Green Tea and Water Fasting? Safe?!
Question: Ok so Iike a lot of people keep saying that fasting is really bad for you and all, well I got on this health site and some of the docs on there said it was actually good to do a fast at least three times a year... it said you would have such great health that no excersise program would even be able to achieve... Ok so I am starting one it's mostly for like cleansing and detoxifying if I did this fast for 11 days would I lose weight? I don't really need to but if I did, about how much do you think people realy lose when fasting? It cant be that bad can it? Well it's green tea and water fasting so that should be pretty healthy right?
Answers: Ok so Iike a lot of people keep saying that fasting is really bad for you and all, well I got on this health site and some of the docs on there said it was actually good to do a fast at least three times a year... it said you would have such great health that no excersise program would even be able to achieve... Ok so I am starting one it's mostly for like cleansing and detoxifying if I did this fast for 11 days would I lose weight? I don't really need to but if I did, about how much do you think people realy lose when fasting? It cant be that bad can it? Well it's green tea and water fasting so that should be pretty healthy right?
Hi, I picked up a book by Dr Andrew Weil "Natural Health, Natural Medicine". If you want to lead a health life, this is THE book to buy, its very well written. Look for it on Amazon.
It covers the A-Z of health, including preventative maintenance (i.e what to eat, drink, breathing, relaxation, habits, etc) and explains in interesting detail what and why these issues are important. This is the book where I read about FASTING which got me to do some further reading about it on the internet.
I drink lots of green tea (and jasmine) myself as it is healthy, antioxidants, etc, which is why when i googled "fasting + green tea", i saw your question.
I saw someone else write about green tea as being high in flouride and to be careful about that. I then googled green tea and flouride and found an answer by Dr Andrew Weil. He doesn't mention flouride and fasting, though, personally I'd be careful about green tea (much as I love it) as it is a diuretic and contains large amounts of flouride (we're trying to detox, remember...!) so personally, I'd skip the green tea. Or perhaps a cup a day, but drink tons of water with it as well. I am no doctor, so use caution, and if not sure, just stick to the water, no tea! Perhaps best to leave tea out. Your call.
Other tips from what I've read about fasting on the internet myself, and what I intend to do for my FIRST FAST (which started back on saturday):
- Do it for three days to start off with. 11 days will probably be quite tricky physically and mentally, though I don't know you or your regime... This is your first fast - if it goes well, then try another longer fast in a few weeks. It would be best to finish your fast on a good note after 3 days, rather than feeling pain / weakness after 11 days.
- Drink juice for 2 out of 3 days BEFORE and AFTER the fast.
- Drink at least 2 litres of water a day whilst fasting. In fact, its always good to drink two litres of water a day. Try and make it distilled, spring or filtered.
- Many people do juice fasts. If you are going to do a juice fast, keep it to either fruit or veg, don't mix the two. Don't use anything that has been cooked, either.
Reasons for doing juice fasts include giving you more energy to go about your daily business and stick to fasting with water on the weekends when you are taking things a bit easier.
- When you do finish your fast, start back on light meals, no fats or meats for a few days as it'll take your body a while to get back into the swing of things, especially your guts!
Good luck!
REMEMBER: This advice is only what I have read myself and I cannot accept any responsibility for it. Having said that, I am going to follow it myself.... :-)
Yes, but not too long.
No.
11 days is too long. after a week, the organs start to consume themselves.
3 days is the maximum length for a healthy fast.
i'm not a professional or anything but i know some people fast for churches and things like that. it doesnt really harm you, but i wouldn't recommend it if you're trying to lose weight. if you fast for a few days your metabolism will drop because you aren't eating anything and you will gain water weight. once your fast is over and you begin to eat again your metabolism will still be slow so you won't burn things as fast and you will gain the weight back very fast and still have the water weight, which will result in you ending up with more weight that you even started with.
Don't do it for 11 days, you'll feel SO hungry, just do it for 3 - 7 days. Fasting is actually not bad with green tea and water since it flushes your body out, and it cleanses. Just remember a human can go only about a week without water.
I totally agree with Jay. 11 days is way too long for an unsupervised fast. Check out some bona fide health sites for advice if you want to do this. Try the Mayo clinic site.