Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and this is my first post.

I decided to post here as fasting can have great benefits for a number of ailments.

My story.

I am a 56 yr old male with a variety of health issues that afflict a good percentage of the population. I have psoriasis, congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, edema, gout, carpel tunnel, and sleep apnea. I am overweight currently at 270 lbs. My height is 5�10�. My past ailments include asthma which hasn�t bothered me for the past 20 years, sarcoidosis which had me in hospital and off work for 3 months. Oh, and throw in a couple of bouts with pneumonia and pleurisy.


The journey which I am about to undertake has been described as crazy by some and life threatening by others but I know without doubt, that I have what it takes to complete it and bring myself back to a condition that will allow me to fully function again. Water fasting has a long, long history of bringing remarkable health benefits to those that make the commitment. Let me say that I did a fast last year (2010) but quit after 21 days when I should have carried on with it. The reason I quit was because I wasn�t educated enough to recognize some of the side effects that could occur when one undertakes such a long cleansing process.


Why am I doing this? It is not to simply shed the weight. More important is my heart and the fact that I can�t go up a flight of stairs without being winded and in need of rest. I can�t carry out any type of physical labor or sports /activities and I am a prime candidate for a heart attack. A study that was published in 2001 showed a dramatic reduction in BP in all participants and when I read that article I decided I had to do the fast again.

The study can be found here:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/32727377/Medically-Supervised-Water-only-Fasting-in-the-Treatment-of-Hypertension


Undertaking a water fast means just that, nothing but water, no foods, juices or supplements, nothing but water. Some say it is very difficult to just drink water and that is true up until the 4th or 5th day. After that it gets much easier as hunger disappears. Obviously temptation is always there such as having dinner with friends or drinking just water on poker night, but you get used to it and do what you need to do to get through those situations.


I don�t recommend anyone undertake a fast without consulting their doctor first. My doctor was quite impressed when I saw him after my fast last year as my blood pressure was back to normal. I truly believe a person�s health is their own responsibility, I got myself in the shape I am in and only I can bring myself back.


I started my fast Aug. 28, 2011, and I wonder if anyone here has done a fast ?

Regards
Gordon

Hello Gordon
If you have congestive heart failure and odema, a lot of your excess weight is obviously due to your heart not being strong enough and you have a build up of water. This alone will increase your weight and BP. Are you on a diuretic and/or ACE inhibitor? I would have thought it would have been better to get rid of the odema as your top prioity before doing anything else.

Doctor Julian Whitaker believes strongly in fasting, however, only for a few days at a time. You will not get any nutrients from water. I don't mean calories, carbs, etc, I mean vitamins and minerals that you need to prevent disease, especially heart attack.

With the information you supplied, I would suggest you go on a phase one diet. (after your fast) This is not your ordinary diet. It is an antifungal diet, which eliminates things like bread (yeast) alcohol (sugar) cheese (mold) or anything that will feed the fungus in your body. You may even need an antifungal drug such as NYSTATIN.

Just about every symptom you have is due to a fungal issue, however, most doctors don't know anything about these one-celled organisms. My best guess would be that you are deficient in one or more vitamin or mineral, so would suggest you do whatever you have to to get the supplements you need. Once your body is getting all 60 minerals, you won't crave food and thus the weight will start to drop off.

The phase one diet can be found at www.knowthecause.com

Best of luck.

__________________
Let Food Be Your Medicine And Medicine Be Your Food.(Hippocrates)

The following foods are allowed on the phase one diet:

EGGS
FRUIT, berries, grapefruit, lemon, lime, green apples, avocado, fresh coconut
MEATS, virtually all meat including fish, poultry and beef
VEGETABLES, Most fresh, unblemished vegetables and freshly made vegetable juice
BEVERAGES, bottled or filtered water, non-fruity herbal teas, stevia sweetened fresh lemonade or limeade, freshly squeezed carrot juice (see below)
VINEGAR, apple cider vinegar
OILS, olive, grape, flax seed, cold pressed virgin coconut oil
NUTS, raw nuts, including pecans, almonds, walnuts, cashews, and pumpkin seeds. Stored nuts tend to gather mold, so be careful!
SWEETENERS, Stevia, Stevia Plus, birch tree extracted Xylitol
DAIRY, Organic Butter, Organic Yogurt, (use the following very sparingly) cream cheese, unsweetened whipping cream, real sour cream.

<I have psoriasis, congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, edema, gout, carpel tunnel, and sleep apnea. I am overweight currently at 270 lbs. My height is 5’10”. My past ailments include asthma which hasn’t bothered me for the past 20 years, sarcoidosis which had me in hospital and off work for 3 months. Oh, and throw in a couple of bouts with pneumonia and pleurisy.>

You need an anti inflammatory diet. Stay away from dairy and cut down on meat, increase fatty fish such as WILD CAUGHT salmon. Take fish oil, coenzyme Q and turmeric capsules (2 a day) along with a turmeric extract capsule. A water fast will help and do it as follows: nothing after 7 o'clock on the night before you do it and when you wake up have a glass of water (if you are a coffee drinker, have 1/2 cup black coffee) and them make sure you drink 2 liters of water throughout the day along with a walk for 20-30 minutes. The next day when you wake up, it is advisable to break your fast with some type of melon. You willbe amazed how a small lunch will fill you up also.

Hi Gordon,

Good luck on your adventure towards health. Some professionals say when fasting you should do an enema to clear out wastes that are being dumped into your colon. If you're not eating food you won't be eliminating and that's why the enema is needed. If you fast and don't get eliminate toxins can get reabsorbed back into your bloodstream and get deposited in new places. That will defeat the purpose of your healing fast. Lemon juice in your water will assist in the fasts cleansing actions.

I absolutely agree with you mommy. And that is why I've said before (at least once) that fasting provokes too much stress upon the immune system. There is just no good elimination path other then sweating. So, the immune system is dealing with toxins galore.

__________________
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- Jim
Life is just one damned thing after another - Elbert Hubbard