Experiment 3: Water Fasting
25 years ago I did my first and only (so far) 3 day water fasting.
Due to the nice number, in September 2017 I decided to repeat the experiment and see the effects.
Protocol
Water fasting protocol is super simple. Drink water, don’t eat, for 3 days (72h). Additionally I had black coffee and mint tea as well.
In preparation for that, I did a 40 hour water fasting, to have an idea of how difficult would be to not eat for longer. So in the new moon of August I stayed 40h only drinking water and plan to do a longer fasting in the next new moon.
I also took Magnesium and Potassium supplements, 2 capsules in the morning with coffee. Since I was going to drink water a lot more, didn’t want to loose minerals.
Why new moon?
The gravitational influence of the moon on earth is a fact (tides). I’ve heard interesting observations on what happens to plants on different moons, but haven’t researched to confirm that.
My real reason is that it’s easy to set time bound experiments to moon phases, and also has a nice ring to it.
Fasting, first 24h
The first 24h are easy, specially if you keep yourself mentally busy. Work helps, it’s easy to concentrate and you have more time to focus.
I started the day with a black coffee, just like any other day. We’ve been doing intermittent fasting for a while now, and not having breakfast is a routine.
Hunger coms in waves. The trick is to drink more water than the usual, specially when you feel hungry.
It’s interesting to observe the patterns… I felt hungry at specific times of the day, and in other times, not hungry at all. Of course I was going to the bathroom more frequently, more water in, more water out.
At night, a tea is specially good, due to its warmth, before bed.
Second day
Confirming my early memories, the second day is the hardest one. Slight headache, hunger is a bit more pronounced, slight pain around the eyes. Nothing as close as keto flu though, so it was easy to go through it. By the way, after experiencing keto adaptation, fasting seems to be much easier.
Third day
Woke up feeling great, based on my experience with keto, I believe I was into ketosis again. Too bad I didn’t have a way to measure it, but was feeling more energy, not hungry, could probably go for 5 days or more of water fasting. Still having black coffee in the morning and usually another one in the afternoon, and a tea every once in a while. Water the rest of the time.
I decided to stop the fasting because I could compare with my experience from 25 years ago, which was also 3 days, feeling good about doing a long water fast at least once a quarter.
Breaking it
I remember that when I was 17 and did the same fasting, breaking it was the hardest part. Then I went to a vegetarian restaurant and tried to eat, couldn’t went home and slept for 4h, then was able to eat a papaya and started from there.
Now was much easier, just started with few cucumbers, then I was able to eat an avocado, and after a few hours, was eating normally. No hardships whatsoever.
Results
I lost 3kg, now I was with the same weight as 10 years ago. Despite the fact that I was drinking lots more water, didn’t feel cramps or weak. Probably due to the Mg and K intake, and faster keto adaptation.
Water fasting seems to be an awesome way to get into ketosis, next time I do strict keto for a couple months will kickstart it with a water fasting, for sure.
Didn’t exercised or ran during the fasting, because I didn’t do that in the past, so I could compare better, and because I hadn’t done that in a while. Next time will try to run and see the effects.
The focus and ability to concentrate increases a lot when fasting, and will power and self control increase.
Can be psychological, but I felt I was back to ketosis after 2 days. Next time I’ll get some strips to confirm.
Next steps
3 days is easy. I’m thinking about doing a long water fast (3–5 days) once a quarter, and next time, after te fasting, another experiment with keto for a longer period to compare with the first one.
This experiment is closed.
