10 Day Water Fast & Weight Loss

Water fasting has proven to be loaded with benefits, the most obvious of which is weight loss. But it also carries concerns about the health advantages and risks involved.

Planning

• An extended fast requires a great deal of focus and energy, so it should be undertaken at a relatively calm time in your life. Fasting expert Ron Lagerquist recommends drinking raw juices for several days before a lengthy fast.

What to Expect

• At the beginning of a fast, toxins enter the bloodstream. These, combined with a lack of food, generally produce feelings of hunger, dizziness, nausea and fatigue. Fasting may also prompt bad breath and body odor for a few days.

Weight Loss

• While undistracted by digestion, the body focuses nearly all its energy on burning fat stores. Although weight loss during a fast varies by person, experienced faster Claudette Freeman says most people lose 20 pounds during the first week and 1 to 2 pounds a day after that.

Other Health Benefits

• Fasting also helps with conditions such as type II diabetes, joint pain, urinary tract infections, acne, liver and kidney disease and depression.

People Who Shouldn't Fast

• People who are anorexic, bulimic, pregnant, anemic, and those with certain rare genetic diseases should not fast.