Today most people die not because of lack of food, but because of excess of it. Leading to diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer.
We are living in an era where excess of food not a lack of it is the main problem.
Here comes fasting
Fasting is one of those things that has provided me multiple benefits some of which i never even expected. I will share with you some of them, a little bit of how and why i fast.
WHY FASTING?
Fasting being defined as the absence of food intaking is seen today as a practice that can provide multiple benefits some of them include:
- Support weight loss
- Reduce inflammation
- Heart health
- Cognitive performance
- Autophagy
It is also very intuitive that fasting is “known” to us as species. Homo Sapiens have been living for a vast number of years already. It was normal and expected not to find food everywhere or even daily.
We as species just didn’t know when the next meal would arrive. It was just in the recent times that food have become abundant, not just that but junk food, sugar, high fatty meals, etc. are here to stay and we are able to always access it.
Yes, that includes at 3:00am, you know what I’m talking about
DRY OR WATER?
This time I want to talk a little bit about the differences between a dry fast and a water fast.
First let’s start with the most common which is the “water fast.”
In this type of fasting method, you are restricting all food intake and are only allowed to have as you guessed “water” or some other liquids like tea or coffee. It is important to note that these should have zero calories.
Meaning no adding sugar, milk, or anything that contains calories as that would break the fast.
There may be certain differences between people who argue that more than 3-4 cups of black coffee can break a fast, some others may argue that less than 10 calories won’t really break the fast.
There are different points of view, but it is also important to look at every individual reason for fasting.
For example, some people may be doing a “water fast” for “Gut health” and providing rest and healing to their digestive system so they may be prone to avoid coffee and tea and stay with just water.
Then maybe another person could be doing the “water fast” for “weight loss” so that person may be having water and some black coffee too.
In both cases they are not breaking their water fast and the fast is helping each with the goal they have in mind.
DRY DRY DRY!
Now let’s talk about a little bit about a “Dry fasting”
This consists of abstaining of any food/water or for that matter basically anything. You just don’t ingest any solid food or any liquids whatsoever. As you can probably start guessing right now, dry fasting then is a lot harsher on the body than regular water fasting.
There have been some studies suggesting that a 24 hr. dry fast is equivalent to a 72 hr. water fast. Also some studies linking both types of fasting with remission of certain ailments. Although still there is plenty of room to keep on exploring in this fascinating world of fasting and our human body.
There have been some very interesting findings and benefits of dry fasting by Dr. Sergey Filonov.
I remember reading something about a case of Lyme disease and how a 9 day dry fast combined with some other rules like walking and humid environment helped this woman like no other treatment ever could.
Someone to study more about if you are interested in dry fasting. He has some great books.
I guess it makes sense, intuitively just think when you get sick and you don’t want to eat anything, it is your body sending this signal to avoid food!
ZIFUSH FASTING
It is important to note that when fasting you should always listen to your body and start from easy short fasting periods and then start to increase the timeframe of your fasting window little by little.
When i first started fasting a 12-14 hr. fast would feel very difficult to achieve. When i felt better at it then i increased my fasting window to 14-16 hr. After i felt comfortable with that i went for a 16-20 hr.
Then for a time i was stuck feeling lots of hunger and weakness at the 22 hr. mark for quite some time so i didn´t forced myself to go longer than that.
Also important to mention that it took me some months of fasting to be comfortable doing a 22 hr fast. That doesn’t mean you can’t do it faster it is just a reminder that it takes time, it is better to build it over time and is important to listen to your body.
My personal experiences with fasting have been awesome. After getting used to it now i normally wake up and don’t eat anything but water and some black coffee until 1-4pm almost every day.
On some other days/months i just fast 24 hrs once per week. It really depends on my exercise activity levels, my diet, my sleep patterns and how am i feeling overall.
This allows me to go exercise, get focus to get some deep work done, reading or whatever i feel the mood to do, without the time-consuming activity of preparing breakfast.
It is important to note that “saving” some time is not by far the only or main reason i tend to fast.
I could argue is a combination of health benefits + awesome “light” feeling in my body + more awareness of food choices + control of cravings + learning about my own self-control + some personal spiritual practices.
I have approached dry fasting very different my longest dry fast was about 20 hr. I really wouldn’t say was very enjoyable. I did it to experiment and mix things a little bit.
This is just my personal approach and to be honest i tend to experiment a lot, trying to always listen to my body and never force it if I’m not feeling well.
For instance, i tried with 16 hr. fast then 24 hr. Some other days i started to experiment with mixtures of fasting periods + great sleeping 6-10 hrs. aiming for high quality sleep every night. Then incorporate to the mixture different diets.
Ultimately everybody is different.
I think is best to experiment what feels better for you and approach it little by little.
I am by no means an expert nor a doctor. I am just sharing with you what i have done, and what have worked for me.
But make sure to always consult with your doctor before attempting any fast or things related with your health.
Remember this is not medical advice or in any form a recommendation. Always seek professional advice with a certified healthcare provider before attempting any fasting
Take care!