Author’s note: I am not a health professional and what I’ve written is not professional health advice. I am simply sharing my experience with you. Do what you’d like with this information and please do your own research.
Now that I’ve gotten your attention, let’s begin.
For many years, my husband had been battling horrible digestive issues. It started with certain foods, but as time went on, it got worse, to the point where even his “safe” foods were giving him problems. He tried to figure out what was triggering his constant pain, bloating, and diarrhea. He would eliminate certain foods, which helped initially, but with time, the problems returned. We figured it was stress-induced though, so he tried to relax. Again, the pain would vanish for a little bit but would then return.
About two years ago, I came across information about leaky gut, which described exactly what my husband was experiencing. It was relieving to see something resembling what he was dealing with. (His issues had been previously put in the IBS category because most doctors have a hard time pinpointing causes and solutions that fall under that category.) We studied up on leaky gut and found a new way to eat. So we begun an AIP (AutoImmune Protocol) diet, which eliminates anything that can cause inflammation and encourages you to eat nutrient-dense foods. You can find the list of foods here. The AIP diet is aimed at healing holes in the gut.
My husband was eating inflammatory foods, causing his intestinal walls to become thin and full of holes. Consequently, the food he ate went through those holes and into the blood stream. His body flagged them as harmful and rejected those foods. This explains why foods he could once eat bothered him now. So my husband did the AIP diet for about two months and then started reintroducing foods into his diet. Again, all went well at the beginning, but as months passed he faced setbacks again. He was frustrated and accepted the idea that this would be his life moving forward. It was pretty devastating.
About a year ago, he came across a documentary on Amazon called “The Science of Fasting.” He watched it and came to tell me that he was starting a water fast immediately. This news caught me off guard — I had no idea what he was talking about. He told me was he was going to just drink water for at least 10 days and see if he could do more. Seems extreme, I know, but you have to understand that he felt horrible, frustrated and drained. He was desperate to try anything; he didn’t have anything to lose (literally).
Needless to say, he successfully did a 10-day water fast.
A water fast is really simple: You stop eating food and you only drink water. That’s it. I know what you are thinking. No food?! How do you live? Work? Parent? Surprisingly, after the first couple of days, you feel really good. There is so much going on in your body when you fast. I found a great article that describes the health benefits of a water fast. Simply put, once you stop eating food, your body burns off the glucose that can be found in that food. Once the glucose is gone, the body shifts its fuel and energy source to fat stored in your body. At the same time, your body also starts resetting your immune system, burning off damaged and mutated cells, and heals your body from the inside out. The more days you do it, the more healing that your body goes through.
When my husband fasted for 10 days, it allowed his body to clean itself and heal his intestinal wall and gut. After he fasted and slowly started to eat again, he found he could eat foods he hadn’t been able to for a long time! It was just amazing and miraculous. I ended up watching the documentary and was really intrigued. It goes against what society and the medical world has told us our whole lives. I wondered why, especially since fasting is pretty common in the rest of the world. Maybe because it’s free? Who knows…
About a month or two after my husband went through all that, I found a cyst in my breast. Before going to get it tested, I wanted to try water fasting. One Sunday morning, I started fasting and I went for 10 days. The best way to describe it? It was an out of body experience. The first couple of days were hard. Your body is detoxing and sadly, the toxins our body has are mainly from the food we eat. I felt hunger, headaches, irritability, nausea, fatigue. As day three arrived, however, things started turning around. The detox phase ends and you start feeling really good and then you get a surge of energy that you never thought you could have. Your stomach shrinks so the hunger pangs aren’t as frequent. I experienced a surge of focus and my senses were heightened. You strengthen your self-discipline and break habits and addiction to food. It then becomes a mental game, and it’s all in your head!
I realized that I was stronger than I thought I was and I learned that people don’t need to eat a lot of food to live.
Prior to this, I had become a slave to food. But could you blame me? It’s everywhere. Obviously we need food to survive long-term, but not as much as we’re led to think. Everywhere you go, you see food: food posters, shows, games, prizes, contests, etc. Our society really has become addicted to food, and depending on what type of food, it can be a good or bad thing. Food is very powerful! We really are what we eat, and it is so important in how we fuel our bodies. Doing a water fast helped me realize this.
After my 10-day water fast, the cyst I had found shrunk and disappeared! The question I’m asked most when I bring up a water fast is whether I lost weight. In 10 days, I lost about 12 pounds. A good amount was water weight and it did stay off because I maintained it with clean, real food, but that wasn’t my reason for doing a water fast, and I think that’s really important to know your reason.
