Water Fasting – Yes or No?

Not consuming anything but water for more than 24 hours – that is what water fasting means. I know that this is a very common practice among healthy lifestyle practitioners and it can be helpful in short periods when someone already cleansed their body to a high degree and has a strong foundation. BUT oftentimes, people go into water fasting while still having a great amount of obstructions in their body. Water fasting can easily seem like the big solution to their health problems yet they often end up with even more problems than before. 

How our body reacts to water fasting

When we are going on a water fast while still dealing with a lot of weaknesses in our system, our liver releases many toxins all at once. Oftentimes our kidneys and digestive system can’t keep up with eliminating all of them. Now, the toxins floating around in our bloodstream can harm our organs. This also includes our liver which tries to take the toxins in again to protect the other parts of our body. By overwhelming our liver like this, we might make the cleansing process more difficult in the future and it gets even more challenging to getting rid of those toxins. 

Dry fasting goes one step further than water fasting and means not drinking anything as well as eating. This can fill our blood with even more toxins without no sufficient means to flush them out of our system. 

Why fasting is not for everyone

Don’t get me wrong, water fasting can be a helpful tool for certain people under the right circumstances. But it might not be the right step for anyone who still has lots of toxins and obstructions in their body – especially anyone who usually eats lots of animal products and/or very little fresh fruits and veggies. But also people who have long eaten healthy foods can still have notable amounts of toxins in their body. A water fast might then actually weaken our immune system and worsen our condition instead of helping us to progress. 

If you are looking for natural ways to improve your health while creating lasting lifestyle changes – click here to learn more about my 1:1 Coaching options. 

My experiences with water fasting

I personally have soon learned that water fasting is not serving me on my healing journey right now, since my body is still working on a lot of past lifestyle choices and exposure to harmful substances. But I have seen several people in my life go on that path in order to heal their conditions and coming back with more baggage than before. They often needed a lot of recovery time to get back their strength. When we are not ready for water fasting, it can greatly weaken our immune system and rather worsen our condition, especially if we have a compromised liver, nervous system, adrenal glands or heart. 

Gentle alternatives to fasting

The good thing is – for most people there are more favourable options than water fasting to improve their health. Implementing slow, consistent new habits helps our liver to gently get rid of toxins in our system. Eliminating foods and substances from our life that burden us as well as using nourishing fruits, veggies, greens, herbs and high-quality supplements to support our liver and other organs in healing. But also practices beyond food that help us to heal – like regular movement, mindfulness, supportive people around us, enough relaxation, time in nature, breathing practices and more. This is a lifestyle that gives the body the proper time and strength to heal deeply and sustainably, in its own time.  

I’ve learned so much about a healing lifestyle from Anthony William and his very holistic, natural approach to tackling health issues. If you are ready to dive deeper into cleansing your body, check out the countless posts, articles, podcasts and videos on his Instagram account or his blog. 

I wish you a peaceful day,
Anais

Puerto Escondido, Mexico