Water Fasting

[TargeT]

I've been on a month long binge of catered training sessions (majority of what was offered was sugar based, with carbs to back it...... I almost wonder if studies were done on this, surely it turns out a satisfied student when they are fed sugars and carbs every 1.5 hrs.......), My sisters wedding, then more catered training sessions followed by an 8 meal (ok, mostly appetizers) a day 5 day visit in NY city(first time there, went tourist crazy).

I've definitely gained back some of what I lost.. I will weigh in Tuesday and as of tomorrow am starting another water fast, I think I'll shoot for a full 30 days this time; the results from my last attempts were amazing. I recognize that it is a trial (and it is uncomfortable at times), it is not the "easy button" to weight loss that is looked for commonly, but the results...... I'm mentally so much more confident (probably a sad indicator of my mental health)), but with what losses that even now I have maintained, it excites and motivates me for the next fast.

Plus, I am studying for a couple of very difficult technical certifications from SANS and think the high ketosis levels will greatly effect my mental efforts (an unexpected effect from my last round, more mental clarity and over all energy).

[Pam]

Posted by Paul (here)

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".

Paul, you have a lot of knowledge about fasting. I recently heard of the "fast mimicking diet" call Prolon. It is a prepackaged (pricey) food diet that is supposed to give you the same results as a 5 day water fast. I can't find any analysis of it. What do you think?

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by peterpam (here)
Paul, you have a lot of knowledge about fasting. I recently heard of the "fast mimicking diet" call Prolon. It is a prepackaged (pricey) food diet that is supposed to give you the same results as a 5 day water fast. I can't find any analysis of it. What do you think?

Good grief - according to this site, https://pressreleases.responsesource...imicking-diet/, Prolon costs £225 (for 5 small boxes, one per day.)

I suppose Prolon doesn't list their ingredients in detail because then you'd realize you could get the ingredients for a "Prolon mimicking diet" for a tenth that cost at the local market.

I doubt that they get much repeat business, which means that I doubt that many people are using Prolon repeatedly, over the years, as part of a long term improvement in their health and diet.

===

P.S. -- On the other hand, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that many of those who do purchase Prolon follow through, one or two times, with more or less the entire five day regime, and do notice some of the benefits that can be gained from a water fast of similar length. Most of us, when we put down a couple hundred quid for some health or exercise food, machine, or club plan, tend to follow through for at least a few days, before wandering off if it doesn't suit us a longer term habit.

[Michelle Marie]

I like the financial benefits of plain water fasting. No grocery expenditures for a few days.

$$$...That's a PLUS!!!...$$$

MM

[RunningDeer]

I started with a quick scan of the reviews beginning with the 1s & 2s to know it’s not for me.

"The Longevity Diet: Discover the New Science Behind Stem Cell Activation and Regeneration to Slow Aging, Fight Disease, and Optimize Weight," by Valter Longo, PhD., January, 2018

Reviews:

• I bought this book because I thought it would teach me how to do the “Fasting -Mimicking Diet”. Instead it is a 300 page advertisement for ProLon FMD that cost $249.
  
  
• I quote from the book:
  
  “For safety and efficacy, it is strongly recommended that patients do the ProLon FMD and not a “home-made” version."
  
  Save your money on the book and if you want to do the “Fasting -Mimicking Diet” go to the ProLon website and they will be glad to take your money.
  
  
  
• I learned a lot about why the author thinks I should buy his product ProLon, along with the typical legal disclaimers.
  
  
  
• If you are looking for information on how to actually do a 5 day fasting-mimicking diet, do NOT buy this book. All the explanation on why you should do it is in here, but how to do it is not. The advice is basically "see a professional or go to a website and pay for the instructions." Apparently we common people are not capable of restricting our calories for 5 days on our own?
  
  
  
• I was disappointed by this book. I look for books that I can give to my patients in my clinic and unfortunately this will not be one of them. He does push his product Prolon a fair amount in the book.

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by peterpam (here)
Paul, you have a lot of knowledge about fasting. I recently heard of the "fast mimicking diet" call Prolon. It is a prepackaged (pricey) food diet that is supposed to give you the same results as a 5 day water fast. I can't find any analysis of it. What do you think?

Good grief - according to this site, https://pressreleases.responsesource...imicking-diet/, Prolon costs £225 (for 5 small boxes, one per day.)

[Bill Ryan]

Bumping this interesting thread with a micro-announcement of a Christmas water fast... an unusual, experimental personal ritual. (Never done that before!)

On Day 2 now, and I'll probably go for a week. In some parallel universe — but probably quite a distant one! — it might be interesting if everyone did this once a year, all together, in order to mark and celebrate a time that's supposed to be all about spirituality but (in this universe) definitely isn't.

