Day 6 of Water Fasting to Cure My IBS + SIBO

Saturday, Day 6
Weight: 153.6
Sleep: Yes
BM: No
Belly bloat: Yes

Today was challenging. I woke up feeling well and padded into the kitchen to make a cup of diluted coffee. But somehow coffee just didn’t appeal to me. Too harsh. So had a cup of warm water instead and sat on our sofa and watched the sun rise. About an hour later I convinced myself that I should have just a tiny bit of coffee, to avoid the slight headache I had all day yesterday. Nothing terrible, just a heavy feeling in my head. We had a busy day ahead and I didn’t want to go through it with a headache.

We had to go to visit a family member in the hospital and it would be about an hour and a half each way in the car. I packed a bottle of water and my Kindle and a sweater - hospitals are always too cold. While waiting for DH to get a haircut I downed some mineral water while listening to podcasts about fasting. I started to get a terrible back ache, radiating from my lower back. I tried sitting, standing, stretching, and nothing helped. While doing all that activity, I started feeling lightheaded and nauteaous, so I strained a cup of broth and drank it. That helped balance the electrolytes and I felt fit to travel. But in the car, the backache felt much worse and I couldn’t find a comfortable position. I distracted myself by listening to podcasts. We visited with relatives and even sat in the hospital cafe. I had an herbal tea and wasn’t at all bothered by the people eating around me. On the way home my back was somewhat better and I thought it was because we had walked the grounds of the hospital quite a bit and also I had released some gas. Maybe the backache was gas? My mineral water has a great balance of magnesium, sodium, and phosphate, but it does have bubbles. I’m going to start opening all the bottles ahead of time so they’ll lose their bubbles.

At night I had trouble getting to sleep because of the backache. I tried a hot bath and it felt better while I was in the water, but the minute I got out of the water it came back. I tried an ice back and that helped a bit. I googled tips for back pain while fasting and someone mentioned ETD (tapping). This clears the meridians in the body. I didn’t want to wake DH so I did it silently and it did seem to help. I finally found a position on my side with the ice pack on my back and was able to fall asleep.

Day 5 of Water Fasting to Cure My IBS + SIBO

Friday, Day 5
Weight: 155.8
Sleep: No
BM: Yes
Belly bloat: Yes

I didn’t sleep through the night again. I seem to be on an every other day pattern. I woke around 2:00, took another bath, then read for an hour. I was able to fall asleep again this time and slept until the alarm went at 6:00, but I felt very shaky. Experienced toe cramps, which I sprayed with magnesium spray and they stopped. Also had that same strong cramping in my ileocecal valve that I experienced the other day. Was it a sign of another BM on its way? I knew that coffee would likely bring one on, but it did not appeal at all today so, listening to my body, I drank green tea instead. I felt a bit better after that, though very weak and lightheaded. Luckily I’m working at home today so I was able to rest until the start of my work day and didn’t have to deal with walking to the subway station. I started to feel nausea, which is not a good sign, so I unfroze some homemade soup that I have in the freezer and strained out the broth, added a tsp of Redmond salt, and drank it down, then sat down at my computer to work. About 20 minutes later I realized I was starting to feel much much better. The soup was fatty, so I decided to take some liquid vitamin D3 and threw in a dropper of B complex for good measure. An hour later I was feeling my old energy return. I was able to work steadily through the morning, editing quickly and with clarity as I continued to sip green tea.

There seems to be a pattern here with my sleep. I believe it’s motility that’s waking me nights, along with cramping in my ileocecal valve, which connects the small and large intestine and controls the flow. Perhaps the problems I’ve had for the past two years with sleep are due to this. If this fast repairs that, it could help reverse my IBS. This is very motivating and I feel a renewed determination to continue this fast.

Day 4 of Water Fasting to Cure My IBS + SIBO

Thursday, Day 4
Weight:157.6
Sleep: Yes
BM: No
Belly bloat: No

I woke up feeling great. I had a cup of diluted black coffee and dressed for work. Today my work took me to our head office where I oversee the digital editorial team. I had to drive in pouring rain, but it didn't dampen my mood. I was feeling calm and clear and enjoyed listening to NPR.

