🧘 My experience of 21 days of fasting only on water

"What hunger does not cure, nothing will cure" - Gennady Petrovich Malakhov

21-day fasting is a powerful tool that helps in weight loss, normalization of pressure, and launching cleansing processes. I fasted on water using information from Gennady Petrovich Malakhov: 🌿 Fasting with stages according to Malakhov

Throughout the entire time of fasting I was vigorous and performed physical and psychological work. Those who worked with me did not even know that I was fasting. Only at the end did they notice my weight loss.

In this article I speak on my own behalf and only about my own experience and do not claim to be the ultimate truth. More details on the main page below: 👋 Hi! A few words about something important

Our stomach cannot properly recover if food enters it. The cleansing process begins only after a 24-48 hour break in the intake of nutrients into the stomach, when autophagy is turned on. In fact, many people never turn on the process of complete cleansing and restoration throughout their lives. And nature is wise, and animals, unlike humans, use this recovery mechanism.

The full cycle of fasting-cleansing can last from 40 to 70 days, but on your own and, for the first time, long fasting for more than 21 days is not recommended. In the Neumyvakin clinic in Crimea, you can fast under the supervision of doctors for up to 21 days: ⭐ Neumyvakin Health Center in Crimea: fasting, yoga, programs and reviews

From me an important life hack — drinking warm 35-40 degree water during hunger attacks at the beginning of the path and they recede. This helped me in the first 10 days, then the need fell away and I drank ordinary water from osmosis.

Be sure to do an enema at the moment of entering fasting, otherwise there will be constipation during fasting and it will be painful. Then I did cleansing every 2 days. But on the 17th day - 21st day, I did it every day, as there were a lot of discharges. I was even surprised. The enema also helps if it becomes uncomfortable in the soul and with mood. It is connected with toxins in the intestine that enter the blood.

Enema — this is a large Esmarch mug, which is sold in pharmacies. Pour water about 36 degrees so that it is warm but comfortable, lie on the left side, about 2 minutes. Endure unpleasant sensations, as the water penetrates deeper and washes out all the nastiness and because of this it is very uncomfortable.

Use scales to track weight changes and knowledge about weight loss at each stage. I controlled my condition and was calm because everything went in accordance with the information received, but with deviations of several days.

For me the 1st stage was about 5 days, the second from the 6th to the 15th day, and then the third until the end. On the 21st day I exited. So everyone is individual. Track the stages by weight loss:

• 1st stage (2–3 days): cleansing of the digestive system and weight loss of 1,000 g/day;
• 2nd stage (4-8 days): what is in the 1st with intensification + strong acidosis and loss of 300–500 g/day;
• 3.1 stage (17-19 days): what is in the 2nd with intensification + strong phagocytosis and autophagy and loss of 100–200 g/day;
• 3.2 stage (17-47 days): what is in 3.1, but everything is maximally strong and loss of 40–70 g/day.

🔥 What is acidosis during fasting

When the reserves of glycogen (animal sugar) in the liver and muscles run out (usually on the 1st–2nd day), the body switches to burning fat. With incomplete breakdown of fat, acidic products accumulate in the blood — butyric acids, acetone. This is acidosis — a shift of the internal environment to the acidic side.

It grows approximately until the 6th–10th day, causing weakness, headache, nausea, and acetone breath. Then comes the acidotic crisis — a turning point, after which well-being sharply improves because the body adapts to endogenous nutrition (sugar begins to be produced from its own fat and protein).

🛡 How acidosis launches phagocytosis

Phagocytes (eater cells, including neutrophils and monocytes) are the "sanitizers" of the immune system. In normal mode, they are often distracted by capturing fat droplets from food instead of performing direct duties.
During fasting:

1. Food stops coming in, and phagocytes remain "without fat."
2. The acidic environment of acidosis activates them and makes them more aggressive.
3. They begin to devour bacteria, viruses, remnants of dying cells, and pathological tissues (cysts, fibroids, adenomas).

A 2024 scientific study confirms: during 21-day fasting the phagocytic activity of neutrophils progressively grows until the 21st day, and after resuming nutrition returns to normal. In the first 7 days — moderate activation, by the 14th–21st day — pronounced (increase in lysosomes, accumulation of phagosomes).

🧬 The link with autophagy: why this is important for 21 days

The scientific name of this process is autophagy (self-digestion). This is an intracellular mechanism in which the cell processes its own damaged components to obtain energy and building materials.

During 21-day fasting autophagy intensifies:

• Up to the 7th day — moderate activation.
• By the 14th–21st day — maximum intensity: cells actively "eat" diseased structures, renew, organs rejuvenate.
• On the 7th day of recovery — the structure of cells normalizes.

