Before you freak out, no, I did not water fast for 30 days in 1 session. What I experimented with was 5 water-fasting sessions of 6+ days & 1 session of 6-day green juice fasting in the past 3 years. So basically I experienced water fasting 5 times for at least 6 days each time and one session with green juices.

  • Session 1 (Winter Time) – 6 Days – Green Juice Fasting + 4 days of refeeding
  • Session 2 (Summer Time) – 7 Days – Water Fasting + 4 days of refeeding
  • Session 3 (Autumn Time) – 4 Days – Water Fasting + 2 days of refeeding
  • Session 4 (Winter Time) – 6 Days – Water Fasting + 4 days of refeeding
  • Session 5 (Summer Time) – 6 Days – Water Fasting + 4 days of refeeding
  • Session 6 (Winter Time) – 7 Days – Water Fasting + 5 days of refeeding

I wanted to write this article only after I had collected sufficient personal experience to be able to form a practical opinion based on the experiential takeaways over the past years. Besides the practical experience what is important to mention is that I studied some of the most respected authorities in both fasting & longevity areas so I did do it without proper documentation on the potential outcomes.

Here are the questions you are going to discover in this article:

  1. Why did I do it? What were the health benefits?
  2. What were the challenges?
  3. How was the experience, what did I drink?
  4. How does your mental state change?
  5. How does your emotional state change?
  6. How does your cravings change?
  7. Refeeding – What mistakes did I make?
  8. How can you do it safely?
  9. Did I exercise during the process?
  10. Is it different for women compared to what men experience?

Now let’s dive in!

1) Why did I do it?

To access autophagy & deep healing on a cellular level.

The word autophagy comes from the Greek roots: “auto-” (αὐτο-) meaning “self.” + “phagy” (-φαγία) derived from “phagein” (φαγεῖν) meaning “to eat.” Together, autophagy literally translates to “self-eating.”

This reflects the process by which cells break down and recycle their own components to maintain health and adapt to stress. The term was first introduced in the scientific context in the 1960s by Belgian biochemist Christian de Duve, who discovered lysosomes and recognized their role in autophagy. (*Source here). AUTOPHAGY = autophagosome + lysosome.

AUTOPHAGY is the body’s natural way of cleaning out damaged cells and recycling their parts to keep things running smoothly. It kicks in during times of stress, like fasting or when the body isn’t getting enough nutrients. In this process, the damaged material in cells is wrapped up in a special “clean-up bag” called an autophagosome, which then merges with a lysosome—a kind of recycling center in the cell. The lysosome breaks down the waste into reusable building blocks, helping to repair cells, save energy, and keep the body healthy. This process is essential for staying healthy, slowing aging, and preventing diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer, and chronic inflammation.

Specialists estimate that on average, autophagy starts somewhere after 72 hours of water fasting.

1) What were the health benefits?

  1. Great Blood Test results (I did them before and after fasting)
  2. Rejuvenated Skin – Your skin gets really soft and clean. (In the first couple of days, however, due to detox, you might see some reactions on your skin such as pimples.)
  3. Improved Insulin Sensitivity
  4. Lower Metabolic Age
  5. Dopamine Detox (helps your mental health)

2) What were the challenges? 

  • Lack of motivation
  • Headaches & sweating
  • Hunger in the first sessions

1) Lack of motivation – The biggest challenge was the decreased dopamine. Especially in the very first experience the lack of motivation that comes with the fact that your dopamine intake decreases a lot. Yes, we put a lot of dopamine in our brains through eating every day. It feels like you have so much time on your hands when you’re not eating and yet it might seem difficult to find the motivation to do anything.

What I can tell is that with each session this particular challenge changed a lot. This year, for example, I was more productive and efficient due to the fact that while fasting, my mental clarity was crisp and sharp. So I put all of the extra time into focused work.

2) Headaches & sweating – I only experienced heavy headaches & sweating in my first water-fasting 7-day session and it happened BECAUSE before jumping into fasting I did not do the proper preparation which implies:

  • Get rid of all carbs (pasta, pastries, rice, wheat & etc.) – at least 2 weeks before.
  • Get rid of sugars – at least 2 weeks before.
  • Get rid of alcohol – at least 2 weeks before. (Alcohol turns into sugar into your body)
  • Switch fully into keto foods – at least 1 week before.
  • Getting electrolytes – during the fast

Now, after almost 2.5 years since I removed sugars & carbs almost completely from my meals, I can dive into water fasting more easily. If your body already functions on fat, it becomes easier to handle water-fasting.

