Fasting for three days can regenerate entire immune system, study finds

Is it necessary to get an enema during a 3 day water fast?

I agree that fasting can be good for a person but I don't think anyone should commit to a certain number of days and then force themselves to do that. Overheating is an inability to listen to ones hunger cues and fasting if starving would be the same. People need to learn to hear the signals the body is giving to them. I've fasted for days and not had any warning signs that have prompted me to eat. I rarely eat breakfast and have gone until nightfall with the same thing - no cues and am just fine. Other days I get jittery by noon so need a bit of something.

If there are hunger pains one could probably go awhile without food. If they get severe it could cause more harm than good to not eat something - even if just a piece of celery or a banana. If there are blood sugar warnings don't ignore them ever. That is dangerous. Fasting isn't a one size fits all. Some could go into shock while another wouldn't miss a step in their day.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

I'm going to disagree with you on this, by experience alone. Day 4 was rough, I did feel weak, however I'm now on day 8 and I have constant energy through the day, a level type of energy it's constant. I sleep the same amount of time I normally do, however I wake up feeling much more rested.

So in direct reply, do I have the energy I normally have when I am stuffing thousands of calories into my system, no, it's not readily available. Do I overall have the same energy output, yes, the only difference is now instead of storing the excess energy I am burning the fuel that I have stored up over the years.

a reply to: BlueMule

I read a few blogs where they stated that it would help remove built up stones from your system as the body breaks it down. Otherwise that passage isn't getting much use while fasting.

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
It is not safe for the prolonged periods of time you proclaim it's safe...


Not eating during weeks, as you proclaim is safe, it's already starvation to the extreme. The time that you claim "it's safe for people to starve" their bodies has been already using protein from muscles including from their hearts and not only fat.

I haven't proclaimed anything, other than the fact that fasting CAN be beneficial to certain people in certain situations. I don't make generalizing blanket statements about everybody, and I never would. But again, you are equating starvation to fasting and claiming they are 1 and the same. Until you stop perpetuating that myth, I'm going to deny the ignorance. It's a common misconception, that fasting IS starvation. Yeah, you don't eat, but the body still does, and still gains nutrients, hence it is NOT starving. Starvation seems to be a key buzz word for people that are anti-fasting. Plus you have no proof at all that it is not safe when done properly.

OH really?... so you would proclaim it is safe for a child to starve when they are deathly sick?... You are out of your mind... What would you recommend for children who are already suffering major health problems from starvation?... Starve them more?... Under NO CIRCUMSTANCE should children be put on a water fast, not even if they are healthy.

You really love to twist what I'm saying and put words in my mouth. I said it would only be an absolute last resort for a child that is already dying and that fasting kids is bad, but you clearly have some kind of agenda here. I'm not sure if you are a doctor, or work for a pharmaceudical company. Kids shouldn't fast before being fully developed, IMO. Stop taking every thing I say to the extreme. It's not as black and white as you are "proclaiming".

Water fasting is forcing your body to starve, and when you do it for weeks non-stop it is very dangerous and you are taking fasting to the extreme because your body is suffering from malnutrition.

Death from starvation it's not rare... Every day a lot of people, including children, die from starvation...
There are millions of people in developed countries that suffer from malnutrition. When you force your body to not eat for weeks you are forcing it to starve to the extreme and your body is already suffering malnutrition.

Once again, you are equating starvation to fasting, which is a very dishonest tactic. You are being willfully ignorant of the fact that starvation is what happens after there are no fat reserves left in the body. While fasting you still gain nutrients from the fat that is digested, so it is NOT starvation. How many times to I have to repeat it?

BTW, I am aware that you stated to be taking vitamins and other nutrients intravenously, but for your information a lot of people who are reading your claims probably can't afford to pay for "intravenous" or any other way of getting nutrients and vitamins their bodies need without eating.

I have never taken vitamins intravenously. You are referring to somebody else. I was the one who said that vitamins are unnecessary while fasting.

