juice/water fast

[delerium]

Ok So Ive been fasting on water aside from one or 2 glasses of juice a day. It seems like each night it is getting harder to fall asleep. Has anyone thats fasted on juice or water exp this? and if so how much juice were you consuming.
ALso if you want to view my journal you can...but Ive been exercising. Like atleast an hour walk a day if not 2 plus house cleaning. One day I even cut the grass. So from working and not eating I should be tired.

[sean lee]

Apparenty the longer you fast the less sleep you need. I remember a friend of mine telling me this, his amount of sleep dropped alot. He went on a fast for about 21 days water only. The body can live for about forty days on water.
I believe if someone is very sick, the best thing they can do is go on a water fast. Did you know that animals go on a fast when they are sick?
all the best sean

[delerium]

Yes Ive researched fasting alot and have heard that. I guess the only thing I didnt hear was the not needing sleep part. I know they emphasize on getting lots of (bed) rest...and then others disagree and say be active and take a walk and enjoy fresh air. So it seems like the further into a fast you get the less sleep you need. So does this mean i could reach a point of not sleeping until the fast is broken? And last night Once i fell asleep it was fine. Fell asleep about 3-4am and woke around 8:30 but once i initially wake in the morning its easy to stay in bed another 1-3 hours sleeping more.

[Sweet lips]

I know this thread will be move to the juicing forum, but anyway - You are just starting, moving the lymphatic system,and thus speeding up your cleansing, and requiring less sleep - that is how it goes. Further into this, you may have days where all you can do is rest, and sleep. Your body will work itself in phases, so go with the flow!

Now, water fasting is a total different animal for those of us who have eaten regular food -Ideally one who ive very ill could fast on water and allow their bodies to heal naturally, -Ideally , however, it is very hard on the body, and should always be supervised, because the release of toxins can cause a heart arythmia, also , failure to eliminate can cause a person to become sicker and be poisioned, so it should be supervised.

Engaging in a few days of water for a healthy person is very enlightening, and it too can weaken the body, thus the rest. When we juice, we are still eating and consuming nutrients, which allows the body to have energy to work.

I completed a 32 day fast with juice - intially, we started out with 64 oz of orange juice in the a.m., 64 oz of veggie juice in the afternoon, and 32 oz of either in the evening. Further into the fast, those quantities would change considerably depending on the needs of the body. Some days, I had high energy, and others, need to rest and reflect. Because of my toxicity - I actually began to see more detoxing when I begin to eat again, than I did on the fast, and I am probably going to do at least a week within the next few days.

[delerium]

Well this moring is day 9...What you said about the heart thing and causing more toxemia and it should be supervised...Is it possible for someone to begin having these problems w/o symptoms and w/o knowing it?

Last night when I was having a no sleep episode I stretched for a good 15 minutes and fell asleep astoundingly faster....1/2 hour beats 2-3 hours. So I will now start stretching upon awaking before going to sleep and before and after exercise even if its just walking.

[Sweet lips]

Well this moring is day 9...What you said about the heart thing and causing more toxemia and it should be supervised...Is it possible for someone to begin having these problems w/o symptoms and w/o knowing it?

No, you will know something is wrong - swollen ankles, heart palpatations, indigestion, there are real symptoms - you sound like your body is working it out for you, and that is a plus. Keep on doing what you are doing! :)

[ilaria]

I water fasted for 7 days a while ago. (WATER ONLY) It is a very ancient practice.
But before attempting anything like this you must read "Fasting and Eating for Health" by Joel Fuhrman MD. It explain the water fast in details.
Water fast (no juices) is different from other fasts. After the first 2 or 3 days the body goes into a sort of "sleep mode", starts using up all the stored toxins and it can be quite unpleasant having all that bad stuff circulating, but then you start feeling better and better.
Juices, although allowing the digestive system to rest and thus redirecting the energy towards fixing problems in the body, still supply sugars and nutrients and prevent to enter in the true "ketone fueling" (as opposed to the normal glucose) stage (the ketones start to be produced by the liver on day 3 preventing the use of muscle mass as fuel and directing the body to use only waste tissue, cysts, bad fat, etc... stored in the body sometimes since childhood...
Ah...Yes. Completely detoxing the body doesn't happen just because we eat healthy for a week or a month. It seems it takes 7 years for the body to regenerate completely...
Anyway I only did the waterfast to jump-start my raw lifestyle and start to detox more rapidly in view of a pregnancy because starting to detox during the pregnancy would mean that the fetus would be breathing toxins and I didn't want that to happen.