I drank a high-mineral water (Gerolsteiner) throughout the day and had several cups of the various herbal teas available at the office, and appreciated the variety. It's amazing how in tune I am now to subtle tastes.

I had some challenging meetings but they all went well. I felt remarkably free of the anxiety I sometimes feel during meetings where there will be conflicting opinions. I worked through lunchtime and left at 6. I was hungry on the drive home, but kept sipping water.

When I got home I was feeling weak and hungry so I heated a cup of broth. This was a store-bought “bone broth,” as I’m out of homemade and need to batch cook tomorrow. (it was disgusting and I only drank a few sips, which is saying a lot for someone who is fasting.) I turned in early, but worked at my fast diary on tablet, finally turning out the lights after a hot bath around 11.

Day 3 of Water Fasting to Cure My IBS + SIBO

Wednesday, Day 3
Weight: 159.2
Sleep: Yes
BM: Yes
Belly bloat: Yes

They say day 3 is the worst, and mine wasn't a cake walk.

I woke up at 2:30 am and could not get back to sleep. I took a hot epsom bath and tried again. It was no use, I was up. I didn't want to disturb DH so I went into the livingroom to read for a while. Around 4:00 I made a cup of coffee and read a bit more, I had a sudden pain in my lower right abdomen, right above the hip bone. This is my ileocecal valve opening, I thought. Sure enough, about 20 minutes later I was heading for the bathroom. I hadn't expected to have BMs when I wasn't eating. I wish I could say that it was a totally normal BM and I was suddenly cured of IBS, but it was grape clusters if you know what I mean, with signs of poor fat digestion and a too-light color.

I read some more until it was time to get dressed for work. I felt like crap, and the dark circles under my eyes required major concealer work.

At the office work was steady. I was free at lunchtime and not eating so I took a yoga class. This time it was very challenging; my legs were visibly shaking during tree pose. I was hungry when I got back from lunch so I had a cup of bone broth and got to work. Worked steadily until 6:00, then headed home. I read in the bedroom with the door closed and the air purifier turned on, while DH cooked and ate dinner without me. I was so tired, I fell asleep before he even turned in. I slept straight through until morning.

Day 2 of Water Fasting to Cure My IBS + SIBO

Tuesday, Day 2
Weight: 161.7
Sleep: Yes
BM: No
Belly bloat: Yes

I slept well and woke up feeling relatively refreshed. I drank a cup of diluted black coffee, and got dressed for work. My pants zipped a bit more easily already. I hopped on the scale and saw I was down two pounds. I like to think it was SIBO belly bloat shrinking, but no, the SIBO belly was still there. It’s just water weight.

I was a bit hungrier throughout this day, but I tamped it down with sips of water. It helped that work was crazy busy. When I got home I did the hot bath ritual, but this time it didn't soothe my hunger, so I defrosted a cup of beef bone broth that I keep in the freezer, and was it delicious!

It was just what I needed. I worked on the blog for a time at the computer, then headed for bed, where I read more about fasting and especially about how to end a fast in a gut-friendly way. DH was at the gym, so there were no cooking smells to make me hungry. I went to bed early, before he even got home, but I didn't sleep through the night.

Day 1 of Water Fasting to Cure My IBS + SIBO

Monday, Day 1
Weight: 163.4
Sleep: Yes
BM: No
Belly bloat: Yes

Most naturopaths recommend that you not work while fasting. The idea is that the body is in a healing process, and you want to give all your energy to that.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to this principle in my reading before I started day 1, and even if I had, I don't have several weeks vacation that I can use for this. I have no choice but to work. My work is more mentally demanding than physical, so I hope this will be alright.

I may have overdone it physically today. I still took yoga class, walked the long way to and from the subway station, and took the stairs for everything. The day went by quickly. I was very busy at work with not a lot of time to dwell on hunger. If I was hungry, I didn’t notice. I drank a lot of water and green tea, and I made it through the day with relative ease.