However, it’s important to acknowledge that when you do prolonged water fasting, there is almost always that one day (for some is the 3rd, for some the 2nd or 4th), when your body might feel more weakened than the rest of the days – that is when your glycogen reserves finish and your body starts to burn fully fat.

3) Hunger – is a symptom which usually is more pregnant in the first 1-2 days of water fast and is mostly your body’s coping mechanism to the sudden deprivation of nutrients.

The most amazing discovery (up to this day) is the blissful state which I experienced in my body after Day 4th of water fasting – an absolute state of mental serenity, peace, without any hunger and no pain at all. 

It’s a feeling that keeps coming in every session, what is different is the day that it appears. Sometimes it happens on day 4, sometimes on day 5.

3) How was the experience/ What did I drink?

  • The first experience was difficult became it became easier with each session. When you observe how your body reacts to the process and understand that is not the food depletion that is hard to handle but the dopamine you start taking back the control of your own mind & body. You might be amazed at what uncharted strength your body & minds hold!
  • It’s like you’re doing mental training – it gets easier because you learn how to handle it better.
  • Timing is important – I would say that probably the most important aspect of the whole equation was not to do it during very stressful times. You need your body to be rested to take over the challenge. This is the reason why It might work better if you do prolonged water fasting after a few days off/ a vacation.

What I drank:

  • Mineral water – Your body will need the minerals in the mineral water
  • Mineral water with lemon squeezed juice & Himalayan salt (It’s natural electrolytes) and helps with headaches. Your headaches are due to a lack of electrolytes.
  • Plain Black Coffee
  • Plain Green /Black Tea

4) How did your mental state change? You notice increased focus & prolonged mental clarity after 3 to 4 days. I would say that I have strengthened my mindset a lot during these experiments. Seeing you can discipline your body & mind to go over this it’s a great exercise to strengthen your motivation & drive, no matter what you do on a daily basis. It’s not easy, but as long as you go over to that particular day when your body switches on fat burning, the sky is the limit.

5) How did your emotional state change? You get cranky, especially in the first days, it would be a lie to say that you transform into Yoda while water fasting. No, especially in the first 1 to 3 days, you might be more irritable – but it’s not necessarily due to lack of nutrition but because of the lack of dopamine. It’s your brain that dictates the mood. It’s the neurotransmitters. But then it gets easier, especially from day 3. (At least in my case).

6) How did my cravings change? They started to fade away, but NOT just due to fasting. What fasting does great is regulate your insulin levels. And yes, it does help reduce cravings (if you are not watching recipes on YouTube every day).

Cravings have been a part of my life for many years. I used to be a dessert lady. I used to crave sweets every single day, I used to eat meat very rarely and feel like I cannot take a focus-meeting longer than 2 hours without eating something. God, I used to think that I was eating heatlhy just because I was eating salads, when all I was doing was skyrocketing my sugar levels with pastries and fruit juice.

But then I read Gluccose Revolution and my perspective on sugar changed forever.

A few more books & documentation followed afterward, I started to monitor my glucose levels and noticed what dishes served me glucose spikes. It was absolutely crazy to see a 220 glucose spike for a pasta dish with tomato sauce when my steady glucose levels were 80! That was just the first part of the story, the sugar drop that followed was even harder to handle. In 30 minutes after the spike I experienced a drop from 220 to 60 units in glucose. I felt completely depleted and sick. Seeing it’s believing.

“Then slowly, but driven I switched from eating pasta, Asian food, salads, and pastries to eating a 90% protein diet. No more pasta, rice or sugar, but lots of pork chops, beef, fish, eggs, butter & vegetables.
Dessert for me, today, is 100% almond butter/ yogurt & raspberries/blueberries, or 100% cocoa chocolate. I sometimes eat sweet desserts, when I indulge in a special celebration but otherwise, my body is just not requiring them anymore and THAT FEELS GREAT!

I could have not believe it that I would not have sweet cravings anymore.

It feels really good to be able to sustain prolonged focus & stable energy without feeling the need to snack on something sweet. Besides the cravings, removing sugar from my diet, cured my skin problems & acne.

7) Refeeding – What mistakes did I make? 

There are a few rules when you water fast and the most important is that the refeeding period should be half the number of days in which you fasted. Why? Because during water fasting all the good microbes in your gut die and you have to repopulate them – slowly and very carefully. Otherwise, one of the biggest risks is the refeeding syndrome.

