>I am interested in doing an all fruit juice fast/cleanse for about 2
>weeks. Does anyone have any suggestions?  Will this fruit fast do
>more harm than good?  Also, should I just fast on pure H2O instead?

Hi Traci, rather than post a big long monster here on Veg-Raw, if you would
 send me your address privately and $1 to cover copying/postage costs, I
 have a 4-page article in compact newsletter format written a few years ago
 called "Wardolfski's 18-point Guide to Fasting at Home on Your Own." Or I
 suppose I could convert it to ASCII and email.

I have done a hell of a lot of fasting on my own (42 days, 11 days, 20 days,
 and 14 days) in the last 6 years, plus other fasts when I was a lot
 younger, and I would not recommend trying to work while you fast. It can be
 done, but you won't get the same results as if you rest, rest, rest while
 you are fasting. Also, I found it virtually impossible to work while
 fasting on water due to excruciatingly low energy levels, while it is
 doable on juices. (Yes, it is true some people have decent energy while
 fasting, but the majority do not.)

Also there is much controversy about the water vs. juices route. I seemed to
 get better or at least faster results when doing water only, but if you do
 so, you have to rest and take vacation. That means a big problem in fasting
 is losing income while you are doing it and recovering from it (if you
 don't get paid vacations, at least).

Also what a lot of people completely miss about fasting and screw up royally
 on is the post-fast period. There are stories of people who wrecked their
 digestion for months afterward by not breaking the fast gradually and going
 hog-shit wild afterwards. Any time you fast over 3-5 days or so, you have
 to be very careful about breaking the fast. In my experience, anything over
 7 days or so is a long fast is a long fast is a long fast--especially in
 how you break it. It takes 7-10 days to work up to full rations.

Also, I never experienced anything different physiologically or mentally
 much beyond the 10-day mark, just the same ol' same ol' for another 10 or
 20 or 30 days wishing it were over, except I get a bit more peaceful due to
 gradually more-reduced metabolism, and there is even more need for rest.
 But some people say differently about effects experienced. (Some people
 claim great spiritual benefits, and I heard of one person recently for who
 this was the case, but generally, most people do not report this.) The
 point being, I guess, that a 14-day fast is something to take seriously as
 a long fast. So read up on how to break your fast, pay attention, and be
 careful, and rest just as much in the first week--if not longer--after the
 fast as during the fast itself. Critical in my experience. There's a lot
 more that I could say, but I'd rather just refer you to the article.

Take care with fasting. It's a useful tool but it's not a cure-all, and
 there are contraindications for some people, and you have to respect the process.

--Ward Nicholson <[log in to unmask]> Wichita, KS

P.S. Count me not the radical I once was, but I don't think trying to
 subsist on a diet of mostly sunflower sprouts is a good idea, MOST
 ESPECIALLY after fasting. The crying need after a long fast is not only
 pure diet but a VARIED, ROBUST, and RICH source of nutrition to rebuild
 afterwards. I don't see how one is going to get that on mostly sunflower
 sprouts. I happen to think sunflower sprouts are a marvelous food and I
 love them myself and I eat lots of them, but I would never try to subsist
 on them.

I know that sounds opinionated, but I think a lot of harm has been done by
 some of the "survival" books that suggest one can get most of the nutrition
 they need from sprouts. Maybe you can survive on them for some length of
 time, but it's the same dynamic as fruitarianism: one does well on such
 diets as long as they are making up the nutritional shortfall through
 stored reserves, but once those reserves are depleted, the same person who
 was saying look ma no hands at the 30th floor after having jumped off the
 Empire State Building, hits the ground hard. Most especially after fasting,
 one's reserves are drawn down and need replenishing, not further
 withdrawals from the bank.