Image courtesy of Naypong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In the last few years, my water fasts have not been planned. They usually begin with an herbal cleanse and then I begin to listen to my body for next steps. In this article I’ll share my fasting experiences with and without The Fig Tree Herbs and explain why Arnold Ehret called fasting, “Nature’s Operating Table.”

I watched a video in which renowned herbal healer,  Dr. Sebi,  described a man who fasted until his eye sight was restored. So, I tried it. This marked the beginning of my first “real” fast, using the Master Cleanse (Lemon, Water, Cayenne and Grade B Maple Syrup… after two weeks, I stopped using the cayenne). I fasted for 32 days and, for the most part, my energy level was higher than it was when I ate.

I was able to work, dance at my bi-weekly African Dance classes and hang out in clubs. The only missing ingredients were Dr. Sebi’s herbs and his herbal eye wash. About two weeks into the fast, I met Dr. Sebi and I purchased some of the herbs. I had not learned about the eye wash.

I broke the fast in the worst way possible by eating cheese. I must have been extremely close to improving my eyesight because the next day, a white spot appeared in the pupil of my right eye. Days later, my eyes were burning!

A lot of mucus came out of my eyes and it was extremely difficult for me to open them in well-lit areas. I eventually called Dr. Sebi’s office and a woman sent me two products ( Maya and Eva Salve) which immediately alleviated the problem.  By then, I had heard about the eye wash but it wasn’t available.

My first fasting experience taught me a lot about the body’s ability to function without water. I could have easily gone longer without food. I also discovered the body’s waste capacity. When I began the fast, my 5’4 frame weighed 110 lbs.  I continued to have bowel movements, throughout that 32 day period.  I believe my end weight was around 100 lbs.Imagine how much is stored in a similar frame weighing 200 lbs!

I knew that cheese was on the list of items to omit but I had yet to learn how severe the consequences were to break my fast in that way.  I either failed to make the connection about my eye problems or lacked the discipline to eliminate cheese from my diet. I continued to eat it for another year, most likely, reversing all of my fasting efforts.

My hard lessons came before I studied Arnold Ehret’s MUCUSLESS DIET HEALING SYSTEM and learned his metabolism theories. Arnold observed animals in nature and learned how they used fasting to allow their bodies to heal. He eventually used a methodical fasting plan to help thousands of patients heal from all kinds of so-called “incurable” diseases.

I began my next fast after reading Arnold Ehret’s RATIONAL FASTING. I started with an herbal cleanse from The Fig Tree. [ I promise to write about Dr. Sebi and The Fig Tree Herbs in another post.] I slowly transitioned off of grains into a raw food diet. I kept a journal which I think is too long for this post. I will include an excerpt.

9/29/11:  In June I only ate fruit and vegetables. Some of the vegetables were cooked or pureed. I spent a few days eating Ethiopian food (mostly chickpeas & bread) in the first week in July, while visiting a friend in Virginia. For the remainder of July, I ate raw fruit and vegetables, almonds and sea vegetables. In August I only ate raw fruit and vegetables. In the last week of August, I only ate raw fruit.

On September 2^nd I began to have diarrhea. From September 3^rd – 15^th I only drank water and/or strong limeade (limes, water & agave) I noticed that the water slowed the diarrhea and the limeade forced the diarrhea.) I viewed the diarrhea as a good thing because it cleansed my body of mucus. During the first 3-4 days of diarrhea I saw nothing but thick green & yellow mucus coming out. In the last few days, the mucus became foamy and white.  I went through all of this and still never used the eye wash. I did not really learn its significance until I read an article the following year.

As much as I wanted to continue cleansing, I could no longer stand the way I looked in the mirror nor could I fit in most of the clothing in my closet. Vanity triumphed over health.  I was also tired of spending day and night on the toilet. Thankfully, I cleansed a lot of sickness out of my body. Most likely, this was the stored mucus build up from dairy and white flour consumption. This could have easily formed into cancer or some other illness had I not chosen this path.

