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Here I am just started day 15 of my 40 day water fast. Things are going well! I am still cooking for the family (only had a few nights where I had to excuse myself from the dinner table and shed a few tears and really asked God for help. He was faithful:) Over one third there now. I am a bit tired though and really have to pace my self during the day. I have had fairly consistent cramps in my calves and my my tongue looks like a skunk with a big white stripe down the middle! The biggest concern is my mouth is soooo dry and pasty even though I have been drinking up to 3 litres of water a day. My weightloss is up to 10.6 kg now and my face is really clear:) Most importantly though my Bible reading is more alive and I have found myself very conscious of God alot more. I really want to be more like him. Praying daily for more kindness, gentleness, humility and patience. Ron! 9 kids too! Mine are aged 18,17,16,14,12,9,7,4,1 – 5 boys and 3 girls.
6 boys!!!! talk about brain fog…..
Day 17 of 40 day fast. Finally my tongue is getting less white. Water is getting a bit monotonous though but I am going strong (thank you Lord) and have no intentions of not completing this race. My eyes are on the finish line. I have been amazed also at our food budget. We have saved so much money in the last couple of weeks. I think I am seeing I am the biggest spender….without impulse buying for ‘treats for the kids’ (really for me) we are saving alot.
ps…in Australia:) Fast changes to day 17 in a couple of hours. By the time you all wake up it will be day 17:)
Hi:) Just starting day 20 of my 40 day water fast. I am really starting to miss eating. Making families food getting tougher. Asking God for much grace. Had a revisit of hunger pains today but okay now. My jeans certainly are getting loose. One problem I just can’t seem to budge is a really dry mouth. It does not matter how much water I drink my mouth is dry. Is it because I am not producing saliva or because I am really thirsty?
Hi debbie, Congrats on your water fast! You have made it quite a bit further than most who have tried it. The dry mouth is from a lack of saliva. When you are not eating you don’t produce as much. Be careful about your water consumption. Too much acts as a diuretic and actually dehydrates. Pinch the back of your hand. If it stays in the pinched position longer than a few seconds you are dehydrated.
Again, congratulations on your fast! The Lenten season is a wonderful time for it. I will also be fasting…. and praying for your success. God Bless, Ron
Ron:) Thanks so much for that info. I pinched the back of my hand and it bounces straight back. I have been drinking 2 to 3 litres of water a day and I have to admit sometimes I can barely get the glass down. Hmmm probably because my body is actually telling me ENOUGH!! Well, the dry mouth certainly has been a cue for me to keep asking God to fill me with living water. Thanks also for your encouragement. God has strengthened me during this fast to do something I never thought I could do. Everyday when the day starts I declare that the day is a day of fasting to the Lord, and He has strengthened me everyday to complete the day. I am looking forward to the finish line. A bit of a journey to go yet:) I will keep you posted:)
Hi again:) Just an update:) I am nearly thru day 23 and doing good. My tongue has only has the slightest bit of white on it now and the rest is looking nice and pink. This is really minimizing the “pasty” feeling in my mouth. I thank God again for his power to do this fast.
I have been giving some very serious thought about finishing this fast even though it is 17 days to go. I have decided to continue my fast for 10 days more incorporating ‘breaking my fast’ as a fasting period. Just like the water fast part of my fast the post fast is just as important to to be not negotiable.
The plan I am thinking is 2 days juice/fruit, 2 days fruit and veges, 3 days fruit veges and add brown rice in very small amount, 2 days fruit veges brown rice and an egg per day. After reading some articles on this site am I understanding right that the best way to maintain my weightloss is to eat small amounts and not eat again until I am hungry again?
I hope I am not overthinking things, but I want to be successful in all parts of this fast!
Hi debbie, No, I wouldn’t say you are over-thinking. There are no die-hard rules for fasting. Except the obvious. Just be careful when starting up. Try to resist the urge to over eat. And if you plan on intermittent fasting stay away from too much protein, wheats and dairy. Alcohol and nuts are out completely! Once you begin eating full time you can introduce more. But act as you would feed a baby….on start-up, and during intermittent fasting.
