Water Fast

johnmike91
johnmike91 Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Well I am 28 hours into a water only fast to help my body heal. I slept pretty well last night and I am feeling pretty good. Most reports say at around day 3 I should see improvement with my arthritis. I'm drinkning around 120oz of filtered water per 24 hours and I lost 2.5 lbs. the first day!
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Replies

  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    How long are you planning to do this fast? Fasting can be fraught with danger, as you are temporarily starving your body. Are there other dietary adjustments you make to ease your arthritis?

    Also weight lost during a fast tends to be water weight. Once you add in regular food, your body tends to hold onto it a bit harder than before.
  • TyTy76
    TyTy76 Posts: 1,761 Member
    This sounds like a terrible idea.
  • escloflowneCHANGED
    escloflowneCHANGED Posts: 3,038 Member
    Well this is just stupid...
  • Nachise
    Nachise Posts: 395 Member
    Who recommended this water fast? Are you being medically supervised?
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
    :noway:
  • lambchristie
    lambchristie Posts: 552 Member
    Seriously? There are no nutrients in water so what are you giving your body fuel to live on?

    You are doing yourself no favors.

    There must be better ways to relieve the pain of arthritis besides not eating.
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
    I'm curious as to the logic behind doing a water fast to help your body heal when to heal your body needs calories.

    Could you explain?
  • Faery_Dust
    Faery_Dust Posts: 246 Member
    What the heck is wrong with your body that you need to fast with just water to make it heal????
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    That plan sounds miserable.
  • howardheilweil
    howardheilweil Posts: 604 Member
    Interested in more information and responses to some of the queries above. Not surprising that you are dropping weight (albeit temporary) but what is the goal?
  • strick1982
    strick1982 Posts: 75 Member
    This can't be real.....
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    When I see quackery like this:

    http://drbenkim.com/fasting.html

    (not surprisingly a chiroquackter)

    I despair for the human race..........


    To the OP: there is no scientific basis for the claims made by the pro-fasting "alternative" health gurus
  • MG_Fit
    MG_Fit Posts: 1,143 Member
    Just wow.
  • johnmike91
    johnmike91 Posts: 7 Member
    According to several published studies. Water fasting can be a cure to Autoimmune disorders such as arthritis. Fasting disrupts the immune system and resets it. With the disgestive system getting a break the body can concentrate on healing itself from the inside. Water fasting is also a great method for detoxification. I know there are a lot of people who do not believe in fasting for good health, but you should read the studies. Of course food and drug companies will do anything they can to keep people from finding a natural way to feel better. It's not dangerous at my size 310 lbs. and with plenty of water there is really nothing to lose. My Doctor although he is not an advocate of fasting, stated he does believe fasting has vast benefits.
  • johnmike91
    johnmike91 Posts: 7 Member
    3-5 days. The longest I ever fasted was 36 hours and it made me realize how much I was eating.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    According to several published studies. Water fasting can be a cure to Autoimmune disorders such as arthritis. Fasting disrupts the immune system and resets it. With the disgestive system getting a break the body can concentrate on healing itself from the inside. Water fasting is also a great method for detoxification. I know there are a lot of people who do not believe in fasting for good health, but you should read the studies. Of course food and drug companies will do anything they can to keep people from finding a natural way to feel better. It's not dangerous at my size 310 lbs. and with plenty of water there is really nothing to lose. My Doctor although he is not an advocate of fasting, stated he does believe fasting has vast benefits.

    Would be so kind as to cite these "published studies". Are they peer reviewed, double blind studies or anecdotal?

    And you don't think the "alternative" medicine companies operate for profit?

    My biggest bone of contention with the whole "alternative" medicine scene is that they want to be taken seriously yet they refuse to submit to the same standards of proving efficacy and safety as the big drug companies are forced to, similarly with many of the so-called "natural" remedies there's no standardization of doses, levels of active ingredients etc
  • kit_katty
    kit_katty Posts: 992 Member
    According to several published studies. Water fasting can be a cure to Autoimmune disorders such as arthritis. Fasting disrupts the immune system and resets it. With the disgestive system getting a break the body can concentrate on healing itself from the inside. Water fasting is also a great method for detoxification. I know there are a lot of people who do not believe in fasting for good health, but you should read the studies. Of course food and drug companies will do anything they can to keep people from finding a natural way to feel better. It's not dangerous at my size 310 lbs. and with plenty of water there is really nothing to lose. My Doctor although he is not an advocate of fasting, stated he does believe fasting has vast benefits.