2024 data (Nature Scientific Reports) show that 21-day fasting in healthy adults is safe under medical control: ketones grow from 0.1 to 6.61 mmol/L, weight falls by ~15%, but structures of important organs are not damaged.

📌 Summary for the 21-day protocol

• 1st–2nd day: Glycogen runs out, acidosis begins
• 6th–10th day: First acidotic crisis, launch of autophagy, activation of phagocytes
• 14th–21st day: Maximum autophagy, "eating" of diseased cells, renewal
• 17th–23rd day: Second acidotic crisis (according to Malakhov) — the "root" of the disease comes out

Key: acidosis is not a side effect but a working mechanism. It is the acidic environment that "wakes up" phagocytes and launches autophagy, which by the 21st day reaches its peak and gives the effect of rejuvenation and cleansing.

📊 What else happens to the body over 21 days

Studies show that the body rebuilds, switching to a new mode of operation:

• Weight loss and metabolic restructuring: On average people lose about 15% of their initial weight. The main loss occurs in the first days (up to 1 kg per day), then slows to 0.3 kg per day. The body switches from carbohydrates to fats as the main source of energy, which is confirmed by a significant increase in ketones in the blood.
• Effect on the cardiovascular system: Studies of 21-day fasting (including within the traditional Chinese practice "Bigu") showed a significant reduction in blood pressure in people with hypertension, as well as improvement in indicators in fatty liver disease.
• Adaptation without damage: An important conclusion of scientific works — under medical observation, long fasting up to 21 days is physiologically safe and does not cause structural damage to the heart and liver. The body adapts by reducing energy expenditure at rest by about 20%.
• Effect on the nervous system and psyche: By the end of fasting a shift of the autonomic nervous system toward parasympathetic activity (responsible for relaxation and recovery) is observed. In one study participants noted improvement in mental well-being, although in the first days activation of the sympathetic system (stress) is possible.

🧹 What happens to the body depending on the duration of fasting

By duration the following types of fasting can be distinguished:

• 1 – 3 days – activates the central nervous system, unloads the digestive system, cleanses blood slugs and slightly the intercellular fluid.
• 3 – 7 days – well cleanses the intercellular fluid, acidifies the body, which allows getting rid of pus-forming organisms, restores the epithelium of the stomach and small intestine.
• 7 – 14 days – fully cleanses and restores the epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract, partially cleanses the liver and connective tissue, unloads all cells of the body from slugs, establishes the work of the cardiovascular system.
• 14 – 21 days – fully cleanses and renews the cells of the liver and kidneys, endocrine glands, destroys salt deposits, tumors of various kinds, fully cleanses the connective tissue and skin.
• 21 – 30 days – destroys all types of tumors, infections, removes all salt deposits, restores and renews the cells of soft tissues of the body, rejuvenates the body.

👨‍⚕️ Gennady Petrovich Malakhov — the author of the method I used

Gennady Malakhov was born on September 20, 1954 in the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov region. Interest in folk healing arose after he encountered a serious disease that could not be cured by traditional methods.

In 1986 he founded the club "Bodrost," where he promoted cleansing of the body, proper nutrition, yoga, and gymnastics. In the mid-1990s his first books "Healing Forces" were published, which became bestsellers (total circulation exceeded 10 million copies).

In recent years Malakhov lives in his native Kamensk-Shakhtinsky. He continues to lead a healthy lifestyle and even took up strength extreme: at 72 years old he set a personal record by lifting a barbell weighing 525 kg using the method of "isodynamic gymnastics." He also publishes an internet newspaper and periodically reissues his books.

📚 Malakhov's books on fasting

• "The Great Encyclopedia of Therapeutic Fasting": One of his most serious works. The book analyzes in detail the effect of fasting on consciousness, and also gives recommendations on choosing the type and duration of fasting taking into account the constitution, age, and season.
• "Fasting and Health": In this book the author considers fasting as "the greatest cleanser" and talks about the processes occurring in the body, as well as about the practice of fasting for various diseases.
• "Fasting for Therapeutic Purposes": A book that often appears in collections of his best works on cleansing and weight loss.
• "Textbook on Fasting": A practical guide (written in co-authorship with Nina Malakhova), which many readers note as one of his most competent books. It consists of theory, practice, and examples of healing.
• "Cleansing by Fasting": A small brochure dedicated to how to practically master fasting as a natural cleansing process.
• "My Diary of Therapeutic Fasting": This is more a practical guide-diary, where on one page you can read the theory, and on the other — keep your own notes.

🔗 Source of information about fasting: 🌿 Fasting with stages according to Malakhov