Have many of you experienced water fasting? Of course water fasting is drinking only water and no other substance. No food. I recently went on a 3 week water fast. I lost about 40 pounds (I was heavy to begin with). A couple of weeks before that I went on a juice fast (using a juicer and drinking 100% fruit juices). I'd even drink chicken broth.
There are many benefits to fasting. It is a natural human function to fast dating back thousands of years. We are meant to fast when we are sick. This is why we don't have an appetite when we are feeling under the weather. Everyday we use such a great amount of our energy just for digestion, and if you eat a great deal of meat products digestion is even more taxing on your body. One reason we feel good in the mornings is because we haven’t eaten anything in several hours.
When you fast your digestive system is resting, which will let your body heal other parts of the body that have not gotten a lot of attention from our immune systems. Some may think that you will go into starvation mode and your body will shut off burning less fat. This simply is not the case. Your body first will burn off the stored sugars. Then it will focus on all the stored damaged tissue land toxins lurking in the body. Then it will go to fat. Research has shown that very little muscle will be burned until your body goes into starvation, which is after your fat stores are used up. Muscle and "good tissue" will be used up at the very end.
You will still pass some waste even after a couple of weeks. Basically (not to get too personal) my stool was a plastic looking substance. I am assuming this is dead tissue and toxins that had been building up over years in my body. That is the main purpose to fasting is to rid your body of stored toxins. Your tongue will be coated with the toxin everyday. Just make sure you brush your tongue with toothpaste a couple of times everyday. My blood pressure went down considerably. My energy level was great. The hunger pangs stopped after a couple of days. I never felt hungry to be honest.
The first time I water fasted I pigged out after completion. I ate meat, dairy, and other things I shouldn't. I did eat considerably less, to most people's standards, because my stomach shrank. However, this was not a great idea. I started to feel bad after a week so I went to a vegan diet. After a few days everything was back to normal. What you should do after a fast is to drink vegetable and fruit juices for a couple of days. Then you should move to soup, solid vegetables, then to other solid foods. This will be less taxing on your system.
I will say I had a lot more success with the juice fast. I didn't gain back much of the weight I lost and I was able to keep it off. You will lose a lot more weight from a water fast, but you will gain a quarter to half the weight back within a couple of weeks. Basically, most of this is water weight you are gaining back. But keep in mind that you are not doing it to lose weight; you are doing it to give your digestive system a rest and to rid your body of stored toxins. A juice fast will also serve to flush your body of toxins and give your digestive system a rest. It just takes longer than the water fast.
I need to mention that you will grow spiritually. You'll start to realize how little we need to survive and how much God provides for us everyday. You'll start to realize how blessed we are and how much we take food for granted. You'll be able to enjoy less rich foods and start to have an appreciation for everything. Yes, people will think you are crazy. They will tell you it is unhealthy, but the research will tell you otherwise. Of course I'm going to tell you to do it under doctor's supervision (even though I didn't). No doctor will tell you to do it to rid your body of sickness. However it has been proven that fasting can cure you of allergies, high blood pressure, depression, high blood sugar, etc. How come you don't hear about fasting in the media, doctor's journals, or even in chat rooms? Well how much profit is in it? How much can drug companies and other large corporations make from it? I think you've already answered the question.
Don't take my word for it!!! Do your own research on it. Below are a few links that will help you out.
Fasting INHS Water Fasting article - What to expect on your first fast