Hello everyone, this post is in response to a question I received on my blog.  I just wanted to post it where everyone would see it since it’s a great question.  Bottom line is that with a water only fast the body is able to reach a state of rest and healing that just is not physiologically possible when ingesting any amount of food or calories (even liquid). When the body does not have food for 12 hours or longer it loses its source of glucose so it must switch to fat metabolism.  This induces a state of true ketosis and fat burning which liberates stored toxins. Moreover, during a water fast it is extremely important to be at as near a total state of rest as possible…not working, exercising, or even house work and activities of daily living such as driving, etc.  The reason is that if the muscles are being used the body will begin to break down muscle amino acids for fuel which can cause muscle wasting and will shift the the body away from fat burning.  Also, the needed energy going to the muscles will be diverted from healing the gut, immune system, etc. This would defeat the purpose of the fast. In summary, for these reasons, a water only fast is a much more effective means of cleaning the body naturally and according to the body’s own time table without forcing it to release toxins prematurely, which can happen when cleansing products are used. I will soon be writing a more in depth blog about the entire water fasting process.