Re: One long fast or several shorter fasts? Or several long fasts?
Hello again xanderfrancish,
It is absolutely certain that fasting will detox you in a much more concentrated & intensive way than your previous dietary and exercising efforts, and congratulations on your reported diet, which seems very healthy. Further and more effective ways of detox can be accelerated by "proper food combining" which allows the alimentary process to digest food more efficiently, without the resultant putrefaction and fermentation of non-properly combined foods.
A reduced intake of food will force the body to enter a semi-state of ketosis and you should therefore enter the true fasting state of full ketosis a little more quickly on water exclusively.
It is not true however that drinking distilled water will leach minerals from the body; what it does do is leach inorganic and stored minerals that are not bioavailable from the system which will have many benefits over time. I have personally consumed distilled water now for some 30 years and received only added benefit therefrom.
The type of water that should not be consumed is mineral water, as these minerals are of an inorganic origin and of no use to the body whatsoever: minerals in their bioavailable form are obtained from plants and plant-derived foods which have converted these minerals into their bioavailable form thru an organic process.
The body will only utilize those minerals which have been converted by nature, unless you think that eating the rust from railway-lines is a good way of taking the mineral iron for example.
It has not been considered by most fasting authorities to consume anything on a
Water Fast other than water itself, as any form of nutrition introduced to the body while doing so, is tantamount to breaking the fast; far superior benefits while fasting are derived from living on the body's internal food reserves, which allows the body to enter the full state of autolysis and ketosis.
I would avoid anything that has nutritive value on your fast (including
Sea Salt ) as the benefits will be severely reduced if not eliminated altogether.
http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020127shelton.III/020127.ch18.htm
Regards
Chrisb1.