Hi:) Just started day 27 of my water fast. Today was a really really tough day. I was really weak and had to sit alot cause I felt really fainty. I have felt alot better tonight so that is good. It was a pretty hot and humid day with max of 34 degrees. I also just got my period (am I allowed to say that here?) and I didn’t know if that had something to do with it?
I have one concern though and that is I am a bit tender just at the bottom of the right side of my rib cage. Can my liver be a bit unhappy? I is nothing major just tender.
I can’t believe I have come so far and I thank God. To be totally honest though, I can’t wait for this to come to the end. It is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life except maybe for childbirth…..Jesus, you’re truely my God, and my hero.
Hi debbie, Yes…the liver, as well as the kidneys, gallbladder and other organs work overtime during a fast. The dull pains usually come and go. So just sit it out, and be patient. Your period will definitely make you weak and tired during a fast. Keep hydrated.
God will bless you, and answer prayers speedily during a fast. So believe, and relax in that truth. It is promised to us! God Bless you. I’m keeping you in my prayers. Ron
Ron, thank you so so much for your support during this time of fasting. Thank you also for your prayers. Your encouragement and informative advice is reassuring. You were right about that liver tenderness, it is nearly gone today. I will relax, be patient and continue to believe!! God’s biggest blessings on you and your family also:) I will catch up with you again in the next couple of days:)
Thanks debbie! Oh…I have 8 girls, and one boy! Most think that’s worse than all boys! I say bunk to that!! I love my girls. And my son is my buddy! Ages: 24, 23, (21 Ron III), 19, 17, 15, 12, 10, 8.
The party is at my house! LOL
Congrats Ron:) You must be such a proud dad:) 8 daughters…such a gift. I know Mike and I are really proud parents. Our eldest girl(nearly 19) just got her drivers licience yesterday! Yay! And our son (nearly 18) goes for his on Monday morning:) Finally!! Some other drivers:) And yes, isn’t the party super! I can’t imagine our house and meal table any other way!!
Well, here I am day 30 of the 40 day water fast….and am feeling okay. I am physically a bit weak. After climbing the stairs my legs are burning so bad. Same after hanging washing, my arms just burn. I am finding I need to lay down in afternoon for a bit which is so so so unlike me. Even when I am pregnant I very rarely lay down.
Food is creeping into my thought alot. I was thinking cause the longest fast I have done previously is a 14 day water fast and a 30 day juice fast that I might be hitting a bit of a personal barrier. But I am running for the finish line. Only 10 sleeps to go. I have lost a lot of weight. I weighed this morning and since starting my prefast have lost 18.5kg. I thank God for leading me to do this and giving me the strength to do it. I am holding on to Him. My family are being so supportive. Thanks again and Bless You Ron:) I am nearly there.
ps….the food I am thinking of most is….steamed cabbage with soy sauce??:) and sushimi with soy sauce….(japanese is my favourite favourite) but what is it with all the dreaming about soy sauce…lol:) gotta laugh:)
Hi Ron:) Well I have some news for you:) At the end of day 32 I finished water fasting. I have been just having little bits of fruit and vege today:) I was trying to ignore it but I was beginning to have pretty strong hunger pains and actually started to feel pretty unwell. I saw my pastor on Sunday (he has done 4 40 day fasts) and he said he felt it would be best to end the water part of my fast. I was a bit stubborn at first, but felt that was wisdom. (If you can’t trust your pastor who can you trust!)
I have been reflecting on stuff and can see things I could have done better. For eg. For ten days before starting the 40 day fast, I was having fruit and veges (no meat or sweets) and pretty small amounts too and two days prior to 40 days water I had juice. My pastor suggested next time not to do that so long, as in reality I have been in some sort of fasting for 32 days water plus 10 days already. I had to laugh when I thought about that…my goal was to cut down the food so I could get used to feeling hungry:)
Looking at my body, even though I have lost about 20kgs, I can’t really see why I would have gotten hungry! There still looks like plenty to eat to me…..maybe my body got sick of ‘fatty food’:) lol:)
But seriously Ron, thank you so much for your prayers. I will continue the rest of the week with fruit and veges etc. I was really dissappointed at first I did not make 40 days, but today am feeling really good. 32 days on water was a big thing for me and I know I have the grace to continue with some really good lifestyle changes to keep me a fitter and healthier mum, wife and child of God. I am forty in a couple of weeks now!! Please let me know if you have any advice for me at this point:) Love in Christ Deb.
