juice fasting vs. water fasting?

[mandabear]

Does anybody have much experience with both of these kinds of fasts? Does water fasting cleanse you quicker and help you lose more weight than juice fasting? I'm sure it's more difficult, but I was just wondering what will help me get rid of these toxins quicker. ;-) As much as this is a spiritual thing for me, I am also excited about how much it improves your health. I read Fit For Life, Not Fat For Life and he says how overweight people are not healthy, so I really don't want to be carrying this extra weight for too long. Is it true that you lose as much in 10 days water fasting as you do in 30 days juice fasting?

[firefly]

Hi mandabear....

Though I've never tried a water fast, I just came off of a 6-day fast called The Master Cleanser (also called The Lemonade Diet) by Stanley Burroughs. It's a great detox fast, though not completely raw, since the ingredients include maple syrup, which I think is heated.

Anyhow, I lost about 12 pounds this last week on the fast, though I wasn't fasting to lose weight, but to ride my body of toxins to eliminate almost daily headaches. I did the same fast for eight days about four years ago and was
able to eliminate headaches almost completely for about 2 years. I've been headache free this go-around too, which is great.

So, I don't have any recommendations about juice vs. water, but I've had really great success with detox using the above juice fast.

Good luck on your fasting journey!

firefly

[Arky]

I strongly recommend you read a book by Joel Fuhrman, called 'Fasting and Eating for Health : A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease'. In it, Fuhrman goes into detail about the physiological implications of fasting. He also discusses why water fasting leads to ketosis far more quickly and effectively then juice fasting (juice provides the body with glucose, and supplying the body with glucose means it will utilise the glucose instead of adopting the alternative survival strategy of going into ketosis). In certain cases, it is the ketosis itself which is sought as benefical for 'healing', but in others this would be uneccessary or even undesirable, so you need to decide what your reason for fasting actually is. Read the book, it's well worth the asking price (and Fuhrman's 'Eat To Live' is another excellent book, even if weight loss is not your primary concern. I bought both and learned a great deal from each of them.


J.

[sweetgoddess]

I just did a 48 hour water fast last week for spiritual reasons, so I had read some information on waterfasting.
From what I understand, doing a water fast for the purpose of weightloss is not at all recommended! The weight you lose will not be permanent.
It is great for quick healing and cleansing, spiritual focus and a sense of well being, as well as resting the digestive system, among other things.
But everything I read stressed water fasting for weightloss is not recommended.

From experience I do not know if this is true. It is only what I read on several occasions. To determine if it is true or not you may want to research it further, as we all know there is always 2 sides to any coin!

Good luck!
~Carmel

[cornvalley]

Does anybody have much experience with both of these kinds of fasts? Does water fasting cleanse you quicker and help you lose more weight than juice fasting? I'm sure it's more difficult, but I was just wondering what will help me get rid of these toxins quicker. ;-) As much as this is a spiritual thing for me, I am also excited about how much it improves your health. I read Fit For Life, Not Fat For Life and he says how overweight people are not healthy, so I really don't want to be carrying this extra weight for too long. Is it true that you lose as much in 10 days water fasting as you do in 30 days juice fasting?

Fasting for weight loss alone is going to frustrate you in the long run. Better to up your exercise considerably and eat sensibly, meaning less (or none) concentrated foods generally. Though to start, a day or two of water only will be a better begining to your program than juices. Total fasting sets your appestat mechanism quickly so you can be satisfied on less food when you do return to eating. Any longer than two or three days of fasting will start to initate deamination which would require bed rest and some supervision by a trained facilitator in the fasting process to get the most benift from continuing down that path. Something one's not needing for weight loss alone but a total rejuvenation of the system.

[tsilentlucidity]

Hi, I have personally done many water fasts, including a very lengthy one, and I have noticed that, like with all things, the weight is only regained is you go back to old eating habits.

Jeremy