Water fasting is essentially forcing your body to starve, and when you do it for prolonged periods it's not safe in the least.

That is a flat out lie as outline above and in my previous few responses to you. The fact that you continue to pertuate the myth that fasting = starvation despite me having explained it multiple times speaks volumes about your intentions. You are essentially pretending I didn't say that and repeating your original arguments when I presented a clear case against it.

Yes, there are cases where people have survived extended fasts, but they are playing Russian roulette with their health by doing such prolonged fasting.

Another flat out lie.

Why take such risks to your health when shorter fasts, and then eating nutritious, healthy food gives benefits without putting them at risk? (always check with your doctor before going on a water fast)

LOL! I already responded to that extremely weak point. Why are you pretending that none of my arguments were made and just go back to using buzzwords like "Extreme starvation" Please respond to my points, rather than just repeating your original argument. Thanks.

Starvation is what you see in 3rd world countries where the people are so thin you can't see their rib cage clearly. These people aren't going on 2 week fasts to cleanse their body or heal once a year. They genuinely without enough food and barely survive eating whatever scraps they can muster up. Sometimes they don't eat for days. Sometimes longer. This is a constant theme. Their bodies are being destroyed because they have no more fat reserves and constantly go in and out of survival mode. It doesn't compare to one person deciding to water fast for a week or 2 who has 10% + body fat. And stop suggesting that one should eat healthy and exercise instead. One should do that regardless.

originally posted by: Dianec


I agree that fasting can be good for a person but I don't think anyone should commit to a certain number of days and then force themselves to do that. Overheating is an inability to listen to ones hunger cues and fasting if starving would be the same. People need to learn to hear the signals the body is giving to them. I've fasted for days and not had any warning signs that have prompted me to eat. I rarely eat breakfast and have gone until nightfall with the same thing - no cues and am just fine. Other days I get jittery by noon so need a bit of something.



If there are hunger pains one could probably go awhile without food. If they get severe it could cause more harm than good to not eat something - even if just a piece of celery or a banana. If there are blood sugar warnings don't ignore them ever. That is dangerous. Fasting isn't a one size fits all. Some could go into shock while another wouldn't miss a step in their day.

Thank you! I have been trying to explain this, but you have a very good way of putting it. Each person is different, and nobody should set a deadline in stone. You always have to listen to the body and break the fast properly, at the right time.

originally posted by: BlueMule
Is it necessary to get an enema during a 3 day water fast?

I usually go by feel on this one. You will still pass small liquid bowel movements, but since your digestive system is barely moving, waste can build up and sometimes leaves you feeling kind of bloated. A lot of time air gets trapped between pieces of fecal matter. If this happens it can be a helpful way to clear things out. It's not always absolutely necessary, though. I've done it both ways. Without somebody helping you it can be a pain in the butt. I usually only do it if I haven't had a bowel movement in 3 days plus or if my stomach is feeling extra bloated and gassy.

a reply to: Indigent

Just finished day 10, breaking the fast today. Thank you for bringing up this subject as it is something I had very little experience with. I feel better, have no cravings for the things I once did, and I am no longer in danger of needing to buy a new wardrobe. I am already planning my next fast and expect to go a few days longer, strategically placing this after the holidays just in case I fall into the routine of eating everything in sight. As it stands, just contemplating certain things makes my stomach uneasy, the way I look at food has done a 180, it is an addiction that so many people abuse and write off as an every day need(sometimes hourly). I noticed all of the advertising of food, learned a lot about what not to eat and how it affects the body. This is one of those ATS threads where if you put it into practice instead of just reading about it then you will walk away the better for it.

a reply to: QuietSpeech

Nice job! Now you just have to integrate the food back nice and slowly. The general rule of thumb, is that the amount of days you fast should be the same as the amount of days it takes you to get back to a normal diet. This will slowly increase your metabolism back up to where it should be and keep your stomach from being shocked and digestive system from being overworked. I'll never forget how I felt after my first fast. I ate pretty unhealthily prior and the fast itself really showed me how it's all mental and that you don't really need all that stuff. It seems you are on the same path. Congrats! Believe it or not, it makes eating healthy much easier.

a reply to: Barcs

Thanks! I am very happy with it, now the hard part of integrating myself back into eating, as well as eating the right things.

originally posted by: QuietSpeech
a reply to: Barcs

Thanks! I am very happy with it, now the hard part of integrating myself back into eating, as well as eating the right things.

