Why in the world would you ever want to fast for two weeks or more?

If only a tiny percentage of people in the Western world ever undertake a water fast of any kind, then only a tiny percentage of people who water-fast will ever undertake an extended healing fast of 14 days or more. Why? There’s simply no need. For everyday cleansing and healing, occasional 7-10 day fasts combined with regular short fasts such as the one-day (36-hour ) water fast should keep you in excellent health.

Benefits of extended water fasts (14-40 days):

However, in order to reach the deepest possible level of healing and reap the greatest benefits, it is necessary to dig deeper with a longer fast. For instance, certain serious physical illnesses – those often deemed incurable by Western medicine – require the cleansing of an extended fast in order to permanently heal. Despite what allopathic doctors may tell you, conditions as wide and varied as Long Covid, gut issues (such as IBS, ulcerative colitis and food intolerances) adrenal issues (CFS/ME), diabetes, chronic high blood pressure, autoimmune disorders (including allergies and asthma), as well as certain types of tumors are all potentially curable. Yes, these illnesses and many more can be healed permanently through water fasting, and, depending on the particular issue, 14 days is usually the minimum length in order to achieve this.

As a water fasting coach, I’m privileged to witness this miraculous healing potential of the human body every day! In helping clients decide how long to fast, three main factors come into play. First is the overall symptom picture – that is, the sum total of active health issues, all of which constitute a toxic load contributing to illness. Although, for example, someone may wish to fast in order to heal Long Covid, further questioning almost invariably reveals other health issues in the background, both past and present. Whether presenting with symptoms of their own or whether entirely sub-clinical and ‘invisible’, these apparently secondary issues tell a story of how, over the years, a client has arrived at the present moment. The second factor which suggests how long a client may need to fast is the strength of their immune system. This is determined primarily by age, diet, stress and, in the case of chronic illness, how much the immune system has already been worn down in fighting a war of attrition. The third factor is the degree of prior cleansing – and especially water fasting. Quite simply, the more you’ve already fasted, the more quickly and powerfully your body can mobilise your immune system for healing.

Physical, emotional, spiritual healing:

Beyond physical healing, the deepest emotional and spiritual cleansing can similarly take place only through the sheer length of an extended fast. In fact, what I’ve seen over many years of coaching is that in order to achieve the greatest physical healing, it’s also necessary to surrender emotionally and spiritually to the whole process. A big part of my job is to help facilitate that process.

Although nowadays we tend to remember only the Biblical 40-day fasts of Moses and Jesus, the fact is that many spiritual traditions over the millennia have demanded 40-day water fasts. Even Pythagorus required potential students to undertake a 40-day fast before he was willing to accept them. As much as we balk at the idea of giving up food for such a long time, it’s mostly just a question of unwillingness to forgo the addictions and pleasures of life. Don’t believe the voice of your fears and reluctant ego. You won’t starve to death. Unless you’re seriously malnourished and underweight to begin with, you carry the better part of 100,000 calories on you, locked in your fat tissue and waiting to be released through ketosis. That’s enough to last you well over 40 days. If you’re overweight, you could potentially fast for much longer (although in most cases this is not advisable).

Letting go of your fears about fasting is just the beginning. The process of surrender also eventually leads to the release of pent-up, self-destructive emotions and, for some people, a catharsis of trauma from the distant past. In doing so, you’ll free yourself: discovering a place of inner calm and spaciousness where you can finally breathe…

Experiencing a healing crisis:

Although in one respect an extended fast simply continues the notion of a 7-10 day water fast, it is also much more powerful because it gives you the opportunity to experience deeper ‘healing crises‘. As described in the article on the 7-10 day water fast, a healing crisis often occurs towards the end of the first week of water fasting, as the symptoms of old illnesses, injuries and traumas resurface, before being permanently expelled from your body. A similar process often occurs around the end of the second week of fasting – and this is the reason that if you decide to extend a 7-10 day water fast, it’s worth aiming for at least 14 days. This second healing crisis tends to call forth deeper issues than the first healing crisis, or, alternatively, finishes resolving those issues which were not fully cleared during the first healing crisis. In other words, it’s from the beginning of the second week of water fasting that your body can begin to heal from more serious health issues. Simply, up until this point, your body has been cleansing the toxins of everyday life (and especially so if you haven’t been fasting regularly).

