Fasting for three days can regenerate entire immune system, study finds

a reply to: Barcs

I'm with you barcs, started on a 7 day and ended up extending due to the enhanced benefits to 14, I may try the 21 day fast this year but the ultimate fast is the 40 day which is the fast Jesus, Mohammed both did. There are plenty video diaries of people who have done various levels of water fast and all of them talk about the benefits, not 1 have I found that was not positive.

a reply to: FlyersFan

No. Sugar is not a problem, in and of itself. Fruitarians are some of the healthiest people on the planet and they get more sugar than most processed food junkies eat. It's a common myth, propagated by Atkins-funded junk scientists like Robert Lustig, which has little to no basis in reality.

If you read the article, you'll note that they place a great emphasis on IGF-1 levels, which plummet during the fasting period. IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor) is a hormone which skyrockets after consuming animal-based products, and stimulates growth, as the name implies (Unrelated to this study, but IGF-1 is the strongest-known factor associated with cancer growth, almost certainly because of this function). If you're looking for a culprit here, that's far more likely. Vegans have extremely low IGF-1 levels naturally, so I doubt they would benefit as much from fasting if that is indeed the culprit here.

a reply to: Son of Will

You would think that, but a video was uploaded today from the water fasting channel I published earlier and the girl had been a raw vegan for 2 years and it wasn't until she water fasted that the biggest difference was made. So going raw is good for your health but water fasting is completely different. And you are spot on about sugars, natural sugars are fine it's refined that is bad.

a reply to: Indigent

Thanks for the articles, and thank everyone for the discussion. I've gone a day without food but never thought of the benefits it could kick start. So, officially, 5/14 will be when I start my 3 day water fast.

a reply to: Barcs

Ok thanks

I forgot to say I rarely get colds and flus.

No I wasn't withdrawing off anything. I just get a migraine if I haven't eaten yet, at that point I must find something to eat ASAP or the vomiting kicks in. I will vomit for about 14 hours straight. As a rule I don't each much, never have. Like I said this is not by choice though. Not trying to fast. I think I have a fast metabolism. At least that's what people tell me . I can eat the biggest plate of mashed potatoes you have ever seen! They ask how much do you want and I say keep going until it looks like mt baker & pour the gravy on until it's the Fraser river lol
I don't eat many deserts or fattening junk food.
I am now trying to put some weight on by eating more.

I was reading about Pythagoras and his early training in Egypt.

Arriving in Egypt, Pythagoras tried to gain entry into the Mystery Schools of that country. He applied again and again, but he was told that unless he goes through a particular training of fasting and breathing, he cannot be allowed to enter the school. Pythagoras is reported to have said, " I have come for knowledge, not any sort of discipline." But the school authorities said," we cannot give you knowledge unless you are different. And really, we are not interested in knowledge at all, we are interested in actual experience. No knowledge is knowledge unless it is lived and experienced. So you will have to go on a 40 day fast, continuously breathing in a certain manner, with a certain awareness on certain points." After 40 days of fasting and breathing, aware, attentive, he was allowed to enter the school at Diospolis. It is said that Pythagoras said,"You are not allowing Pythagoras in. I am a different man, I am reborn. You were right and I was wrong, because then my whole standpoint was intellectual. Through this purification, my center of being has changed.

Not only do you lose weight fasting, this explains the Hawass secrecy concerning the hidden doors in the great pyramid.

a reply to: Barcs

The problem is that the body does need calories, and it will take whatever nutrients it can take. If you are overweight and have a lot of fat then it would be safe to water fast for 2 weeks. It is safer to start a couple of days with a juice fast instead of going "cold turkey" from day one.

Even doing a juice fast will not cleanse your body of all toxins, more so because these days fruits and vegies have a trace amount of pesticides and other toxins. Hence water fast. Yes, I know that water from the faucet also has trace chemicals but by now most people should know that it is wise to use a good filter for your drinking water which would help a lot to get rid of trace chemicals that we don't want in our bodies.

Anyway, when the body doesn't have any more fat to burn, it will turn into eating itself such as your muscles and taking nutrients from other tissue and your bones, including your teeth. But again, this happens, and as you said it does depend on your metabolism, fat %, etc.

The timeframe in which you can water fast also depends on the daily activities that you do and what type of work you do. If you do sedentary work you can water fast longer than a person who has to stay very active to work or for daily activities.