When I got home at night, I took a relaxing bath with Epsom salts, caught up on the phone with various friends and family members, and read a few chapters of a good book, relaxing in the bedroom with the door closed and the air purifier turned up, while DH cooked and ate dinner without me.

My 10-Day Water Fast to Cure IBS + SIBO

I'm about to embark on something many people will find controversial. For the next 10 days I'm going to subsist on only water. I'm going to eat nothing and drink only water, tea, and one cup of diluted coffee (more and more diluted each morning until I'm having hot water). I'll also stop taking all of my vitamins and supplements, except for key electrolytes like calcium, magnesium, and sodium.

I'm doing this because I believe it will heal my gut permeability. In a 2006 study in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 58 patients with IBS were divided into two groups. One was given prescription meds and psychotherapy to reduce IBS symptoms. The other group fasted for 10 days, drinking only water. After 10 days was up, the fasting group did better. Fasting was found to significantly improve 7 of 10 symptoms assessed, including abdominal pain-discomfort, abdominal distention (bloating), diarrhea, anorexia, nausea, anxiety, and interference with life. Among the group treated with drugs and psychotherapy only 3 symptoms improved: abdominal pain-discomfort, abdominal distention, and interference with life.

If giving up food for 10 days would restore your gut health, would you do it? When I think about the many ways having IBS impacts my life, beyond all the foods I can't eat—how it's sparked other disease in my body, like insomnia, the autoimmune condition that's attacking my joints, increasing A1C and fasting glucose levels. How I have to cook every single thing I eat myself and making a grocery list is fraught with tension. How traveling is no longer pleasurable. How bathroom habits make me late for work sometimes. How belly fat keeps accumulating and the food belly is a permanent fixture now... I think this is worth a try.

Fasting is not a new concept:

It is estimated that fasting for the alleviation of human suffering has been practiced uninterruptedly for 10,000 years.—Dr. Herbert Shelton, MD

The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well. Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food. But to eat when you are sick, is to feed your sickness.—Hippocrates (460 BC - 377 BC)

Instead of using medicine, rather, fast a day.—Plutarch (45 AD - 127 AD)

Fasting Cleans the Gut

We who have IBS and other digestive conditions spend a whole lot of time (and money) focused on what we eat. We are all of us restricting things—whether it's gluten, all grains, legumes, seed oils, sugar, FODMAPs, nightshade vegetables, inflammatory foods... the list goes on and on. But what if the answer doesn't lie in what happens when we're eating but in what happens when we're not eating.

When we're not eating, the body goes into supercharged house cleaning mode. The process is called autophagy (self-eating), and has been well documented in medical literature. After a few days of not eating, the body switches from burning incoming carbohydrates (glucose) to burning fat stores for fuel. This sets off hormonal responses that signal the body, telling it "we're in a time of scarcity, so let's get rid of everything non-essential that we're carrying around right now". (I like to picture my gut as the Starship Enterprise.) Non-essentials include the detritus of dead cells, mainly dead organelles, damaged proteins, oxidized particles, damaged DNA. In the gut specifically, the migrating motor complex (MMC), a wave of electrical activity, sweeps through the small intestine like a snake disgorging an egg, pushing undigested food particles and bacteria from the stomach and small intestine to the colon. This constant sweep toward the colon prevents our mucus layer from accumulating too much bacteria.

But the minute we eat, the migrating motor complex, no matter what phase of process it's in, halts in it's tracks. So, when we take the advice of so many dietitians to eat "lots of small meals a day" or if we're night owls, snacking before bed, or if we're insomniacs hoping a comforting bite will make us sleepy, we interrupt the MMC.

