Obesity Discussion Forums

[Obebuster]

I wonder what happens if you just drink water for a week. I know there are a few church retreats where you suppose to "cleanse" your body for a week by only drinking water for a week. Many told me that they felt so refreshed after one week. Is there a lot of side effect to that?

[MichaelB]

Yeah, your body will go into starvation mode...you'll have low energy, and pretty much anything you do eat (when you start eating again) will be converted into fat because your body thinks food is scarce and needs to be conserved.

Not healthy. Don't do it.

[johnita36]

I completely agree with Michael this wouldn't be healthy at all because your body would think it was starving and your metabolism would slow drastically and as Michael stated when you did start eating again it would be converted into fat which wouldn't be good if you were trying to loose or maintain your weight.



Johnita

[monique]

As well as ruining your metabolism for a while you would deplete all your reserves of vitamins and minerals. I have read that it is possible to fast for up to 3 days without damaging your metabolism too badly but you would still not be getting your recommended daily allowance of any vitamins or minerals, plus you would have very low energy without food for that long. Personally I start to notice low blood sugar side effects after about 18 hours without food. If I skip breakfast and then have lunch too late I will be lightheaded and tired and feel weak by afternoon, even if I've been drinking plenty of water. I wouldn't go a whole day without any food by choice!

~Monique

[Obesity Discussion]

Horrible idea. I feel the same way about these week long "cleansing diets" that people go on a week before a wedding to try to lose 10 pounds.

[Visibility]

Our bodies are adapted to situations where we can starve for a couple of days, (evolved from our ancestors). So if all you eat and drink is water, your body will tell you to go into a "fat-saving" mode because it thinks that it needs to save such fat to survive.

So once you start eating again, you'll just start gaining more weight, which is definitely not the conclusion we want.

[Juddan]

Hello,
I'm a certified trainer and nutritionist. There are many debates on the 'water diet' and other detox type of diets, but I do not recommend them. Sure, you'll lose some weight as you are detoxing, but it's not healthy for your body, and it does not aid in your overall, long term weight loss.

[SunShine]

I would not reccommend you to do that, could be dangerous to you.