For a person that is not overweight fasting for 2 weeks to a month is detrimental. You might think it is not but we are physical beings that need physical food with nutrients to not only survive, but to be healthy.

This is why it is my opinion that if you decide to fast it is better not to exaggerate. There is no real need to starve your body for more than a week or longer unless you are obese, and even then you have to be very careful and listen to what your body tells you.

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
a reply to: Barcs
For a person that is not overweight fasting for 2 weeks to a month is detrimental. You might think it is not but we are physical beings that need physical food with nutrients to not only survive, but to be healthy.

Sorry but I have to disagree with you there and I've agreed with everything you have posted so far, you certainly have the knowledge.
I am lean with body fat at around 10% constantly and have a very fast metabolism and I did it for 2 weeks with great results, you lose water weight in the 1st 7 days but after refeeding my weight had only dropped about 10 pounds in 2 weeks of fasting. My body fat had dropped by 1.3% in that time but I made sure I was resting lots because being active requires more energy but because I had low body fat and more muscle, it used more of my leg muscles than body fat because it was more efficient way of getting nutrients because I have large leg muscles from playing football (soccer for you yanks.)
So if you are less than 6% then yes I wouldn't recommend doing it for more than 2 weeks but anything over 10% you can quite easily do a 2 week fast with no health problems. In fact most of the videos I've watched on water fasting for health and not weight loss have all had relatively low body fat when they started.

Here's a video which explains how the body utilises whatever is most efficient for it's needs while fasting.

originally posted by: Arbitrageur

It's safe to say if you're getting less nutrients on a water fast you'll use up your reserves so I didn't need to see any source for that, it's the part about toxins which sounds like someone made up and posted on a website, and then people believe it because it's on the internet. Since you don't have a source I'll post this one:

Made up?... No... When you do water fasting you are not eating/drinking as many toxins/trace chemicals which cause damage to your body. As long as you are drinking filtered water which helps to get rid of toxins found in water from your faucet.

Toxins accumulate in your organs and other tissue, and in case you didn't know even your skin is an organ. In fact it is the biggest organ humans have. Toxins can and do accumulate in your skin, when you are water fasting, in a safe way, you are breaking down fatty tissue that has accumulated in your organs which in turn helps get rid of those toxins that have accumulated throughout your body, including your skin. Drinking lots of water also helps the body to get rid of toxins.

BTW, the article posted by the op is a source in case you didn't realize it.

If you want another source that shows fasting in a safe way is beneficial to your body here it is. But this time make sure you read it since in your response below you proved you did not even bother to read the article from the op as you claim the "opposite" to what the research and article from the op states...

Routine periodic fasting is good for your health, and your heart, study suggests

Date:

May 20, 2011

Source:

Intermountain Medical Center

Summary:


New evidence from cardiac researchers demonstrates that routine periodic fasting is good for your health, and your heart. The study found that fasting not only lowers one's risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes, but also causes significant changes in a person's blood cholesterol levels.

Fasting has long been associated with religious rituals, diets, and political protests. Now new evidence from cardiac researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute demonstrates that routine periodic fasting is also good for your health, and your heart.

Research cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute are reporting that fasting not only lowers one's risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes, but also causes significant changes in a person's blood cholesterol levels. Both diabetes and elevated cholesterol are known risk factors for coronary heart disease.

The discovery expands upon a 2007 Intermountain Healthcare study that revealed an association between fasting and reduced risk of coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death among men and women in America. In the new research, fasting was also found to reduce other cardiac risk factors, such as triglycerides, weight, and blood sugar levels.

The findings were presented on April 3, at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans.

"These new findings demonstrate that our original discovery was not a chance event," says Dr. Benjamin D. Horne, PhD, MPH, director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, and the study's principal investigator. "The confirmation among a new set of patients that fasting is associated with lower risk of these common diseases raises new questions about how fasting itself reduces risk or if it simply indicates a healthy lifestyle."
...
"Fasting causes hunger or stress. In response, the body releases more cholesterol, allowing it to utilize fat as a source of fuel, instead of glucose. This decreases the number of fat cells in the body," says Dr. Horne. "This is important because the fewer fat cells a body has, the less likely it will experience insulin resistance, or diabetes."

