Over the pandemic, I entered my biohacking journey. When the restaurants closed and the parties stopped the natural thing to do was to heal. I started a site called thebiohack.org and started researching holistic healing practices and technologies. I learned about intermittent fasting and did that for a few months and ended up losing a cool 15 pounds (I was so proud of myself). Then I learned about water fasting and did my first 40 hour dry fast. Next, I took it a little further and did a 3 day water fast.
Fasting with Trevor
My friend Alain Torres, the Genesis Doctor, invited me to his emotional mastery retreat in Colorado and I learned how to meditate and heal myself from within. He then told me about the ancient practice called dry fasting (no food and no water) and I was seriously intrigued. He told me that dry fasting was 3 times more effective than water fasting and like always, I dug deep into it. I was obsessed with fasting and came across @fastingwithtrevor while I did my first 7 day dry fast.
Trevor interviews David Christopher Lee about his 7 day dry fast.
Trevor had been doing 20 day dry fasts and would talk about his journey on Instagram. We became friends and he is utterly fascinating. I had to tell his story…and so it begins.
Tell us about your upbringing:
I am the 4th of a family of 6 kids. We lived along the east coast of USA and moved around a lot. New Jersey, Florida, and South Carolina. Very loving family and encouraging parents with a ”sky is the limit” mentality. I was truly taught that I could achieve anything. Even with a big family, I liked isolated environments like being in the ocean alone or even disappearing (running away). Since birth, I have always been physically active and excelled at most sports. My parents would always call me meticulous because I was organized and good at games.
How did you get into dry fasting? How did your weight fluctuate (fasting with Trevor)?
As I entered my early 30s, I got inundated with several sicknesses that severely lowered my health and life experience. I researched, read, and tried everything. I just wouldn’t give up. Diet changes turned into water fasting which then led me to the most hardcore detoxification pursuit in dry fasting. I saw that my symptoms finished drastically with water fasting and it generated true hope for full healing. As I went deeper, a single long fast would fluctuate my weight from 180lbs to 120lbs. As long as I prioritized clean hydration and living foods, I could rebuild my body safely in order to begin again and until my desired results were achieved.
What are some of the benefits that you have experienced since getting into it? (fasting with Trevor)
Resolution of all health ailments that I was seeking to rectify. I suffered from bad eczema, jaw and gum infection, fatty liver, and a fungal infection in blood to name a few. More importantly, I accidentally found spiritually as I dove into these deeper fasts. The anti-inflammatory states brought clearer thinking and heightened sensitivity, which in turn revealed what I call my “true self.”
What is the difference between water fasting and dry fasting? (fasting with Trevor)
This is a long list but autophagy (”auto” means self and “phagy” means eat) is much more exponential on a dry fast. I believe that most inflammation is occupied by unfavorable microbes and you take back this liquid more proficiently on a dry fast. The lymphatic system is cleaned moreso as well. In the fasting world, it’s commonly known that 1 day dry equals 3 days on a water fast. Below is a short list that I have compiled through literature
I’ve read and experiences I’ve had:
1. Shown to increase intensity of ketosis compared to water fast
2. Increased stem cell production compared to water fast
3. Increase SRT1 gene transcription (anti aging gene)
4. Increased eGFR (kidney filtration rate) of the blood long term
5. Increase nitric oxide production (ie better delivery of oxygen to cells and brain)
6. Transcription of HIF1 genes associated with hypoxic acclimatization which results in increased blood volume, better cardiovascular function, increased stroke volume, better cardio output, reduced heart rate, increased red blood cells and haemetocrit (all this occurs after rehydration).
Why are people so scared to do dry fasting? Should they be?
People should gradually enter detoxification states starting with diet change, then juice, then water fasting. And if dry fasting calls to them then preparing and exiting these fastsis very important to do correctly. Fasting is riddled with mental fear constructs. I like to say, “you heal as
deep as you understand how to.” You are limited by your toxicity and your body will not feel comfortable pursuing beyond thresholds limited by stagnant lymph or viscosity in the blood. You clean the body with fasting which lets you get to know the body better and allow you to more confidently walk up the ladder of different fasting durations.
Read part 2 at thebiohack.org.
