10-Day Water-Only Fast
I’ve recently been diagnosed with chondrosarcoma. In short, I have bone cancer. While I wait for surgery, I am doing all I can to set myself up for success. One of the things I have been reading about is the regenerative effects of water-only fasting.
I started reading “The Oldest Cure in the World” by Steve Hendricks before my diagnosis. I then moved on to “The Pleasure Trap” by Douglas J. Lisle and Alan Goldhammer (the brains trust behind True North, the US Health centre that provides medically supervised water-only fasts). Both books cover the myriad of health benefits of water-only fasting.
“Fasting is the first principle of medicine; fast and see the strength of the spirit reveal itself.”
Water-only fasting is eating and drinking nothing aside from pure water. The potential health benefits of water-only fasting include:
Cellular repair
Blood sugar regulation
Cardiovascular health
Autophagy
Weight loss
There is also evidence to suggest that a water-only fast can assist in moderating the dopamine response that is triggered by many of the foods we consume. Oils, sugar, salt and dairy products are known to trigger the release of dopamine, making us feel pleasure or satisfaction.
There are several considerations before embarking on a water-only fast, including:
Nutrient deficiency
Electrolyte imbalance
Malnutrition
Compromised immune function
Careful consideration is required for refeeding if fasting for more than 72 hours. With the refeeding process taking about half the duration of the fast period. So, I will gradually reintroduce food over a 5-day period following my fast. I will start with a small quantity of pureed apple as this is generally considered to be easy on the stomach.
Following extensive research, and considering I cannot get into a medically supervised fasting clinic prior to my surgery date (there is one running in Queensland in late February), I have decided to do a modified 10-day water-only fast. I say ‘modified’ because I will also be drinking peppermint tea as well as water. Tea is a mental health requirement for me. I love the ritual of it (boiling the kettle, watching the tea steep, holding the warm mug in my hands) and the emotional comfort it provides. As someone who loves food, being without tea as well is too hard to compute while contemplating a recent cancer diagnosis that will materially change my life. Having done considerable research into water fasting and refeeding before starting, I feel like I am well-equipped to proceed and wouldn't, however, consider fasting for longer than 10 days without medical supervision. Based on what I have read, 10 days is about all you'd want to do without blood tests to confirm what's going on internally. That said, I will be closely monitoring myself over the next week and a half to ensure I continue to stay well.
When conducting a medically supervised fast, there are blood tests (blood sugar, lipids, and cholesterol), blood pressure checks and enemas involved. As I don’t have access to that from home, I am comfortable with my limit of 10 days. Furthermore, while I am not overweight, I have plenty of fat reserves to draw on, should I need them. I am currently at about 30% body fat. Definitely not where I want to be, but within the normal range of a 40-59 year old woman (23-33%).
The longest medically supervised fast that has been documented is Angus Barbieri who fasted for 392 days from 14 June 1965 to 11 July 1966 (note that Angus was consuming vitamins and was drinking tea and coffee throughout). Angus lost 125kg over the course of the fast.
I have no intention of being a martyr. If I notice anything untoward, I will cease the fast. I’ll update this blog post daily for the next 10 days so you can follow along.
While I’m focused on the autophagy benefits of fasting, people also use water-only fasting to alter body composition. Water-only fasting can be quite effective with weight loss of 6-10% over a 10-day period. In the interest of science, I will record my weight throughout the next 10 days out of sheer curiosity. Typically, dietary changes following refeeding are generally required to maintain any weight lost. A diet high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds and limiting other foods is generally recommended following a water-only fast.
Day 1
I weighed in this morning at 62.0kg. As I have mentioned, I've deviated from pure water fast and have also been drinking peppermint tea throughout the day as my “meals”.
After a disturbed sleep, thanks to the NYE party next door, I only got out of bed at 8 am. I went for a 5km walk while I spoke with my cousin in Spain who was getting ready to go out for New Year’s Eve.
I did very little today - lay in the sun, worked on my jigsaw puzzle, and read my book. It was a very relaxed start to the year.
Hunger kicked in at about 2 pm with my tummy growling. I kept up the hydration, especially after being in the sunshine. A mild, dull, and nondescript headache started at around 3 pm. When my hubby ate dinner, I was a little uncomfortable and my stomach was growling again.
All in all, day 1 wasn’t too bad. Although I love food, not eating for 24 hours has been much easier than I thought it would be. I've done intermittent fasting before (limiting my eating hours to 6-8 hours a day but consuming the usual amount of calories) and that's harder than not eating at all. I went to sleep without issues at the end of the day after lying on my sleep induction mat (which is my usual practice).
Day 2
I woke as usual at around 4 am but didn't get out of bed until 6 am this morning. I still have a lingering headache so am taking it easy today (that is tp say that I will not be "exercising" this morning). I am confident that if I had something to eat, my headache would be gone as it's not typical of a headache that I would usually have. It's all over rather than being concentrated at the base of my skull so is much more manageable than usual. I am assuming the headache will fade over the next 24-72 hours as my blood sugar moderates. I don't usually have a high-sugar diet but I eat regularly (4-6 times a day) so getting used to longer periods without dietary glucose is bound to take a little time.
