Correct starvation on water for weight loss: rules, exit
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
The method of fasting on water is one of the most effective ways of healing, purifying and rejuvenating the body. Helps to get rid of excess weight and many diseases, and sometimes - to save lives. The deciding factor is the duration of fasting. In some people, prolonged starvation later becomes a way of life.
Indications
Among several options of starvation (dry, mixed, unloading days) fasting on the water - the least extreme. It includes the rejection of solid products and the use of sufficient amounts of water of ordinary temperature. In practice, it has been proved that the hunger needs more water than under normal diet. There are no exact recommendations on the number, this is an individual matter. The fasting is advised to drink more often, at least several sips, because the liquid helps to remove toxins and serves to prevent any complications.
Medical indications for appointment are determined by a specialist; the duration of the fasting program depends on them. You can name the main indications:
- diseases of the liver and gallbladder;
- ulcer;
- gynecological problems;
- obesity;
- allergic diseases;
- severely weakened immunity;
- atherosclerosis;
- neurotic diseases;
- infections and inflammatory diseases;
- schizophrenia of an easy stage;
- cardiovascular and respiratory pathologies.
Some experts consider starvation to be useful in others, including severe pathologies. This issue is decided on an individual basis.
In addition to therapeutic purposes, the hunger strike is used to correct weight and rejuvenate the body. The variety of terms of starvation makes it possible for everyone to choose the most effective option.
[3]
Fasting on water with thyroid disease
The issue of fasting on water in diseases of the thyroid gland is actively discussed in forums: in this way the hungry seek, in particular, to get rid of the nodes in this organ and excess weight. Although not all specialists see an effective relationship between starvation on water and the treatment of thyroid gland. Some, on the contrary, emphasize the negative impact of hunger on the thyroid gland.
- One of the most important functions of the thyroid is the regulation of metabolism. When fasting begins, the gland feels the need to save, so it delivers less active hormones into the bloodstream than usual. Without them, the metabolism in the body slows down, and for a long time.
Even after cessation of fasting, the thyroid gland continues to save by inertia. As a result, carbohydrates and fats that come with food are consumed in part, and most of them are sent to the "bins", that is, it forms reserve reserves of the body.
Thus, a person, instead of losing weight, gets an increase in weight. This phenomenon is called the ricochet effect. It takes time to fully restore the metabolic rate, and no one will be able to predict in advance how long fasting will affect the thyroid gland, since this is a matter of individual characteristics.
Preparing for starvation on the water
Holodotherapy has long been used in medicine. Invented it in the East, methods and schemes were perfected over the centuries. Today, doctors recommend fasting before and after surgical procedures, for weight loss, for purification from toxic components, in the treatment of certain organs and systems. Fasting on the water is a simple, therefore popular method of treatment, as well as weight loss and body cleansing.
- With the use of exclusively water, the body first experiences stress, but after some time adapts to new conditions and mobilizes internal reserves, that is, instead of the usual digestion of incoming food includes food due to fat stores.
Read also: What kind of water is better to drink during water starvation?
The released organs get a chance to rest and recover; there is a purification from all unnecessary and harmful to the body, including cholesterol.
Preparing for starvation on the water - the most important stage for any method of starvation. The duration depends on the chosen duration of the procedure.
Two or three days before the start of the fasting, the hungry person goes on to an easier diet - without meat, sweets, fatty foods, cereals, bread. These days, you should eat vegetable-fruit food, herbal teas. And also to prepare psychologically, that is not to fear unfavorable consequences, to believe in success and luck.
Ideally, the well-intentioned starving must necessarily be supported by family members and friends. It happens that strangers with misunderstanding and even aggression are among the hungry. It is necessary to be prepared for this and not succumb to the provocation of ill-wishers.
- It is important to choose the correct preparation time. It is hardly reasonable to start treatment in the period of high workload or in an educational institution, during national or personal holidays, when abundant feasts are inevitable, and also in winter, when the days are short and the frosty weather keeps.
