Water Fasting for Health

Water Fasting
 
Are you aware that your body has the amazing capacity to cure health problems on its own? It does only if you give it a chance to do so. The best way of giving such an opportunity to your body is fasting, as it awakens such self curing capacity – clean, repair and recharge.


What is improper fasting?

•  Skipping a meal and eating everything else is not fasting. You end up eating more food than a normal meal.

• Skipping all solid food, but drinking coffee, tea, soft drinks, milk, alcohol etc is not fasting. All the chemicals cause ulcers and burning inside the stomach.

• Stopping everything, including water is not proper fasting. This is very dangerous. You will have a dehydrated body – you get dizzy and faint.

Such type of fasting does more harm to the body than help. People get into serious problems by fasting the wrong way and go for doctor’s help. A few such cases make your doctor conclude that fasting is harmful. Those that get benefited by doing fasting the right way won’t go to the doctor.

• Dieting is not fasting. Its purpose is weight reduction.

• Drinking fruit juice is better, but it is not perfect fasting

• Drinking only water is fasting, but it is also not safe as there is no energy supply. Your body gets very weak.

Proper way of doing water fasting:
 
You need to be aware of all the facts about fasting before doing it – when and how to do, who should do and who should not and benefits of fasting – so that you don’t get any surprises. Even children can get benefited.

• You need water – for cleaning toxins and waste matter.

• You need something more to give energy. You need around 800 cal of glucose per day to keep the brain cells active. At the same time, you need a substance that doesn’t need digestion.

Processed glucose or sugar contains chemicals that are added during processing. The best substance that can give instant energy without digestion is Honey.

Without digestion, the best one to give glucose is honey. Honey also has medicinal properties, antibiotic, anti bacterial, antiseptic. Instant energy, you won’t feel hungry, no dizziness and no weakness on next day
 
Pure honey has no expiry date. Don’t keep honey in fridge. Don’t use wet spoon.
 
Packaged honey has expiry date because of the chemicals added while processing.
 
Honey may freeze in severe winter, whether it is pure honey or packaged one.
 
If you can get unprocessed pure honey, it is the best. Be aware, if honey is not original, it doesn’t give the expected benefits. If you are not sure of the quality, to be on safe side, use honey from a reputed brand. Even though it lost a few good properties because of mild heating, it is better.
 

Water Fasting procedure:
 
One day fasting for health. Choose a convenient day for fast, may be Sunday? Fine. There are two reasons for choosing Sunday:
 
1) Holiday for work. 2) People have a great tendency to ever eat and enjoy on Sunday. You will avoid that part if you fast on that day.

• 6.00am: You got up from sleep.

• 6.25am: Finish early morning duties like brushing, evacuation (if you are habituated) etc.

• 6.30am: Drink the first installment of water of 1 to 11/4 lt and pass stool.

• 6.45 to 7.45am: Pranayamas or meditation.

• 8.00am: Drink the second installment of water of 1 to 11/4 lt and pass stool.

If you couldn’t evacuate in any one or both attempts in spite of keeping your mind on it, don’t be overly worried.

• 9.00am: Drink one glass of water.

• 9.30am: Drink one glass of water + honey + lemon juice

 

How to mix water, honey, lemon juice for water fasting?
 
You will be consuming a total of 250gm of honey on the day of fasting. You are going to have honey water 7 times, which works out 36gm of honey for each time. One teaspoonful of honey weighs 7gm. You need to use 5 teaspoonfuls.
 
Take 1 glass (250ml) of boiled and cooled (lukewarm) water in a container. Add 5 teaspoonfuls of honey. Squeeze one medium sized lemon into it, mix well and sip slowly, savoring the taste. Lemon gives you vitamin C that creates antibodies that boost the immune system. Always drink freshly mixed honey + lemon water.
 
To be on safe side, each time you drink honey and lemon, rinse your mouth well with plain water to safeguard your teeth.

• 11.00am: Drink one glass of water

• 11.30am: Water + honey +lemon juice

• 1.00pm: Water

• 1.30pm: Water + honey + lemon juice

• 3.00pm: water

• 3.30pm: Water + honey + lemon juice

• 5.00pm: Water

• 5.30pm: Water + honey + lemon juice

• 7.00pm: water

Stop drinking water after 7.00pm so that you will have undisturbed sleep. Otherwise, you may have to get up for urination. If you feel very weak or dizzy, you may have honey water with less water content before you go to sleep.
 
