Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Nov 04, 2009 - Day 10 (day 3 water only)

I made it to Sacramento Monday on 6 ounces of vegetable broth and 6 small chunks of watermelon then I shut down the digestive system for the duration. So I'm counting Monday as day 1 of my water fast due to the next to no calories I took in. This was validated by a ketone measurement of my urine sample the next morning which was a +3 on a scale of 1 to 3. So I've been in full ketosis for some time.

And I can now say I am happily done with this particular brand of broth for awhile - it's very saturating when it's essentially all you take in after a few days. It's main benefit is to supply a relatively high amount of minerals which is important, but knowing I was leaving this liquid behind made even water-only fasting that much more appealing. Am I still tasting that stuff?

My weight loss rate has not changed. I'm continuing to lose the same amount of weight on water as I was on broth and the weak veggie juice - 1.2 pounds per day. I came in 10 days ago at 150 pounds and I am now at 134.8. I don't know if that works out to exactly 1.2 pounds per day but it has amounted to as much since I recognized the trend a few days ago. But I get checked every morning and night and I'm still feeling very vital, just a bit weaker.

My blood pressure has increased to 158/96 since going all water, which is a little higher than what it was when I arrived 10 days ago on bp drugs. I enjoyed a week of really low pressure (as low as 110/70) which was great, not that I could tell outwardly. This is very common for most fasters as the body detoxifies in earnest. It will drop steadily once the crisis is past, but estimating how long that will take is impossible.

I know another patient here who had been fasting for 14 days without effort and no change to his normal blood pressure. His higher percentage of bodyfat was being readily used for fuel so he had a 14 day buffer - and a reprieve. But now he's getting to the good stuff as evidenced by his increase in blood pressure and general disposition. I did not have a lot of body fat coming in so when I cut the broth, my body seemed to go right to work. Based on my bp readings this afternoon, it must be working pretty hard.

Water only fasting began producing some different symptoms relative to the measly one hundred calorie diet I was consuming. I experience a small knot in my stomach, no hunger at all, and I get light heartburn and a sour stomach in the evening, fortunately unlike some folks who experience nasty nausea from the increased bile (most likely), as a result of peeling back and processing years of nasty toxins. You just never know how much toxic waste you have stored over your lifetime or what your constitution is for extended fasting, but I have many days to go, so maybe my day is yet to come. I could sure do without the vomiting. The only other symptom is lightheadedness upon standing too quicky, so I take my time to avoid this condition.

I try to keep the day from dragging on too long by taking classes and attending lectures. The class this morning was a cooking class, though it was mostly raw food. When you have the raw incredients handy, you can throw together some really tasty dishes in less than five minutes. Our instructor showed us fresh-cut baked hash browns, a no bake cake with a ground date/pecan crust (very rich), a no mayo waldorf salad (she used small cut banana pieces to hold it all together), variations for oatmeal, a fruit salad and even ice cream which was essentially all frozen fruit and a few frozen cashews to add some creaminess and then run through a champion juicer. It looked very tasty, though the only thing I wanted were those hash browns. I'll definitely be building a repertoire of my personal favorites so we can eat even better when I get home.

The lecture addressed some misconceptions on a couple of current dietary trends (raw vs. cooked, and food combining) based on an understanding of how the body actually processes food. Essentially, a good variety of raw foods (like salads) and lightly steamed and boiled starch-type foods is about all your body needs for a robust and long life. Except for vitamin B12, your body figures it all out just fine - you'll stay healthy, disease free, and maintain your correct weight.

As B-12 goes, we can't get the B12 as vegans because our vegetable and fruit sources are much more hygenic as a rule than they were back in the day, when the bugs and worms were one with the crop. There is research on plant sources of B-12, but these sources are likely to be unavailable to the human body so don't bank on them. One thousand mcg of methylcobalimum (my choice) every couple of days seems to work just fine to keep the levels high.

It takes three years or so to deplete B12 reserves, so it stays in the body quite a long time and you don't need much of it, but it is essential. Even a yearly 8 ounce slab of organic calf's liver would do the job just fine, so I'm told, but I know that's a big EEWWWW!! for most people, but I used to really enjoy fried liver and onions when I was younger, just ask my mom.
Hmmm, come to think of it, I don't remember turning down anything mom made, experimental or otherwise.

Otherwise, you don't need meat. You don't need oils or added fats and just limited amounts of vegetable fats, like avacodos and walnuts. Eliminate sugars entirely, don't use fruit as a main course, and back off the bread. Alcohol is a destroyer always, regardless of what the wine industry says, and antibiotics really deplete the good bacteria in the intestine allowing the bad bacteria (they're always there, just kept in check) to get a foothold and proliferate once the course of drugs is finished, opening up a whole host of disease opportunities if left unchecked. In this case, three weeks of live probiotics appears to be a great start to getting the intestinal flora quickly back on track and in proper balance, along with a proper diet.

The big rule for healthy cooking is to avoid frying and baking - the temp just gets too high and changes the molecular structure of the food in a way that promotes the formation of an enormous quantity of carcinogenic and poisonous compounds that just aren't found in the uncooked food, especially in the darkened outer layers (think baked potato skins). Not to say there aren't any harmful compounds in the raw food, but they are more easily and readily dispatched by the body due to the much lower amounts and types of compounds.

Your body has to fight these compounds to keep you alive. White blood cells to the rescue! If they were fighting something else in the body, they must retreat and rush to deal with the more immediate threat, which is unfortunately the food. This explains why my cat hid itself in a quiet corner and refused to eat while healing from an abcess, just as every animal but man instinctively knows to do. Food and healing, most of the time, just don't mix - unless you're healing from starvation. My unscientific explanation is over simplified as usual, but you get the idea. If you cook, lightly steam. Otherwise, stick to no higher than 212 degress (boiling) and you can keep the body humming along just like our Creator designed it to do.

This day is wrapping up quite nicely so I can put another big, fat 'X' on the calender as I countdown my days of water fasting to the 18th, unless the doctors pull the plug first.

So reduce the size of that rib-eye and instead enjoy a double serving of those delicious purple potatoes with a side of steamed broccoli. Bon appetit!

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