Has anyone ever done a water fast?

Question

Please don't criticize me and say "oh no, its very dangerous!" or "are you anorexic?". I am not anorexic and I have done my research on how to do a well prepared and planned out fast. It is very beneficial and some people fast for as long as 30 days! (I wish to do a 10 day one). I was just wondering if anyone has ever done an all out water-only fast? If so, how did you feel? Were the health benefits worth it? Can I continue my daily life while on the fast? Did people notice you were on a fast? (ie: you looked paler, thinner, weaker.) Thank you!

I am not going on a fast to lose weight. I know my metabolism will slow down, I know that if I lose weight it will all come back when I start eating again. I know a fast is to flush out toxins, I know fasting for this long will cause a loss of muscle mass and other body part nutrients- however they all come back once you start eating again. Like I said, I've done my research but here are some of the sites I found that pushed me to start a fast.
http://vivifyingviolet.tribe.net/thread/40ee3ebf-6301-4911-b46f-ec58883ff11b

http://www.healthpromoting.com/Articles/articles/benefit.htm

http://www.gaianstudies.org/articles4.htm

Answer 1

The first thing you need to do.. is prepare your body. First stop eating meat... go basically on a veggie/fruit fast, and then juices... then on to water. If you go straight to the water fast, all of the meat and stuff that you've eaten will sit in your stomach and rot. It needs something to push it on through your system.

Answer 2

I would like to know where you researched it. The fact is, yes, a water fast can be beneficial, if you do it one day, once a month. The purpose of a water fast is to flush out toxins in the body.

To me, it sounds like you want to lose a lot of weight very quickly. Well, it doesn't matter how you go about it, losing a lot of weight very quickly is not healthy. Also, the pounds won't stay off and you'll be losing more than just fat. You'll also be losing muscle mass as your body feeds on itself to convert protein into carbs in a process called gluconeosynthesis in order to provide your brain with vital nutrients to function properly. As well, you will lose some bone tissue as your body withdraws calcium from them, again, for vital bodily functions, ie. maintaining your heart beat. Not to mention, you aren't getting any other of the vitamins and minerals that your body needs to function. If we were meant to only go on water for so long, then we'd be plants.

Your metabolism will also drop remarkably. I will explain this all in Lehman's terms. Basically, because you haven't had any nourishment for a while, when you finally do eat, your body says, oh my gosh, I don't know when I'm going to eat again, I better take it easy and store all this food. Basically, you condition your body into a storage machine because it's been starved for so long, which means converting extra carbohydrates and unused protein into fat.

There is no secret or magical method to weight loss. If you want to get healthy, you follow this simple combination: a healthy diet and at least 30min. of rigorous exercise a day. That's it.

In the end, doing the fast is entirely up to you. But I strongly recommend against it.

Answer 3

Your body absolutely needs a good amount of water everyday in order for all of your organs to work properly. You are not doing your body any favors by wanting to fast on water. People can over drink water also. Everybody recommends 8-10 glasses per day. A very large person could probably drink a little more. During hot weather and hot situations your body dehydrates a lot, therefore you need to put it back.
You could have a lot of serious health problems if you go to extremes on most anything. You also need proper nutrition. If in doubt, see a doctor.

Answer 4

yes. yes, i have. if this is your first time, i would suggest doing it on a weekend. i would suggest starting friday after lunch, and breaking it sunday night with something light like a soup. you may feel nausious after your first meal, it's normal. try a ginger tea or chewing a fennel seed, it will feel better. stay away from sugers (even fruit juices) and caffeine (even green tea) the first night of breaking the fast. don't overdue it with the water. if you start feeling full or bloated, hold of on water for a few hours. hunger pain will kick in really bad by the end of the next morning. they should subside by that evening. you may get mild cold or flu symptoms( runny nose, aches, pains, headache) this in natural. do not take any medicine for it, you are not sick. you will become weak, get a lot of rest. the biggest thing is what you do after the fast. stay away from fast foods if you are serious. try to eat natural foods; not super organic hypo-allergenic turbo lofat turd burgers; i mean real food. the less boxes and labels the better you'll be. two apples, a banana, 10 glasses of water, green leafies; your on the right track. as long as you are normally active, incoorporating healthier foods into your diet makes less room for the crap. don't starve yourself. take it one day at a time and whatever weight you want to lose will disappear in time. stay away from the scale. step on it once a month, that's it. your appearance will change before your weight does. your muscle/ body fat ratio cannot be measured by a scale. if you stop eating, your muscles will start to shrink before your bodyfat reduces because you're not getting proper nutrients. which means that even though you lose weight; by comparison; you have become fatter. toss the vitamins and eat vitamin rich whole foods. you'll feel better and you'll be better off.

Answer 5

I was anorexic and just ate a small bowl of musli and a banana for dinner and drank 2 liters of water a day.No t very good but if you will be staying at home then its ok because you don´t have to do anything.

Answer 6

Not eating for that long can cause low blood sugar, which can cause you to pass out. I would recommend it, it is dangerous to be passing out if you will be driving or caring for others or children. I would suggest a diet where you plan to go for 10 days without sweets or carbs. That would be much healthier

Answer 7

im monitoring this question becuase i think i can benefit from this but i cant tell if the first person to answer is kidding or not and im pretty sure the second person did exactly what you asked her not to do...