Water Fasting for Health
The Water Fasting Process
If you arrived to this page... good news!
Water fasting is a truly amazing experience. It is very important to prepare for it... and to understand what to expect...
There are other great body detox options... and it is worth checking them out:
It is a good idea to start your fasting practice process with shorter intermittent fasting technique... before going for a longer stretch...
But now... if you're here... and really want to go for it! Welcome... this is a whole new world to explore. It is an amazing experience and once you are prepared for it... Go for it!
Step by Step Guide
Step 1
Preparation – before water fasting
It is wise to prepare the body gently for the fast.
A time of 'house-cleaning' – a time of detox – eliminating all meat, dairy products, fish, eggs, black tea, coffee, sugar, alcohol, cigarettes… greasy foods... you get the point… This will make the process of fasting much more enjoyable... and I strongly recommend it.
Eliminating harmful substances is withdrawal from addictions and will not be easy for most. Well… you're on your way… you were going to give all this up anyway... some day.
The day has come!
So... before undertaking an extended water fast... eat mostly raw foods for a week or two and clean up all your addictions. There is little point of going into a water fast and smoking at the same time. Right? Give your body a chance to detoxify extensively before the fast.
Quit smoking before you start your fast.
Step 2
Hunger
Let's call it 'psychological hunger', - usually felt as an intense desire for food.
This passes within three or four days in the fast. It might seem like a long 3 days… "Hunger" usually begins with the first missed meal.
Be ready for it and don't lose your resolve.
Step 3
Acidosis
This too – will pass...
The typical western diet contains a high proportion of acid-forming foods. The transition to burning fat for fuel, triggers the release of even more acidic substances.
Acidosis is usually accompanied by fatigue, blurred vision, and possibly dizziness. The breath may smell bad, the tongue is coated with bad-tasting mucus, and the urine may be concentrated and foul.
We all know the mild states of acidosis... we routinely awaken in the morning in a state of mild acidosis. We end our brief overnight fast with breakfast,bringing the detoxification process to a sudden halt... and feel relieved.
Many people think they awaken hungry and don't feel well until they eat. They confuse acidosis with hunger when most have never experienced genuine hunger in their entire lives.
If you typically awaken in strong acidosis, you are being given a sign by your body that it would like to continue fasting far past breakfast. In fact, it probably would enjoy fasting long beyond the end of acidosis…
Step 4
Normalization
Ahhh – relief!
Most fasters feel much more at ease by the end of the first seven to ten days, when they enter the normalization phase when the acidic blood chemistry gradually levels out.
Now healing begins!
Normalization may take longer, depending on how badly the body was out of balance, before.
The faster typically feels an increased sense of well-being, broken by short spells of discomfort that are called healing crises.
Healing Crisis
A healing crisis can appear out of the blue.
Usually after a few days of noticeable improved well-being, the faster suddenly experiences a set of severe symptoms and feels... just awful.
This is not a setback, not something to be distressed or upset about, it is a healing crisis... a positive sign!
Healing crises usually occur after a period of marked progress. As the vital force builds up during the healing process, the body decides, it now has obtained sufficient energy to throw off some accumulated toxins, and vigorously pushes them out through the nose, lungs, stomach, intestines, skin, or perhaps produces a flu-like experience with fever chills, sweat, aches and pains, etc.
Although unpleasant, this experience should be an encouragement... the body has just accelerated its purging process…
This is an amazing body!
Step 5
Healing
Now – you got there!
Here is where miracles happen!
You have reached that place where tumors are metabolized as food for the body, where arthritic deposits dissolve, where scar tissues disappear, where damaged organs regain lost function –
It just happens!
Healing proceeds swiftly after the blood chemistry has been stabilized, the faster is in a state of deep rest – this is the stage of spiritual insights and meditation - maximum amount of vital force is directed toward repair and regeneration.
Step 6
Breaking the Fast
Breaking the fast is just as important as the fast itself.
The body may reject food when you try to make it eat. By rejection, I mean that food may not digest, may feel like a stone in your stomach, make you feel terrible.
If that happens you should go on a juice diet, take as little as possible, sip it slowly and stay on juice until you find yourself digesting it easily.
Then... and only then... reintroduce a little solid raw food. Your first tentative meals should be dilute, raw juices.
After several days of slowly building up to solid raw fruit, small amounts of raw vegetable foods should be added.
If it has been a long fast, say over three weeks, this reintroduction should be done carefully over a few weeks.
Timing
It is best not to finish the fast before most dysfunctional deposits are removed, the infection is overcome, or the cause for complaint has been healed.
But…
... the fast must be ended before the body's essential-to-life stored nutritional reserves are exhausted.
If the fast goes beyond this point, starvation begins.
No, don't go there...
Almost anyone has enough stored nutrition to water fast for ten days to two weeks. Most reasonably healthy people have enough reserves to water fast for a month. Yes.
I should say:
Getting professional supervision is an option and is recommended for water fasts longer than 3 days. This applies to anyone who is new to water fasting… if you have gathered some experience in fasting you may feel confident enough to go the stretch by yourself.
If you are using any kind of medication... Please get assistance.
More Water Fasting Pages
Essentials for a Successful, Safe Fast
* Fast in a bright airy room, with good ventilation, because fasters not only need a lot of fresh air; their bodies give off powerfully offensive odors.
* Sun bathe if possible for 10 to 20 minutes in the morning before the sun gets too strong.
* Scrub/massage the skin with a dry brush, followed by a warm water shower two to four times a day to help the skin in eliminating toxins.
* Brush your teeth and tongue with activated charcoal powder - this helps keeping you sociable...
* Have two enemas daily for the first week of a fast and then once daily until the fast is terminated.
* Ensure a harmonious environment with supportive people or, if you are experienced, fast alone. Avoid well-meaning interference or anxious criticism.
* Rest!
* Drink water! Do not allow yourself to become dehydrated!
* Control yourself when breaking the fast!
Related Pages
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