How long did it take for the nausea and weakness stage to pass?

a reply to: Barcs

I think everyone can see what electrics agenda is. You see this all the time, two posters will go back and forth...back and forth....in the end one is trying to spread truth of their knowledge on the subject...and the other poster has made an agenda to prove the other wrong no matter what the truth or facts are. Only to claim they are right and everyone else is wrong...

One tall tell sign, is whichever poster is getting emotional, they are just trying to bring credit to themselves...Cleary that is happening here. Not one person can have enough experience and knowledge on this subject that pertains to each individual...if someone wants to water fast for so many days, their body is going to be able to give warning signs of when it has gone to far..but I do commend you for patiently responding to the constant harassment and separating the b.s. from the facts...

Sometimes it helps to have these kinds of arguments, because one can learn who is right and who is wrong, and in the process learn a lot from the subject...so thanks again for being persistent...

I have not read all of the comments, but I wanted to give my experience with fasting. I have been doing intermittent fasting (I know it is not the 3 day fast) and I feel great!

I've stopped eating breakfast and I eat in between the hours of noon and 8pm. I've been losing weight (slowly), but this has totally curbed my carb cravings! I crave sweets, bread, and pasta. I have not been wanting anything to do with pasta and bread since a couple of days into this! Still working on the sweets though!

It is really hard for me to make it to 12 to eat, but I'm glad I push through it. I have hypothyroidism and doing intermittent fasting has made me less fatigued for some reason. You would think that it would be the opposite. I don't know. It's probably because I don't really crave breads and pasta, therefore, I am not getting bogged down after eating that type of food.

I had gestational diabetes with all 3 of my pregnancies and they always told me to eat 6 times a day to keep levels steady throughout the day. Fine, but when I am not pregnant and diabetic, for some reason breakfast makes me want to eat all day long. Since I stopped eating breakfast, I am not that hungry like I used to be and I am losing weight.

That is my experience. It is definitely not for everyone and I'm sure what I said about diabetics is most likely against the rules. This is just what I know about myself. BTW, I am not diabetic now. Just with pregnancy. Although, I am sure I am a pretty good candidate for it when I am older.

a reply to: BlueMule

Day 3-4 was the weakness, I never experienced headaches or nausea, I was drinking large amounts of water which they say flushes out the toxins and helps to alleviate those affects. Weakness will return almost immediately after you do something physically demanding, I moved about 1/2 ton of flooring one day and as soon as I was finished I needed to sit down and rest. After the fast that immediate energy level came back almost immediately, by the end of yesterday I was could already tell my body was responding like it did before the fast.

a reply to: MoonLightStars

Hey that is cool, I just started that today to help me with my intake after doing the water fast. I plan on using it along with exercise to help clean up my eating habits and make my goals.

And just think, if we all fasted for one day, ate the next and fasted again the next...there would be twice as much food available in the world, or half the resources needed to feed us all.

Ironically, it would be an end to stavation around the world, and make us healthier at the same time.

a reply to: MysterX

And corporate America would go nuts, people would lose their jobs, and the sky would fall!

originally posted by: mclarenmp4
a reply to: Son of Will

You would think that, but a video was uploaded today from the water fasting channel I published earlier and the girl had been a raw vegan for 2 years and it wasn't until she water fasted that the biggest difference was made. So going raw is good for your health but water fasting is completely different. And you are spot on about sugars, natural sugars are fine it's refined that is bad.