What happens when we do this day in and day out? Bad things. Our mucus layer gradually becomes loaded with bacteria—and this leads to leaky gut. Gut bacteria get crowded and push up to places they shouldn't be, like the small intestine—and this leads to SIBO. Endotoxins from dying-off gut bacteria build to such a toxic level that our livers can barely keep up, so the body stores these toxins in the only safe place in the body—our fat stores. Meanwhile, the protective mucus barrier in our gut  becomes so degraded, it starts letting toxins, viruses, bacteria and food particles pass through to the bloodstream. The immune system marks these particles as foreign invaders and creates a wave of inflammation to get rid of them. It also begins making antibodies against them. Some of these particles look very similar in composition to the body’s own cells. For example a protein in wheat looks much like a thyroid cell. The immune system gets confused and starts attacking human tissue. This is why gluten has been implicated in autoimmune thyroid and other autoimmune conditions. This process of mistaken identity is called molecular mimicry, and it may be happening more than we realize.

How many people do you know who've been recently diagnosed with an autoimmune condition? The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that 23.5 million Americans are now affected by autoimmune conditions. The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) estimates it's closer to 50 million. It was 9 million in 1979.

I think fasting is going to be the answer I've been looking for, and I believe it's going to heal much more than just my gut, after having listened to two game-changing podcasts by two different doctors in two very different fields (neither of whom specializes in IBS): Dr. Thomas Seyfried and Dr. Jason Fung.

Dr. Seyfried's field is cancer research and Dr. Fung's clinical practice is involved in reversing type 2 diabetes in severely high risk patients. The thing the two have in common? Both utilize a 10,000 year old healing practice: therapeutic fasting, AKA water fasting.

Why Americans Are Fat, Sick, and Growing Sicker

If you've ever tried to lose weight—and who among us hasn't—you're probably familiar with these dieting platitudes: A calorie is a calorie; eat less, move more; and eat many small meals a day. But ask anyone who has struggled with obesity and they'll tell you these concepts haven't worked for them. What is it that we're getting so wrong?

Dr. Jason Fung, MD, a Canadian nephrologist and world-leading expert on intermittent fasting for treating people with type 2 diabetes has a pretty good idea.



The body doesn't know from calories
"The body has no receptors for and doesn't measure calories... it has no way of measuring that.. it has no way of responding to that. The only reason we think that is because it has sort of been ingrained in us. If you put 100 calories of sugar in your mouth versus 100 calories of olive oil, the physiologic response is completely and utterly different... There's no insulin response to the oil, but to a brownie that's the same number of calories, insulin spikes way up. The body responds to hormones. Everything runs on hormones—thyroid, insulin... That's how the body knows what to do."

The body is like a thermostat that responds to hormonal signals
"The body works on a negative feedback loop...a thermostat is a perfect example. If it's winter and it's really cold, the temperature in the house drops to 69 degrees, the thermostat senses that, turns on the heat and brings it back up. That's a perfect example of homeostasis... We have a mechanism in our body that determines how fat we get. If you get too fat, you're not going to survive because you're not going to be able to catch food or somebody's going to eat you. If you get too skinny, you're also not going to survive. The body actually sets a certain set weight, which is defended very vigorously. If you try to lose weight, the body tries to make you gain that weight back. The body makes you hungry, and then it slows down your metabolism. You cut your calories further, the body makes you hungrier and it slows down your metabolic rate even more. It's not about calories; it's about this body set weight.

Eat many small meals a day" is terrible advice
"Every time you eat, you're going to stimulate insulin... you're stimulating it all the time. If you stimulate insulin all the time you get insulin resistant, your fat cells get big, it turns on leptin. If you turn on leptin all the time, you get leptin resistant. Obesity is not a lack of leptin, it's a lack of leptin response. Now your negative feedback loop is completely busted... that body thermostat is getting adjusted up and up and up. So how do you reset that?.. you need to keep your insulin low for a significant amount of time. The way the body works is, when you eat, the body wants to store food energy. If we're eating 10 times a day, we're telling our body to store fat, store fat, store fat. If you want to burn fat, then you have to tell it to start burning fat. Again, it's a hormonal signal, it's not a caloric signal. You've got to let that insulin fall and the body's going to stop burning glycogen and start burning fat.