I quickly gained weight during my transitional phase. September 15^th – 18^th I only ate fruit & salad. September 19^th- 22^nd, I ate fruit, kale and pureed vegetables. On September 23 & 24 I ate Ethiopian (mushrooms, yellow split pea, teff bread). Since then, I’ve been eating, fruit, salad, pureed vegetable soup, almonds & Quinoa.)  [Entry Ending]

Aside from the elimination of mucus, there were additional benefits. I went periods in which there was no need for deodorant. My body was all muscle.  I could feel the circulation of blood in my head while fasting which is a great feeling in itself. There’s a certain free flow that sometimes feels like a buzz or internal massage. My breast grew back perkier and fuller than before.

In 2012, I only did a fruit fast. I also kept a journal but there’s nothing significant to share here.

The most challenging part of this year’s (2013) fast was having a refrigerator full of food. What I found especially difficult to see, were the 40 avocados shipped from a farm. I could hear my father telling me not to waste food, every time I opened my refrigerator.  Regardless, I felt something stuck in my throat and chest, and I wanted it out.  I took herbal laxatives and I kept drinking more and more water in an attempt to force it down.

I took every single Fig Tree product and I felt pressure in my head as if masses were moving down out of my brain. At one point I thought that I was finally clearing my vision. When I first noticed the difference in my eyesight, I wrote about it and then decided to wait until my vision was clearer. Two weeks have passed since I ended my fast and I’m still waiting. So I guess it’s time for me to share an excerpt of what I wrote.

7/30/13: My vision is coming back!!! I took my glasses off, when I exited the subway and as I walked down the street , my eyes watered a little and the more I blinked, the clearer my vision became. When I realized what was happening, tears started rolling out of my eyes. I was close to my friend’s clothing store, so I ran in to tell her what was happening. Shock and extreme happiness overwhelmed me to the point that I covered my mouth.

Somehow I blurted out “Oh My God!” She looked really concerned and asked what happened. I couldn’t speak. I  eventually said, “My vision is coming back! Then I really started crying uncontrollably while blowing my nose, and the more that mucus came out, the better I could see. She said, “Then why are you crying?”

I explained that for the first time, I could sit in the chair in her store and see the details of her face; things like her eye shadow, her nose and her chin were clear to me. I saw her eyes but without the details like the color of her pupils. She did not realize that my vision had been “that bad.” To clarify I was, only near-sighted.

I have worked so hard, spent so much money, and waited so long for this to happen! I knew that it would happen soon because of the feelings that I had in my body over the weekend.

Friday evening, I started having a familiar feeling that I’ve experienced when I combine The Mucusless Diet with The Fig Tree products. I could feel the blood inching through parts of my head. My clients used to describe it as something crawling in their head.

I guess they felt this way because their bodies were not as quite as clean. For me, it felt like a warm, internal massage. I felt the herb carrying blood push through my veins…showing me areas of soreness and showing me ways in which different veins of my head were connected to glands in my throat and eventually my chest.

Saturday morning, something different happened. For the first time, that feeling started coming down the front of my face causing enormous pressure in my frontal lobe. As time when on, the area just above my head, began to pulse and a tingling feeling continued down various parts of the front of my body… just below the skin…all the way down to my feet. While this was a great feeling, it was clear to me that something was stuck in the middle of my chest, preventing the blood from flowing down my center. [Entry Ending]

On July 31^st, I went for an eye exam and learned that my vision had only improved slightly. I went from  -5.00 to -4.00. Considering my eye-glass prescription was once above -6.00, this is progress. Although, it seemed to be on a larger scale than what the eye exam reported. I kept wondering if the previous day’s dental work had interfered in any way. Especially, after reading an article, by a doctor who wrote that eye issues are directly related to dental issues.

I fasted off of water and Fig Tree herbs for one week after writing those paragraphs. The herbs cleared that stuck mass in the middle of my chest and more masses kept coming down from my head through my center and out through my bowels. I noticed that the mucus coming from my eyes had changed from a thick grey color to clear slimy mucus.

I found fasting to be challenging while taking the herbs; so, I switched to a juicy fruit fast for the following three weeks. While I do plan to continue a mostly fruitarian diet in the next year, I probably won’t do another full-blown fast until next spring.

Hopefully, one day I will have a major testimony for you and The Fig Tree. In the meantime, I am happy to have removed the masses stuck in my head and chest. Words can not describe how good it feels…. electrical pulses throughout my body.