What is dry fasting
Dry fasting is a kind of fast where one eats or drinks nothing, not even water, for a period of time. There are two types of dry fast – absolute and soft. An absolute dry fast is where you try to have no contact with water – no showers, teeth brushing, face or hand washing etc.
Those doing a soft dry fast, on the other hand, take showers, brush their teeth and do everyday ordinary activities as usual, but do not drink the water directly.
An absolute dry fast is more strict of course and is considered more effective. It is believed that when we are not taking in water, the body through its own metabolic processes makes the water it needs. In an effort to do this damaged cells and tissues may be sacrificed in the process. This is part of the reason dry fasting can be such an effective method of healing.
When we are not taking in water the skin becomes super absorbent and will absorb water from the atmosphere, more than usual – so when you wash your hands, shower, wash dishes and do similar tasks, you are taking in greater amounts of water than average even if you are not drinking it directly. As such, if you are washing with soaps or shampoos and using toothpaste with toxins this is certainly not beneficial.
My 62 hours dry fasting experience:
Summary:
Period: started Wednesday 11:20pm, ended Saturday 2:15 pm
approximately.
No solid food from 7:45pm but had some tea just about 11:20pm.
Sometime after finishing my tea, I went to bed already decided that I was now officially on my dry fast. I slept ok.
First 24 hours (Day 1):
In the morning I woke up early as I usually do. Throughout the day I did not notice any negative changes in my energy levels. I was not hungry, and neither was I thirsty.
I slept reasonably well – not great, I woke up a couple of times during the night.
I spat throughout the day, mainly in the latter part of the day. My saliva had mucus/phlegm. I used a glass bottle so I could see what was coming out. I had no bowel movement.
25 hour – 48 hour (Day 2):
In the morning I did not feel like getting out of bed. I was not very weak, although my limbs were not feeling the zest of the day before. So, I did procrastinate about getting up for a while. I was however mentally alert and running through business ideas in my head about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. Apart from this, I found that my mind was not concerned with negative thoughts and it was easy to focus.
I brought up mucus throughout the day as my mouth gathered water. I had no bowel movement.
I did not sleep – I did not feel sleepy. My stomach though felt a little unsettled by afternoon.
49 hour to 62 hours (Day 3):
I woke up early in the morning, maybe after 3am feeling like I would throw up. I sat up straight and began deep breathing. This helped to quell that feeling and I did a few more deep breathing exercises. I was basically up in a sitting position for a while and then I lied down. After maybe a couple of hours the feeling returned and I just gave in and let it out. It was bile liquid – that taste and a burning like sensation in my nostrils. I cleaned up and blew my nose, which, for the first time since I started the fast, had mucus coming from it. During my last dry fasting experience, which was a little over 48 hours, I also threw up. Then, I had got the same feeling and decided to end the fast with a cup of warm tea (What was I thinking?! I felt uncomfortable the whole time after and in less than an hour I threw it all back up, after that, I just felt fine).
On a great note, I still was not feeling hungry or thirsty during the experience.
I had no bowel movement despite feeling the urge.
I ended my fast a little after 2pm on Saturday with a bit of orange juice and water.
What did it feel like when you started consuming again?
When you end a dry fast be careful of how you eat. Always break your fast with water or juices. Remember you have not been drinking for a while.
My throat was parched and dry as the liquid went down. There was a little discomfort, and as expected I could only drink very little. All my body needed was a little at a time (Be careful of trying to drink too much too soon – you will feel the discomfort, plus it is too much for a body that has not been eating or drinking for a few days).
I left home soon after and was back around 5:30pm more or less. I poured about half a glass of orange juice which turned out to be too much. I started drinking it and realised I did not feel for it and so I opted for some lemon water instead. I sipped on that a few times and did not feel for anymore. I still was not feeling hungry or thirsty.
On Sunday:
I had about 3 sips of water and proceeded to have some oranges. They were very small so I figured I would have 4. I made it to 2.5 oranges. It felt like a whole lot of food, despite the fact that I did not eat the pulp, I just sucked the juice from them. My stomach was not feeling for food but I figured I could try some vegan yoghurt. This was despite the fact that I may have only had yoghurt once or twice in my life and never tried vegan yoghurt before. I went and got some anyway. I still did not feel weak or winded.
I do not particularly like the taste of water – I used to when I was younger, but not now unless it is very chilled or have started to freeze or has a bit of lime or lemon juice added to it. I think coconut water would have been great to break my fast with. I remember going into Bridgetown (in Barbados) for fresh coconut water many days… I so miss that.
What are some of the benefits you experienced?
The swelling of my gum decreased quickly and the pain and discomfort went away, and during the process I could feel my body as it worked in the area. I also released mucus – I could feel the mucus breaking up in my throat and draining. This may be too much information but I spat in a see-through jar so I could see what was coming out. I did not swallow, I spat out as the body loosened it. My kidneys were filtering better. Suffice to say I will be doing this again very soon.
Was this my first dry fast?
No, I have dry fasted before. I have done both a 36 hours and a 48 hours plus. In addition, I did one meal per day for several months and always did daily dry fasts between 18 to 23 hours per day.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
Before another 48 to 72 hour dry fast, I will do a bowel cleanse and de-worming. It has been a long time since I have done a de-worming. I think this is often neglected. Many of us have a lot of parasites and we are unaware of it. Doing a parasite cleanse is necessary every now and again.
Ok, so you too are interested in doing a dry fast?
I must say that I would not recommend that anyone just starts with a dry fast off the bat – unless it is a case where you really need to get your kidneys filtering, then I would say go for a 24 to 36 hours dry fast. Other than that, you want to ease into a dry fast. Therefore, I would suggest a few weeks of clean eating, all raw, juicing or water fast.
Always start slowly at first, maybe with some degree of intermittent fasting daily, a 24 hour fast, then to 36 hours, 48 hours to 72 hours and so on. The longest recorded dry fast is 18 days. Dr Filonov, a Russian doctor who has written a book on dry fasting and used its therapeutic benefits to heal his own patients, suggests that the maximum period for a dry fast be, no more than 12 days.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing this I do not have much information on this blog about dry fasting but I will be adding more information shortly. Please check the resources page for a copy of a rough translation of Dr Filonov’s book.
To our health!
Please note: Before you begin any fasting exercise it is advisable that you check with a qualified medical practitioner.
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