Advice to those considering long fasts

Happy New Year to everyone! Today I received a personal message from a person considering a very long (60-90 day) fast for cleansing and weight loss. Below is my response to her, and would be the same for anyone considering a very long fast. My very best to everyone!

Hi,

Glad to hear you are feeling well and determined to improve your health. I strongly believe you should do any extended (over 30 day) fast with professional support. I could not have gone 60 days without my amazing Naturopath who initially reviewed my health and helped me to plan my long fast. Although I had excess weight to spare, weight loss was not my main goal; it took me four years of concentrated effort including long juice fasts and pro colonics to cleanse my poor abused colon.

I saw her every ten days to check my progress and discuss my next goal (in increments of ten days). When I passed a small kidney calcification in the middle of the fast she was there to advise me, and to prescribe natural medication that allowed me to fast through. It was very painful and scary, and without her advice and support I would have resorted to standard medicine, and would undoubtedly have stopped fasting.

She was able to explain metabolic changes, including hair loss, that occurred during and after the long fast. She helped me to decide when to switch from lemonade to fresh juices, when to stop fasting, and how to approach the all-important breaking process. It took me six months to fully break my 60 day fast!

It is worth the effort to find a natural health professional with fasting experience to help make your long fast a great success, and to help protect your precious health.

Also, you must very much bear in mind that fasting is not a great weight loss program. It is a wonderful way to jump start a great program, but unless you decide on a lifestyle that will take excess weight off and keep it off, such as The Zone, all weight you lose even during a long fast will return PLUS extra weight your body sees as fasting insurance! The only equation that truly works is to consume less than you burn. This means that exercise is a very important part of any serious program.

Of course I will support your effort, but this advice comes from personal experience. Don't confuse "cleansing" with "weight loss". These are apples and oranges.

The very best to you in the new year!

Somer


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