I weighed in this morning at 63.3kg. 1.3kg up from yesterday morning. I'm interested to see how my body weight and fat content change (if at all) over the next week and a half. I suspect, based on previous experience, that it will not follow a 'normal' pattern.
When I drank my first glass of water this morning, I could hear it travel down my throat and into my stomach. I can sometimes experience this when I am eating normally but it seemed more pronounced today.
The hunger is less intense than yesterday. Habit is strong, however, as I am generally interested in (aka thinking about) food at my standard meal times but there's been no growling today. I did have waves of hunger from about 2 pm to 3 pm but kept up the water and they passed as I knew they would. The thought of potentially reducing the tumour size is helping me to stay the course.
I feel like I am constantly peeing; much more than usual so I suspect that the water weight I added yesterday is being shed today.
Right now, I feel okay. Not great, like the literature suggested I might, but not complete rubbish. I'm back to work so have been at my desk for the majority of the day. I am having no issues concentrating on work. Productivity is about standard for me on a non-meeting day.
I am finding I am less patient than normal (which is not high to start with) so I am choosing to focus my attention on the way I interact with others to ensure that my frustrations aren't being passed on unintentionally.
I'm curious as to how the next 9 days are going to unfold.
Day 3
I slept well last night, with very few interruptions which was a welcome relief. I woke naturally at 4 am and went to the gym, as usual, this morning for an arm and ab workout. I weighed in at 61.2 today, 2.1kg lighter than yesterday (800g less than when I started the fast).
I have no headache today and am feeling normal when it comes to energy and concentration.
I experienced moderate hunger briefly this morning; particularly on the walk home from the gym. This isn’t usual for me as I normally eat breakfast at around 8 am. By the time I got home (about 11 minutes), it had passed.
My pee has a strong odour today and I have a metallic taste in my mouth that may indicate that I have entered ketosis. May the autophagy begin!
For the uninitiated, autophagy is the natural, conserved degeneration of cells in the body. Your body literally starts eating itself; breaking down old or damaged cells so you can operate efficiently. This is what I am hoping for with the fast. While there's no guarantee, my body may now start to seek out damaged (e.g. cancerous) cells and break them down. Furthermore, as fasting decreases blood glucose levels, cancer growth should start to slow (because cancer cells feed on glucose at higher levels than healthy cells).
While research is limited (no big pharma is going to make money out of fasting and most medical research is funded by the pharmaceutical industry), there's some promising articles out there to support my reading (see books mentioned above) including https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35848874/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9530862/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9530862/, and https://www.miog.com.au/blog/fasting-and-cancer. See also the work by the team at True North - https://www.healthpromoting.com/water-only-fasting.
I noticed by the afternoon that my engagement ring was starting to spin on my finger which it doesn’t normally do.
The hunger pains have definitely eased considerably. When I helped prepare dinner for my hubby, I had no desire to share in his meal.
Day 4
Last night was the worst I have had in terms of leg pain from the tumour. Usually, the pain is a dull ache during the day, spikes to a gentle throb when exercising, and then graduates to a deep gnawing overnight. While I managed to get to sleep as usual, it didn’t last long. I was awake by 10 pm in considerable pain. In fact, I had Imagine Dragons’ '“Believer” in my head most of the night thereafter:
“Seeing beauty through the PAIN”
I eventually managed to get back to sleep but it was a disturbed night with intermittent intense pain. I like to think that this newfound level of agony is the tumour starving from lack of glucose and screaming out to be fed. It helps to cope with the…. PAIN!
I weighed in this morning at 59.8kg (2.2kg down from my starting weight). My wedding rings are definitely looser today but I have not noticed a difference in the way my clothes fit yet.
I went for a 7km walk with a girlfriend this morning. Apart from the fact that my cardiovascular fitness has significantly dropped since I stopped running about a month ago, I felt fine.
By the afternoon, I started showing signs of low blood pressure. I was feeling lightheaded at my desk and dizziness on standing. So I used my hubby’s sphygmomanometer and tested my blood pressure in the evening. I am usually 120/80. I measured 100/64. Still within the normal range but low for me.
Day 5
I had another rough night with intense pain in my left leg. It started around 11pm and went longer than last night. I was struggling to get comfortable in bed so I eventually got up and walked around the house for a while. When I went back to bed, it took me a long time to go to sleep. I woke at 6am.
I weighed in this morning at 59.1kg (2.9kg down from when I started on Monday). I also checked my blood pressure this morning and it’s now down to 84/60. Considering it is now technically low and trending down quickly, I have decided to end my fast. I will start refeeding this morning. Breaking a fast properly reduces the risk of complications of refeeding syndrome. My risk of refeeding syndrome is slightly higher than normal as I am an oncology patient. Refeeding syndrome usually occurs with the rapid reintroduction of food after a period of fasting. The general rule of thumb for the first day of eating after a fast is no more than 50% of basal energy requirements. I usually consume about 1200 calories a day (up to 1500 on leg day) so I will be aiming for no more than 600 calories today and will slowly build that up over the next 3-5 days.
Apple puree
I had half a jar (about 50g, or 32 calories) of apple puree this morning. I ate it slowly with a teaspoon and a full glass of water.
