Fast – Day 1, 8 AM Paciifc Time

I am going to begin each day with a review of the physiological state of the body for the particular day of the fast and then get more personal with how I am feeling.

Physiology of Fasting Day 1

Definition of Fasting

The voluntary abstinence from all food and drink, except water, as long as the nutritional reserves of the body are adequate to sustain normal function. This is a state of relative physiologic rest. (Joel Fuhrman, MD. Fasting and Eating for Health. 1995 St Martin’s Press, 8-9)

The human body has been designed to fast safely because of biochemical changes that occur when fasting. These changes allow the body to fuel itself by burning fat reserves and conserving its vital tissues.

Glucose is normally our primary form of energy. Most of this is extracted from the food we eat. During the day the liver stores excess sugar in as glycogen that can be used between meals. This energy source is exhausted within the first 24 hours of fasting. So during this first day of fasting the body is still using its glycogen stores to produce glucose for energy. When this store runs out, the body then begins to utilize muscle tissue to make glucose because glucose can be manufactured from the amino acids in our muscles. This typically occurs during day 1 and 2 of a fast. If a total fast continues, however, to avoid continued utilization of muscle tissues the body adapts and the liver begins generating large quantities of ketones from the body’s fat stores. This is the key that makes fasting a therapeutic process. But more on this over the next few days as I enter that phase.

Personal Status

For those of you who have fasted for religious reasons (Yom Kippur, for example) haven’t you sometimes felt – “if only I could drink some water today it wouldn’t be so bad?” Well that is exactly my experience right now. Its not too bad because I can drink as much water as I desire.

So I am feeling fine at this point. Trying to drink as much water as possible and I am busy working on my computer, keeping up with e-mails from work and catching up on my writing.

A doctor does rounds everyday between 7:30 AM and 8:00 AM to check vital signs and does a history and gets a urine sample.  Pulse and blood pressure were fine and I did lose 1.5 pounds already.

Last night I watched a movie “We are Marshall” – nice movie. Today I get to follow all of the last minute baseball trades with the deadline today at 4 PM ET.

I have two lectures to go to here at True North, one at 10 AM and the other at 2:30. I also have treatment scheduled for 2 PM for my chronic stiff neck.

I will be back later with my evening update.

Arrival at True North Health

The trip went well today with the plane actually arriving 15 minutes early. I checked in at about 1 PM and I have already been examined by the doctor and I have had blood drawn.

Here are some pictures of my home for the next 3 weeks.

This is the courtyard of the facility and you can see the balcony of my room on the far right hand side of the photo on the second floor.

Courtyard

The picture below is an example of the room itself. I have a private room with big screen TV, wireless internet and my own balcony and ALL OF THE WATER I CAN DRINK!

Bedroom

The weather here is beautiful, about 80 and low humidity today.

Just got the word from the doctor – my fast has officially started

Last Few Days Before the Fast

In contrast to the advice I received from my friend Zach, I am not eating ice cream, chocolate, and pizza before the fast begins. Rather, I have been following the prescribed program to prepare the body for the upcoming fast.

1) 7-10 days before the fast, fruit, salad, steamed vegetables, rice and other grains, beans, and nuts.

2) 3-4 days before the fast fruit, salad, steamed vegetables only (no salad dressing , oil, or salt)

So I have been eating fruit, salad, steamed vegetables since Sunday and I am now packing for the trip to Santa Rosa, CA. My flight leaves tomorrow morning at 7:45 AM.

Good news! I just found out that I have been upgraded to first class on my US Airways flight. That will make the long flight more tolerable.

I will arrive at the True North center in the afternoon and the staff physician will then examine me and prepare me for the fast beginning on Thursday.

More tomorrow.

Medically Supervised Therapeutic Fast: Why?

Dr. Alan Goldhamer discusses the physiological benefits of fasting.
“Fasting can be thought of as a period of profound rest, during which time your body is free to rapidly undertake a wide variety of beneficial physiological activities, some of which are described below.”

Most people who decide to fast make the decision because they have manifest clinical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disorders, and arthritis. I do not have any medical problems at this time, but I have a strong family history of cardiovascular problems and I am hoping that the fast will allow me to eliminate any sub-clinical cardiovascular problems.

In an article published in 2002 (Goldhamer AC, Douglas LJ, Sultana P, et al. Medically Supervised Water-Only Fasting in the Treatment of Borderline Hypertension. J Alternative and Compl Med 2002;8: 643–650) state that “The present effort suggests that a prolonged water-only fasting experience followed by a plant-based diet, low in fat and sodium, may substantially resolve subclinical abnormalities that result in elevated risk of stroke, congestive heart failure, and other common pathologies.”

My hope over the next few weeks is that this fast will help to resolve subclinical cardiovascular abnormalities.

Medically Supervised Therapeutic Fast: Background

I decided to write this blog for three reasons.

1) Although my family is very supportive, many of my friends seems quite nervous about the fast and I know they question my decision to go ahead with it.

2) I anticipate that the process may be quite interesting on a day-to-day basis and I want to be able to write about my experiences so that in the future I have something to look back on to remember the experience.

3) I was hoping to find a blog with someone’s day-to-day experiences, but was unable to find one. I hope this blog will help people in the future who are contemplating a therapeutic fast.

I hope that this blog will help my family and friends feel more comfortable knowing how I feel on a daily basis. My goal is to blog twice a day; once in the morning and evening of each day.