Fasting will help you distinguish the basics from the superficial. When every cell in your body is screaming, “Give me eat!” you will begin to be able to listen to the ancient wisdom of the body.

My experience includes more than fifty 3-day fasts, plus a number of longer fasts: 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 days; the longest fourteen days.

I wear no white coat and own no stethescope; I only offer advice from my experience. Do your own research and above all, be sensitive to your body. If you die from fasting don’t come crying to me!

I fast consuming only water, sometimes unsweetened herbal tea, usually peppermint, so that’s what I’m talking about. All sorts of restrictions or alterations in diet earn the name of “fasts.” Some religions, like the Ethiopian Church, call it a “fast day” when you don’t eat meat or animal products.

When I say I fast for a day, that means a whole waking period between 2 night sleeps. In other words, fasting begins when you miss a meal you would have eaten, usually breakfast. So if I fast Monday, I eat the evening meal Sunday, then don’t eat again ’til I get up Tuesday morning. For a 3 day fast, I would not eat from Sunday evening until Thursday morning.

Benefits of fasting: physical health and alteration of mental state.

  ♣ Health

Fasting strips ten years off my age for a few days afterwards: vitality, libido, mental clarity balloon, negative emotions like anxiety, discouragement, sadness wane. Imagine compressing a spring; when you release it, it bounces up.

Consider physical exercise: stress and relax; muscles grow. Similarly, fasting strengthens digestion and immune systems. It offers a vacation for the digestive system, laboring from birth to death.

Sometimes the overworked and junk-fooded metabolism goes on strike: manifests a sickness, a cold or flu. Like a labor union, it demands more free time and better pay (healthy food). Those who fast regularly and eat wisely enjoy better health.

Some say people have cured themselves of serious diseases, such as cancer, by very long fasts. As I’ve never had such a disease, and have never done a very long fast (say, over 3 weeks), I can’t say. But I accept that it could be at least part of the strategy of dealing with such a disease.

To destroy microbial invaders, the body may heat up with fever; the body can survive conditions which would kill the parasite. Sick animals instinctively shun food. Animal husbanders recognize this symptom of being “off its feed.”

Humans evolved in the wild, hunting and gathering, in feast-or-famine conditions. So for the best health and overall tone of the body systems, not always having enough to eat stimulates vigor and stamina.

Toxin Cleansing

Metabolically speaking, you don’t really start to fast until the third day. Depending on your body type, what you’ve been eating, and how much you exercise, the liver stores enough food for about two days. After that the body starts to burn fat – you go on a “ketone metabolism.” That’s when you get into the “down and dirty” hardcore fasting.

The real cleansing begins. The body stores questionable molecules in fat cells. Your body comes from a lineage of animals about 700 million years old and has the accumulated instinctive knowledge to deal with all kinds of molecules. However, since the industrial revolution, it eats, breathes, and absorbs through the skin many unknown molecules.

So when you fast, from the second to third day, the body breaks down these fat cells and disposes of those mystery molecules. That’s why your underarm aroma may smell unpleasant and your urine take on a dark color and strong smell – results of the molecular invaders being forced out! Did you know that your sense of smell actually distinguishes different molecules?

Addictions

Fasting works well to reset habits of all sorts, especially eating, smoking, and drinking habits. Daily life navigates through channels marked by the buoys of meals, drinks, and snacks: the primary foundation habits. Stop dead all food and other substances for a predetermined commitment; then reset the patterns. It’s easy. Just do it.

Addicted to daily coffee drinking since age 15, I succeeded in stopping once for 2 weeks, but only fasting finally broke it. After my first 3 day fast I consumed completely vegan and stimulant free for 2 weeks. The transition flowed effortlessly. After that, half a cup of tea bounced me off the walls!

Longevity

A program for optimum health, productivity, serenity, and longevity would benefit from regular fasting. Eliminating toxins, toning up the digestive and immune systems, and giving therapeutic “shocks” to the mundane patterns of life certainly contributes to overall health and therefore longevity.

♣ Mental State

My main “drugs”: fasting, yoga, and meditation.

Both Jesus and Mohammed famously fasted for “forty days.” In ancient writings the numbers “forty” and “seven” (the supposed length of the flood) meant not the arithmetic number, but symbolized “until completion.” Long fasts, like meditation and ingestion of special substances, may induce states of union (yoga in Sanskrit), perception of the “godliness” of the body and wonder at the cosmos.

Native Americans, among others, used fasts, often even without water, as vision quests.

What I interpreted as past life memories opened up towards the end of my 2 week fast. Often during fasting, transcendent or sublime states elevate consciousness, with insights into my patterns of living. Memories clarify. Sometimes I sit for hours reliving memories.

Hunger sharpens sensations, as Hemingway pointed out in “A Moveable Feast.”

