My experience with a Water Fast
I had been battling some strange health issues a few years ago and after I was unable to get the answers I was looking for or the help I needed from traditional doctors, I decided to take my health into my own hands.
After spending many hours reading online and trying different things I stumbled upon something called a Water Fast.
People were claiming some pretty amazing healing stories from doing Water Fasts and myself, having battled these mysterious symptoms for years, figured I didn't really have much to lose at this point. It was time to try a more radical approach if I was to get myself well.
The following is a generalized compilation of my readings and understandings from several years ago combined with my own experience.
What is a Water Fast?
A Water Fast is a radical diet where you only consume water for a measured length of time. They can last for 1 day or they can last for upwards of 30 days. The premise behind them is that your body spends a good amount of energy each day digesting food and then expelling what it doesn't use. Imagine what your body might able to do if instead of using it's energy for that it focused all of it's resources and energy on healing any parts of your body that may have been getting neglected. That is the theory at least.
If you are interested in researching the topic a bit for yourself, here is a starting point from someone that is pro-fasting:
http://doctorscotthealth.com/anti-aging/benefits-of-water-fasting-with-patricia-bragg/
How long does a Water Fast last?
That is the most debatable part. Some people claim that any fast over 3 days is unhealthy for your body while others claim that in order to see any real changes (for the better) in your health, you need to fast for AT LEAST 3 days.
Another thing to keep in mind is what exactly you are hoping to accomplish from your fast. If you are hoping to detoxify or cleanse your body, a 3 day fast is probably sufficient. However, if there is some tumor that you are hoping for your body to break down, you would need to fast for much longer than 3 days...
In general, those with higher body fat percentages can "safely" fast for longer periods of times than those with lower body fat percentages. Woman are often able to fast "safely" for longer periods of time than men for this reason.
Some people tend to say that your body will let you know when it is time to come off the fast.
How does your body let you know when it's time to come off a Fast?
The first 2-3 days your body will crave food. It will be hungry and you will be cranky. However, once those initial cravings pass, you actually start to not feel hungry anymore. This is because your body has now gone into starvation mode and begins to feed on it's stored fat reserves.
Your body will continue to feed on it's stored fat reserves for as long as they are there. Once those are used up it will start to feed on muscle tissue and then move on to other organs. The theory is that when you have used up all of your fat reserves you will start to feel intense hunger pains again. This is the sign that the positive benefits of the fast have been exhausted and if you continue you will start to experience negative effects of the fast. This is when you stop the fast.
Keep in mind that most of this is theory and anecdotal evidence from people who have done these fasts. There is very little scientific evidence that can either support nor deny it.
My experience
I started my fast at a time when I knew I wouldn't need to be active. I was finishing up college at the time and it was over my Spring Break. A time when I could basically just stay home and lounge around the house all day. This was important because I knew my energy levels would be low from not consuming any food.
The first few days were definitely the most difficult. I was hungry for 3 days straight. I had a headache and was just overall pretty grumpy. My sense of smell seemed to increase as well because by that 3rd day I could smell food a mile away, which unfortunately only increased my agitated stated.
Something very interesting happened on the 4th day, however. My hunger pains and cravings were completely gone. I had read this would happen but it was hard to believe unless you really experience it for yourself. This lack of hunger continued throughout the rest of my fast.
I noticed that I didn't have much energy at this point in the fast. I really did just feel like lying around all day and resting, so I did. I can't imagine how people can do a fast like this and continue to go to work and perform their daily activities like normal.
These feelings continued for the next several days, all the way up to day 8. I hadn't eaten any food for 8 straight days. I wasn't really hungry after 8 days, but friends and family encouraged me to end the fast because the longer I went the more unhealthy they assumed it was.
I stopped the fast after 8 days. I ate some vegetables and nuts as my first meal because I read that you need to reintroduce food slowly and start with foods that are easy to digest. However, after only a couple hours hunger pains started to come rushing back and in needing to satisfy them, I rushed out to McDonald's and grabbed 2 cheeseburgers. Not the recommended way to come off a fast, but I was young and it must not have been the worst thing in the world because I am still alive today.
Results of the Fast
My skin was not oily at all while I was on the fast but went right back to being extremely oily right when I came off. I have always had oily skin so this was a welcome development, but it was discouraging that it returned to "normal" right when I came off the Fast. That goes to show that the excessive oiliness that I deal with is related to food and perhaps a diet modification may help in that regard?
