Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Spring 2012 Fast: Day 1.1 and Common Detox Symptoms

Since I had some coconut oil yesterday I didn't really feel right counting today as day 2 so therefore I am calling this day 1.1. I woke up with a pretty bad headache and slept horribly. Had a small cup of coffee and some water, then did some coffee enemas. Those totally took my headache away and I even spent 2 hours working in and mowing the yard.

I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging up some lizards and crosses, picking up the house, doing laundry, and watching TV. I had nothing but water and clear vegetable broth since my coffee this morning. I am a little bit hungry but what bothers me more than being hungry is this nasty, weird taste in my mouth. It makes me want to eat something or drink something with flavor to get rid of it. Otherwise I feel pretty good.


In yesterday’s post I talked a little bit about the different ways a person can fast and some of the benefits of fasting. I also mentioned that I probably should have taken some Epsom salt or done an enema first thing in the morning but had failed to do so.

During a fast, the first 2 to 3 days are the hardest because most people still experience hunger and die off is at its worst. Taking Epsom salt the first day of the fast, or doing an enema, with the intent of cleaning out the colon, helps with both hunger and symptoms of die off. Supposedly, once the colon is cleared out, hunger will go away. (That is not the case for me but I am also hungry when I eat – just another sign that I most likely have parasitic overgrowth). Cleaning out the colon also rids the body of toxins that have accumulated which can alleviate common detox symptoms such as fatigue, headache, sluggishness, and brain fog.

Sometimes detox lasts longer than 2 to 3 days or it can flare up anytime throughout a fast. It all depends on how much healing you have to do and how much your body has to “clean up”. It is not unusual to experience pain at the site of old injuries or to have an emotional healing crisis. Other signs of healing or detox are a white coated tongue, dry mouth, bad breath, trouble sleeping, cravings for various foods (not the same as hunger), crying, and anxiety. Having said that, I still think the benefits of fasting outweigh the few days of detox one might experience. The way to minimize these symptoms is to start slow. If you have never fasted before, start by skipping one meal and see how you do. If that works pretty well skip two meals and eventually fast one day. Keep increasing slowly rather than going straight into a 14-day fast or longer. It's also helpful to start with a juice fast or even a "blended soup" fast before doing a water fast.

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