The second stage, psychological hunger, usually is felt as an intense desire for food.  This passes within three or four days of not eating anything.  Psychological hunger usually begins with the first missed meal.  If the faster seems to be losing their resolve, I have them drink unlimited quantities of good-tasting herb teas, (sweetened—­only if absolutely necessary—­with nutrisweet).  Salt-free broths made from meatless instant powder (obtainable at the health food store) can also fend off the desire to eat until the stage of hunger has passed.

Acidosis, the third stage, usually begins a couple of days after the last meal and lasts about one week.  During acidosis the body vigorously throws off acid waste products.  Most people starting a fast begin with an overly acid blood pH from the typical American diet that contains a predominance of acid-forming foods.  Switching over to burning fat for fuel triggers the release of even more acidic substances.  Acidosis is usually accompanied by fatigue, blurred vision, and possibly dizziness.  The breath smells very bad, the tongue is coated with bad-tasting dryish mucus, and the urine may be concentrated and foul unless a good deal of water is taken daily.  Two to three quarts a day is a reasonable amount.

Mild states of acidosis are a common occurrence.  While sleeping after the last meal of the day is digested bodies normally work very hard trying to detoxify from yesterday’s abuses.  So people routinely awaken in a state of acidosis.  Their tongue is coated, their breath foul and they feel poorly.  They end their brief overnight fast with breakfast, bringing the detoxification process to a screeching halt and feel much better.  Many people think they awaken hungry and don’t feel well until they eat.  They confuse acidosis with hunger when most have never experienced real hunger in their entire lives.  If you typically awaken in acidosis, you are being given a strong sign by your body that it would like to continue fasting far beyond breakfast.  In fact, it probably would enjoy fasting long beyond the end of acidosis.

Most fasters feel much more comfortable by the end of the first seven to ten days, when they enter the normalization phase; here the acidic blood chemistry is gradually corrected.  This sets the stage for serious healing of body tissues and organs.  Normalization may take one or two more weeks depending on how badly the body was out of balance.  As the blood chemistry steadily approaches perfection, the faster usually feels an increasing sense of well-being, broken by short spells of discomfort that are usually healing crises or retracings.