This recent study also confirmed earlier findings about the effects of fasting on human growth hormone (HGH), a metabolic protein. HGH works to protect lean muscle and metabolic balance, a response triggered and accelerated by fasting. During the 24-hour fasting periods, HGH increased an average of 1,300 percent in women, and nearly 2,000 percent in men.
...
Members of the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute research team included Dr. Horne, Jeffrey L. Anderson, MD, John F. Carlquist, PhD, J. Brent Muhlestein, MD, Donald L. Lappé, MD, Heidi T. May, PhD, MSPH, Boudi Kfoury, MD, Oxana Galenko, PhD, Amy R. Butler, Dylan P. Nelson, Kimberly D. Brunisholz, Tami L. Bair, and Samin Panahi.

www.sciencedaily.com...

Here is another example on the benefits of fasting.

Fasting can help protect against brain diseases, scientists say

Claim that giving up almost all food for one or two days a week can counteract impact of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

Robin McKie, science editor

The Observer, Saturday 18 February 2012 15.36 EST

Fasting for regular periods could help protect the brain against degenerative illnesses, according to US scientists.

Researchers at the National Institute on Ageing in Baltimore said they had found evidence which shows that periods of stopping virtually all food intake for one or two days a week could protect the brain against some of the worst effects of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other ailments.

"Reducing your calorie intake could help your brain, but doing so by cutting your intake of food is not likely to be the best method of triggering this protection. It is likely to be better to go on intermittent bouts of fasting, in which you eat hardly anything at all, and then have periods when you eat as much as you want," said Professor Mark Mattson, head of the institute's laboratory of neurosciences.

"In other words, timing appears to be a crucial element to this process," Mattson told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver.
...
Scientists have known for some time that a low-calorie diet is a recipe for longer life. Rats and mice reared on restricted amounts of food increase their lifespan by up to 40%. A similar effect has been noted in humans. But Mattson and his team have taken this notion further. They argue that starving yourself occasionally can stave off not just ill-health and early death but delay the onset of conditions affecting the brain, including strokes. "Our animal experiments clearly suggest this," said Matts

www.theguardian.com...

If you noticed in my first statement to this thread I stated that fasting for over a week is probably detrimental for most people, and in fact it is not necessary as it could cause more harm than good to a lot of people.

originally posted by: Arbitrageur

By the way that source agrees with the research that was cited in the OP that says fasting actually weakens the immune system, but a lot of attention-span challenged people who didn't read past the headline posting in this thread don't seem to acknowledge that fasting actually weakens the immune system. Yes the headline infers the opposite, but that's why it's misleading.

It certainly does not... It is obvious you didn't even bother to read the article from the op which says the contrary to what you claim...

From the article posted by the op, which states the contrary to your claim you can read.

...
Although fasting diets have been criticised by nutritionists for being unhealthy, new research suggests starving the body kick-starts stem cells into producing new white blood cells, which fight off infection.

Scientists at the University of Southern California say the discovery could be particularly beneficial for people suffering from damaged immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy.

It could also help the elderly whose immune system becomes less effective as they age, making it harder for them to fight off even common diseases.

The researchers say fasting "flips a regenerative switch" which prompts stem cells to create brand new white blood cells, essentially regenerating the entire immune system.
...

www.telegraph.co.uk...

You should make sure to read the article provided in a post before responding and claiming the contrary to what the article states...

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

For the most part, your post is accurate, however each individual human is different, so setting specific time frames on what is detrimental vs helpful doesn't tell the full story. That is why I feel people shouldn't go for time frame based or weight loss based goals, rather than listen to their body. If it runs out of fat reserves or completely cleanses, you'll know it right away. That's when true hunger kicks in. The body does get calories and nutrients from fat reserves however, so it shouldn't be an issue while water fasting.

Also to negate toxins in fruits, you can and should consume organic fruits in season, especially while juice fasting. And one thing that is HUGE, and I forgot to mention. Do not ever fast with tap water, unless you know that it doesn't have added chemicals. One of the goals of the fast should be to limit foreign substances during this time, and tap water has added chemicals, in many areas. Stick to quality spring water to be safe. Even most filters do not filter fluoride. I've heard of some people using distilled water, but it seems that can wash away your electrolytes. I use spring water that I bottle myself and is some of the best water I've had.

