, it lacks all minerals & will deplete your body of minerals faster...

Yes, that's what I've always read, but I did often wonder if that was just fear tactics spread deliberately to scare people away from drinking pure h2o. There are schools of thought that believe drinking distilled water is incredibly healthy for you and rejuvenates the cells. Tim's 35 days on nothing but distilled water suggests that this might be true. He lost weight, obviously, but felt incredibly well. For me this is better proof of it being good for you than reading online is that it isn't good for you... (if that sentence makes sense )

Besides, most people, like myself, have no interest in drinking nothing but distilled water. I drink it every day and have done for about 7 years now, and along with a healthy diet (that provide the minerals you need) I believe it's far better than almost all other water sources.

Personally if I was to do a water fast with distilled water, I would add back in a mineral solution, because why not, but I think the fear that drinking distilled water (while eating as normal) is bad for you is complete nonsense, personally.

[TargeT]

Posted by MorningFox (here)
Tim's 35 days on nothing but distilled water suggests that this might be true. He lost weight, obviously, but felt incredibly well. For me this is better proof of it being good for you than reading online is that it isn't good for you... (if that sentence makes sense ).

Clear communication is often one of my weak points online, I type fast enough that sometimes I post almost literal "flow of thought" and assume everyone else is on the same page... haha

I'm almost 39, a bit more sensitive perhaps to mineral imbalances and certainly did NOT eat healthy before this (which I feel exacerbated the deficiencies, and lets be honest,,, I don't eat healthy NOW... just eat DIFFERENTLY) even before I started long term fasting (i've been doing some form of internement fasting for years now; but when I did eat it was not heath conscious.. I eat out a LOT... haha) I noticed that if I stretched my fast longer than 15 hours I would start to get muscle cramps.. I tried everything for years, the only thing that fixed it was eating some food.

Then I tried snake juice (sodium and potassium) and learned the reason behind my cramps and also why I do not get them anymore. I meant to say I've been experimenting with diet for a few years now and found these things in my situation; we certainly all are different, but aside from the anecdotal evidence here, there is also the videos I previously posted by the.... energetic... (haha) Canadian fellow who breaks down exactly WHY these two (at least) salts are so important.

I'm back to my normal "time restricted" eating (which I've been doing for at least 8 months now) and even though I've gone on a vacation, and to a training trip (which involves a lot of after class dinners and networking, drinking etc..) I have not gained back any "numbers on the scale" and I have minorly visible muscle growth (from my VERY limited work out routine, or fasting? probably both from what is discussed earlier in this thread).

I now really wish I had some before/after shots.. o well, only so much time in a day.

I will continue on this path (off and on long term fasting with time restricted eating) or perhaps switch it to just eating meat time restricted until I reach around 10% body fat (I'd guess another 20lbs of fat to loose? maybe 30? I haven't weighed under 215-220 for years now I think I'm around 193 right now, haven't hit the scale in a few days).

So yes, I have read a lot (ok, mostly watched youtube videos... haha), but I'm also actively implementing it

[jc71]

Hi all,

It has been a while since I last did a water fast, and I have been dealing with some fairly chaotic work so haven't been following the thread for a while.

Anyway, I am starting a new fast tomorrow and I am going to see if I can do 15 or 20 days.

I'll report anything interesting

JC

[jc71]

Hi all,

Ok well so far so good. 36 hours in and feeling good. As before, just drinking black coffee and filtered water (with a little chilled San Pellegrino as a treat).

Went to one of the biggest shopping malls in South East England yesterday to take my wife to the cinema and had to walk past an unbelievable amount of food outlets, but I am feeling strong, and it wasn't a problem.

Last night, for the first time on any of my water fasts, I did feel slight stomach cramps for a short while, but it wasn't too bad and it passed quickly. Today I have a slight headache (2 out of 10 on the discomfort scale) as my body is "switching modes" to ketosis I think.

That's all there is to report so far.