Hi Deb, You have nothing to feel disappointed about. Remember your fast is just that. “YOUR FAST”. God sends us messages in many ways. Sometimes in His words through scripture. Sometimes through a doctor, or our pastor. Sometimes through a little child. The key is knowing, and TRUSTING He is with us, and speaking to us….. in every way!
There is also our next fast too! If I get a message to end a fast, I never doubt it or reason why. I accept it, and look forward to my next fast. Our Lord has given us the perfect way to say, “I love you”, and “thank you” back to Him! And it doesn’t matter if our fast is a month, a week, or a day. Numbers do not matter to our Lord. Our hearts do!
I know you already know all this in your heart. I’m celebrating, and cheering what you have accomplished!! FANTASTIC!!
You actually did right in your lead-in to your fast. You probably saved yourself from heavy detox, and serious hunger pangs! Water fasting is the hardest. Especially the last several days of a 40.
The only advice I have for you is to enjoy your new body, and eat healthy! After detoxing years of chemical build-up we lose the tolerance to them. So, a store bought donut may feel like lead shot going through us! Try to eat more raw foods than cooked. Remember “cooked” is dead. They may taste good, but have very little nutritional value.
Happy 40th Birthday Deb! I remember 40? I think?! LOL….. It’s been a pleasure talking, and fasting with you during this Holy time of Lent!! God Bless and keep you, and your family. Ron
Ron this is my first day of a long fast but i am doing day 1 juice and day 2 water for 90 days. Really need support. I have type 2 diabetes but cannot take the metformin si I have been off carbs for awhile. I also have polycystic ovarian syndrome which is stopping me from having children. Could you all follow me each day and help me through the first week? thanks and best wishes all.
Hi r.maddox04,
Have half glasses of juice when you need them and try to go 30 days and you should be greatly improved or healed.
thank you so much I actually starting tomorrow so I will be posting everyday my progress.
Wow, 30 days with so many eating people around, not easy to do. My last water-fast that long was almost a year ago. Any of the elder kids do a small fast yet? Good way to learn mental discipline and not get addicted to food.
Funny how every time the site goes down, it comes back with a different Progress Reports section.
I have been experimenting a lot with fasting, trying all kinds of methods. I remember doing a dry fast last summer, and getting a headache after a few hours. Nowadays I can easily go two or three days without getting dehydrated.
I have found that it is nearly impossible for me to exercise while fasting. For one, I don’t have the same endurance (which is annoying), and second, I get these huge cravings for food. Not hunger pangs, more as if it’s a biological NEED to eat. My body telling me “Eat or lie still for the rest of the day, your choice.”
For the past weeks (going on 6 or 7 weeks now), I’ve been doing intermittent fasting. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I eat more than one person should (mostly healthy though) and I exercise. The other 4 days of the week I fast on water, drinking whenever I feel like it, while doing only light stretching and movement exercises.
When I look at my graphs it seems I may have found something that works quite well for me. I’ve been losing weight consistently (although varies during the week as expected), now around 10lbs/5kg. But unlike continuous fasting, where the fat and muscle percentages jump up and down, the graphs of this fast are quite consistent, where my lean body mass has increased by about 2%, and my fat percentage decreased by about 5%, all the while my stomach circumference has decreased by about 6cm/2.4inches.
Overall, it seems as if I get all the benefits of a stricter fast, just slower. Where normally my mind goes quiet after 2 or 3 weeks of water-fasting, it has been twice as long to start feeling that mental clarity that helps me to grow spiritually. Due to the small windows for eating, I have all but eliminated snacks from my diet, and every week I eat a little bit healthier than the week before. Maybe I’ll finally be able to make this a habit.
