Shareen's fasting experience
What is it like to go for 12 days without eating?
I first encountered the idea of fasting in my early 20s, when I took a part-time job as an assistant to osteopath and naturopath, Greg Fitzgerald. I was halfway through a four-year Diploma of Naturopathy when I began working for Greg, but what I learned in his clinic shaped my subsequent practice more than anything I learned in naturopathic college.
Greg was an enthusiastic advocate of fasting, and after hearing some of the remarkable stories of recovery of his patients who used fasting as part of their treatment plans, I caught the fasting bug too.
Healthy, unmedicated people can safely fast at home for 3-5 days, provided they have conditions of rest. (I documented my own 5-day fast here.) But people with more complex health problems usually required longer fasts, and these should only be done under qualified supervision.
I’ve referred dozens of my clients for supervised fasting. Autoimmune diseases, allergies, high blood pressure, and chronic pain disorders (such as migraine and fibromyalgia) are some of the conditions that respond best to fasting, but there are many other states of dis-ease that can be reversed or greatly improved, with a properly-conducted fast.
Recently, one of my clients, Shareen, undertook a 12-day fast. She took up my suggestion to document her fast with gusto, and has published a blog post about her experience here.
I’m going to tease you with the first couple of paragraphs, and encourage you to click through and read the whole post.
My Fasting Experience
27/3/2024
I have been seeing a naturopath, Robyn Chuter, for a stubborn health issue for some time, and recently she suggested I might try a two-week water fast. At first, I was quite reticent about the idea, as was my husband – “I can’t believe you want to go away to starve yourself for two weeks!” – but after taking some time to get more information and sit with the idea I decided to go ahead. As my husband saw me off for my “health retreat” he wished me well, both of us thinking it was going to be quite the ordeal, perhaps one of the hardest things I had ever done, but I really wanted to do this for my health. The experience was so surprising and beneficial that I decided to share it with you.
What is fasting?
There are different types of fasts including juice fasts or reduced calorie fasts where calorie intake is kept below a certain level such as 250 calories per day. However most (extended) fasting practitioners define fasting as the complete abstinence from all substances except pure water.
“Fasting is defined as the complete abstinence from all substances except pure water, in an environment of complete rest.”
TrueNorth Health Centre
My fast was to be administered and supervised by Dr Doug Evans (DO), a qualified osteopath of 40 years and a fully certified member of the International Association of Hygienic Physicians for nearly 35 years, (as is Dr Alan Goldhamer, founder of True North Health Centre in Santa Rosa, California). All doctors in this organisation are trained to conduct medically supervised fasts, as well as provide specialized lifestyle management advice. Doug has over 35 years’ experience supervising fasting including 23 years at the former Hopewood Health Retreat.
Before the fast, I went to see a talk by Doug about fasting which helped reassure me that fasting was both natural and safe (under medical supervision). Over thousands of years all mammals, including humans, have adapted to be able to fast during periods of little or no food, without causing damage to their bodies. Those that individuals that were not able to survive these lean times died off and those that were able to survive, grew to reproductive age and this adaptive trait was passed on to their offspring. The body protects itself from damage to its organs and muscles (ie. from eating itself) by slowing metabolism and switching over to ketosis – a process whereby energy is generated from fat breakdown rather than sugar and protein. I have explained this in more detail below as this fascinating process occurred during my fast.
I hope you find this account of my fasting experience helpful.