Summer is better because it is easier to distract - to nature, walking, swimming, summer rest, and the summer sun is more generous for energy and warmth, which the starving does not get with food.
The duration of fasting on water should be increased gradually. You can not abandon food for the first time for two weeks. It is recommended to start from one day, then with a break to starve two or three days, several times in a row. And only after a break in a few weeks to spend a 2-week or more long-term water starvation.
Some people over time are able to increase the period of abstinence from food to 40 days, revealing the limits of the human body. However, the majority stop on a 14-day deadline, which is quite enough for a curative result.
General information of the starvation on the water
The essence of hunger is the self-cleaning of the body, the functioning of which inevitably leads to the formation of harmful wastes, called slags and toxins. Accumulation of such substances causes diseases of organs, adversely affects the health and appearance of a person.
The essence of water starvation is that the body is provided with a respite, which does not happen with regular intake of food, and it starts the process of self-purification. The so-called internal nutrition is switched on, due to which the disposal of all components that are unnecessary to the body occurs.
- That is, starvation on the water - a healing technique in full; it simply gives a start to the processes that lead to the achievement of this goal. Dietitians advise to carry out water starvation at least twice a year.
Such a diet has practically no contraindications, it is relatively easy to tolerate by people from the first time and gives good results even with short duration.
Recommendations for 1, 3, 7, 10, 14-day fasting have been developed. More than two weeks of fasting is not recommended, because during this time, the health processes are completely restored, the metabolism is normalized and the functioning of the internal organs is improved.
Read also: Medical starvation on the water at 1, 3, 7, 10, 21, 40 days
Individual daredevils are able to starve much longer, but this is not the case when they should imitate everything indiscriminately. Long-term starvation is contraindicated for those who have never starved, and all others need painstaking comprehensive preparation.
Enema in fasting on water
The use of enema in fasting on water is a debatable question. Many experts consider the procedure as an integral part of water starvation, and fasting practitioners note the positive effect of enema. No matter how unpleasant this procedure was.
For positive there are reasons. In particular, due to water purification of the intestine from slags and fecal stones, the organism is much less intoxicated. Not for nothing after the enema feels better. Especially important is an enema with prolonged starvation, it is performed daily until the onset of an acidotic crisis.
- Before the onset of fasting on the water, the intestine is washed with magnesium sulfate for the night, and a water enema is used the next morning. If the drug provoked diarrhea or other complications, this may be a signal about the contraindications to fasting.
For the procedure use boiled or plain water, in amounts of one and a half to two liters. For a simple enema, you need room temperature, with constipation - cold: up to 20 degrees. It is less absorbed. To clean the thin gastrointestinal tract, the liquid is heated to 35-40 degrees.
- In addition to pure water, depending on the purpose, additives are used: manganese, glycerin, soda, sea salt, olive oil. They help to cleanse the body, which during starvation rebuilds the functioning of the organs and begins to excrete the slag in all possible ways: through the skin, urine, pores, mucous membranes.
Before the procedure, the patient must drink plenty of water - so that the dirty enema water is not absorbed into the walls and does not weaken the body. And the body, saturated with a plentiful drink, does not so actively absorb this water.
It is most convenient to carry out the procedure in the bathroom with special appliances. You should be prepared for the fact that the act of defecation caused by the enema can be repeated several times. Therefore, an enema is done on a free day. After it, you must drink plenty of water again.
However, the well-known author of the methods of starvation Paul Bragg advocates for starvation without forced washing of the intestine. And not everyone starving with water makes enemas, and when dry they are completely contraindicated.
Do not recommend enemas, as, indeed, actually starvation, people with gastrointestinal problems, kidney failure, infectious diseases, after a heart attack and stroke. To properly prepare for the procedure, these points should be discussed during a consultation with a doctor.
Benefits
Speaking about the benefits of starvation on the water, some nutritionists suggest an illustrative example from the animal world. Everyone knows that a sick animal refuses to eat, and no one is able to force him to eat. Even the water sick our little brothers do not always drink. The animal does not eat, but sleeps a lot, and these intuitive actions often lead to recovery - without any medications and veterinary care that do not happen in the natural environment.