On the other hand, I can keep this ‘fast’ up for the rest of the year, or at least until my body fat reaches the single digits.
Hi
I’m on day 4 of a juice fast. I want to look and feel healthy and fabulous before I turn 50 soon.
I’m still finding it pretty hard – I’m hungry, dizzy at times, bloated sometimes, had v bad stomach cramps today and twice I’ve almost thrown up. I think some of the juices are a little strong for me or perhaps it was the oregano, parsley tea (homemade) I had? After all of this I had a plain green apple juice and feel much better now. On the other hand I’ve lost nearly 4kg so far, which is a lot considering I’m normally pretty healthy.
My questions:
1. Are these symptoms normal? What can I do about them?
2. When is the right time to stop? I planned on 14 days as I travel overseas 5 days after that period, but if it’s all going to be like this, I’m not sure I can do it.
I really meed some reassurance if I’m to keep going. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it, other times I feel strong about it all…
Thank you 🙂
Hi – no answer 🙁 I bought your books and have been reading them, but I still have some symptoms that I can’t find answer to on your site or elsewhere.
Day 6 and I’m still getting stomach cramps, I’m really hungry all the time, I feel thirsty most of the time and I’m quite dizzy and still foggy (keep forgetting things, can’t take in more than one thing at a time). I’ve changed my juice mixes so there’s more fruit juice and less combinations. I’m drinking at least 1.6 litres of per day and sipping around 2.5-3 litres of water too. I have low blood pressure (around 90/60) so perhaps this contributes? I’ve had one colonic and an enema and have been drinking one coconut water per day (100%) for the electrolytes. I also take a strong probiotic powder nightly. Anything else I can do?
I’ve lost about 4.5kg so far, some of which must be waste from my colon, but I’m really happy with that.
Taking it hour by hour, meal by meal but getting there.
Hi fellow fasters.
I am about to embark on the dreeded 40 day water fast for the 3rd time, last time i made it to day 32 and reduced my life long medication of level-thyroxin by 50 micro grams from 200. This time i will be fasting on Easter Sunday for Spiritual” guidance only.
I may post my new videos on my site, http://www.fastingonline.com if you click on this link then google it under
fastingonline.com then you will see my name keith mckay.
I will keep you posted on fasting.ws
Blessings on Easter Sunday.
hi all day 4 of my water fast.
Day 2 was not to bad, some hunger pangs. Day 3 later on in the evening was bad, my sugar levels slumped, meaning my body has used up its sugar reserves hence now into the ketosis phase of my water fast. Day 4 stomache cramps, headaches so i decided to perform an enema, feeling better but still have food on my mind. This is normal for the brain to cause havok with your emotions. This is the time many people break their fast (AND THE HARDEST PART OF A WATER FAST)
Roll on day 5.
On day 10, i will be pushing myself for the first time on a water fast. I will be going to the gym 3 days a week and walking 6k every day there until day 20.
This is not the norm on a water fast and not recomended. Im curious as i have read of a few people walking 10 k every day whilst compleating a 40 day water fast. I am however scepticle of these storys and will stop if i feel ill.
On my water fasts i am monitored by a Doctor, and have blood taken every 2 weeks.
Hi Keith,
I tried leaving a comment for Tom but havent heard back and i really have not a clue who to ask …I’m now finished my 30 day juice fast and if you could please help out w/ a couple questions that would be great.
*I just recently came on my time of month, and i cannot find any articles which explain experiences or effects of female menstruation on a fast. So far im very sore and I feel extremely bloated which im wondering if its normal?
*I’ve broken my fast first with a little watermelon, now today i’ve had prunes and my regular juices
*I did a salt water flush a couple days ago and i’m wondering if maybe thats why I feel bloated and my back is so sore?
*Very important: on my last 5 days of fasting I mixed between water and juice but the juice ive had is Mango/Coconut…is this a good juice? I havent read anyone else who has had mango or coconut juice…
I appreciate your response on these questions as I really have no idea where to look to find the answers,
Thanks!!
