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Proper fasting on water for weight loss: rules, exit

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 03.07.2025
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The water fasting method is one of the effective ways to improve health, cleanse and rejuvenate the body. It helps to get rid of excess weight and many diseases, and sometimes – to save a life. The decisive factor is the duration of fasting. For some people, long-term fasting later becomes a way of life.

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Indications

Among several fasting options (dry, mixed, fasting days), water fasting is the least extreme. It involves giving up solid foods and drinking enough water at normal temperature. In practice, it has been proven that a fasting person needs more water than with a normal diet. There are no exact recommendations on the amount, this is an individual matter. The fasting person is advised to drink more often, at least a few sips, because the liquid helps remove toxins and serves to prevent any complications.

Medical indications for the appointment are determined by a specialist; the duration of the fasting program depends on them. The main indications can be named:

  • liver and gallbladder diseases;
  • ulcer;
  • gynecological problems;
  • obesity;
  • allergic diseases;
  • severely weakened immunity;
  • atherosclerosis;
  • neurotic diseases;
  • infections and inflammatory diseases;
  • mild schizophrenia;
  • cardiovascular and respiratory pathologies.

Some specialists believe that fasting is useful for other pathologies, including severe ones. This issue is decided on an individual basis.

In addition to therapeutic purposes, fasting is used for weight correction and body rejuvenation. The variety of fasting periods allows everyone to choose the most effective option.

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Water Fasting for Thyroid Diseases

The issue of water fasting for thyroid diseases is actively discussed on forums: fasting people use this method to, in particular, get rid of nodes in this organ and excess weight. Although not all specialists see an effective relationship between water fasting and thyroid treatment. Some, on the contrary, emphasize the negative impact of fasting on the thyroid gland.

  • One of the most important functions of the thyroid gland is the regulation of metabolism. When starvation begins, the gland feels the need to save, so it supplies the blood with less active hormones than usual. Without them, the body's metabolism slows down, and for a long time.

Even after fasting is over, the thyroid gland continues to save by inertia. As a result, carbohydrates and fats coming from food are used up partially, and the main amount of them goes into the "bins", that is, forms the body's reserve reserves.

Thus, instead of losing weight, a person gains weight. This phenomenon is called the rebound effect. It takes time to fully restore the metabolic rate, and no one can predict in advance how long-term fasting will affect the thyroid gland, since this is a matter of individual characteristics.

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Preparing for a water fast

Fasting has long been used in medicine. It was invented in the East, and the methods and schemes have been perfected over the centuries. Today, doctors recommend fasting before and after surgical procedures, for weight loss, for cleansing from toxic components, and for treating certain organs and systems. Fasting on water is a simple, therefore popular method of treatment, as well as losing weight and cleansing the body.

  • When consuming only water, the body initially experiences stress, but after some time it adapts to the new conditions and mobilizes internal reserves, that is, instead of the usual digestion of incoming food, it switches on nutrition from fat reserves.

Read also: What water is best to drink during water fasting?

The freed organs get a chance to rest and recover; the body is cleansed of everything unnecessary and harmful to it, including cholesterol.

Preparation for water fasting is the most important stage of any fasting method. The duration depends on the chosen duration of the procedure.

Two or three days before the start, the fasting person switches to a lighter diet - without meat, sweets, fatty foods, cereals, bread products. During these days, one should eat vegetables and fruits, herbal teas. And also prepare psychologically, that is, do not be afraid of adverse consequences, believe in success and good luck.

Ideally, the good intentions of the fasting person must be supported by family members and friends. It happens that strangers treat the fasting person with misunderstanding and even aggression. It is necessary to be prepared for this and not to succumb to the provocations of ill-wishers.

  • It is important to choose the right time for preparation. It is hardly reasonable to begin treatment during periods of increased workload at work or at school, during national or personal holidays when plentiful feasts are inevitable, as well as in winter when the days are short and frosty weather persists.

Summer is better because it is easier to get distracted - by nature, walks, swimming, vacations at the dacha, and the summer sun is more generous with energy and warmth, which a starving person does not receive from food.

The duration of water fasting should be increased gradually. You cannot give up food for two weeks at once. It is recommended to start with one day, then fast for two or three days with a break, several times in a row. And only after a break of several weeks, conduct a 2-week or longer water fast.

Some people are able to increase the period of abstinence from food to 40 days over time, revealing the ultimate capabilities of the human body. However, most stop at 14 days, which is quite enough for a therapeutic result.

General information water fasts

The essence of fasting is self-cleansing of the body, the functioning of which inevitably leads to the formation of harmful waste, called slags and toxins. The accumulation of such substances causes organ diseases, adversely affects the well-being and appearance of a person.