For the deepest and most serious health issues, whether physical or spiritual, healing crises often occur much later into the fast, whether 20, 30 or even 40 days. There’s no way to accurately predict when they will occur. You can only trust your body and let nature take its course…

Occasionally, healing crises can be extremely intense, especially when they occur late into a fast. When this happens, it’s critically important to be able to tell the difference between a healing crisis and a sign from your body urging you to stop the fast. This is where working with an experienced water fasting coach can really help. If it’s a healing crisis, you should ideally try and push through. If it’s not, you should stop immediately! (continues below)

Not every healing process is accompanied by a dramatic healing crisis. Sometimes symptoms of illness and trauma simply begin to disappear. In cases like this – when no clear sign indicates that you’ve obviously freed yourself from a health issue – it can be difficult to know when to end the fast. This is another reason why it’s advisable to consider undertaking an extended fast with the help of an expert who understands the subtleties and symptomatology of fasting. The other main reason for working with a professional is to make sure you don’t overstep your body’s nutritional capabilities, as a prolonged fast begins to reach its physical limits.

The dangers of fasting too long:

• Depletion of fat (adipose tissue)
• Depletion of protein (amino acids from muscle tissue)
• Depletion of electrolytes

If you continue fasting indefinitely there comes a point where the fast turns into starvation. You obviously don’t want to overstep this mark! For when your fat stores are finally depleted, the body has no choice other than to devour muscle tissue, as well as feed from your inner organs. You’ll do yourself serious damage. Fortunately, though, the body sends a clear sign: extreme hunger. Although it’s unlikely you’ll miss this red flag, it’s also true that normal periods of hunger can develop during an extended fast. The urban myth out there on the internet – that hunger simply disappears on the third day – is a gross oversimplification of what actually happens. On longer fasts, it isn’t uncommon for my clients to believe that ‘true hunger has returned’, and that they should break their fasts. Usually (but not always), this phenomenon simply constitutes a totally normal physiological phase of the fast, or – even more likely – their digestive juices are being driven by an increasing emotional desire to eat. Without someone offering an objective mirror on the outside, it can be extremely difficult to distinguish between the different possible scenarios!

In addition, two other less obvious scenarios demand the end of a fast. The first possibility is that you run out of amino acids (derived from muscle tissue) before you deplete your fat stores. In order to power your body as a whole, it’s true that ketosis is extremely efficient. The problem is that the brain demands another fuel entirely: glucose. And this cannot easily be metabolised from fat tissue. Instead, the body must extract it by breaking down proteins in a process called gluconeogenesis (described in greater detail in my article on the 3-day fast). However, the actual danger of depleting amino acids before fat tissue is largely theoretical. I have never witnessed this happen myself, and it is only likely to arise on fasts longer than 40 days in the case of someone who is morbidly obese with severely atrophied muscle tissue.

The final possibility is certainly a real danger: the depletion of electrolytes (blood salts), especially potassium or sodium. Although unlikely, this process is potentially life-threatening! Understandably, many people decide to take electrolytes while fasting, precisely in order to avoid this scenario. If the sole reason for fasting is to lose weight, then by all means do so! However, if you are fasting because of a chronic health issue, it is critically important to understand that taking electrolytes during a water fast compromises both the deepest cleansing and healing. It is also a tendency I have observed clinically over the years, among clients who choose to fast using electrolyte supplementation. (I will delve into the physiology of this in a future article.) Although the danger of electrolyte imbalance usually increases from only about the 21-day mark, it is extremely important to respond to the first warning signs if and when they do arise. Unfortunately, this is difficult to the untrained eye, because the symptoms of potassium and sodium depletion overlap with other totally normal detox symptoms. The key is in understanding the context as well as the overall, underlying symptom picture.

Related articles:

• Self-healing: stronger than any pill
• Deeper states of consciousness
• Facing your ego
• Who am I?

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