Water Fast Weight Loss

Simple, Easy, Weight Loss and Mental Improvement

Here you will discover how to fast using the Water Cures Protocol. Unlike most fasts, there is no initial hunger and it works much better because of adding the trace minerals and the electrolytes that allow the water to work better for internal hygiene.

Bonus: It can help improve a number of health challenges according to studies, including cancer.

The Water Cures Water Fast Weight Loss Protocol is under ongoing testing on people who are trying it and sharing their experience. This is a process and we are committed to it. So far the results are promising. It works much like any what people consider a water fast (taking in nothing but water) with a few exceptions.

Water fasting is not a treatment nor a cure. It is simply a physiological process that both man and animals have practiced since the founding of the world. In this process, the body is able to heal itself, repairing damage it has experienced. Science is now starting to find what Mark Twain said so long ago to be true.

A little starvation can really do more for the average sick man that can the best medicines and the best doctors - Mark Twain

While 1 to 4 day fasts can be done on your own, those choosing to go longer should do so under the supervision of a MD experienced in fasting, professional Natural Hygienist, Naturopath or Health Coach.

1) We use the the Water Cures Protocol with both salt and water

2) There is no hunger or cravings early on as with most fasts.

3) We are testing certain specific supplements. We do not believe multi-vitamins are effective. But certain food grade supplements may have a beneficial effect. This we are trying to develop a theory about.

Go to the Water Fasting Action Guide

In spite of web page headlines to the contrary, to date, there are still only a very few people who have died (less than 5) from fasting.

When properly fasting and properly ending the fast (refeeding) it is entirely safe and man has been doing it for thousands of years. More people died from lap gastric bypass surgery in one month than with fasting and fewer people have undergone the procedure.

Warning: Rapid Weigh Loss May Not be For You

You should not fast....

If you are pregnant

If you have a chronic disease

If you have kidney disease

If you are on medications

If you are under a doctors care

If you are under 18

If you are elderly

Aside from rapid weight loss, there is an added benefit of improved mental functioning, rebooting your immune system and a bonus, according to one study, a reduction of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's risks.

A Simple Mind Body Hack to Lose 20 lbs in 10 Days

Actually the heading is not totally accurate. Most so far, if they are morbidly obese, will lose about 30 lbs. Ten of those pounds typically come back once eating resumes (called refeeding). This is not a problem. It is part of the process. Once the fasting starts and it works, it is easy to replicate it. The weight loss results, every month or two, can be repeated. As the fasting progresses, there will be less drastic weight loss but there will still be weight loss. Over the course of a few months, it is possible to loose 30, 40, even 50 lbs and by employing alternative fasting techniques, even be able to keep the weight off.

The goal of this system of weight loss is to create a new 'set point.' This is a new baseline weight your body will work to maintain regardless of what you do to try to lose weight. If managed correctly, it will also not go up or down much beyond the new set point.

By having a lower set point, the next fast makes it easier to lower it to a new, even lower set point. Once you maintain that set point and develop new habits, you can reach new goals in your weight.

Evidence of a Set Point Regulating Our Weight

There are those who say the set point theory is stupid. They may not have considered the science. They may not have read Gary Taubes' Why We Get Fat.

They may not have read the paper archived at the National Institute of Health...Is There Science on a Set Point For Weight?

They will say all we have to do is change. Yet they cannot explain my why some have switched to a total raw food diet, avoiding fruit and still did not lose weight. We have a theory about that....Candida. One component of the rapid weight loss diet, while it will not cure the candida, it will help if that should be a problem.

Fasting Is Nothing New

Both in the animal kingdom and in humankind, fasting has been a part of our existence. Early modern day studies started in 1843 (Chossat) and 1844 (Schultz) 1866 (Voit). Then starting in 1901, several more jumped on the fasting study bandwagon. By the 1930's, there were a dozen or more published studies on fasting.

In numerous religions, fasting is part of their spirituality.

When a loved one is lost in death, in some cultures, people fasted.

When we are sick, our appetite decreases and we eat less.

Animals may lay down and not eat or drink when they are sick.

Even sleeping at night allows us to fast for a period of several hours or more.

In these instances, the energy of the body is moving toward healing and rebuilding rather than digestion.

Energy is now used for healing our bodies instead of digesting food. Rather than processing, our body is regenerating. Instead of fueling our body, excess fats are either stored or used as energy.

Is Water Fast Weight Loss Dangerous?

Also called rapid weight loss, water fasting is considered by some medical websites as a starvation diet. Their bias may have blinded them to the latest science.

