• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • All Posts
  • Contact

Time Restricted

A blog on fasting, health, and other issues of midlife

Day 1 – The Glauber salt experience

August 24, 2018 By spao Leave a Comment

Day 1 – The Glauber salt experience

Today is our first day of fasting, and there is a system here at Buchinger-Wilhelmi.

The easy part

To start off the fasting, I was given two supplements to be taken through the duration of the fast.

  • Basica Compact tablets to act as a buffer to prevent build up of uric acid.  (my dosage – 2 tablets taken 3 times per day)
  • Magnesium supplements to prevent magnesium depletion.  (my dosage – 1 tablet taken in morning and evening)

Note that diabetics should take magnesium supplements anyway, as diabetics excrete magnesium along with the glucose through the urine.

Supplements - Magnesium and Basica
https://time-restricted.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/supplements.jpg”> Supplements given to us for our first day of fasting at Buchinger Wilhelmi[/caption

The hard part

Warning: this is a bit gross.

Right after my morning nurse visit, I was given my Glauber salt.  Basically, you get three things:

  • A pitcher of salt water
  • A glass of diluted lemon juice for taste (the salt water doesn’t taste so good)
  • A pot of peppermint tea to drink ½ hour after the Glauber salt

Then I was instructed to stay by the toilet for the next 5 hours.  Good advice.

For me, this wasn’t as bad as it sounded.  While excreting liquid feces out my butthole is never pleasant, at least this was not accompanied by the chills or dizziness that comes with food poisoning.  This was sort of a “clean” diarrhea experience, if there is such a thing!  (Update: my wife read this and told me I omitted a key piece of packing advice.  Bring Charmin from the US.  The toilet paper here at the clinic is a bit “rough!”)

The doctor here told me that cleaning out the digestive system prevents people from getting hungry, and I have to admit that was true.  I did not feel hungry at all.

That said, this is a pretty traumatic start, and both the doctors and nurses sagely advise to take it easy the day of Glauber salt.  There are many activities on the calendar here at Buchinger Wilhelmi, and I didn’t take advantage of any of them today!

By 6pm, both my wife and I were ready to take our vegetable consommé in the salon.  She had the pumpkin broth.  I had the turnip broth.  Both were good!  We also got to meet a few folks who shared the common experience.  I actually kind of enjoyed the bonding, and I think it’s a key part of the experience fasting as a group.

Results from morning nurse visit

  • Blood pressure: 152/88 – basically unchanged
  • Blood sugar: 121 – actually down from the day before despite all those carbs!
  • Weight: 72.7kg (159.9 lbs) – down 0.8 kg from the day before

Filed Under: Buchinger-Wilhelmi, Diabetes, Fasting

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Glucose might not be the cause of Type 2 Diabetes
  • Steve Pao on #PopHealth podcast
  • 26 Fasting Days Completed!
  • Exercise — integral to the Otto Buchinger fasting method
  • Resting metabolism not slowing…

Archives

  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018

Categories

  • Buchinger-Wilhelmi
  • Buchinger-Wilhelmi 2019
  • Diabetes
  • Fasting
  • Featured

Sign up for updates to Time-Restricted

Footer

Stephen Pao is the author of the Time-Restricted blog. Following a Type II diabetes diagnosis in 2003, Steve began experimenting with alternative approaches to managing the disease, including prolonged fasting as a complement to a low-carb lifestyle. By day, Steve is a consultant and board advisor to early stage technology companies. Steve and his wife are empty nesters, with two college-aged daughters across the country.

Copyright © 2023 Stephen Pao · Log in