Wow... First of all, if you had any brains you would notice the old man is leading her. He doesn't even say if he is a doctor, and she just calls him by first name without saying he is a doctor. Then to top it off she starts talking about symptoms that could have been caused by "who knows what" yet the old guy claims "well, that sounds like lyme disease" and she immediately claims "yeah I had Lyme disease"... We can see the fog in her brain has lifted right?... After all, there are only about 56 conditions
(Link) that could have caused the symptoms she had, but she just agreed with the crazy old man that it must have been "lyme disease" just because he says so...

Not to mention that she looks like she is not ok, but then again a real doctor would have to examine her and run tests on her to find exactly what is going on (we know it is because of extreme starvation. At least some of us do), but none of this is even mentioned in the video...

That old man seems to be nothing but a crackpot... That woman, and others like her are putting themselves at risk, and of course he is doing it to squeeze money from people...

The old man even leads this young, and stupid (sorry but she is stupid) woman to talk about her "healing symptoms" during the fasting such as excessive inflammation of her lymph nodes...but hey, she is alright...right?... *face palm*

But after all, you claim that she is healthy... You can even see it on her bony, ghostly face right?... Poor girl...I really hope her stupidity and gullibility did not cause permanent damage.

Also, of course you are not going to hear from morons like the old man in the video presenting evidence of the people that have damaged organs, or worse death from doing such prolonged starvation...

There have been, and still are cases like the following...

Unlicensed Practitioners Cited
after Death of Diabetic Patient

Stephen Barrett, M.D.

The Maryland Board of Physicians has issued cease-and-desist orders against Loren Lockman and Timothy Trader for practicing medicine without a license and representing to the public that they were authorized to practice medicine. Lochman was fined $320,000 for seven violations, each of which reflected what had happened to one client. Trader was fined $70,000 for two violations related to two of the clients.

Documents in the case indicates that Lockman founded the Tanglewood Wellness Center, which operated first in Bethesda and then in Thurmont, Maryland. In 2005, he fled to Panama and relocated his facility. Lockman employed Trader in 2003 and 2004. The pair advocated a raw food diet and administered water-only fasting for lengthy periods for people whose health conditions were worsened or could have been worsened by such fasting. They also discouraged the use of prescribed medications. Both conducted themselves in a manner that suggested that they were trained health professionals, even though they were not [1].

Documents in the case further indicate that Trader referred to himself as a "retired" naturopath. In the fatal case, he advised a 22-year-old woman with insulin-dependent diabetes to stop taking her insulin and undergo a water-only fast. After she became acutely ill with diabetic ketoacidosis, he administered huge amounts of insulin, but she lost consciousness and died soon afterwards. (Insulin alone is not sufficient treatment for diabetic ketoacidosis.) Three other clients appeared to have suffered impairment of their memory as a result of prolonged fasting. Another patient became emaciated and developed beriberi (a severe B-vitamin deficiency) as a result of severe fasting. Two other clients were dissatisfied with their experience and left within a week. One was a man with severe heart disease who could have been heading for disaster as a result of stopping his medications [2].
...

www.quackwatch.com...

Humm, Tanglewood Wellness Center?... Sounds like it is still operating in Costa Rica...

...
My 26-Day Water Fast at Tanglewood Wellness Center

I originally went to Tanglewood Wellness Center in Costa Rica with the intention of fasting for 21 days. However, when I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were four other young women starting the fast with me going for 26 days. So I figured, what the heck? Start together, end together! Little did I know I would be kicking myself on day 21, when my food cravings had kicked into full gear!
...

anasanablog.wordpress.com...


BTW, in case you can't put 2+2 together the old man in YOUR VIDEO IS LOREN LOCKMAN... That old man has been practicing without a license and people have died and developed diseases like beriberi, as well as malnutrition because of his greed...