Note the headlines of some of the most prestigious scientific magazines on the topic of fasting....

How Intermittent Fasting Might Help You Live a Longer and Healthier Life -- Scientific American

Don't Feed Your Head--John's Hopkins Magazine Summer 2012

"....depriving ourselves via fasting twice a week could significantly lower the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's."

"The findings resonate with decades-old studies..." Note, there are decades of studies on fasting.

But some of these articles are about intermittent fasts and our research is looking at prolonged fasting, fasting that lasts from 4 days to two weeks. While prolonged fasting can last several weeks, we are not considering more than a week to 20 days.

What Are the Risks of Rapid Weight Loss?

This is only considering the risks for those who are morbidly obese. Fasting is more dangerous and more critical in lean people.

For the obese who are fasting, this is a way to...

1 Detox and reboot the immune system

2 Reboot the brain

3 Reboot our body weight set point at a lower weight.

There is no question that rapid weight loss can have possible risks. Here are the risks and what we can do to be proactive to prevent or lower the risks.

Gallstones can occur to 12 to 25% of those who lose a lot of weight over several months time. The Water Cures protocol by its nature lowers this risk.

In 1965 there was a woman who died while fasting. The death was attributed to lactic acidosis. This is a condition that is the result of unintentional dehydration. We are working with the theory of regular hydration and salt intake during the fast will reduce this risk.

In 1968 there were two deaths during therapeutic fasting, occurring at week 3 and week 8. They died due to heart failure. This likewise could be due to dehydration. See the article Heart Failure From Dehydration Case Study

Dehydration: While there is no consensus as to what dehydration is, most fasts do not have a structured hydration component. By scheduling your water intake and dissolving the salt in mouth, this should not be a problem.

Another death happened to a grossly obese young woman. She did not die after the 30 day fast, rather the 7th day of refeeding. Note, refeeding is perhaps as critical if not more than the fasting period. More on refeeding will be addressed later. The death was attributed to cardiac problems.

Additional problems include breakdown in electrolyte homeostasis, cardiac arrhythmia's, low blood pressure when getting up (orthostatic hypotension), normocytic, normochromic anemia and gouty arthritis. Again, these are things that are normally prevented when using the Water Cures Protocol.

Even so, prolonged fasting was considered safe until 1970. While fasting is demonized by medical sites today, there are a number of doctors who are helping thousands to improve their health with fasting. To date, there are still only a very few people who have died when properly fasting and properly coming off the fast when refeeding properly.

Other problems that could occur:

Constipation: Should not be a problem with proper hydration.

Dizziness: Should not be a problem because of the electrolytes and hydration.

Fatigue: Unknown. Depends on your body make-up. Shouldn't be a problem when properly hydrated.

Hair Loss: Unknown, not a huge complaint according to various sources.

Headaches: Unlikely due to water and salt component.

Irritability: Unlikely do to the water and salt.

Menstrual irregularities: Unknown at this time.

Muscle Loss: This is a risk. We are testing and believe that light work outs are possible.

Note: As we continue to research this type of fasting, we are coming to the conclusion that this is not a once and done fast weight loss diet. There is a second aspect of the protocol that, on returning to eating that has to be strictly adhered to. Failure to adhere to the particulars required on reintroducing food (called refeeding) could cause additional health problems. The science is pointing to the health benefits of making either longer fasting periods (eat at 3 PM and don't eat again till 7 AM the next day) or intermittent fasting (1 to 2 days every week) With the longer period or intermittent fasting, the refeeding is not as critical as fasts lasting up to 10 days or more.

Rapid Weight Loss: A Good Body Hack or Bad Idea?

The question is, do the risks of a rapid weigh loss program outweigh the risks of obesity? If you want rapid weight loss and you have a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30, then this might be an option you.

Many consider using rapid weight loss to fit into a dress, to look good in a swim suit or even guys in a suit or tux for that matter. At Water Cures, we are thinking more long term. We are working to develop a weight loss program that will help people reach their desired weight and stay there. It should be noted that there is a 1 to 2 week window from when the weight is lost and the body remodels itself. The weight loos will be more noticeable a week or two later.

Is it Fasting or Starvation?

Most of the medical sites infer that fasting is starving. Nothing could be further from the truth. With starvation, there is not a choice, even if the cause is mental in origin. With fasting, you are choosing to not eat.