Will keep you posted with any interesting developments if there are any

Thanks for listening if indeed you are! Helps me just to be able to post now and again.

JC

[amor]

Dear Bill. We don't want to lose you or hear that you have got injured in your climbing because of losing muscle tissue. Ignore these marathon ideas. If you wish to fast, have one small meal a day with lemonade, orange juice and/or water. Perhaps eating nothing every other day to see how your body reacts. It is easier to get injured when you are older. Think of the cost of medical care or being crippled for life. It is better to practice moderation with a capital "M."

[jc71]

Hello again,

I have a couple of minor observations, mainly for those who haven't tried water fasting before, and partly just to document it for myself:

1. My headache got a bit worse to maybe 4 out of 10 on the pain scale, but has now lifted (I am about 60 hours into my fast), so I think I am now in the "sweet spot" where you actually start to feel good and even a bit euphoric

2. I have noticed on my last visit to the bathroom that my urine was quite dark yellow. All of yesterday it was very pale yellow, almost clear. My body seems to be still getting rid of quite a heavy load of "toxins" or whatever it is that makes urine dark yellow

3. I have lost 6.5 lbs so far. My body always does this initial 4 lbs then settles down to 2lbs per day for a while, then 1lb a day and then I am not sure as I haven't gone longer than 10 days before, so let's see if I do this time.

(4. Of course my wife has accepted an invitation to a barbeque at friends at the weekend - not particularly looking forward to that on water and black coffee... oh well).

That's it for now

JC

PS. Amor - have you read the whole of the thread? I think you will find it covers most of your concerns for Bill

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by amor (here)
Dear Bill. We don't want to lose you or hear that you have got injured in your climbing because of losing muscle tissue. Ignore these marathon ideas. If you wish to fast, have one small meal a day with lemonade, orange juice and/or water. Perhaps eating nothing every other day to see how your body reacts. It is easier to get injured when you are older. Think of the cost of medical care or being crippled for life. It is better to practice moderation with a capital "M."

Posted by jc71 (here)
Amor - have you read the whole of the thread? I think you will find it covers most of your concerns for Bill

Right. I'm 100% satisfied, having done a lot of reading and listening, that water fasting doesn't compromise muscle tissue at all. The body starts to consume its own muscle only as a VERY last resort, if it's actually starving. Fasting isn't in any way the same as starving: that would only happen if one's taken it way too far.

This issue has been quite extensively discussed earlier on the thread, and there are a number of good videos and web presentations about it. It's a legitimate question to ask, but it's actually not a problem.

My own personal protocol with water fasting is always to stop at one's own minimum healthy weight. That'll vary from person to person (depends on age, body type, height, etc), and it may be valuable to know what that is. I do suggest this is always important for anyone to bear in mind... particularly if they're not overweight at the start of a fast.

[Innocent Warrior]

I’m leaving this link here because of the relationship between fasting and the activation of stem cells but this may be of interest to anyone for whom stem cell therapy may work (a lot of applications).

This is a nine part video series; The Healing Miracle, Truth About Stem Cells, usually $158 for digital access to the information but free to view for the weekend (one day left).

I’ve only watched the first video so far (up to 1hr and 18mins), the first half is about getting bills pushed through to make it legal to try in Texas and the second part has testimonies from people who have had the therapy, so if you want to save time then that’s all you’re missing by skipping that in part one.

[RunningDeer]

Posted by Rachel (here)
I’m leaving this link here because of the relationship between fasting and the activation of stem cells but this may be of interest to anyone for whom stem cell therapy may work (a lot of applications).

This is a nine part video series; The Healing Miracle, Truth About Stem Cells, usually $158 for digital access to the information but free to view for the weekend (one day left).

I’ve only watched the first video so far (up to 1hr and 18mins), the first half is about getting bills pushed through to make it legal to try in Texas and the second part has testimonies from people who have had the therapy, so if you want to save time then that’s all you’re missing by skipping that in part one.

Thanks, Rachel

17 hours left.