Go ahead and keep lying, and claiming such prolonged water fasting is safe...

originally posted by: mclarenmp4
a reply to: ElectricUniverse

You haven't got a clue about this subject, you didn't even know what transdermal meant and when I called you out on it you couldn't respond, selective debating at it's finest.
...

Seriously you should stop playing games already because you are the one who doesn't know what you are talking about... Of course I know what you were talking about... I am not the one claiming that kids who are deathly ill should endure prolonged water fasting...

I am not the one posting videos of Loren Lockman fraudulent and criminal activities at his Tanglewood Wllness Center and claiming "it is safe" while people have died and suffered diseases and damage to organs because of Lockman's water fasting programs... YOU ARE THE ONE posting his videos and claiming it is safe... YOU have been posting videos of people who are not being supervised by a licensed doctor, and are undergoing extreme starvation for long periods while claiming "it is safe"...

And people can do their research themselves yeah, unfortunately there are people like you who are completely oblivious to what damage this can cause to them, and others...

You should seek some help, because if you continue doing such prolonged starvation this is an eating disorder you have... And you are trying to get other people to follow your footstepts... The worse part is that those who will do this because people like you claim "it is safe", will do it unsupervised... Those 2 videos of those girls you showed were obviously doing it by themselves without any "real" medical supervision...

For crying out loud you gave a video of a woman WHO SHE HERSELF SAID SHE WAS FEELING REALLY WORSE THAN THE DAY BEFORE and you had the balls to claim "she seems alright by me"...

Yeah, the smart people can obviously see who is bringing nothing but stench to this thread...

Oh and btw, 2 or 3 members giving you stars don't make you right... Just like random people posting youtube videos and claiming that weeks of water fasting did them great does not make it a reality... It just shows that morons can post in youtube as well... Who would have thunk it?...

BTW, keep posting videos of Loren Lockman and keep claiming "such prolonged water fasting is safe"...

Are you Loren Lockman?...

originally posted by: nitetrain
a reply to: Barcs

I think everyone can see what electrics agenda is. You see this all the time, two posters will go back and forth...back and forth....in the end one is trying to spread truth of their knowledge on the subject...and the other poster has made an agenda to prove the other wrong no matter what the truth or facts are. Only to claim they are right and everyone else is wrong...

...

Really?... You know who is posting "truth of their knowledge in the subject"?... You are siding with the member who keeps posting videos of Loren Lockman's Tanglewood Wellness Center water fasting programs... A man who has been fined for practicing medicine without a license and who is at fault for at least the death of two people, and others have suffered impairment of their memories from prolonged water fasting and who knows how many others have suffered similarly such as the patient that became emaciated and developed beriberi...

Unlicensed Practitioners Cited
after Death of Diabetic Patient

Stephen Barrett, M.D.

...
Documents in the case further indicate that Trader referred to himself as a "retired" naturopath. In the fatal case, he advised a 22-year-old woman with insulin-dependent diabetes to stop taking her insulin and undergo a water-only fast. After she became acutely ill with diabetic ketoacidosis, he administered huge amounts of insulin, but she lost consciousness and died soon afterwards. (Insulin alone is not sufficient treatment for diabetic ketoacidosis.) Three other clients appeared to have suffered impairment of their memory as a result of prolonged fasting. Another patient became emaciated and developed beriberi (a severe B-vitamin deficiency) as a result of severe fasting. Two other clients were dissatisfied with their experience and left within a week. One was a man with severe heart disease who could have been heading for disaster as a result of stopping his medications [2].

Lockman still operates the Tanglewood Wellness Center in Panama, which offers treatment for $900 for the first week and $500 to $700 for subsequent weeks, depending on the length of stay. His Web site claims that his methods can enable people to lose weight, never be sick again, have abundant energy and mental clarity, and look younger —"all with no side effects, safely, easily, naturally."
...

www.quackwatch.com...

Humm, I wonder who is really trying to help people here...