For conditions such as depression and anxiety, consider “fasting therapy.” The body regresses to survival mode which puts these emotions on the back burner, allowing a fresh outlook and appraisal of life circumstances. No energy to squander on unnecessary negative emotions!

♣ Beginning to Fast

Naturally, the body fears fasting. Instinctively, lack of food means death. I never fasted before 28 years old, then began one day fasts every 2 weeks. Not until forty did I first fast for three days, then graduated to a 7 day fast the next year. Start with one day fasts until you’re comfortable with that, then work up to longer ones.

♣ Preparing to fast

Steve Pavlina, a novice to fasting (though he had done a “juice fast”) jumped in with an 18 day water fast! And, he didn’t know how long he would do it when he started out.

But I wouldn’t recommend that. Normally, I decide beforehand how many days to fast, and stick to that. Two reasons: first, it’s easy while fasting to get so “high” that you feel like you could just go on forever, like the “Hunger Artist” in Kafka’s story.

Second, the rational brain contracts with the instinctive brain. Especially when new to fasting, the instinctive brain may panic: “I’m going to starve to death!” The contract allows your rational brain to reassure the instinctive brain: “No you’re not, you will eat again the day after tomorrow.” (Or whenever it is.) Instinctive brains, like little children, don’t understand “future.” You can even indulge it a little by describing the delicious meal you are planning to break the fast.

I do sometimes spontaneously fast if the body signals it just doesn’t feel like eating; in that case I follow the body’s signs also to decide when to break the fast.

Your usual diet and lifestyle will indicate how to prepare. One authority warns that plunging into a fast, from a diet high in meat and unhealthy foods, can even kill you, because of the shock from released toxins. That wasn’t a problem for me.

If you do eat a lot of meat, processed foods, white sugar, junk food in general, consider a transitional diet before the fast. Cut out the meat for 3 days and eat (yuck!) raw or lightly cooked steamed vegetables (spinach, Popeye!), fruit, rice (preferably brown), beans or lentils or quinoa or tofu for protein. No fried food. Small amounts of milk products are ok: milk, yogurt and cheese. On the last day before fasting eat only fruit. Also no alcohol or coffee. A little green tea might be ok.

But I eat a fairly healthy diet, so usually just go straight into the fast without any tapering off.

Best not to fast on a working day, at least at first, and also to have the break-fast day off, or at least the morning.

♣ During the Fast

The body will likely feel weary, will not want to deliver much energy when food is not added to it. This elicits a natural survival response: conserve as much energy as possible.

To the contrary, I advise to exercise as much as you can. I walk daily, 2 hours or more a day. When fasting I keep that up. Elimination of toxins while fasting works through the lymph system, which has no heart to pump it like the blood system; muscular movement forces the fluids around. Move to pump the poisons out, and to burn the fat to release them.

I drink water by thirst. If you can get good spring or well or ice melt water, great! If drinking tap water, probably best to filter it, or drink bottled water.

On a long fast, especially in hot weather, I sometimes take a little salt.

If you habitually use tobacco, cannabis, alcohol, or any other drug, I recommend no intake of them during the fast, as that interferes with the elimination of toxins. You can then decide whether you want to abolish or alter the habit.

Bowel Movements

Usually I have a normal one the morning of the first fast day, then none until breaking the fast. Occasionally one in the middle of the fast. I don’t worry, the body takes care of itself.

♣ Breaking the fast

In the following I’m thinking of a fast of at least 3 days. For a one day fast, use your judgement.

During one about six month period, I fasted 3 days every week. That is, I alternated 4 days of eating with 3 days of fasting. My body was so used to it that I could break the fast with a normal meal.

But in general, take care with breaking the fast; the digestion will be sensitive. One time I ate some rather old cheese on the first day, and had a sour stomach for 3 days.

The day after I broke my first seven day fast, a friend invited me to dinner. The carnivorous host and cook served almost nothing besides three kinds of meat. Having a tremendous hunger and with no alternative, I ate it, and suffered one of the worst headaches of my life that night. Beware.

Over time I’ve evolved a break-fast that works well for me. I begin with some herbal tea, usually peppermint, with honey. This may induce some diarrhea, so be prepared! Then some fruit. Avoid acidic fruits like oranges or pineapples. The best are sweet juicy fruits like melons, peaches, mangoes, papaya, and persimmons, but I’ve enjoyed apples and pears, cherries, blueberries, and other fruits. Grapes may be a bit harsh. Bananas, possibly the most easily digestible food, serve well. Only make sure they are quite ripe. Be careful not to eat any underripe fruit now, you will surely regret it!

After resting a bit I prepare the main breakfast. Usually steamed brown rice with olive oil and soy sauce drizzled over, sprinkled with toasted sesame and sunflower seeds, brewer’s (edible or nutritional) yeast, and with some chopped nuts. Also some sprouts if I have any. If you’re not vegan, a spoonful of yogurt can help replenish the intestinal digestive bacteria.