    - What published studies?
    - Disrupting and reseting one's immune system? Seriously?
    - Detoxification is a myth, it's called functional kidneys and liver.
    - Conspiracy theories, huh?
    - Not getting enough nutrients can be dangerous at any size!

    Please reconsider.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    According to several published studies. Water fasting can be a cure to Autoimmune disorders such as arthritis. Fasting disrupts the immune system and resets it. With the disgestive system getting a break the body can concentrate on healing itself from the inside. Water fasting is also a great method for detoxification. I know there are a lot of people who do not believe in fasting for good health, but you should read the studies. Of course food and drug companies will do anything they can to keep people from finding a natural way to feel better. It's not dangerous at my size 310 lbs. and with plenty of water there is really nothing to lose. My Doctor although he is not an advocate of fasting, stated he does believe fasting has vast benefits.
    Post 'em.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • glin23
    glin23 Posts: 460 Member
    Post 'em.

    X3
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    Explain how your body will heal if you're not providing it any nutrients?
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
    This is the most dangerous idea I have seen so far today on the forums.
  • johnmike91
    johnmike91 Posts: 7 Member
    Here are a few studies on the matter. I am not a conspiracy theorist I have just been convinced through research that it can't hurt.:wink:

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110403090259.htm , http://www.bioportfolio.com/search/clinical_studies_on_fasting.html
  • eryquem
    eryquem Posts: 66 Member
    This is the most dangerous idea I have seen so far today on the forums.

    Not that I'm advocating fasting or anything, but the level of alarm I'm seeing at some of these threads seems a bit overblown.

    The whole point of the human body storing fat is to be able to survive periods of not getting any food.

    I guess what I'm saying is that there's a big difference between someone wanting to fast for a very short period of time for whatever reason (another post was locked because the poster mentioned they were doing a seven day fast for spiritual reasons), and someone advocating long term unhealthy deprivation.

    As silly as the reasons for this OPs doing this may or may not be, I doubt that a 3-5 day fast is going to cause "starvation" for someone with plenty of fat stores.
  • SpeSHul_SnoflEHk
    SpeSHul_SnoflEHk Posts: 6,256 Member
    They have a couple of other names for this fast:

    Starvation
    Hunger Strike

    Not a good idea in any way or shape at all.
  • Mainebikerchick
    Mainebikerchick Posts: 1,573 Member
    Really bad idea. REALLY. :noway:
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    No. Fasting is not a cure for any autoimmune disease. There is no reliable information that fasting helps the symptoms of autoimmune diseases, either. I work in a human immunology and vaccine development research center. We have a definite focus on autoimmune diseases. The researchers here are largely MD, PhDs who work with patients in clinics as well as doing research. If there was a hint that fasting would help their patients in any way, they would be all over it.

    BTW, went to one of your links. Here's a quote from the first you listed.

    "Fasting causes hunger or stress. In response, the body releases more cholesterol, allowing it to utilize fat as a source of fuel, instead of glucose. This decreases the number of fat cells in the body," says Dr. Horne. "This is important because the fewer fat cells a body has, the less likely it will experience insulin resistance, or diabetes."

    This is factually incorrect. Fat cell numbers don't decrease in adults. I stopped reading at this point since it's clear Dr. Horne has no idea what he's talking about.
  • Valarama
    Valarama Posts: 22
    I don't see much wrong with a 12 hour or a 20 hour water fast... but what you're doing is what I used to do when I was anorexic.
    You're literally just flushing your body out with water.
    The weight you've lost is water weight.
    As soon as you start eating you'll most likely gain it all back.
    The human body needs 1,200 net calories a day to keep the organs functioning, MINIMUM.
    You're killing your metabolism, too.
    I would suggest stopping...
  • jkoenig1980
    jkoenig1980 Posts: 31 Member
    you did not lose 2.5# of fat in a day drinking water. Sorry bro.
  • tracieangeletti
    tracieangeletti Posts: 432 Member
    It doesn't work. Trust me. Spent lots of time fasting when I was younger and ended up getting MS, not from the fasting of course, but if fasting helped auto immune diseases I would know. Going on a twenty-four hour fast won't kill you but anything much more than that isn't going to do much for you either.
  • Leather_N_Lace
    Leather_N_Lace Posts: 518 Member
    I practice a 5:2 meal plan... Where I "fast" for 2 days a week - taking in about 600 calories.
    I make sure that I am getting nutrients in throughout the day...
    There is a herbal tea I drink, 1 apple, 2 stalks of celery, 12 almonds, and 12 vitamin wafers.

    Even though I practice a fasting meal plan, what you are doing sounds very dangerous.

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