Re: Getting ready for first complete water fast

Hello SoulDoc,
good advice & posts from Waterbug and especially from Raine.

That's quite a story you have there, and in addition to what has already been mentioned, I would like to add the following........

#1. Taking minerals/vitamins during a Water Fast is unnecessary and superfluous....
http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020127shelton.III/020127.ch18.htm


#2. It has been demonstrated via the personal experience of fasters (including my own) that it is best to prepare for a "planned fast" of some length, as this will minimize elimination & detox symptoms once the fast begins in earnest.
That preparation would include eating as natural a diet as possible (even cooked food) and by adhering to a properly-combined-diet of fruit, vegetables, legumes and so on which are the least taxing foods on digestive energy, which in turn leaves more available energy for other bodily tasks such as cleansing and drainage: and which of course are a normal part of the nutritional processes of the body. In this way you can play "catch-up" with the elimination process................
http://www.peter-thomson.co.uk/foodc/the_good_news_about_food_combining_the_g...

http://www.synergy-health.co.uk/articles/haydiet.html


Improperly combined foods such as a predominantly protein food with a predominantly starchy food at the same meal, results in greater fermentation/putrefaction than would otherwise be the case, which results in more metabolic toxicity.
Properly combined foods will minimize if not eliminate this almost entirely and therefore you will have a head-start for your cleansing.
I suggest you do a little more research on this especially about Dr William Howard Hay MD & Dr Herbert M Shelton who both endorsed its practice.

#3. The way a fast is broken will ultimately decide its success or failure and the care needed is in proportion to its length........the longer the fast........the greater the care.
Unless hunger has returned you are best to nurture and kick-start digestion with juices..........freshly juiced orange with apple is my own favorite, but the juice of any fruit in season is fine: the important thing is not to overdo any refeeding.

SHELTON..........
"Almost any food may be employed in breaking a fast, although greater care must be exercised if the concentrated types of food are employed for this purpose. There are individual factors that must receive attention. Sinclair tells of breaking a fast on a large, thoroughly ripe Japanese persimmon, and says that "it doubled me up with the most alarming cramps." A friend of his had the same experience from the juice of an orange; "but he was a man with whom acid fruits had always disagreed." The tendency of the long fast is to remove these digestive shortcomings, but it is not always completely successful, and this is especially so where the fast has not been carried to completion".
http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020127shelton.III/020127.ch30.htm


Sheltons plan of refeeding.........
"After a fast that has lasted for more than 20 days.........
#1. Half a glass of juice every hour the day the fast is broken.
#2. Second day.........a whole glass of juice every 2 hours.
Sometimes this can be too much juice: if so miss a feeding or two.
#3. The third day I give a whole orange for breakfast, two oranges for lunch, and three for the evening meal.
The above can be changed to any fruit in season such as tomatoes, grapefruit and so on.
All fruits should be fresh, well-ripened, and WELL CHEWED: digestion begins in the mouth.
#4. Fourth day.............breakfast of citrus fruits or melons (not to be combined).
If the above plan is adopted, normal eating can be resumed after the first week".
From: Fasting Can Save Your Life by Shelton.

Above all: GO SLOWLY.


Concentrated foods such as meat, eggs, cheeses, fish, poultry are more difficult to digest, and it would be advisable to leave these foods out of the equation until after the first 10 days or so of refeeding.

However, if true hunger does return, you will need to exercise a great deal of restraint for the first 10 days to two weeks, as hunger has no equal in its demand for food, and where there is a very strong temptation to overeat and ruin the efforts and highly beneficial results of the fast itself.

After an initial long fast it is only necessary to follow a maintenance programme of cleansing of 7 to 10 days twice annually. Many hygienists follow this regimen.

Although you say you are not vegetarian, my own feelings are that you will develop a finer and more subtle taste for natural foods and where it is the experience of many that meat-eating can feel to be unclean and even repugnant post-fast.

BTW.......Food never ever tasted so good post fast: pure pure nectar to your lips.

Regards

Chrisb1