This is why it is my opinion that if you decide to fast it is better not to exaggerate. There is no real need to starve your body for more than a week or longer unless you are obese, and even then you have to be very careful and listen to what your body tells you.

I wasn't exaggerating, I was just sharing my experience. I did not once say that everybody should fast 2 weeks plus. I said it depends on the individual and many factors in his or her life. Saying that there is no real need, simply isn't true if you are doing it for healing purposes. You don't have be obese, you just can't be skin & bones. Quite often I fast for 7-10 days. I rarely go a full 2 weeks, it really depends on how I'm feeling, and if my healing / cleansing goals are met. I would like to try for a longer fast one day, as I have read about many benefits like sensory improvement for long term fasts.

Starvation is when the body runs out of fat and muscle to burn and begins to consume it's internal organs to sustain itself. Not once during any 2 week fast have I ever seen this happen. I'm sure it could if somebody has virtually no fat, but anybody with half a brain will be able to tell when this is happening because it will be obvious and painful.

a reply to: mclarenmp4

Can "some" people fast longer than a week? Yes, it is possible. But there is no real need to fast longer than a week unless you are overly fat. In general, for most people it is a bad idea to water fast as long as you state.

I have done intermittent water, and juice fasting over the years, and I found out that for me fasting longer than 7 days is a bad idea since my body was giving me warning signs.

You also do have to be very careful. Again, you as a physical being, need nutrients, and vitamins not found in water, and when you are starving your body for that long the body is eating itself and taking nutrients from your soft tissue and bones, including your teeth.

There have been people who have survived a fasting of a bit over 70 days, but was it safe? No, and in fact most of these people were forced to not eat due to economic or political reasons.

We agree on some things, but you seem unable to understand that you are a physical being, and as such you do need to eat, or at least drink juices that will provide you with nutrients and vitamins your body needs.

This is not a contest. You are playing with your life by fasting for so long.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

Not sure what your on about with the contest remark but I'll take the advice of someone who has run a fasting centre for over 8 years over someone I just met online.
I have been in contact with the centre and had full coaching throughout my experience and was taking blood tests, weight tests and BMI checks daily and reporting back to the centre my results.

Also regarding nutrients, I was drinking spring/mineral water and was taking nutrients and vitamins transdermally.

So I will respectfully have to disagree with you on that part of the subject and I can post plenty of videos of people who have taken 40, 70 & 90 day fasts with no issues.
I take my health very seriously so I wouldn't leap in to something that could cause permanent damage without fully doing my research. But thanks for the concern.

Here's a video of a woman who did 3 consecutive 40 day fasts, she didn't die btw.

And another who just finished a 40 day fast, looks very healthy.

originally posted by: mclarenmp4

...

Also regarding nutrients, I was drinking spring/mineral water and was taking nutrients and vitamins transdermally.

So I will respectfully have to disagree with you on that part of the subject and I can post plenty of videos of people who have taken 40, 70 & 90 day fasts with no issues.
I take my health very seriously so I wouldn't leap in to something that could cause permanent damage without fully doing my research. But thanks for the concern.

...

If you are taking nutrients and vitamins, etc, that is not water fasting, as for people having taken water fasts for 70 and 90 days without any issues, I do have a big issue with that claim because that can cause a lot of health problems on people who will believe what you say, and what people in videos claim and which is far from the truth.

When you are taking nutrients, and vitamin supplements it's pretty much juice fasting and not water fasting. You might not be eating anything solid, but it is not water fasting either. Those supplements and vitamins do have some man-made chemicals as well so you are not truly giving a break to your body as much as water fasting.

...Here's a video of a woman who did 3 consecutive 40 day fasts, she didn't die btw.

She might have not died, but that excessive water fasting, if she indeed was only water fasting, does have a lasting detriment to her health. In that video she states that she was feeling really bad, as she did the day before, and probably for a long time. She might even be doing a juice fast like you are by taking some nutrients and vitamin supplements.

Also, if you notice she is posting that video very early, at 3 am. That's another of the many problems when you water fast, and even juice fast excessively. You can't sleep for 8 hours, you become very lethargic, fatigued, and have a myriad of other warning signs in which your body is screaming at you that what you are doing is a detriment to your health.