Go to sleep at 10.00 or 10.30pm. Even though you didn’t eat anything the whole day, you won’t feel tired or weak.
 
The next day of water fasting:
 
The next day of fasting falls on Monday, since we selected Sunday for fasting. As usual, as on Sunday, you will have the program of passing stool twice after drinking 1lt of water each time.
 
If you find the stool color black, nothing to be alarmed. It is not from what you ate, because, you didn’t eat any. It is the dead bacteria and dead cells.
 
Half an hour after the 2nd evacuation, have 250 to 300ml of mixed vegetable juice. If you can’t manage vegetable juice, have fruit juice. After one hour, you can have breakfast of sprouts or fruits. Have normal lunch. Have fruits at 4 or 5pm. Finish your dinner by 6 or 6.30pm with 2 or 3 phulkas and raw vegetables. This completes one day of water fasting for health.
 

Fasting for weight loss
 
Are you overweight?
 
If you like to do fasting to lose weight, do juice fasting on Monday instead of what was described in the above paragraph.
 
After the usual 2 stools, leave half an hour gap and drink 250-300ml of fresh fruit juice. You can add one tablespoon of honey, if you wish - it is not mandatory. After 2 hrs, drink one glass of warm water (boiled and cooled). Again fresh fruit juice after 2 hours, then water after 2 hours. Repeat this juice and water combination. No solid food ot any other type of liquid food for the day.
 
3rd day (Tuesday) - Fruit fasting.
 
After 2 stools in the morning: Give 30 min gap and drink 250-300ml fresh fruit juice. You will repeat the three items:
 
Fruit juice ---11/2hrs--- Fruits—11/2hrs----Water---11/2hrs---Fruit juice…….etc
 

10 day weight reduction program
 
How do you gain weight?
 
You may be wondering, ’I don’t eat oily stuff. Still I gain weight!’ Not necessary.
 
If you eat anything that is in excess of your body’s requirement, it turns into fat.
 
Do this 10 day program once every 50 or 60 days.
 
Fruit fast, juice fast for weight reduction: 10 day program

• Day1, day2 and day3
  Water fasting as described above.
  Only 3 days of water fast

• Day4 to Day10
  Juice fasting. You can substitute fruit juice with tender coconut water or sugarcane juice, once or twice.

Benefits of water fasting 

• Cleans up your body and improves immune system

• Heals injuries, fractures, joint pains etc much faster.

• You will recover from health problems like cols, cough, fever etc without medication. It gives much faster relief if you start fasting as soon as the initial symptoms how up.

• Health of your liver improves.

• Fasting is considered to have positive effect on cancer cells – cell multiplication gets reduced.

• Increase life span

• Fasting burns fat - all chemicals deposited in fat cells get washed away.

Tips for safe and effective fasting for health
 
Don’t attempt long term fasting (more than 6 days) without the guidance of qualified naturopath.
 
During water fasting: 

• Do not exercise or practice asanas. You can do Meditation and pranayama.

• Take as much rest as possible. Avoid mental strain, stress and tension.

• Avoid smoking, tea, coffee or alcohol

• Avoid all medicines that may make you dizzy.

• Be aware of how to break your fast in the morning of the next day of fast

Frequently asked questions

• So much intake of lemon juice in a day – doesn’t it cause burning and ulcers?

Lemon is a fruit just like orange. More over, it is very much diluted with water. It is rich source of C vitamin that creates antibodies and makes the body’s immune system strong.

• If you don’t eat anything throughout the day, will it not cause stomach ulcers and burning because of the acids secreted inside?

Your body secrets digestive juices only when there is a possibility of food reaching the stomach. Salt is the main substance that causes burning. Honey is a good energy giving item that doesn’t need digestion. It also heals injuries

• How do you get sleep with empty stomach?

If you do water fasting willingly, you get good sleep. If you keep thinking of empty stomach and keep imagining various foods, you may not get sleep.

• If you fast for so many days, will it not kill hunger permanently?

That happens in case of very long fasting. That is the exact reason why you shouldn’t attempt long term fasting without the guidance of expert. During short term fasting, your hunger will improve.
 

Water fasting is the best way for giving your body a chance to clean and recharge. You can cure/prevent various health problems before they become major illness.

Related Topics
Fasting For Health- Why should we do fasting? What happens during fasting?