(A thread about Christmas, and what people feels it means or has come to mean, might be interesting. But off-topic here!)

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)


Bumping this interesting thread with a micro-announcement of a Christmas water fast... an unusual, experimental personal ritual. (Never done that before!)

On Day 2 now, and I'll probably go for a week. In some parallel universe — but probably quite a distant one! — it might be interesting if everyone did this once a year, all together, in order to mark and celebrate a time that's supposed to be all about spirituality but (in this universe) definitely isn't.

(A thread about Christmas, and what people feels it means or has come to mean, might be interesting. But off-topic here!)

A minor update. (In case anyone cares, or is interested! )

I'm on Day 7 now, feeling good, and I'm nearing my minimum healthy weight. Tomorrow I'll be just a pound or so over.

But also tomorrow, I'm scheduled to go on a mountain hike with my friend Warren (Avalon member wnlight). It's not a giant mega-hike, but it's still several miles, 500 ft height gain, and all at 12,000 ft. So it's not a stroll, and it's still something.

I'm NOT sure if I can do it. It'll be fascinating to see. In case I start getting wobbly, I'll take a bunch of fruit and veg juice with me as an emergency Plan B. I will definitely report back.

[Valerie Villars]

You all have a wonderful day. Especially Mara. Be safe and be careful.

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
I'm NOT sure if I can do it. It'll be fascinating to see. In case I start getting wobbly, I'll take a bunch of fruit and veg juice with me as an emergency Plan B. I will definitely report back.

The human body is built to handle physical labor after not eating for days. Sometimes, that was the only way to get more food.

[TargeT]

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
I'm NOT sure if I can do it. It'll be fascinating to see. In case I start getting wobbly, I'll take a bunch of fruit and veg juice with me as an emergency Plan B. I will definitely report back.

The human body is built to handle physical labor after not eating for days. Sometimes, that was the only way to get more food.

The first 2-3 days seem to be the worst, but i guess it's mostly detoxing and mostly purging the constant influx of sugar (which is so hard to avoid in most modern diets).

I seemed to burn out a bit early when exercising while fasting, but never felt terrible when on a wet fast.
Even with being basically bed ridden for 3 weeks now, I'm still at 197 as of this mornings doctors visit, so I'm not "yo-yo"ing; which is good, that was my goal: sustained BMI improvement.

[Rosemarie]

Did you survive ........I bet you did. Usually at what time you start and how long it takes. These hikes sound kind of hard in the altitude.

[thepainterdoug]

i rarely use this word, envious, but Im envious of all you great people who have done a water fast. I am breezing thru all written here but please if anyone wants to help me and point me in the right direction, go ahead. my hesitation has always been that I run and play on an Ice hockey team 3 days a week. so i have always figured , i will not be able to play hockey on just water. ok I'm a big eater and snacker as well. so there, the truth. I would love to do this 7 day water fast. some encouragement from you all may get me committed.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Rosemarie (here)
Did you survive ........I bet you did. Usually at what time you start and how long it takes. These hikes sound kind of hard in the altitude.

Ha! Thanks for the question. Yes — very much to my surprise! — I did the whole thing without breaking my fast, which was Day 8. It was a five hour hike up to 12,500 ft, with a 15 lb pack, against a strong icy wind. I was a little lightheaded and cold in my fingers and feet, and had to stop and rest a few times, but it all worked out fine.

I laughed at Paul's comment:

Posted by Paul (here)
The human body is built to handle physical labor after not eating for days. Sometimes, that was the only way to get more food.

Yes! But I'd not have been able to chase down any deer yesterday.

Doug's question is interesting.

Posted by thepainterdoug (here)
I have always figured, I will not be able to play hockey on just water [...] some encouragement from you all may get me committed.

I welcome others' opinions, maybe from experience, but there's a LOT of difference between hiking (even strenuously), where you can stop and rest any time you want, for as long as you want — and ice hockey, which is highly aerobic and demands bursts of fast-action energy at times which you might not choose for yourself!

So personally, I'd be doubtful if one could play hockey (or play well!) while fasting. I'd definitely be interested in others' views.

[TomKat]

I had a severe gall bladder attack 20 years ago, and the only thing I could do with no health insurance was a water fast. After a couple of days I could breathe without pain and after a couple of more days I was mostly well.

[jc71]

Posted by thepainterdoug (here)
i rarely use this word, envious, but Im envious of all you great people who have done a water fast. I am breezing thru all written here but please if anyone wants to help me and point me in the right direction, go ahead. my hesitation has always been that I run and play on an Ice hockey team 3 days a week. so i have always figured , i will not be able to play hockey on just water. ok I'm a big eater and snacker as well. so there, the truth. I would love to do this 7 day water fast. some encouragement from you all may get me committed.