Doing a 40, 70, and 90 days of only drinking water is not water fasting anymore, it is starvation to the extreme. BTW, if anyone told you that they were water fasting for 90 days and that they are fine, they are lying to you. The body pretty much shuts down at that stage and you die from cardiac arrest going 3 months without any food. There have been people who have died in less time, and most people would not be able to go without eating for that long.

BTW, have you even seen the pictures of Mahatma Gandhi after going on a 21 day fast of only drinking some water? That is truly water fasting.

I will give you another example. A Cuban political prisoner, Orlando Zapata, died of starvation after a hunger strike for a bit more than 80 days. Way before he died he was having a lot of health problems which is what happens when you take it to the extreme. He did it to protest, like Gandhi did.

There are people who have died in much less time than that and who were healthy before the hunger strike, or water fasting. There is no way that you can convince me that anyone can just water fast for 70-90 days with no long term health problems coming from such excessive starvation.

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
It certainly does not... It is obvious you didn't even bother to read the article from the op which says the contrary to what you claim...

From the article posted by the op, which states the contrary to your claim you can read.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

You should make sure to read the article provided in a post before responding and claiming the contrary to what the article states...

You need to keep reading. The immune system rebounds only after you start eating again, it is weakened while you are fasting. See this further in the article:

"When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed, especially those that may be damaged," Dr Longo said.

"What we started noticing in both our human work and animal work is that the white blood cell count goes down with prolonged fasting. Then when you re-feed, the blood cells come back. So we started thinking, well, where does it come from?"

Get it? Fasting destroys immune cells. If the destroyed immune cells were defective from Chemo, then the replacement cells that are created after you start eating again will be healthier.

But that's not while fasting, that's after the fast is over. While you're fasting it clearly says the immune system has fewer white cells, and that's what I was saying. Fewer white cells means a weaker immune system and the way this mechanism occurs is reinforced by the other source I cited, so they are consistent in agreeing that fasting weakens the immune system, while you're still fasting.

If you're not on chemo and have otherwise healthy white blood cells, then destroying the perfectly good cells to create new ones may have no benefit. That's why I said earlier in the thread it might be helpful if you're on chemo, but if you're not on chemo, it may do more harm than good by weakening the immune system, destroying perfectly good white cells for no reason.

ElectricUniverse, You might want to scroll up a little bit and check out my post right above yours. I think we posted near the same time and you missed it. I cleared up a few things. Even when you are fasting on strictly water, the body still gets nutrients from the fat it digests and it is more than enough to sustain you during that time. Taking extra nutrients shouldn't be necessary, but if you take them, they should be liquid. The key is liquid, because it gives your digestive system a rest. Digestion uses a lot of energy and it is constantly working when a normal diet is eaten. It is extremely beneficial to give it a rest. 2 weeks is nothing compared to the 20-40 years of nonstop digestion. Juice fasting is its own thing, separate from taking nutrients because you take in tons of carbs and ketosis does not start as a result. It's good if you are strictly cleansing, but you don't get nearly all the same benefits as you do from water fasting.

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
She might have not died, but that excessive water fasting, if she indeed was only water fasting, does have a lasting detriment to her health. In that video she states that she was feeling really bad, as she did the day before, and probably for a long time. She might even be doing a juice fast like you are by taking some nutrients and vitamin supplements.

What lasting detriment to her health are you referring to?

Also, if you notice she is posting that video very early, at 3 am. That's another of the many problems when you water fast, and even juice fast excessively. You can't sleep for 8 hours, you become very lethargic, fatigued, and have a myriad of other warning signs in which your body is screaming at you that what you are doing is a detriment to your health.

Nobody ever said that water fasting was easy. It's a challenge, yes, but suggesting any of the above is bad for your long term health or a serious problem is an exaggeration. Fasting is only a temporary process. Of course you are more lethargic. You aren't eating. You don't sleep 8 hours because your body saves so much energy from digestion, it doesn't need that much rest. Fasting is harsh and at first it is exhausting both physically and mentally.

Doing a 40, 70, and 90 days of only drinking water is not water fasting anymore, it is starvation to the extreme. BTW, if anyone told you that they were water fasting for 90 days and that they are fine, they are lying to you. The body pretty much shuts down at that stage and you die from cardiac arrest going 3 months without any food. There have been people who have died in less time, and most people .
would not be able to go without eating for that long.

