Water Fasting

I do a three-day water fast over the three days before each seasonal solstice. I end the fast on the morning of the fourth day, which is the solstice. I did the first such fast during the winter solstice of 2005. My fast this coming September will mark my eighth such fast in succession.

I don't do these fasts to lose weight. During them, I lose eight pounds; in the days afterward, I regain the eight pounds. 

Nor do I do these fasts for any cultural or social reason. I'm essentially a benign sociopath.

Instead, the main reason I do these fasts is that I believe they aid in detoxifying my mind and body, thus promoting my long-term health. is this belief of mine is true? Only time will tell. 

But I will say that I do feel better -- mentally and physically-- during and after these fasts -- with the exception of two fasts: (1) the very first one, and (2) one sometime in 2006.

During the very first such fast for me, I noticed that my heart rate increased somewhat, and the force of my heartbeat also seemed raised. I normally have a resting pulse rate (ie. measured upon waking before getting up) of 41. But during this first fast, my resting rate was in the low 50s.

Similarly, when I meditate, normally it is not easy to detect the sensation of my heart beating against my chest wall. But during this first fast, my heart seemed to be crashing with force against my chest wall making it hard not to notice.

Since that first fast, both of these symtoms (fast heart rate, forceful heart beat) are gone. I suspect that what was happening on that first water fast was that my body was dumping some very old toxins that had been stored in my body for decades. And maybe the fasts since that first one have had fewer skeletons to clean out of my body's closet.

The other problem I've had with these fasts occurred during one of my fasts in 2006. That time, I decided to stretch my fast from 3 days to 5 days. I just wanted to see what would happen.

What happened was that on the afternoon of the fourth day of the fast, I "crashed". This means my body became sluggish, and my mind turned slow and fuzzy.

During my water fasts, I record not only my pulse rate, but also my blood pressure and blood sugar. I have read that a blood sugar reading of between 70-85 is optimal.

During the first three mornings of these fasts, my blood sugar stays above 50. But on the fourth morning, it drops into the 40s. I think a morning blood sugar reading in the 40s means that my body is about to crash later in the day. I think that explains what happened on the fourth day of that aborted 5-day fast in 2006.

Probably, if I just sat around drinking water and green tea, I could comfortably fast beyond three days. But I'm not interested in just sitting around all day. During my fasts, I do what I normally do, except that I refrain from heavy physical labor or exercise. That is, I try to avoid any activity that will bring on even a light sweat.

The reason I do that is that I have found that if I go ahead and exercise and sweat during the fasts, my blood sugar will drop faster, and I will begin to fantasize about food on the second or third day.

But if I refrain from that sort of exercise, then the mornings of the second, third, and fourth (end of fast) days are absolutely wonderful for me. I awake with the sort of clarity and glorious emptiness that is not available to me normally. I feel no hunger, and instead feel like my body has transcended food. Of course, this feeling is false and temporary (as my blood sugar monitor is telling me), but it's a nice one just the same.

Finally, I don't think water fasting is for everyone. For example, people who have been carrying around extra fat for decades would seem to be putting themselves at risk by water fasting.

Moreover, I have known people who seem to have trouble with crashing blood sugar levels. That is, for my body, it seems like it takes four days (with moderate exercise) for my blood sugar to crash. For others, this crash seems to come within hours.

So anyway, what I'd say about water fasting is, first and foremost, know thyself. Next, observe thyself. Treat yourself like a lab rat when you start water fasting. How is your body feeeling? Your mind? Your mood? What are vital recordings saying? Is your mind obsessing on food?

Based on the answers to questions like these and more, decide whether water fasting is for you, and if so, how long is good for you, and what degree of activity is good for you. I suspect that for 10 different people, there will be at least 5 different answers. You'll need to know your own answers.

Good luck!