I lost weight. A good amount actually. Probably about 15 lbs or so. Down from 175 lbs to about 160 lbs. However, most of it was water weight because when I started eating again I immediately put back on 6-8 lbs or so. I was able to keep off the last 8 lbs or so for several months before they eventually returned.
My taste buds seemed to be supercharged. I hadn't tasted food for so long that when I did it seemed to have a stronger taste than it did before. My sense of smell seemed to be a bit sharper as well. I am not sure if there was actually any measurable increases but there sure seemed to be. Not sure how one would go about measuring those things anyways...
I had tons of extra time and extra money! You will be surprised how much free time you have when you take eating 3 meals out of your daily routine. You will also be surprised how much money you will save simply by not eating! In fact, maybe that is a good money saving tip; want to save money? Stop eating! ;)
Biggest Takeaway
Unfortunately, my biggest takeaway was that the Water Fast did not "heal" me of whatever strange health issues I was facing. Those symptoms remained throughout the fast and continued when I came off the fast. From talking to people and reading a little bit more, it is possible had I stayed on the fast for a longer period of time, I might have indeed seen the healing benefits I was looking for, I will never know for sure.
There you have it. The Water Fast was an interesting experience but didn't ultimately give me the results I was looking for. It has worked for other people but it did not for me, at least not to the extent I wanted it to. If you do consider trying something like this make sure you research plenty about it first as it is somewhat extreme and could potentially harm you if not done correctly.
Stay healthy and live well my friends!
Image Sources:
http://goqii.com/blog/benefits-and-tricks-of-24-hours-water-only-fast/
https://listaka.com/water-fasting-and-10-things-you-should-know-about-it/
http://doctorscotthealth.com/anti-aging/benefits-of-water-fasting-with-patricia-bragg/
https://vossworld.wordpress.com/
Follow: @jrcornel
have you tried juice fast? i wonder which might be pref, water or juice?
From what I read, of the two a Water Fast is better for healing as your body needs to be in a zero calorie state before it really starts to focus it's energy elsewhere. With juice there are calories so it doesn't work as well. A juice fast is more for cleansing or detoxification from my understanding.
yes i have heard that also, i imagine its quite hard to do a water fast, what self control you have!
Haha that was part of it too! I wanted to see how mentally strong I was. I was quite pleased with my results in that aspect :)
8 days wow I wouldn't get through the first day, if I could sleep my way through it I might reach day 3 but be in a stinking mood. Well done you :)
Haha thanks! Yea I don't know how people do it where they go about their normal daily routines while on a water fast for any length of time...
Think it would kill me or I would end up killing someone lol
Cool recounting of your personal experiences with the water fast... I never heard of it until your article. Thanks!
Thanks! Yea I hadn't heard about it either until I did some "googling" :)
Nassim Taleb is also a big proponent of fasting. His hypothesis is that our bodies must be antifragile (made stronger by stress) and therefore we need to intermittently stress ourselves. I've never fasted myself, but it's something I'm going to look into.
That is an interesting theory.... that certainly is how muscles get stronger... thanks for sharing!
Great post! I'm starting to think it's a message to me, lol, as I was recently contemplated doing it since it's been a long while, then I read about someone doing this yesterday on fb, and now I came over to your page and here it is again ;)
I am a huge advocate for the water fast. I have done it many times, generally for detoxifying/kick-starting a diet purposes.
From my own experience as well as some research, the best way to do it where it won't negatively impact your body, is on/off over a period of time, say two weeks or a month. For instance you would fast for three days, then eat for three (keeping it lighter and healthier for those three) then fast for two, then eat for three, then fast again for one day and eat for four...basically you switch it up because it essentially 'tricks' your body and keeps it from going into starvation mode. In starvation mode instead of burning fat it will go after muscles because fat is meant as a reserve. But as long as you catch it and eat before this begins to occur, then fat will be burned.
I'm not a nutritionist by any means, so people should do their own research, but in the dozen or so times I've done this, it's worked really well. I've felt much healthier after the completion as well as losing a considerable amount of weight each time :)
Thanks for sharing! I am thinking of starting another one at some point here soon. But, not just a coupe days, I was going to try one of the longer variety...
I've done a seven day water fast before. I wasn't sick at the time, but it did wonders for clearing my mind and gut.
That is awesome! I am glad it worked for you. I am thinking of starting another one here myself.
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