Hi AshleyElize
Performing the salt water flush i would not recomend late on a juice fast, if at all when juicing, especially before your period. You would have been better taking a coupple of oral enemas before performing the salt water flush.
This would have been better erlyer on in your fast for a colone cleanse. It is normal to feel bloated after performing the SWF trust me iv done a few salt water flushes, but only on water. Back pain is normal to and can be more intence whilst having your period. What type of salt did you use?
Your mix of juicing is fine
Organic soups will be fine, breaking a juice fast is much easyer than breaking a water fast.
Blessings Keith
also, congrats on your water fast thats awesome! i want to try that next 🙂
Ashley
You can have a look at my water fasting videos and see how bloated i was after performing the salt water flush.
google me fastingonline.com
Best wishes Keith.
sorry a part of my question didnt send i was also asking if i could have soup yet.. 🙂
Hi,
I have done a 7 day water fast and have been back to eating veggies , fruits, and done some juicing after my fast. Yesterday my legs started to swell and this morning my Lymph Nodes in my neck are a bit swollen and sore to the touch . Can someone give me some info about this and what I can do to get the swelling down or get rid of it.. thanks merlinda
Hi merlinda,
Swelling lymph is common with infection. If this is the case. Ginger garlic, in the juice and colloidal silver help with infection. Rubbing oregano oil or clove oil on the skin where the swelling is may also help. If you do not see a difference in a few days you may need a doctor and anibiotics if it get worse.
Edema can be caused by liver stress during the water fast and why I always recommend juice fasting to start any water fast.
Day 5-6 of my 40 day water fast.
Day 5 up at 6am no cravings for food, although my mind is saying go on have little bit of that or this LOL, but im to strong minded not to give in to temptation.
Day 6 up at 8am, been feeling tired all day as im constantly on the move, sometimes i feel if i dont sit down ill fall down. Its not been a good day for me, but every day is differant on a fast, you have to take the good with the bad and push foreward.
Week 1 tomorrow.
Water fast Day 7, 8, 9
Day 7 …I awoke with a migrane, this lasted untill day 8, This morning i awoke and looked outside, thinking to myself how lucky i am to be here. I am thankfull to god that i have food, when others in third world countrys have nothing.
Day 8 …The migrane started to subside at around 6pm, so i decided to perform the salt water flush, to my horror it all came back up like i was possesed, this is the first time this has happened to me. I think it was because i used 2 tbs instead of 1, the sea salt was ground, so this could be the cause.
Day 9 …Today i feel a little weak but i will be trying the SWF again today .Tomorrow i will be going to the gym as i mentioned before, i will be brisk walking 6 k 3 times a week until day 20, i will not mention my weight loss until my fast is over as it is irelevant. I am fasting for spiritual guidance not weight loss.
blessings Keith.
Day 10, 11 water fasting
Day 10…I ventured out to the gym, found that i got out of breath easily and barly managed the 6k,
Day 11…felt tired most of the day and had a snooze in the afternoon. I have no cravings for food at all, some days im full of energy, some days i feel drained. All in all i feel fine.
Keith, you should be on day 32 by now. Still going to the gym?
They say that when it’s time to fast, you will know. Whether your body simply lets you know, or something greater. In my case, in 2010 I was trying to figure out why my health was slowly deteriorating. Although there were no major health issues, I noticed I was more stressed, got sick more often, and felt chaotic in my mind. I was losing control.
I studied eating, fitness, all the way up to the molecular level of the body’s systems and macro-nutrients (yes, I have a mild case of OCD that manifests as perfectionism).
When I came across fasting, it just spoke to me. I couldn’t get enough of it. I read everything I could about it. After studying for several months, I created account here, and I did my first fast. In may 2010 I started a 50+ days water-fast. Surprising even myself, I got through it better than expected. By the end of 2010 my bad habits were returning, so in November, I did another 30 days.
In may 2011 I felt like I should do it again. Don’t know why. And in November 2011 again.
Since that first fast, my health has been steadily improving, as has my concentration. I’m regaining control of myself.