The essence of water fasting is that the body is given a break, which does not happen with regular food intake, and it starts the process of self-cleansing. The so-called internal nutrition is turned on, due to which all unnecessary components are eliminated from the body.

  • That is, water fasting is a health method in its entirety; it simply starts the processes that lead to achieving this goal. Nutritionists advise doing water fasts at least twice a year.

This diet has virtually no contraindications, is relatively easy for people to tolerate the first time and gives good results even with a short duration.

Recommendations have been developed for 1, 3, 7, 10, 14-day fasting. Fasting for more than two weeks is not recommended, since during this time the health processes have time to completely restart, the metabolism is normalized and the functioning of the internal organs improves.

Read also: Therapeutic water fasting for 1, 3, 7, 10, 21, 40 days

Some brave souls are able to fast for much longer, but this is not the case when everyone should imitate them without discrimination. Long fasts are contraindicated for those who have never fasted, and for everyone else, painstaking, comprehensive preparation is necessary.

Enema during water fasting

The use of enemas during water fasting is a controversial issue. Many experts consider the procedure an integral part of water fasting, and those who practice fasting note the positive effect of enemas. No matter how unpleasant this procedure may be.

There are reasons for positivity. In particular, thanks to water cleansing of the intestines from toxins and fecal stones, the body is much less exposed to intoxication. It is not for nothing that after an enema, the state of health improves noticeably. An enema is especially important during prolonged fasting; it is carried out daily until the onset of an acidotic crisis.

  • Before starting a water fast, the intestines are washed with magnesium sulfate overnight, and a regular water enema is used in the morning. If the drug causes diarrhea or other complications, this may be a signal of contraindications to fasting.

For the procedure, use boiled or plain water, in the amount of one and a half to two liters. For a simple enema, room temperature is needed, for constipation - cold: up to 20 degrees. It is absorbed less. To cleanse the small section of the gastrointestinal tract, the liquid is heated to 35-40 degrees.

  • In addition to pure water, depending on the purpose, additives are used: potassium permanganate, glycerin, soda, sea salt, olive oil. They help cleanse the body, which during starvation restructures the functioning of organs and begins to excrete toxins in all possible ways: through the skin, urine, pores, mucous membranes.

Before the procedure, the patient must drink a lot of water - so that the dirty water from the enema is not absorbed into the walls and does not weaken the body. And the body, saturated with abundant drinking, does not absorb this water so actively.

The most convenient way to carry out the procedure is in the bathroom, using special devices. You should be prepared for the fact that the act of defecation caused by the enema may be repeated several times. Therefore, the enema is done on a free day. After it, be sure to drink plenty of water again.

However, the famous author of fasting methods Paul Bragg advocates fasting without forced intestinal lavage. And not all those who fast with water do enemas, and with the dry method they are completely contraindicated.

Enemas, as well as fasting itself, are not recommended for people with gastrointestinal problems, renal failure, infectious diseases, after a heart attack or stroke. In order to properly prepare for the procedure, these points should be discussed during a consultation with a doctor.

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Benefits

Speaking about the benefits of water fasting, some nutritionists give a clear example from the animal world. Everyone knows that a sick animal refuses to eat, and no one can force it to eat. Even sick animals do not always drink water. The animal does not eat, but sleeps a lot, and these intuitive actions often lead to recovery - without any medications or veterinary care, which do not exist in the natural environment.

  • Water fasting is not a very complicated way to improve your health. During abstinence from food, the incoming liquid removes toxins, makes the body cleanse itself. This leads to excellent results - improved performance and appearance.

Many fasting people also lose excess weight, but not everyone manages to avoid it coming back. This depends on careful adherence to the recommendations and the metabolic characteristics of the body.

For fasting to be effective, a person must be motivated, properly prepared, including psychologically, and follow the rules at every stage of the procedure. During this period, patients are not prescribed medications, smoking and all drinks except water are strictly prohibited.

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What can and what can not?

Classic water fasting is a complete refusal of all products. It is best to do it "from breakfast to breakfast", and not to dinner, if we are talking about a daily procedure. And even more correct - from dinner to the day after tomorrow's breakfast. Food that can be eaten is discussed only in the context of preparing for or ending a fast.

  • Sometimes water fasting is called a way to lose weight for the lazy. It is not entirely clear why, because giving up food for a long time is not easy for anyone. You need willpower, motivation, conditions, and competent consultants. Moreover, when the fasting itself is over, depending on its duration, you still need to eat selectively for some time, exclusively light food, not always tasty, but healthy.

