A Testimony To The Profound Effects of Fasting
In this article I will be sharing the amazing results I experienced with fasting
What convinced me to fast?
Toxicity in the body is something that I had heard of before but never took seriously. Like many others, I used to be skeptical of holistic/homeopathic medicine and remedies due to my deep distrust for doctors. However, my brother Scott and I decided to explore the possibility and started listening to podcasts and reading articles on fasting and detox.
What caught my attention was the fact that chronic toxicity can lead to metabolic dysregulation - a disruption in the normal biochemical processes that occur within an organism's cells, tissues, and organs. This can happen due to various factors, including the accumulation of senescent cells - cells that have stopped dividing and growing due to damage to their DNA or other stressors. These cells are still metabolically active, but they no longer function properly and can even release harmful substances into their surroundings.
Senescent cells are often referred to as "zombie cells" since they float around in the body and take up nutrients without providing any value or function to the body. They also disrupt metabolic processes and contribute to various age-related diseases.
In Scott’s previous article, he discussed the two metabolic pathways mTOR and AMPK. This is the soundest understanding of the metabolism I have ever come across. We live in such abundance that we have literally failed to utilize the AMPK pathway. When we are eating constantly throughout the day, we are stimulating mTOR which is going to perpetuate the production of new cells. I believe that the massive accumulation of senescent cells can be due to this is constant overstimulation of mTOR.
There is a reason why we are built with the AMPK pathways - to induce autophagy, which is effectively a cleanup and recycling of the cells in the body. Our primal ancestors were likely stimulating AMPK pathways all the time, as food was not readily available in grocery stores like it is for us today. It was clear to me at this point that fasting was going to be an extremely effective tool in fighting my inflammation and chronic nerve pain. Up to this point, nothing had made more sense than this concept.
My Initial Experience With a 5-Day Fast
Scott and I started to collaborate and after he did his five-day fast, I said I would give it a try. It was tough, but mostly on the first day, after that my hunger completely subsided. I was a bit lightheaded and fatigued as the days went on. I noticed during the fast that my nerve pain was exasperated - my hypothesis is that the liberated toxins were irritating my already inflamed nerves. Come day five, the fatigue and lightheadedness subsided, and I knew I could go longer, but decided to break it anyway.
I was feeling great, but it felt like I only scratched the surface. I knew I could have kept going, but the cookies I got for myself as a reward for my efforts were tempting me, so I decided to stop. Which in hindsight was a terrible decision to break my fast with.
I knew that because I had more to give, I had to go again and this time for 10 days. For the next 2 weeks, I prepared myself for the fast by getting into ketosis with a strict ketogenic diet – toxins are highly present in the fat cells, so it is paramount to signal the body to break down fat cells going into the fast, which makes the detox much more effective.
The 10-Day Fast
On 2/3, I began priming my body for the fast with a strict ketogenic diet and adhered to an 18:6 intermittent fasting protocol and was eating about 1600-1800 calories per day in that 6-hour window.
If you begin the fast from a glucose burning state, you are going to slow down the detox process because the first two days or so your body will have to adapt to burning adipose tissue and getting into ketosis – so it is best to start the fast with that signaling already in place.
Physical Results and Overall Health Improvements
The first day was very difficult and I was very hungry. But hunger immediately subsided on day 2 and throughout the entirety of the fast, I was not hungry at all.
I was hyper focused and sharp. This makes sense from a primal standpoint because our body knows that we need to be sharp so that we can find food.
I was still getting quality exercise and did not lose any strength in the gym, although I admit the stair climber was a bit challenging on some days. A strong indicator of muscle loss is the loss of strength and I retained my strength for the entirety.
After taking the DEXA scan, I immediately went to my gym and took the InBody scan to see how it compared and it was very close but estimated my fat mass to be about 1lb more than the DEXA, so I believe it is safe to assume it is fairly accurate to track the changes.
Taken on 2/3:
Results:
From the InBody scan at my gym, it appears the bulk of my fat loss came in the last 5 days – and I could feel the changes happening in my body much more so than in the first 5 days. It is difficult to describe but I could feel the recycling happening. This is interesting because most of my exercise was in the first 5 days; I began to limit my exercise towards the end as I was starting to fatigue a little.
It appears I did rebound with some fat gain, but this is where I am unsure how well the InBody is at measuring food that is present in my digestive track and glycogen stores, so this is up for debate.
Day 8 was very difficult for me, and I almost quit, but I was able to get through it, by the grace of God, and day 9 and 10 were not difficult at all, I honestly could have kept going, but I had a company dinner the following week and wanted to enjoy myself and I wanted the reverse diet to be finished by then.
