The Healing Power of Silence: What Happens When You Water Fast
Water fasting isn’t about deprivation—it’s about gently stepping back so your body can step up and do what it was designed to do: heal.
When we pause from constantly digesting and processing food, we create space for deep repair—physically, mentally, and emotionally. During a water fast, your body switches into healing mode, clearing out damaged cells, balancing hormones, calming inflammation, and restoring energy from the inside out. It’s a sacred reset for your entire being.
Water fasting has deep historical roots. Many religions use fasting as a way to connect spiritually, and our ancestors naturally lived in feast/famine cycles. They didn’t suffer from many of the chronic diseases we see today. In our modern, convenience-driven world, we’ve moved away from that lifestyle. We’ve outsourced healing to pills, specialists, and supplements—but our incredibly wise bodies still holds the answers.
Water fasting is not for everyone. It’s not recommended if you’re pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding. If you have a history of eating disorders or are diabetic, consult your doctor or a certified fasting coach first.
In this article, I’ll guide you through:
The powerful benefits of water fasting
What you can and can’t have during a water fast
How to safely prepare for a fast
How and when to break a fast
Why water fasting is particularly important for midlife women
The Benefits of a Water Fast
The main purpose of fasting is to give your body time to heal and recover from food. The second is to restore insulin sensitivity. When you fast for 13 hours or more, your body begins repairing itself. Without new food coming in, it taps into glycogen (stored glucose) and eventually fat stores—especially around the belly, back, and arms.
At around 17 hours, your body enters a state called autophagy. This is cellular clean-up—your body removes damaged parts of cells, viruses, and bacteria. These are the very cells that could become chronic illness or worse. By cleaning them out, your body is protecting and healing itself in ways no pill, powder or supplement can.
Longer fasts offer even more benefits. As glycogen stores deplete, inflammation drops, and your body produces ketones, a clean-burning fuel source. Ketones quiet hunger hormones and sharpen mental clarity. Many people report laser focus and uplifted mood during longer fasts, especially around day two of a 72-hour water fast.
By the 24-hour mark, your body also begins producing intestinal stem cells, which aid in healing the gut and repairing injuries. Instead of paying thousands for stem cell injections, your body creates them naturally through fasting. Dr. Mindy Pelz has shared her own experience of healing an ankle injury through a 3-day water fast.
What Breaks a Fast?
Anything that spikes blood sugar will end your fast and stop autophagy or ketosis. That includes:
Sugar
Carbs
Protein
Artificial sweeteners
What You Can Have During a Water Fast
Traditional water fast includes:
Purified/filtered water
Black coffee
Herbal or black tea
Sparkling water (no flavours)
Minerals: sodium, potassium, magnesium (in electrolyte form if no sugar)
Celtic sea salt
No to:
Milk (even a splash)
Gum
Sweeteners (including stevia)
For longer fasts, you can use "training wheels"—small fat-based snacks that don’t spike insulin:
1 tsp MCT oil or olive oil
1 tsp avocado
1 keto cup
These can help you go longer while staying in ketosis and autophagy, as long as you keep it under 50 calories of fat.
Preparing for a Water Fast
Fuel your body with clean protein and healthy fats beforehand. This stabilises blood sugar and helps you transition into the fasted state more easily. If you’re new to fasting, don’t jump into a 24-hour fast. Start by delaying breakfast and slowly increasing your fasting window over time.
Work with a fasting coach or holistic therapist to create a plan that’s tailored to you. Water fasting is not one-size-fits-all.
Breaking Your Fast
How you break your fast matters just as much as the fast itself. Reintroduce food slowly and nourish your gut with Dr. Mindy’s 3 P’s (email me for your free 3P’s ebook) :
Prebiotics (onions, garlic, asparagus)
Probiotics (fermented foods like sauerkraut, kefir)
Polyphenols (berries, olive oil, green tea)
If your fast was over 24 hours, begin with bone broth, then slowly add in veggies, healthy fats, and protein in 30-minute increments. A smaller appetite post-fast is normal.
Why Midlife Women Need Fasting
Midlife brings hormonal shifts, especially declining estrogen, which naturally makes women more insulin resistant. This is why so many women in perimenopause and menopause struggle with belly fat, brain fog, and fatigue.
Fasting helps reset your metabolism and restore insulin sensitivity, which supports hormonal balance, weight management, mental clarity, and long-term health. Paired with strength training and clean eating, fasting becomes a powerful ally for midlife women looking to thrive—not just survive—this season.
Water fasting isn’t a trend—it’s a return to a rhythm our bodies have known for generations. It’s about giving your body the gift of rest, allowing it to detox, repair, and come back stronger. In a world that constantly tells women to do more, eat less, try harder, and fix themselves from the outside in, fasting flips the script. It reminds you that you are already equipped with incredible healing power—sometimes you just need to step back and let it rise.
Whether you're dipping your toes into fasting or you're ready to explore deeper fasts like the 3-day water fast, remember: this is about honouring your body, not punishing it. Go gently. Get support. Listen in.
And most importantly—trust your body. It knows what to do.