Numerous cultures through history and even to this day include fasting as part of the way they live their lives. Early modern day fasting, from 1900 to 1970 was common and quite a bit more extreme than most do today in that it was done for several or more weeks. Most today only do it for 10 days and up to 4 weeks.

The key to knowing when to stop the fast is when you start to feel hunger. That is our bodies notifying us that it's time to start the refeeding process prior to normal eating.

Evidently the writers for the medical sites are not aware of human sociology or do not read the latest science on and about the benefits of fasting. Fasting is not starving. Fasting is a way to reboot our bodies. If you have numerous health problems, you should only start fasting with the supervision of a health professional. If you are on numerous medications, you should only fast with the supervision of your doctor.

Research is showing the health benefits of prolonged fasting practiced by the ancients. Fasting for periods longer than two days can protect from damage and even reboot the immune system. Fasting can result in immune system shut down and then renewal or regeneration. It's no wonder the Swiss German physician (15th century) wrote, "Fasting is the greatest remedy – the physician within."

If you are otherwise healthy and overweight, then this may be an option for your further research.

It's Not Starving, It's the Digestive System Re-Boot.

Historically, rapid weight loss diets result in dramatic weight loss followed by the weight returning. This up and down weight loss and gain is the reason for the name Yo-Yo diet.

With water fasting, if you are passionate about loosing weight and keeping it off, this is a viable system to accomplish your goals. Once the initial fast is accomplished, it is necessary to slowly return to normal eating. While a weight gain of 10 lbs might be experienced, you will still be lighter by 20 lbs.

The time of not eating allows for rebooting the brain as to eating patterns and eating habits. This is a time for creating new habits.

Waiting 3 to 4 weeks and doing it again, it will be possible to lose and keep off another 20 lbs.

Each subsequent fast will have less dramatic results. However, every time you fast, you will continue to lower your set point. With the lower set point and dietary changes, you will be able to attain weight loss that you can maintain.

With the body not using energy to digest food, the body can start to heal itself. The fat stores are used for fuel. This is why there is a rapid weight loss.

Initially, the fat stores are used depending on how the fast is started on awaking. As with the water cures and as medical science has confirmed, the first water and salt consumed should be taken within 20 minutes of awaking. This is the time frame the body uses to switch to starvation mode or to expect food to be on the way.

Once the fat starts becoming fuel, excess nutrients, waste and toxins will also start to be removed. Sometime after day 2-4 of the fast, the body will start to deconstruct things that do not belong. This includes cancers, fibroids and cysts. Some using the Water Cures Fast have found that cysts have shrunk almost half their size inside of 10 days if fasting.

When we stop eating for prolonged periods, our bodies, in the absence of both nutrition and the chemical assault from our diet, can start to heal. Without the chemicals, there is now room for our brain to likewise experience healing. There is even a self discipline component to consider. We learn the power of self control we did not know we even had.

Some Water Fast Benefits:

• body begins its healing
• increases metabolism
• increases fat burn-off
• gets rid of excess nutrients
• dissolves cysts and fibroids
• starts auto-digesting cancer cells in human cells
• our body gets rid of diseased and damaged tissues
• disposes of waste and toxins accumulated in the body
• stem cells are turned on, starting a self renewal process
• reduces the lousy cholesterol (LDL) from the fat cells
• starts the repair and regeneration of different organs
• boosts the growth of new neuron cells in the brain
• reduces risks of heart disease
• normalizes blood pressure
• reduces the risk of diabetes
• protects against brain diseasereduces the risk of Parkinson's
• reduces the risk of Alzheimer's
• slows the growth of cancer tumors in most cases (there are rare exceptions)

More Information on Water Fast Weight Loss

Prolonged Fasting Promotes Stem Cell Regeneration

Fasting Reduces Breast Cancer Risks

Fasting Offsets High Fat Diet Risks

Starvation: Stress or Satisfaction

A 1966 article on prolonged fasting that found the obese male subjects were not significantly impaired in their ability to memorize nonsense syllables, repeat numbers forward and backward, mental control, or hand control steadiness. The study noted an improvement rather than increased impairment. Irritability, depression, and resistance to testing did increase, but so did overall satisfaction with self.

Most interestingly, the reactions seemed to be a reversion to immature, dependent modes of living, which was not a threat to the psychological health of emotionally stable subjects.

Conclusion: Fasting for long periods is not stressful when it results in an extreme weight loss and consequent increase in self-esteem.

The Main Water and Weight Loss Section

What is the Definition of Obesity Note: Ours is a different definition.

Symptoms of Obesity The symptom provides a clue to the cure.