Prolonged Fasting
A prolonged fast is anything over 20 days on juice and about 7 on water. While 30 days on juice is somewhat difficult 14 days on water is a and very difficult and demanding much discipline.
I find that long fasts are preferable to short ones because once the body is in the fasting state it cleanses systematically into the harder to get at body tissues. For this reason, most of the recoveries from illness have taken place in the latter parts of long juice or water fasts. A friend’s hemorrhoids were healed on the 21st day of a juice fast after suffering from them for 15 years. He stated “It is like they were never there.” Long fasts give the body the uninterrupted time to do the work of healing. I compare it to getting a piano tuned. A piano tuner can tune a piano in three short visits or one long one. Three shorter visits will take more time and energy because he has to drive back and forth, loading and unload his tools. The first few days of fasting gets rid of the gross waste products of digestion, but only after this can the body pull out its tools to get to work on healing.
The thirty day juice fast is a standard in European health facilities. This length of fast feels about right because after 30 day it seems like you have been fasting for ever. Less then 30 days and you can miss the best experiences of the fast.
The ten day water fast has also become a recommended number of days. Paul Bragg was an advocate of the 10 day water fast. Ten days on water will cause the same weight loss as 30 days on juice. But water fasting if far more difficult, especially if you have a fast metabolism.
The difficulty with this length of a fast it is difficult not to overeat. When I fell into temptation and ate the wrong food, instantly all the benefits I was experiencing evaporated. This state cannot exist unless the blood is clean. Any toxic food and it is gone. Even over eating fruit will cause it to reduce. I duplicated this type of fast twice and experienced exactly the same effect only to lose it when faced with the intense desire for food that comes when hunger returns after the fast.
These were rare and incredible experiences. Someday, God willing, I hope to have the discipline or the environment and support necessary to reach such a goal. Other fasting advocates claim this state can become permanent when maintaining a fruit diet. It is hard for me to envision what it would be like to live in this state permanently.
By Tom Coghill of Fasting.ws Articles may be copied or reproduced as long as the back links to fasting.ws are intact and the author’s name is included.
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Hi Tom!
I’ve started my second week of pure water fasting and everything seems to be going fine and no more black outs! So far… lol. But It just seems like my body has become used to not eating already and I’m worried that I won’t even be able to consume home made veg. juice after my second week is done. From before I mentioned I’m going to finish up the 14 day water fast and then do a few days of vegi juice then do another 14 day water fast in which I am completely fine with I have no problem doing. I am just afraid I won’t consume nutrients after my entire fast is done. I will say that I am already incredibly thin that my ribs are showing as well as other bones, my face is quite gaunt…but please know I’m fasting for all of the right reasons. My concern is that I just feel like I don’t have the desire to eat at all…no tempations. I know this no desire thing doesn’t really matter now but I would like to know if this is common or uncommon for when I get close to finishing the fast. I think another part of it is that I enjoy fasting..a lot.. Either way I probably shouldn’t be concerned about it now but it still is something I’d like to know in advance if you’re able to provide advice/ answers :). Thank you!
Hi Cristina,
Drinking less water as the fast continues is normal. The body does not need water for digestion and has lowered metabolic needs. No temptation is normal. When you start to eat your hunger will come back. But only eat small meals as it is easy to over eat. The weight will also return quickly to a healthy norm.
My daughter(25 yrs old)is doing an extended water only fast. She was aiming for 40 days and is somewhere over 30 days into it. She was doing OK and able to drink plenty of water until about 10 days ago, then she started feeling nauseous and more recently has been vomiting almost every time she does drink water. The vomit is a yellowish green color. She also feels like she has swallowed air and needs to burp. We kept thinking this was detox going on and it would be better tomorrow but I’m getting concerned about dehydration. Do you have any idea what is going on? She is tired of feeling bad and ready to quit the fast which brings another question – she is planning to juice for several days to a week, what should she start with? Do you have an article that lays out what fruits are best to start with and then when to add vegetables and which ones? Thanks for any insight/help you can give.
Hi Kristine,
Yes go to juice right away. A fast that long, for it to be health needs a good nutritional base and healthy organs. That is why I always tell people to do juice fasting first to prepare the body and build nutritional reserves. You can have any fruits and veggies, if you are healthy. Try different mixtures. Candida, cancer, and diabetes need specific juice mixtures.