Digestion takes quite a bit of energy. Right after the main breakfast you will probably want to rest, maybe take a nap. I’ve estimated that about a fourth of the energy the body gets from food goes back into digestion. And protein takes the most digestive work, so start with foods high in energy and low in protein, to restart the cycle.

An ironic observation: especially after a long fast, you’ve probably been fantasizing about how delicious the food will taste and how wonderful it will feel to be eating again. You may be disappointed. It takes a while to get back into the eating habit, and the first food may not be such a great experience. It will taste good, sure, but won’t match the fantasy.

When I get hungry again after the first meal, I usually eat some more fruit. By the evening meal the body should be ready for some protein, so quinoa or lentils and brown rice, with vegetable. Quinoa, by the way, is a great food: it has the right balance of amino acids (protein building blocks) for humans but is also very easy to digest.

Some people, especially after a long fast, like to eat only fruit the first day, or fruit and nuts. That’s fine, if you want to.

No meat, eggs, or hard cheese for at least the first 3 days. Probably your body will not feel like it anyway. No fried foods, no strong spices like pepper or cayenne. Definitely no processed or canned food. For at least the first day (more for longer fasts), no alcohol, coffee, tea, chocolate, or other stimulants; after that be cautious. Take small amounts at first. You have the opportunity to program in new habits.

Be mindful: you will have unusually strong hunger and if you don’t pay attention your body might indulge in junk food like sweets. Keep plenty of fruit around to satisfy those urges. You may still feel hungry even when the belly is full; better to take frequent small meals than overeat.

Who should not fast?

If you have doubts, consult a professional. Pregnant or nursing women should not fast. Anyone with a liver or kidney disease or problem – probably not. Children not. Anyway, use common sense, and to repeat, do your research and request feedback from those with experience. Your health is your responsibility.

How long and how often should you fast?

My yearly cycle encompasses four 3-day fasts, just before the solstices and equinoxes, and one 7-day fast during the summer. You will work out your own routine.

You may want to experiment with longer fasts, perhaps even up to forty days. For longer fasts, consult with experienced fasters and agree with someone to regularly check up on you. Don’t hesitate to stop the fast if you have serious problems. By starting with shorter fasts, you will learn to distinguish between the normal resistance of the body and actual health problems.

It’s not as hard as it sounds. In my experience, after the first 2 days, the body settles into a pattern. I did still feel hungry, but not more hungry as time went on, and I forgot the hunger for long periods. My energy level stayed fairly constant. I did have to rest more often than normal.

♣ Losing Weight

In general, fasting does not help to lose weight for two reasons: first, fasting makes the digestion more efficient. Second, the body will naturally feel hungry until it gains back its accustomed weight. However, fasting can be a good lead-in to a change of diet that can help lose weight. But that takes some planning.

If you want to lose weight, design your diet. To reduce sugar cravings, eat raw fruit and vegies like carrots. Also sugar cravings often mean the body needs more protein (I’ll discuss that more in my nutrition articles). Instead of sweets, drink a glass of reduced fat milk or soya milk. But check, a lot of manufacturers add sugar to soya milk (drink). The organic (bio) versions usually have no additives.

Spurn fried foods and cooked fats in general; instead of animal fats eat good raw oils: olive or coconut. Throw overboard white sugar and white flour products. Eat whole grain breads, brown rice or other whole grains, quinoa and legumes for protein, nuts and seeds, sprouts. Healthy food CAN be tasty and satisfying! Bugs Bunny with his carrot: “What’s up, Doc?”

Dry Fasting

Dry fasting seems to be somewhat in vogue now. I don’t recommend it. Water fasting for a week or less is fairly safe but going without water can kill or damage organs fairly quickly. If you are attracted to dry fasting, make sure you do your research and have an experienced consultant.

Toxin elimination requires water powered urination and perspiration – where will they go without water?

Dry fasting may quickly get you in an altered state, but why not just meditate?

♣ Retreats

When I fast in cities food and eating around elicits hunger, but in solitude hunger rarely intrudes. Many distractions tempt me away from contemplating the body.

Fasting alone in natural surroundings can magnify the effects tenfold. Take a sleeping bag, shelter, and some water, a little food for break-fast, and travel/hike to somewhere away from human habitation. Don’t take a phone (or leave it off) or book, except one for writing. If you can build a small fire evenings, even better.

Surrounded by plants and animals, grok you are part of the Biosphere, the cycle of life. Lie on the Earth, hug trees, breathe air oxygenated by plants and bacteria. Sense/feel the heart start, the blood flood, the breath breeze. Drink water and pee on the Earth. Listen to and speak with birds and insects. Glory in sunlight, dance in rain, groove in the moon, wish on stars.