The first thing you can eat after a fast is vegetables and fruits. A "broom" helps to effectively end a fast - this is the name of a fruit and vegetable salad made from cabbage, apple, and carrot, in approximately equal proportions. Grated fruits and root vegetables are seasoned with lemon juice. This dish is what you start returning to your normal diet after a fast - with or without water: the salad, like a broom, "sweeps" dirt out of your intestines and the body as a whole.

Heavy foods are prohibited not only immediately after the procedure, but also in the following days. And regularity of cleansing procedures helps to consolidate the positive result. For example, many fast the same day every week.

During a water fast, you can't eat anything. No eating, no chewing gum, no licking lollipops, no smoking, no drinking any liquids except water. Medicines, vitamins and various supplements are also prohibited. Keeping your mouth shut is exactly that. In some cases, pharmaceuticals may be allowed by a doctor, as indicated.

What you can't eat can also be discussed in the context of preparing for and ending fasting, 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 eating. The following are excluded:

  • semi-finished products, canned goods, smoked products, fatty and salty products;
  • sugar, sweets;
  • yeast baked goods, white bread;
  • salt, preservatives, flavorings;
  • alcohol, tobacco.

A week before the start of the fast, meat is completely abandoned. Plant-based dishes and greens are a priority.

The first meal after the fasting diet is diluted juice, uzvar or low-fat kefir. In the future, you should continue to abstain from unhealthy food and drinks, because the cleansed body becomes especially sensitive to harmful products.

Contraindications

Water fasting has few contraindications. In particular, it is not recommended for people who are underweight or have diabetes.

You cannot resort to this method of treatment without medical indications and doctor's recommendations, it is not advisable to fast longer than two weeks. Not everyone can withstand long fasts, and those who decide to do so expose the body to the risk of self-devouring from within.

  • At risk are teenagers with an unformed organism, young mothers, 40-year-old women going through a period of hormonal changes, exhausted and elderly people, pregnant and nursing mothers. Contraindications include thyrotoxicosis, tumors, exhaustion, infections, Graves' disease.

It is easier to endure a fast if you walk outside a lot, get plenty of sleep, visit a sauna, avoid feasts and watching cooking TV shows.

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Possible risks

During a water fast, you can expect unpleasant sensations, in particular, nausea and weakness, pain and dizziness. A coating forms on the tongue, a characteristic smell of acetone is felt from the mouth and sometimes from the whole body.

  • The fasting person is often in a bad mood, apathy. The risks associated with water fasting partially or completely pass over time, and the feeling of comfort returns. Despite a significant decrease in cravings for food, short-term attacks of hunger are possible for beginners.

When fasting for a long time, 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, due to which the body loses muscle mass. Vitamin deficiency often occurs, which leads to metabolic disorders and sleep disorders. To control these processes, the first fast should always be carried out under the supervision of a doctor.

In principle, any method can lead to both success and failure, which, as a rule, is not related to the method itself, but to mistakes or lack of experience of the fasting person. It is important to understand that there are no trifles in the fasting procedure, and the supervision of doctors insures against complications and failures.

Acidotic crisis during water fasting

The turning point of water fasting is the acidotic crisis. It occurs with any method of fasting, when the body, not receiving food from the outside, uses internal reserves. From this hour, the therapeutic effectiveness of the procedure begins, which exceeds the effect of the most powerful drugs. The fasting person stops feeling the need for food, he gets a "second wind", his efficiency and energy potential increase.

The acidotic crisis during water fasting first occurs after 7-10 days. In experienced fasting people it occurs much faster: during the first week of the water diet. The acceleration of the crisis is facilitated by the fasting person’s preliminary actions: cleansing the stomach, giving up harmful products, and a raw food diet.

  • During prolonged fasting, a second acidotic crisis occurs on the 20th–25th day, 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, and clarity of thinking. Negative feelings disappear, the desire to eat is dulled. Soon symptoms appear that signal the need to stop the starvation diet: dry mouth, salivation, disappearance of plaque on the tongue. This moment cannot be missed, because delay can cause nervous excitability, muscle tremors, headaches.

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Heartburn during water fasting

Belching, vomiting, heartburn during water fasting are not typical. They are characteristic of dry fasting, as well as in the presence of gastric pathologies in the fasting person. During water fasting, heartburn usually occurs in beginners who have resorted to this method for the first time, as well as with insufficient preliminary cleansing of the body.

  • To eliminate unpleasant symptoms, it is necessary to flush the stomach and do an enema.
  • During therapeutic fasting, heartburn is eliminated with the help of soda: a spoonful of powder is washed down with water.
  • During dry fasting, the problem is solved by water, temporarily included in the fasting person’s diet.