In January this year I started practicing intermittent fasting, training me to be more disciplined (resist the ‘quick snack’) and steadily improving my weight (still an important factor for me).
I wasn’t particularly planning on fasting again for a while. Yet something started bothering me. This persistent thought informing me that May was coming up. Not much more than that. And whatever I tell myself is the reason, I ended up taking my last plate of soup on Sunday, April 29, and have been fasting since.
Somehow, it just seems as if something drives me to fast during May. Maybe the body’s way of doing spring cleanup. Or maybe it’s just coincidence, and my increasing apprehension towards December 21/23 drove me to it. Either way, today is day 10 of my unplanned water-fast.
I’m now on day 14 of my water fast. According to my scale, I’ve lost about 22 pounds, of which 10 are fat and 5 are muscles. In percentages that means my fat’s going down, muscle’s going up. I feel bad about muscle loss. It takes so long to build, a lot longer than fat. Still, I suppose it’s my own fault for getting fat in the first place.
My mind has become very calm, and when I close my eyes it is very easy to turn my focus inside. My thoughts sometimes seem to echo around in my skull, much like my messages are echoing around on this site. (May have something to do with the fact that the main page no longer redirects to the /juice-fasting sub-page).
I’m becoming quite pale, so I wonder how long it’ll take before colleagues start commenting again. That part I really don’t like. One of them actually has access to the graphs that my scale generates, so he could clearly see them crash over the past two weeks, much like the economy has been doing.
I’m still wondering if I should continue past May. Usually it’s easier for me to just keep going than to start a new fast. Plus, I wouldn’t mind beating my record and saving grocery money while doing it (only have 18 euros to get through the month). Yes, I know fasting is about more than weight loss and savings, but every time I’ve fasting seeking something spiritual, nothing happened. Doesn’t mean I stopped trying. This month is dedicated to activities that bring me closer to my spiritual side. I just stopped hoping for something profound to happen.
Another week of fasting. Fasting is hard for me during a vacation. At least work can distract me, even if I’m constantly around food in one way or another. As I lose more weight, and get closer to the stubborn layers of fat that have been with me for over a decade, I notice more adverse effects. This morning was the first time I nearly experienced a blackout. My pulse was racing at 108, my blood pressure was 108/79. Last week I experienced shortness of breath. It was difficult to breath deeply the way I usually do. That seems to have passed now. I’m also extremely annoyed at the periods of dry mouth due to little saliva. They come and go.
As for the weight, I’ve now lost about 13kg/29lbs since I started, of which 6kg/14lbs is fat and 3kg/7lbs is composed of lean body mass. My water mass has decreased 9kg/19lbs, which is surprisingly little (keep in mind water and lean body overlap one another). The water mass percentage tends to rise during this fast. Of course, these measurements come from a scale that uses bio-impedance measurements, which can get messed up during fasting, so I take it with a grain of salt. But so far, the measurements seem consistent. As for the measuring tape, my body shape has only started to decrease during the past two weeks, and seems to be accelerating.
I’ve chosen to end this fast at the start of the next month, after 32 days of fasting. These days, I have nothing to prove to myself anymore. If whatever made me fast lets me stop, that is. Maybe go back to fasting in July. It would be nice to finally have a well-balanced body this year.
I also noticed my mind is no longer as serene as it was. My OCD mind is kicking back in. I slept more than usual. And I just can’t seem to get around to studying. Things seem to get messier, more chaotic.
I found a report of the longest fast ever recorded, 382 days.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf
It makes for an interesting read. It also seems to conclude that an unsupervised and unsupplemented(new word!) fast should stop around 40 days. I assume they mean water fast, scientists don’t do juicing.
I’ll probably do another post next week, just in case somebody ever comes back to the site.
It’s strange. Yesterday, I had gained 0.2kg/0.4lbs and today, I remained at that weight, but my fat levels apparently increased. Two days of water resulting in an increase of weight? What is going on?
There was a time when one could always count on a reply on this site within twelve hours. Is it really that deserted here?