Hey Doug,

Go for it - we will be here to support you. I am going to start my next one on 1st Jan too.

Cheers,

JC

[ThePythonicCow]

Erin Elizabeth's site Health Nut News displayed a pop-up to me just now, recommending the following:

https://fastingtransformation.com/

The Fasting Transformation Summit is online and FREE from January 14-20, 2019.

Fasting is the most ancient, inexpensive and powerful healing strategy known to mankind — join Dr. David Jockers to learn everything you need to know about this transformational health tactic!

Our ancestors once lived in a way that created robust health to help them survive the rigorous wear and tear of life. We’ve lost those life skills. Today, more and more people are struggling with their weight, chronic pain, memory loss, digestive problems, cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Fasting is an ancient healing practice that dates back to the beginning of mankind, when our bodies were forced to adapt to times of famine and food scarcity on a regular basis — it STILL costs nothing to practice and could transform the health of every cell in your body!

Dr. David Jockers interviewed experts from around the world who specialize in the research and application of the fasting lifestyle. In fact, Dr. Jockers himself used fasting to help overcome IBS and skin cancer. Over the last 10 years, he and other clinicians have seen thousands of chronic health cases get better with the use of intermittent and therapeutic fasting regimens. He created this summit to empower you to confidently live healthier and stronger.

[thepainterdoug]

Thanks J C 71

i am moving closer to going for it. will do some reading , planning and prep

[Bill Ryan]

Hello, Folks: I wanted to just share a bit of data from my fast (broken today ), and ask for opinions or hypotheses. There were some obvious anomalies that raised my eyebrows and which I'm still not convinced I understand.

Here's the weight-loss graph, in lbs and kg.





Everything was normal and as expected until it started to level out. And then (see my post #293 above) on Day 8 I did a mountain hike (which surprised me! I really was doubtful I'd be able to do it) — and which must have been a 5000 calorie day. (I know calories have little to do with weight control, but I wanted to convey an idea of the workout. I was burning something.)

I was bewildered when my weight went UP after the strenuous hike. I figured it must be water retention... but why? And the water retention must have started to kick in the previous day, too. And then, on or after the hike, that accentuated it. I've done a number of week-or-more fasts (maximum 14 days), and this has never happened before. It's always been pretty much a fairly straight trendline.

I searched on the net, and thee are various health/ fasting/ bodybuilding forums out there. Now and then fasters have reported this, and always ask 'how come?' The response has always been reassuring: "It's just water retention, it'll sort itself out, and who knows what the body's doing or why."

That wasn't enough for me. I couldn't find any research articles about this, and so I started to talk to my body. I figured my body might know. This was all last night, just before I broke the fast.

I did a visualization: I imagined (in all its delicious glory!) a huge buffet spread of everything one might imagine, the kind you'd see for lunch at a 5 star hotel. It had salads, potatoes, rice, vegetables of all kinds, breads, fish, meats, eggs, cheeses, fruit, yogurts and sugary desserts. And to drink there were all kinds of juices, tea, coffee, milk, and all sorts.

I asked my body what it wanted. MEAT AND FISH, it said. (Loudly! ) I asked it: Fruit? Juice? Veg? And it said: NO. MEAT AND FISH. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, PLEASE.

That was really interesting. The response seemed vivid. This is hardly science! But I figured it must mean something. Of course, this is problematic, because to break a fast with a bunch of high protein is asking for trouble. One has to break it gently with easy-to-digest stuff like soft fruits and juices.

But my body clearly needed protein. My GUESS — and it's only a guess — is that I was starting to break down muscle (having run out of easily accessible fat — especially during the hike), and that somehow metabolically triggered the water retention.

But I can't find any data to substantiate that. It's just a personal guess.

If this is correct, then it's important, because it means that if one's weight loss when fasting starts to plateau, or even increase — then STOP.

Many posting here know a lot about fasting (likely more than I do!) and so I sincerely welcome feedback, information and ideas. Thanks!

[Valerie Villars]

The first thing that popped in my head and I don't even know if it makes sense or is scientifically valid, is that your muscles were being utilized in a big way and they gained mass from the physical exertion.

Forgive me if that isn't possible and I don't know why I was compelled to post that.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Valerie Villars (here)
The first thing that popped in my head and I don't even know if it makes sense or is scientifically valid, is that your muscles were being utilized in a big way and they gained mass from the physical exertion.

Forgive me if that isn't possible and I don't know why I was compelled to post that.

Thanks, but not possible. Muscle mass can't be built that quickly, and I wasn't consuming any protein to build new muscle with.