- Fasting on the water is not a very complicated way of healing. During abstinence from food, the incoming liquid removes slag, makes the body clean. This leads to excellent results - improving performance and appearance.
Many hungry in parallel get rid of excess weight, but not everyone can avoid his return. This depends on careful compliance with the recommendations and metabolic characteristics of the body.
For fasting to be effective, a person should have the motivation, correct preparation, including psychological, and observe the rules at every stage of the procedure. During this period, patients are not assigned medication, smoking and all drinks except water are categorically prohibited.
What can and what can not?
Classical starvation on the water is a complete rejection of all products. It is best to spend it "from breakfast to breakfast", and not to dinner, if it's a day-long procedure. And more correctly - from dinner to breakfast tomorrow. You can talk about food that you can eat only in the context of preparing or ending a hunger strike.
- Sometimes water starvation is called a weight loss method for lazy people. It is not quite clear why, since the refusal of food for a long time is not given to anyone easily. We need strength of will, motivation, conditions, and competent consultants. Moreover, when the actual starvation is already over, depending on its duration, some more time it is necessary to eat selectively, exceptionally light food, not always tasty, but useful.
The first thing you can eat after a hunger strike is vegetables and fruits. To effectively complete fasting helps "panicle" - the so-called fruit and vegetable salad from cabbage, apple, carrots, in approximately equal proportions. Grated fruits and root vegetables are seasoned with lemon juice. It is this dish that begins a return to the normal diet after fasting - on or without water: a salad like a broom sweeps dirt from the intestine and the body as a whole.
Heavy foods are prohibited not only immediately after the procedure, but also in the following days. And to fix a positive result helps the regularity of the cleansing procedures. For example, many people go hungry the same day every week.
During fasting on the water you can not eat anything. Neither eat, nor chew gum, nor lick candy like chupa-chups, nor smoke, nor drink any liquid other than water. Medicines, vitamins and various supplements are also banned. The mouth on the castle is exactly that case. In some cases, pharmaceutical drugs, according to testimony, can be resolved by a doctor.
You can also talk about what you can not eat in the context of preparing and getting out of starvation, when you can eat, but only light, healthy food. Regardless of the purpose of the diet, during the preparatory period the emphasis is on healthy nutrition. Exclude:
- semi-finished products, canned food, smoked products, fatty and salty products;
- sugar, sweets;
- yeast pastry, white bread;
- salt, preservatives, flavors;
- alcohol, tobacco.
A week before the start of starvation completely abandon the meat. In the priority - vegetable dishes, greens.
The first meal on the way out of a hungry diet is divorced juice, narrow mouth or low-fat kefir. In the future, it is necessary to continue abstinence from unhealthy food and drinks, because the purified organism becomes especially sensitive to harmful products.
Contraindications
Fasting on the water has a few contraindications. In particular, it is not recommended for people with insufficient weight and diabetics.
You can not resort to such a method of treatment without medical indications and doctor's recommendations, it is undesirable to starve for longer than two weeks. Long-term hunger strikes can not be sustained by everyone, and whoever decides to do so will expose the body to the risk of self-devouring from within.
- In the risk group - adolescents with an unformed organism, young mothers, 40-year-old women, experiencing a period of hormonal changes, exhausted and elderly people, pregnant and lactating mothers. Among the contraindications - thyrotoxicosis, tumors, exhaustion, infection, Graves' disease.
It is easier to hang up a hunger strike if you have a lot of walking outdoors, sleep plenty, visit a sauna, avoid feasts and watch culinary broadcasts.
Possible risks
During starvation on the water, you can expect unpleasant sensations, in particular, nausea and weakness, pain and twisting of the head. On the tongue a raid is formed, from the mouth, and sometimes a characteristic smell, giving off with acetone, is felt from the whole body.
