Is it a good idea to clean bowels before a 5 day fast?


#1

I have just ended a 5-days fast, which was really easy to do this time, and I am planning to do one every month in the future. This time, at day 1 I took some spoons of epsom salts to clean my bowels and I think this must have been a good idea, because I felt really good ever since, while other attempts to fast longer than 2 days in the past had been difficult for me. Problem is today, refeeding, I have diarrhea. I am planning now to take some kefir and also some fibers. I hope that will be enough.
My question is, do anyone else clean the bowel at the beginning of a fast? what are your thoughts on this?


(Ellen) #2

Hi Margot, am sure there’s been another (quite old) thread on this but am on my phone so no idea how to find & link it, IIRC I think @Brenda had something to say but I could be totally wrong about that.


(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #3

I absolutely do have an opinion on this. Doing a colon cleanse or any other fluid and electrolyte reducing activity before a fast is highly discouraged. You would be starting the fast unbalanced. Not recommended at all. And definitely not necessary.


(Cindy) #4

You might have felt better because the Epsom salts provided you with magnesium, so might have had nothing to do with “cleansing.”


(Robert C) #5

I agree with @Brenda 100% that there is no physical reason to do this.

But, I do this sometimes (with pink salt) for the mental benefit.

Undertaking this multi-hour ordeal (if you have done it, you know what I mean) at least 12 but less than 24 hours after starting a 5-day fast gives me a really good mental “lock in” for the fast.

I feel emptier, I feel more committed - definitely not wanting to break the fast without a really good reason as I’ve gone through the ordeal (so, it feels like an investment worth keeping - don’t want to have to restart again).

Even if not technically true - I also feel like I’ve made some quick progress (especially feeling less bloated). That also reinforces the continuance of the fast. I find it much easier to screw up a fast late day one and early day two compared to days three and later. Later in the fast I’ve got that much bigger of an investment that I want to keep and I am that much closer to the end date.

To the other point @Brenda made about being unbalanced - you have to add extra focus to keeping your electrolytes and hydration in a happy state.


(Chris) #6

Fasting generally (GENERALLY) causes quite a bit of “cleansing” on its own, if you catch my drift. I’d third what @Brenda says and not worry about it - but I’d also keep spare undies with me during the fast.


(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #7

Never trust a fart


#8

Thank you for your answer. Electrolytes shouldn’t be a problem, because they can be assumed without breaking the fast, no? maybe with your “Branded” cocktail…
I wonder if you have actually ever tried to cleaning the bowels at the onset of a fast, just out of curiosity? because it’s really working for me, during the fast The only thing that worries me a little is the apparent depletion of the flora. I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence or not, because it’s my first time. A friend of mine was just telling me today that he cleans the bowels every time he fasts but he doesn’t have the problems of diarrhea I had today, at day one after the fast.


#9

I actually never go to the bathroom during fasts. Instead you do?


#10

I don’t think so, I have supplemented with magnesium every day for years, and besides, the positive effect lasted throughout the 5 days.


#11

Ha Ha! why not? whatever works…
I may be totally mistaken but to me the physical reasons to do it are very clear actually, relative to the fast per se, it is much more cleansing I’d figure. Would you clean a glass while keeping the wine inside? no, you empty it first. The problem may arise with making monthly fasts, because I may be destroying the flora. That’s my main concern.


(Cindy) #12

No it’s not necessarily “whatever works.” When you unnecessarily (and almost ALL colon cleansing is unnecessary) cleanse, you risk damage to the colon. It’s not “normal” to flush your colon unless you’re having a medical procedure. When you do that, you’re also usually flushing extra water (because water is needed to create a watery stool or diarrhea).

In the same way, it’s considered a negative behavior when laxatives are used to lose weight. You really shouldn’t be “encouraging” extra loose stools unless you’re originally constipated. It’s not at ALL like emptying a wine glass before cleaning it. If you’re fasting for autophagy, you should let your body do what it needs to do…and having some solids in your bowels is a NORMAL thing.

That’s just my opinion, but you did ask.


(Chris) #13

Oh yeah.


(Full Metal KETO AF) #14

Hi Margot, I think that I might live in one of the most alternative new age communities out there. Santa Cruz, California. I have been around people doing fasting of all varieties since 1980. Before that I just thought it was something yogis did. I have heard from many that a colon cleanse during a fast is highly advisable since toxins that your body is shedding accumulate in the bowels while nothing is moving through them. But you’re approaching this problem from the wrong end I believe. :wink:

I would recommend an enema every other day if you want to remove the toxins on an extended fast. You will empty out on your own so no laxative required. I have never read any mention of this in any of the fasting threads that I have read here but it makes sound, healthy sense to me as many toxins are stored in fatty tissues that may be being broken down during the fast.


(KetoQ) #15

A five day fast in and of itself will help empty your system.


(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #16

Anytime you don’t let your body do it’s thing and you interfere, it’s a bad idea.


(Cindy) #17

^ That. Even with an enema, you risk causing injury to the bowel, infection, and other problems. Shoot, enemas aren’t even used prior to childbirth any more. Poop is natural and safe, it’s not a “toxic waste” that needs to be removed by laxatives or enemas.


#18

No need to flush ahead of time. There will be plenty of time for flushing (the toilet) later.

By the beginning of Day 3 this quickly becomes a moot point for me. Or, should I say a poot point.

Even on Day 4 I will sometimes still be into the flow of things.

Never trust a fart is sage advice.


(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #19

Let me break it down to basics for you. Cavemen weren’t born with a paper sack from the drugstore full of enemas in their hand. We don’t need it, we don’t need to do it and it can imbalance you hydration wise and electrolyte wise.
Not necessary. Not safe.


#20

Someone who talks my language! I have debated too whether to do an enema or take the epsom salts. My reason for the latter is double, on the one hand it’s that in France we have bathrooms and toilets separated, the toilets are minuscules so you have to take the enema in the bathroom but then it could be kind of complicated, although I have done enemas in the past and I know it’s very possible to keep it all in even for 20 minutes (lying down); the second is that with a flush similar to the shamprakshalana (but not with salt as I really dislike it) the flush cleans all the bowels, instead of just the last tract.