The refeeding syndrome results from a sudden shift in electrolytes and fluids as the body switches from a fasting state to an eating state.

How does it happen? During fasting the body depletes its reserves of essential nutrients like phosphate, potassium, and magnesium.

  1. Sudden Reintroduction of Food: Eating, especially carbohydrate-rich foods, triggers insulin release, which causes cells to absorb glucose and electrolytes from the blood.
  2. Electrolyte Imbalance: The increased demand for phosphate, potassium, and magnesium to process food can deplete blood levels of these minerals, leading to dangerous imbalances.
  3. Symptoms of Refeeding Syndrome: Mild: weakness, fatigue, nausea, or bloating. Dangerous: Heart problems (arrhythmias, heart failure), breathing difficulties (due to low phosphate levels affecting diaphragm muscles), Neurological issues (confusion, seizures, or coma).

In order to make sure the refeeding process slowly repopulates your microbiome, I planned the refeeding process in a 5-day timeline (for a7-day water-fast):

  • Day 1: Broccoli Soup (nothing else but broccoli, no butter, no oil, nothing else but salt)
  • Day 2: Add Green Juices for pre-biotics (celery/ onions/ parsley/ garlic/ lemon)
  • Day 3: Add Bone Broth / Avocado Mashed with salt, onions & lemon/ Kimchi
  • Day 4: Add Salads / Kefir
  • Day 5: Add Eggs / Yogurt
  • Day 6: You can add Meat

One of the big refeeding mistakes I made happened in my 5th session of water fast. It was the 2nd day of refeeding and instead of eating the usual broccoli soup, I ordered lentil soup from a restaurant. Very bad mistake.

Why? First, because lentil is waaaay too high in carbs for the 2nd day of refeeding. 100g of lentil has 2.2g of fat, 59g of Carbohydrates, 10.8g of Fibre, and 25g of Protein. Not ok. Moreover, because restaurants do not cook lentil soup plain, they add flour, cream, and sugar, the soup I had was nothing but bad for my gut. By the next morning, my skin had a huge reaction to it.

8) How did I do it safely?

  1. I first experimented with green juices. Making juices of celery/parsley/cucumbers & grapefruit. Not that great because when you drink juices that are sweetened by fruit is like kryptonite for your glucose. So if you do decide to start with a juice detox – do it without fruits. It’s highly important!
  2. I kept drinking mineral water with Himalayan salt to keep my electrolytes in balance
  3. I rested when my body needed the rest. Sleep is very important during water fasting. Keep in mind to avoid doing it in really stressful times. Your body will need more rest to handle the nutrition depletion.

9) Did I exercise during the process?

Yes. Across the multiple sessions, I sometimes ran/ sometimes went to the gym, or simply walked. Not always. It’s important to keep in mind that when your body runs out of glycogen it will start consuming your muscle mass so if you want to keep that muscle mass, it’s advisable that you don’t do hard workouts during your water fast. Some people take amino acids and do workouts. It’s your choice, just make it informed.

10) Is it different for women compared to what men experience?

Yes! If you are a woman I highly recommend you read Fast like a Girl by Dr. Mindy Pelz.

Fasting creates hormonal imbalances and I learnt only somewhere about my 4th fasting session that there are certain times during a month when as a woman my body supports me to fast. The first day of your cycle is the perfect day to start your water fast. Never the week before.

Water fasting has been a transformative journey for me. While it’s not without challenges preparation and mindfulness made each session more manageable. The whole experience can be extremely powerful if your intention to heal, learn, and rejuvenate is strong. 🙂

SPECIALISTS WHO DOCUMENTED WATER FASTING:

  1. Dr. Alan Goldhamer – founded TrueNorth Health Center – a clinic that supervises prolonged water fasts.
  2. Dr. Mindy Pelz
  3. Dr. Eric Berg DC
  4. Dr. Sten Ekberg
  5. Dave Asprey

BOOKS ON HEALTH, FASTING & LONGEVITY:

  1. The glucose Revolution / Jessie Inchauspe
  2. Outlive Peter / Attila
  3. David Sinclair / Lifespan
  4. Oameni Ultraprocesati / Chris Van Tulleken
  5. Smarter not Harder / Dave Asprey
  6. Fasting Guide for Women / Dr. Mindy Pelz
  7. Bulletproof Diet / Dave Asprey
  8. SuperHuman/ How to Age Backwards / Dave Asprey
  9. Biohack like a woman / Aggie Lal
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