If these phenomena continue to be present, the patient needs to stop the fasting diet, then carry out cleansing procedures and continue the procedure a little later.

Persistent heartburn can exhaust a person in the middle stages of a long fast. In this case, you need to exit the procedure and cleanse the body more thoroughly. In order to soon begin fasting again. Usually, in the future, with regular fasting courses, such symptoms disappear.

Diarrhea after water fasting

Diarrhea during water fasting is extremely rare. The problematic situation, along with bloating, stomach stagnation, weakness, most often occurs when the fasting procedure is not completed correctly. In the worst case, constipation is possible, as well as intestinal volvulus, which threatens the patient's life.

To prevent diarrhea after water fasting, it is necessary to exit the process wisely. There are enough recommendations from specialists regarding this; experienced fasting people supplement their list with individual practical advice.

The main problem for beginners is the desire to make up for lost time during the period of food abstinence. Therefore, overeating often becomes the cause of digestive disorders. To avoid trouble, do the following:

  • Plan your fast so that your first meal is in the evening.
  • For the first day, feed raw plant foods, then add stewed vegetables.
  • Avoid using salt and limit the amount in the future.
  • Eat often, in smaller portions, and separately.
  • Avoid alcohol, tea, coffee, and smoking.
  • Monitor your bowel movements and urination.

Switching to a daily diet also does not mean eating everything. Give preference to natural products, proper cooking, eat regularly and in doses, drink enough clean water - and this will consolidate the positive effect created by fasting on water.

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Vomiting during water fasting

Like heartburn, vomiting during water fasting is less common than with the dry method. It appears on the 4th-5th day, especially during the first fasts and in people with digestive system pathologies. Nausea and vomiting are not dangerous symptoms and go away over time. You just need to endure this time. Move, walk in the park or forest - physical activity promotes the process of cleansing the body of accumulated harmful components and improves well-being.

  • To prevent vomiting, you need to flush your stomach, that is, drink warm water and induce a gag reflex.

If daily procedures do not relieve the painful feeling, you need to temporarily switch from dry to water fasting. For this purpose, it is enough to drink a little mineral water without gas.

Patients with a diseased liver may vomit green. This confirms that liver cleansing has begun. After an exacerbation, fast for several more days, 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 performing internal cleansing correctly.

Complications

It is impossible to fast with complete comfort. With proper preparation and organization of the process, fasting people are haunted by uncomfortable, but not dangerous sensations. The likelihood of possible complications is associated with violations of the regime and the characteristics of the fasting person's body.

  • Typical complications that occur at any stage of the procedure are weakness, headache, heartburn, belching, odor, nausea, tongue coating, vomiting. This is not a cause for concern, since most of them disappear after the acidotic crisis.

Walking, moderate physical activity, breathing exercises, massage, and water treatments significantly reduce the intensity of unpleasant symptoms.

  • More dangerous symptoms, rare during water fasting, are dizziness, fainting, convulsions, drowsiness, exacerbation of chronic and the appearance of new diseases, pain in various organs and parts of the body: from teeth to muscles.

Dangerous complications are more often observed with a long and dry method, causing dehydration, if the patient has cardiac and digestive problems. With the increase of the listed symptoms, dry fasting is recommended to switch to water fasting.

To prevent unwanted consequences, you should carefully prepare for the procedure, in particular, cleanse the body beforehand, do not abuse unhealthy food, lead an active life, but do not overwork yourself. During the fast, carefully follow the nutritionist's recommendations, monitoring your health and mental state.

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How to break a water fast?

Coming out of water fasting is a very important moment. This is the time of recovery and transition to a normal diet. This period should not be shorter than the fasting itself. How to come out of water fasting is prescribed by the doctor, but the patient should know the basic rules even when preparing for the procedure.

  • On the days of leaving the fast, you should eat vegetables in all their variety, fresh and processed, fruits, cereals, fermented milk products, honey. As for drinks, decoctions of healthy herbs, juices with water are prescribed.

Regardless of the method of water fasting, the exit from fasting should be smooth, on natural food, without overloading the organs. Meat and fish dishes, seafood, poultry, dried fruits, nuts are gradually included in the menu. They start with drinks, then introduce more saturated, but light food. And fast food, legumes, fatty and smoked meat products, sweets are excluded from the menu for a long time.

Starting with fresh juices, we enrich the body with vitamins and do not put a strain on the stomach. Only sour drinks that irritate the mucous membranes are undesirable after fasting. Then you will have to eat fractionally: often, but little by little. Cooking methods are dietary: baking, steaming, boiling. It is better not to add salt, spices, sweets to food, in extreme cases - in minimal quantities.

