Some general advise please

[Neil]

Hi everyone, excited to be here and to be venturing into another fast. I have done a couple of short ones before, and one five day fast. Would like to do another five day or longer fast. I have a couple of questions first if anyone has advice.

Firstly, I know I did the five day fast poorly, I only had water, did not supplement anything (like sodium). I have seen some great advice here and elsewhere online and now know the importance of at least keeping up my sodium intake.

On the fifth day of that fast I started getting a racing heart feeling, felt like my blood pressure was through the roof, it was not a nice feeling and prompted the end of that fast. Although other than that feeling I also felt great, like euphoric, a ton of energy, focused, motivated.

My question is what parts of this are normal and expected and what is not. Also to expand on that, are there any warning signs one should watch out for when fasting, that should prompt ending the fast or even seeking medical attention?

Beyond that, I am trying to heal my gut after years of eating foods I have intolerance to. I am confident past fasts have helped by giving everything a break, this time round I want to include some supplements, any thoughts on the below items.

1. Multi vitamins
2. Wheat grass
3. Apple cider vinegar
4. Probiotics

Link below to the probiotics, a lot in these but assume its ok.

https://www.vitalhealthnz.com/good-green-stuff.html

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Neil

[Cate_Alexandra]

Hi there we are on our own fasting journeys for the same reasons.
Allergies.

So first things first the racing heart and high blood pressure… Not normal. A little Himalayan salt and lo-salt (sodium and potassium) is needed you did right to stop if you weren’t prepared for supplementing.
In the first five days you should notice a gradual decline in you resting heart rate and lower blood pressure. If you don’t your potassium wasn’t high going into the fast and as we can’t store alot of these three elements it is advisable to take them if you want a fast which isn’t hard work, exhausting and stressful due to feeling unwell and not being sure your doing the right thing.

For shorter fasts of 5-10 days you should be fine taking your supplements. But do bare in mind it is not complete gut rest.

A gut rest fast is water, herbal tea (No fruit). (sodium, potassium, magnesium)

Personally I have tried including basic supplements, lemon and ginger water, veg stock and I’m just not finding my gut is getting enough rest even on a 21day fast.
My digestion did slow down (finally!! from 8hour transit to 14-20) but my stomach was just sore during rhe fast and during the refeed. When a 30day clean water fast last year… I came back to eating and it was a much better experiance than this time round.
But I have also failed on my last three refeed to avoid cross contamination so I’m heading into another fast.

The four supplements your asking about if I were you I would introduce early on during the refeed, I use ACV and multi vit as soon as I begin refeed. I have no experience with Wheatgrass and I’m unsure of the merits of probiotics but I’m firmly behind prebiotics. The green stuff looks like another product called athletic greens and I have been wondering the same as you as to weather to include that during my refeed… So I would say give it a go… See how you get on

[Neil]

Thanks that is great advice. I will rethink the extra supplements as resting my gut is an important aspect of this, it makes sense to rest and introduce the extra supplements in the final days.

Glad for the reassurance re the racing heart, I didn’t think it was normal and glad I stopped. This time around I’m feeling confident that sodium, P and M will avoid that.

Any experience on the excess energy, the clarity of thought and general feeling of euphoria? While it feels good it still worries me a little as I know your body can put you in a nice state when its actually in ready bad condition…

[Cate_Alexandra]

No concerns for me.
I hit a very euphoric state at 21 days last year.
You just have to be aware of yourself and not do too much as you still have limited energy.
Im rubbish at this, you can push through and pass out or do waay too much and get hit by fatigue in the days that follow.

You have to consider what you are actually doing and what your body is doing… You are entering a period of less… So the bodies natural response is to highten your senses, sense of smell, sound, sensation will all be heightened. It’s to improve tracing water sources, hunting, foraging, survival. If you can be awake for longer, walk further ect there is more chances of survival in the wild.

Your body is not in a bad state but rather in an optimal state for healing and rest. All the time you have excess body fat your fine. As it’s simply a shift of fuel sources from nutrional intake to fat burn. We store fat to burn in times of less such as winter.

There are plenty of people who water only fast without supplementation under medical supervision, they push through the heart palpitations, fatigue, muscle pain and rest.
Those under medical supervision only have their vitals checked a couple of times a day and their bloods several times a week. This is more for research purposes. If you feel unwell and don’t wish to rest and see how you feel the next day, you can always break-fast there is no shame in breaking early.

[Neil]

Thanks heaps Cate, feeling more confident now knowing more about what to expect.

[Cate_Alexandra]

So long as you stay on top of your SPM you should feel fine, just pace yourself stay hydrated and you’ll hopefully find it a centering and healing experience