I successfully reverse dieted out of the fast without gorging myself with food and cookies this time and adhered to a ketogenic diet. On day 11, I ate about 500 calories, day 12 about 1000 calories, day 13 about 1500 and then after that I was able to return to my normal dieting.
I had a profound effect on my gut health. I experienced leaky gut for several years and after the fast my digestive system and gut biome completely changed. I now have very healthy bowel movements and it appears my leaky gut has been cured.
A lot of people in the fitness and bodybuilding community are hell-bent on constant feeding and argue that an absence of food is catabolic and a death sentence to the metabolism. I wanted to test this theory and got a Resting Metabolic assessment from the same clinic I got the DEXA scan, and it is supposedly very accurate.
It measures your oxygen intake and breathing to determine the number of calories you burn at rest. Prior to starting, my estimation was to take my basal metabolic rate, which is essentially calculated by multiplying your body weight by 10, so it was safe to say I was burning 1800 calories purely based on my body composition. Then you add the calories from moving around and basic day-to-day activities. Let’s just say an additional 100-300 calories, which puts me at a resting metabolic rate of 1900-2100 calories.
The RMR Assessment (taken two weeks after breaking my fast) came back at 1973 kcal – which confirms that fasting does not have a negative impact on your metabolism – albeit I did it correctly, most notably by entering the fast already in ketosis.
My nerve pain was significantly reduced at the end of this. I track my nerve pain on a scale of 0-10 daily and going into the fast it was consistently around 2-4, which was already a considerable improvement from January of 2022 where it was consistently around 6-10 and was excruciating at times.
But after the fast I have consistently been around 0-2, but rarely have I hit 2. Its been virtually non-existent except under stress it can present itself. But again, here is where the spiritual effect comes into play: when I feel the pain coming on, I am able to make a choice not to feel it. I have the power to mitigate it to some extent. I can’t completely extinguish it, but I have gained some control over it
Spiritual Effects of Fasting
I had a wonderful spiritual effect, that really heightened my control over the flesh. When you deny yourself the most essential necessity of the human body, food, you become more in touch with the spirit and reliance on God. “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” – Matthew 4:4
I must admit, I had been dealing with a bad attitude and outlook on life prior to starting my fast. I was in a really bad car accident last October that left me with a horrible concussion and herniated discs in my back. The past six months had been particularly challenging, and I had fallen into a negative mindset. However, those last five days of fasting had a profound effect on me, particularly on my mood. It was like the negative emotions I had built up were excreted from my body.
Interestingly, things that would have previously bothered me, such as the careless Texas drivers, had very little impact on my mood after the fast. It was quite remarkable, and I believe the spiritual effects played a significant role in this change. I now had more control over my reactions to the things that I encountered in life. I could choose not to let them impact my mindset.
The idea that the body can physically hold onto emotions is a serious possibility that I used to dismiss as something the new age "hippies" would say. However, after experiencing this change in myself, I am now more open to exploring this theory further. Fasting and detox appear to have benefits beyond just physical health, and I am excited to continue exploring these ideas.
Conclusion
Fasting has had a tremendous effect on my body and spirit. It strengthened my will and discipline. I gained control over my body instead of being subject to the cravings and desires of my flesh. I would absolutely recommend fasting to everyone, BUT it can certainly be dangerous and deleterious to your health if you do things improperly.
There is a very specific way you MUST go about this to achieve the results I did. It is also important to note that you will not likely have identical results to me – everybody is different and will react to this kind of stimulus as their epigenetics come into play.
I also incorporated several holistic technologies, such as Bio-Resonance therapy, foot detox and the HOCATT sauna, that are not readily available to everybody and undoubtedly played a role in this process. I also leveraged contrast therapy with my infrared sauna and cold plunge.
I am sharing my results as a testimony to the potential health benefits that fasting and detox may be able to offer you. In my next article and podcast, I will break down my protocol with Scott and discuss all the things I had to do to achieve these results.
UPDATE: YOU NEED TO TAKE BINDERS WELL PAST FINISHING YOUR FAST (1-2 months)!! I Unfortunately, I made the mistake of stopping them too soon and got a candida infection in my gut. When you fast, you are removing toxins and pathogens from the cells, and they flow into the gut. The binders latch on to the pathogens so they can be excreted, otherwise they are reabsorbed into the bloodstream. In my case, I likely had candida dumped into my gut and with no binders, it was able to grow out of control.