- The fasting person is often in a bad mood, apathy. Risks associated with water starvation, with time partially or completely pass, and a sense of comfort comes back. Despite a significant reduction in food cravings, short-term attacks of hunger are possible in beginners.
With prolonged starvation, it is necessary to strictly follow the recommendations for preparation and exit from the process, this will help to minimize risks and undesirable consequences.
Unfortunately, when switching to internal nutrition, not only fats are used, but also proteins, which are a source of energy, because of which the body loses muscle mass. Often there is a deficiency of vitamins, which leads to violations of metabolic processes, sleep disturbance. To monitor these processes, the first fasting should always be done under the supervision of a doctor.
In principle, any technique can lead to success, and to failure, which, as a rule, is not connected with the method itself, but with errors or lack of experience in the hungry. We must understand that there are no trifles in the procedure of fasting, and the control of doctors insures against complications and failures.
The acidotic crisis in fasting on water
The turning point of fasting on the water is the acidotic crisis. It comes with any type of fasting, when an organism that does not receive food from outside, uses internal reserves. From this hour begins the therapeutic effectiveness of the procedure, which exceeds the action of the most powerful drugs. The starving person ceases to feel the need for food, he opens a "second wind", increases efficiency and energy potential.
The acidotic crisis during starvation on water first comes after 7-10 days. In the experienced starving - much faster: the first week of the water diet. Accelerating the crisis is facilitated by the preliminary actions of the starving: gastric cleansing, rejection of harmful foods, raw food.
- With prolonged fasting for 20-25 days, there is a second acidotic crisis, much more powerful than the first. Such fasting is prescribed only for medical reasons, it requires serious preparation and medical supervision.
The end of the crisis is marked by a surge of strength, vigor, clarity of thinking. Negative sensations disappear, the desire to eat dulls. Soon there are symptoms that signal the need to stop the hunger diet: dry mouth, salivation, the disappearance of the plaque in the tongue. To skip this moment it is impossible, in fact delay can cause nervous excitability, muscular tremor, headaches.
[14],
Heartburn with fasting on water
An eructation, vomiting, heartburn at fasting on water are atypical. They are characteristic for dry fasting, and also in the presence of starving gastric pathologies. During fasting on the water, heartburn usually occurs in beginners, first resorted to this method, as well as with insufficient preliminary cleaning of the body.
- To eliminate unpleasant symptoms, it is necessary to rinse the stomach and make an enema.
- With curative starvation heartburn is eliminated with the help of soda: a spoonful of powder washed down with water.
- When dry hunger strike, the problem is solved by water, temporarily included in the diet of the hungry.
If these phenomena continue to be present, the patient should stop the hunger diet, then carry out the purification procedures and continue the procedure a little later.
Persistent heartburn can wear out a person on average terms of prolonged fasting. In this case, you need to get out of the procedure and cleanse the body more thoroughly. In order to quickly start again to starve. Usually in the future, with regular courses of fasting, this symptomatology disappears.
Diarrhea after fasting on water
Diarrhea during fasting on water happens very rarely. A problem situation, along with bloating, stopping the stomach, weakness, often happens when the fasting procedure is wrong. In the worst case, it is possible to constipation, as well as curvature of the intestines, which threatens the patient's life.
To prevent diarrhea after fasting on water, it is necessary to competently exit the process. About this there are enough recommendations of specialists; experienced starving supplement their list with individual practical advice.
The main problem for beginners is the desire to catch up during the period of food abstinence. Therefore, overeating often becomes the cause of digestive disorders. In order to avoid troubles, do this:
- Calculate the hunger strike so that the first meal falls on the evening.
- For the first day, feed raw vegetable food, then add the stewed vegetables.
- Do not use salt and limit its amount for the future.
- Eat often, in small portions, in a separate way.
- Come around without alcohol, tea, coffee, smoking.
- Monitor stool and urination.
Transition to the daily diet does not mean to eat everything. Give preference to natural products, proper culinary processing, eat regularly and dosed, drink enough pure water - and thereby fix the positive effect created by starvation on the water.