I am skeptical of anything going longer than 40 days as well. I'm sure there are some people that can go longer, but I'd imagine you'd likely have little fat reserves left by the time most folks hit 40 days. I can't speak on it because I have never attempted longer than 2 weeks on water. I can see your concern with people on the internet trying it and potentially hurting themselves. Nobody should ever attempt something like a 40 day fast unless they are an avid disciplined faster. It is far safer to start with something like a 5 day fast and see how it goes.

And obviously, ALWAYS see a professional, FIRST. Don't just go out on your own willy nilly unless you thoroughly research it. Most of the time when I see or hear about folks having trouble with water fasts, it is user error. They either don't drink enough water, smoke cigarettes, take in other substances into the body, drink tap water, exercise, mix in some coffee, binge eat and then start again, didn't ween off meds, didn't ease into the fast, ate mostly junk food prior, etc etc. It is a very delicate process. Many folks don't realize you need to drink half your body weight in ounces per day while fasting, ex if you weigh 200, drink 100 ounces of water, around 8 glasses. Normally you don't need to drink that much because you get a lot of water in food. Exercise is bad. You should be lethargic and do little physical activity to optimize the extra energy for cleansing and healing.

The human body is amazing and it evolved to be this exact way. It stores excess energy/calories as fat reserves, which is meant for emergency use. When your body goes into survival mode (no food for 3+ days) it can live off of that same reserve. Animals fast as well, some intentionally (ie bears in the winter), and some as a reaction to an illness or health problem. It's programmed into our genetics, we should take advantage of it.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

Do you not like reading or do you not know what the word transdermal means? That means through the skin not orally & unless magnesium chloride flakes straight from the dead sea are full of chemicals then you are speaking the proverbial. Besides you don't really need to intake nutrients as the breakdown of fat and muscle supply those needed nutrients anyway.
I chose to take nutrients in through my skin because there was no harm in it.

A lot of people do consecutive 40 day fasts after refeeding for a week and the reference to 90 days was in extreme cases and I wouldn't recommend anyone doing longer than a week without supervision from an experienced faster.

But it can be done.

90 Day Fasts

The longest fast I ever supervised was a 90 day water fast on an extraordinarily obese woman, who at 5" 2" weighed close to 400 pounds.

Another client I fasted for 90 days was a 6" 1" tall, chronic schizophrenic man who weighed in at 400 pounds.

The average ATSer that wants to try fasting is going to have problems until their body adjusts to ketosis.
If you feel you need to eat don't give up completely just try a low carb meal like soy milk or eggs.
Cycling some carbs in every week or so will help you if you plan on maintaining an active lifestyle.
200 grams of carbs once a week doesn't take you out of ketosis for long if you are getting physical activity.
40 day water fast sounds difficult, they didn't have such tempting advertisements to lure you back in the old days.
The Human brain prefers sugar/glycogen for fuel so extreme fasting sounds like putting a patient into an induced coma.

(edited)

originally posted by: Arbitrageur


Get it? Fasting destroys immune cells. If the destroyed immune cells were defective from Chemo, then the replacement cells that are created after you start eating again will be healthier.
...

While fasting yes, the immune system is weaker, but the overall effect while making a water fast of 3 days or so, and not the extreme starvation other people do, is a strengthened immune system.

originally posted by: Arbitrageur
..
If you're not on chemo and have otherwise healthy white blood cells, then destroying the perfectly good cells to create new ones may have no benefit. That's why I said earlier in the thread it might be helpful if you're on chemo, but if you're not on chemo, it may do more harm than good by weakening the immune system, destroying perfectly good white cells for no reason.

The way you wrote your statement seemed to imply that you think that the final result of a 3 day water fast is a weaker immune system.

We can agree that we both know that during a water fast the immune system is weakened, which is why people with a compromised immune system shouldn't do a water fast.

However, even if the person who does a 3 day water fast was not going through therapy the overall result of a 3 day water fast is a stronger immune system and getting rid of most, if not all toxins from your body.

You don't have to be extremely sick, as in just being a cancer patient undergoing chem therapy, to get good results from a properly done 3 day water fast. Even if it is just to get rid of most, if not all toxins from your body a 3 day water fast will do that plus strengthen your immune system.