Day 29. As far as body composition is concerned, I’ve gone beyond what I’ve achieved for about a decade. Coming to all those layers of decade-old McDonald’s comes at a price however. Every time I get up I get dizzy. I can’t sustain continuous effort anymore. It’s making me lazy. Still not hungry though. Just a few more days, and then the blessed tastes of juice can grace my taste-buds. I’m a whopping 79kg/174lbs now. Apart from the sluggishness I feel fine. The temperature isn’t helping. Feels like summer. Unlike many people, I function far better in somewhat colder climates. The benefit of fasting is that I hardly ever sweat though.
In Chinese medical practice they believe fat is pure, without contaminants. They also fast to allow the body to heal, but they believe the stored fat is pure, clean energy, and aids in their recovery. In western (pseudo-)science, it is believed that if the stored fat was created out of ‘bad’ foods, it will contain ‘bad’ stuff. I don’t quite know what to make of that.
A part of me regrets not getting to see my abdominal muscles yet, but I do believe I should end while I’m still in control. Plus, with this weather, people are starting to notice my pale complexion. I’ll probably switch to intermittent or juice fasting for a while. It should help regain some of the water, and stop the dizziness and tingling in my limbs every time I put pressure on them, but still allow me to continue reaping the benefits.
Types of toxins that store in the fatty tissues:
Some endocrine disrupting chemicals are persistent in the environment and bioaccumulate; they accumulate in the fatty tissue of organisms and increase in concentration as they move up through the food web. Because of their persistence and mobility, they accumulate in and harm species far from their original source.
POPs [persistent organic pollutants] accumulate exponentially in fatty tissue as they move up the food chain, such that concentrations can be 70,000 times the background levels in a top predator.
POPs are found in everything from paint to pesticides and remain in the environment for decades without breaking down. They are spread by winds and oceans, and have been found everywhere from Antarctica to remote areas of Canada. They accumulate in fatty tissue and have been blamed for disease and birth defects in humans and animals.
Second, the toxics bioaccumulate in the fatty tissue of animals, and are difficult or impossible to metabolize or excrete. Even minute amounts may have a major effect on wildlife as the toxics build up to a dangerous level over the lifetime of the animal.
Bioaccumulating in the food chain occurs when, for example, plankton which has absorbed toxic chemicals from the water is eaten by fish, which, after storing the toxics in fatty tissues, are then eaten by birds.
Because the birds are at the top of this food chain, they may over time accumulate levels of toxics which are thousands of times higher than those in their prey, which themselves were thousands of times higher than those in the plankton.
Many contaminants such as dioxins and PCBs have an affinity for fatty tissue.
Scary thought, considering we have essential fatty cells in our body always. And from what I know, the body does not routinely clean their contents out to replace with new content. So there will always be toxins present no matter how healthy we live.
Well, this morning I broke the fast with a nice 2 apple, half a lemon and a handful of blueberries combo. I now feel like I won’t need to eat for the rest of the day. Wow! I started supplementing with probiotics two days ago, which may be why I haven’t had to make a run for the bathroom yet. Just went out and got an avocado and a mango, they make for good smoothies. My only problem right now is that I’m out of room in my fridge. Over the past weeks I’ve bought only things that were on sale in the supermarket, and now my fridge can’t hold any more.
All in all this fast was quite strict for me, compared to my last few ones. The results were a lot better also. I did lose my focus around the last week though. Couldn’t concentrate on things anymore, my meditations were a mess.
Closing question(s): I have three different probiotic supplements. One states it contains 2 cultures, the other 5, and the last one 9. Does that make the last product any better than the first one? How many ‘good’ cultures do we actually have in our intestines, and can the body replenish/recreate them all, even after an extended fast?
For the past week I’ve been experiencing some nasty muscle cramps in my lower legs and abs. I gently move my foot and the muscle locks up, the muscles exerting their maximum force, so much it hurts. The only way to stop it is to stand up and hold a natural position. It’s kind of scary really. I read it may be because I’ve developed a mineral deficiency. I had it on the sole of my feet, as well as the front and back of the lower legs. Also in my abdominals, where they go under the rib cage. Fortunately it seems to be gone now.