Vomiting during fasting on water
Like heartburn, vomiting when fasting on water is less characteristic than with dry methods. Appears on the 4-5 day, especially with the first fasting and in people with pathologies of the digestive system. Nausea and vomiting are not dangerous symptoms and eventually go away. You just have to endure this time. Move, walk in the park or forest - physical activity contributes to the process of cleaning the body of accumulated harmful components and improvement of well-being.
- To prevent vomiting, you must rinse the stomach, that is, drink warm water and induce vomiting reflex.
If daily procedures do not relieve a painful feeling, you need to temporarily transfer the dry to starvation on the water. To this end, it is enough to drink a little bit of mineral water without gas.
Patients with a diseased liver may develop a vomiting mass of green color. This confirms that the liver cleansing has begun. After an exacerbation they starve for a few more days, they continue to wash the stomach, do enemas and put a heating pad on the liver.
After vomiting, a person feels relief and a surge of energy. This indicates that the body is conducting internal cleaning correctly.
Complications
It is impossible to carry out fasting with complete comfort. With the proper preparation and organization of the hunger-stricken process, uncomfortable but not dangerous feelings are pursued. The likelihood of possible complications is associated with violations of the regime and the characteristics of the organism of the hungry.
- Typical complications arising at any stage of the procedure are weakness, headache, heartburn, belching, smell, nausea, tongue plague, vomiting. This is not a cause for concern, since after the acidosis, most of them disappear.
Walking, moderate physical activity, breathing exercises, massage, water procedures significantly reduce the intensity of unpleasant symptoms.
- More dangerous symptoms, rare with starvation on the water, - dizziness, fainting, convulsions, drowsiness, exacerbation of chronic and the emergence of new diseases, pain in various organs and parts of the body: from the teeth to the musculature.
Dangerous complications are more often observed with a long and dry method that causes dehydration, if there are cardiac and digestive problems in the patient. With the increase of these symptoms, fast-food hungry people recommend to go to fasting on the water.
To prevent undesirable consequences, you should carefully prepare for the procedure, in particular, pre-clean the body, do not abuse unhealthy food, lead an active life, but do not overwork. During a hunger strike, carefully follow the recommendations of a dietician, monitoring your state of health and mental state.
[18]
How to get out of starvation on the water?
Getting out of starvation on the water is a very important moment. This is the time of recovery and transition to the usual diet. This period should not be shorter than the actual starvation. How to get out of starvation on the water, prescribes the doctor, but the patient must know the basic rules even while preparing for the procedure.
- In days of getting out of the hunger strike one should eat vegetables in all their variety, fresh and processed, fruits, cereals, sour-milk products, honey. From drinks appoint decoctions of useful herbs, juices with water.
Regardless of the method of fasting on the water, the exit from fasting should be smooth, on natural food, without overloading the organs. Gradually, the menu includes meat and fish dishes, seafood, poultry, dried fruits, nuts. Begin with drinks, then introduce a more saturated, but light food. And for a long time they exclude from the menu fast food, beans, fatty and smoked meat products, sweets.
Starting with fresh juices, we enrich the body with vitamins and do not create stress on the stomach. Undesirable after fasting only acidic drinks, irritating the mucous membranes. Then it is necessary to eat fractional: often, but little by little. Ways of cooking - dietary: baking, steam, cooking. Salt, spices, sweets in food is better not to add, in the extreme case - in minimal quantities.
The diet menu consists of lean soups, mashed potatoes, cereals, vegetable oil, herbs, dried and fresh fruits, fish dishes. Recommended drinks, except water and fresh, - jelly, unsweetened tea, compotes. A variety of menus are also carried out gradually, from day to day. After about a week, the diet becomes normal, only without legumes, whole milk and meat products. They are resolved not earlier than two weeks after the completion of the procedure.