Hope it helps.

Ilaria

[NoGMO!]

I've never done more than a 48 hour fast so far, but I'm very interested in going on a water only fast, for a longer than 48 hours this time.
question:
if you can't readily remove a suspected cause of toxicity before a fast (i.e. mercury amalgams) then how do you know when your fast is complete? is it still okay to fast under those circumstances?

[ilaria]

I've never done more than a 48 hour fast so far, but I'm very interested in going on a water only fast, for a longer than 48 hours this time.
question:
if you can't readily remove a suspected cause of toxicity before a fast (i.e. mercury amalgams) then how do you know when your fast is complete? is it still okay to fast under those circumstances?

Dear NoGMO,

I'm sure it would detox you some, but when you'll chew food again after the fast, the amalgam on your teeth will release some toxic metal with every bite. I removed all my amalgam in 2004 because I was thinking of becoming pregnant and I heard that that it might be a cause of reproductive problems and birth defects, let alone just plain toxicity for my body..
I wouldn't suggest you to go more than 10 days on your first fast. Most people resist just 3 or 4 days on their first water fast.
Read the book I mentioned on my post before fasting, it will explain a lot of things.

Hope it helps,

Ila

[NoGMO!]

Thanks very much Ila! ;)

I'll look for that book. The fasting book I have is called Fasting Can Save Your Life by Herbert Shelton. I would recommend that one among other excellent books he has written. Also, the writings of Ann Wigmore, Arnold Ehret - very essential.

[misslinda]

I just started a juice fast yesterday and wanted to bring in the importance of "elimination" when fasting---what are all you using to eliminate the toxins that are being drawn? I find this the most challenging as I dislike senna leaf, magnesium powder doesn't work for me anymore, flax seed gel makes my stomach upset to the point of nausea/vmoitting..........so fat I like the celtic sea salt flush but any other suggestions would be appreciated.

:) Linda

[Elizrawbeth]

Would someone please explain ketones in a little more depth? I know Ila mentioned them. I can't get the book right now, but will go to the store and get it. Thanks

[livenraw]

Usually, on the first day of a fast, I am very tired and sleep about 10 hours, but I've had times, where by the 2nd day, I was up for 24+ hours because of how much energy I had! So I guess it really depends on your body, your eating habits (if you are eating a lot of healthy, raw foods, detox will be a lot less) and the toxicity in your body.

I used to use the herbal laxative teas when on fasts, but after reading the Miracle of Fasting by Paul and Patricia Bragg, I stopped doing that, because in that book, it said your body will eliminate when it's time. I finished a 5 day fast last week, and by the 2nd day, I was already eliminating without taking any kind of herbal laxatives.

[Fischer]

Last summer I went for a 21 day juice fast, and experienced that thing someone in here wrote about the heart!!! It started to beat some beats unregular...but just for a few beats and not every day...this thing started after a week of fasting and got worse in the third week....is this dangerous? Should I fast anymore do u think? Maybe I hurt myself more with fasting? I walked long walks everyday before I drank the first glass of juice in the morning and also sometimes a walk in the evening....

// Fischer

[happy_kauai]

I went on a 5 day water only fast recently. The first day I had tons of energy, then my energy continually decreased each day after that. By the second night I couldn't fall sleep until about 1:00 or 3:00 am! I usually fall asleep at 9:00 pm. It was strange because I was lethargic all day, I was so tired that I had to concentrate alot of effort just to sit up or stand, but then when night came around I couldn't fall asleep!

One thing I read is that during fasting, you might feel like you could run for miles, but it's smart to save this energy for when your body really needs in (like during a heavy detox day). If you work out heavily during a fast, you could be doing your body a disservice, as it will now have to take energy away from healing your body and use it to replenish your muscles and such.

My suggestion is to just listen to your body. If you need to rest, then rest. If you have energy, then use it, but use it wisely. Be kind to yourself during this time, good luck!