The diet menu consists of lean soups, mashed potatoes, porridges, vegetable oil, greens, dried and fresh fruits, fish dishes. Recommended drinks, except for water and fresh juice, are jelly, unsweetened tea, compotes. The menu is also diversified gradually, day after day. After about a week, the diet becomes normal, only without legumes, whole milk and meat products. They are allowed no earlier than two weeks after the completion of the procedure.

Forbidden fruits during the exit period are all products and dishes called harmful: soda, alcohol, pastries, fast food, animal fats, sauces, food additives, etc. And also liver, peas, rice, pears, coffee - because they provoke flatulence, irritation, upset or heaviness in the stomach, contribute to the return of body weight lost during the fast. If you ignore this advice, you can end up in an emergency hospital. You can do without rehabilitation only after a one-day therapeutic fast.

Nutritionists' recommendations boil down to the recovery period being equal to the fasting period. This is an approximate scheme, since more precise terms are a purely individual matter. The patient's well-being and the speed of organ recovery serve as a hint. During these days, it is advisable to be under the supervision of a medical specialist.

Reviews and results

Forums publish diaries, reviews and results of people practicing water fasting. When trying these records on yourself, you should analyze them taking into account your own individuality: age, health condition, purpose of the procedure.

In the diaries, you can find practical advice and frank descriptions of the state of health and mood of the person who carried out the fast. Few people endure the fast easily, especially beginners. But once they get into it, some practice, for example, weekly one-day fasting and feel that the body itself is already expecting the "fasting day".

  • What confuses those who fast is the body odor. When communicating with other people, they consider it necessary to explain their condition and apologize for it. They complain that with short-term fasting it is easier to survive the hungry days than those when you can eat, but not yet.

Those who practice fasting get rid of excess weight, rejuvenate and improve their health, they have more energy and faith in their own strength. Physical and psychological state improves significantly. There are almost no negative reviews or feedback about a person leaving the procedure early. Perhaps people are simply uncomfortable admitting a lack of willpower and persistence in achieving the goal.

Weight Loss with Water Fasting

During water fasting, in addition to cleansing, excess weight is lost. The fasting organism begins internal nutrition, burning accumulated fat substances.

  • To maintain life, it is necessary to break down 300-400 g of your own lipids per day. This figure reflects the intensity of daily weight loss.

But internal nutrition does not begin immediately. At first, the weight decreases at a more intensive rate, a kilogram or more per day, and begins to save only when its own reserves are used up.

It is logical that weight loss during water fasting depends on the duration. Approximate losses are listed in special tables, indicating the duration of the fasting diet. According to them, 1 kg is lost daily during the first week, 0.5 kg for up to 10 days, then 300–400 g, regardless of a person’s activity or other circumstances.

  • However, there are still some peculiarities. Thus, according to the observations of specialists, overweight, nervous and emotional patients lose weight faster than thin and balanced ones.

A maximum of 25% loss of total weight is considered safe (according to other data - up to 40%). As can be seen from the tables, even underweight people safely endure starvation diets of various durations. Moreover, with subsequent fasts, the losses are relatively smaller than the first time.

After stopping fasting, many people's body weight returns abruptly. This happens because the appetite of those coming out of fasting increases sharply. If you do not hold out for the required period, then, in addition to the natural return of losses, the body begins to accumulate reserves and gain kilograms. Physical activity, the right menu, and the psychological attitude to keep fit help maintain a stable weight. And subsequent regular fasts, with or without water.

How not to break a water fast?

Any fasting, among other tasks, trains willpower. Water fasting is no exception. A trained person knows how not to break down from water fasting, but a beginner needs to learn about this from experts. Perhaps, practical advice from experienced people for beginners who want to fast correctly will help someone:

  • Follow the recommendations strictly.
  • Drink at least 2.5 liters of water per day.
  • Do not watch provocative programs and films.
  • Avoid visiting restaurants and friendly gatherings.
  • Get family support.
  • Don't react to the misunderstanding of strangers.
  • Protect yourself from nervous and physical stress.
  • Live actively, but in moderation.
  • Keep a diary, communicate with your doctor.
  • Don't panic if any unpleasant symptoms appear.
  • Do not ignore critical symptoms and consult a doctor in time if “something goes wrong.”

Fasting is a voluntary choice of a person who wants to improve their health, and perhaps radically change their lifestyle. The method is based on the powerful stimulating properties of hunger, beneficial for the body. Regardless of the goal, it is important to follow the regime and order of the procedure, and long fasts on water should be carried out only under the supervision of doctors.

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