Forbidden fruits during the release period are all foods and dishes called harmful: soda, alcohol, baked goods, fast food, animal fats, sauces, food additives and so on. And also the liver, peas, rice, pears, coffee - because they provoke flatulence, irritation, frustration or heaviness in the stomach, contribute to the return of body weight lost during the hunger strike. If you ignore these tips, you can be in the emergency hospital. Without rehabilitation one can manage only after a one-day treatment post.
Recommendations dieticians are reduced to a period of recovery equal to the period of fasting. This is an approximate scheme, because more precise terms - it is purely individual. A hint is the patient's well-being and the speed of restoration of the organs. These days it is desirable to be under the supervision of a medical specialist.
Reviews and results
The forums publish diaries, reviews and results of people practicing starvation on the water. When trying these records on yourself, you should analyze them taking into account your own individuality: age, state of health, purpose of the procedure.
In the diaries you can find practical practical advice and frank descriptions of the state of health and mood of the hunger striker. Few people tolerate a hunger strike easily, especially from beginners. But "getting involved", some practice, for example, a weekly one-day fasting and feel that the body is already waiting for a "fasting day".
- What confuses the hungry is the smell coming from the body. Communicating with other people, they consider it compulsory to explain their state and apologize for it. Complain that with short-term fasting it is easier to survive the hungry days than those when you can eat already, but not all.
Practicing starvation gets rid of excess weight, rejuvenates and heals the body, they have more energy and faith in their own strength. The physical and psychological state is greatly improved. There are almost no negative or reviews that the person left the procedure ahead of schedule. Perhaps, it is simply uncomfortable for people to admit to lack of will power and perseverance in achieving the goal.
Weight loss when fasting on water
When starving on the water, in addition to purification, there is a dropping of excess mass. The starving organism begins internal nutrition, burning up the accumulation of fatty substances.
- To maintain life a day requires splitting 300-400 grams of its own lipids. It is this figure that reflects the intensity of daily weight loss.
But internal nutrition does not begin immediately. At first the weight decreases more intensively, kilograms and more per day, and starts to save only when spending its own reserves.
It is logical that weight loss when fasting on water depends on the period. Approximate losses are indicated in special tables, with the indication of the duration of the hungry diet. According to them, in the first week, 1 kg is lost daily, up to 10 days - 0.5 kg, then 300-400 g, regardless of human activity or other circumstances.
- However, the features still exist. So, according to observations of experts, complete, nervous and emotional patients lose weight faster than lean and balanced.
A maximum of 25% loss of the total mass is considered safe (according to other data, up to 40%). As can be seen from the tables, even incomplete people safely endure hunger diets of different terms. Moreover, with subsequent starvation, the losses are relatively smaller than the first time.
After the cessation of fasting, the body weight of many people abruptly returns. This is because the appetite of fasting people is increasing dramatically. If you do not survive the required period, then, besides the natural return of losses, the body begins to accumulate reserves and gain kilograms. To maintain a stable mass helps physical activity, the right menu, psychological attitude to keep oneself in shape. And subsequent regular starvation, on or without water.
How not to break off from starvation on the water?
Any starvation, among other tasks, trains willpower. Fasting on the water is no exception. The prepared person knows how not to break off from starvation on the water, and the beginner needs to learn about this from specialists. Perhaps someone will benefit from the practical advice of experienced people for beginners who want to starve right:
- Follow the recommendations clearly.
- Drink at least 2.5 liters of water per day.
- Do not watch provocative programs and films.
- Do not go to restaurants and friendly feasts.
- Enlist the support of the family.
- Do not react to misunderstandings of outsiders.
- Protect yourself from nervous and physical exertion.
- Live actively, but moderately.
- Keep a diary, communicate with a doctor.
- Do not panic when there are some unpleasant symptoms.
- Do not ignore the critical symptoms and turn to the doctor in time if "something went wrong".
Fasting is a voluntary choice of a person who wants to improve their health, and perhaps, radically change their way of life. The method is based on powerful stimulating properties of hunger, beneficial for the body. Regardless of the goal, it is important to observe the regime and procedure of the procedure, and long-term fasting on water should be carried out only under the supervision of physicians.