So how do you lose weight? You stop eating
"It's not about what you eat, it's about the time that you're not eating. If you drop your insulin enough, you switch into burning fat. You're switching fuel sources, and there's no reason for your body to slow down. Say you go on a seven day fast: As your insulin falls you're going to switch from burning food to burning fat. As insulin falls, you get a counter regulatory hormone surge. The body increases sympathetic tone, adrenalin and noradrenalin, cortisol, and growth hormone. Adrenalin pumps up the metabolic rate, growth hormone rebuilds new protein."

Doctor Fung's practice has been successfully reversing type 2 diabetes. That's right, reversing it. His patients are weaned off insulin or medications like Metformin, undergo supervised fasting, and in the process all markers drop—and serious pounds are lost as well. His approach is successful in treating the related conditions fatty liver and metabolic syndrome (MS), as well.

Well, guess what?

IBS Is Linked to Metabolic Syndrome

According to a paper in PLoS One: "Irritable bowel syndrome status may affect the dietary pattern, food digestion, and nutrient absorption, which are important factors for the prevention and treatment of MS and/or its components. Therefore, it is speculated that IBS may be a potential risk factor for MS."

Cancer Is a Metabolic Disease

Dr. Thomas Seyfried of The Boston College posits that cancer is not a genetic disease but a metabolic one, and that therapeutic fasting can prevent it and help treat it. I caught his podcast at SmartDrugSmart:

"Years ago Otto Warburg said the underlying cause of all cancer is insufficient cell respiration, and therefore the cells must ferment. If the cells cannot respire like our normal cells can, in order for the cell to remain alive, it must have an alternative form of energy, which is a primitive form of fermentation—which is a process of energy formation that existed for organisms on the planet before oxygen came into the environment.

"So, our cells have this capacity, but it takes a while to transition from respiration to fermentation. And what happens in cancer is that many aspects of the environment damage the respiration of cells, gradually, not acutely. Or chronically. It gives some of those cells the opportunity to reconfigure fermentation. The cells become fermentative. And all cancer cells are fermentative in one form or another. So then you say what is the fuel for fermentation? And it turns out to be glucose and some amino acids. And [therapeutic fasts] target the glucose and these amino acids—starving out the cancer's natural energy supply.

"What the body does is start to cannibalize. ...It starts to look for cells that are not functioning at their maximum. And those cells are consumed by other cells, macrophages—they're kind of monitors and controllers of the body, and they eliminate inefficient sources of cells. And those cells are digested. Nutrients are then recirculated into the blood stream and these nutrients now go to other cells in the body that have efficient respiration. And in this way the ones that are left are at a higher metabolic rate of efficiency... less prone to become cancerous. Therapeutic fasting (water only) brings the body into that state—and that will prevent cancer.

The population has to come to understand and appreciate what our bodies are capable of doing. Our bodies can heal themselves in many ways, if they're given the opportunity to do that."

Conclusion

When cells can't respirate, they ferment. That word "ferment" has a special resonance for those of us with IBS and SIBO, doesn't it? We're constantly aware of the bacteria in our guts fermenting our undigested fiber. How can we not be? Our bellies blow up like balloons as they do their thing. Could we be incubating cancer in our gut? It's to nip this in the bud.

I'm going to tap my body's own self-cleaning mechanism to heal my IBS, SIBO, and autoimmune joint issues using a 10,000 year old healing practice: water fasting.

Studies:

Autophagy in the Pathogenesis of Disease
Short-term fasting induces profound neuronal autophagy
Autophagy: cellular and molecular mechanisms
A periodic diet that mimics fasting promotes multi-system regeneration, enhanced cognitive performance and healthspan
Fasting Cycles Retard Growth of Tumors and Sensitize a Range of Cancer Cell Types to Chemotherapy.”

More Resources:

https://hackyourgut.com/2017/03/06/the-ultimate-guide-to-fasting-for-gut-health/
https://www.amymyersmd.com/2017/10/leaky-gut-autoimmune-connection/
http://thechalkboardmag.com/what-is-autophagy-intermittent-fasting-process
https://smartdrugsmarts.com/episodes/ketosis-vs-cancer/
http://www.autoimmuneregistry.org/autoimmune-statistics/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4226513/