Dry Fasting with Michelle Slater PhD

No one left with this George Jagan. The time is right. welcome today’s guest strong and powerful Michelle Slater. Michelle, are you ready to do this?

Unknown Speaker 0:22
I am ready, George.

george grombacher 0:23
All right, let’s go. Michelle struggled with Lyme disease for years suffered so greatly she actually considered assisted suicide and her last ditch effort, she traveled to Siberia to work with the world’s leading dry fasting expert, her newest book is starving to heal in Siberia. Shell excited to have you on tell us a little bit about your personal life some more about more about your journey. And I guess what motivated you to write the book and what you’re helping people get out of it?

Unknown Speaker 0:56
Thank you for having me, George, I appreciate being on the show. And yes, I’m very excited that the starving deal has just come out yesterday. And it has it’s been quite the journey because I never intended to write a memoir or self help book on recovering from wine. Because I was a healthy person who had a full life. And I was I was very productive before I got sick. So I was a university professor and I ran marathons, I skied. And, you know, I went hiking all over the world. And, and then I went, I went from that to just, you know, lying flat and flat in my bed. And after being there for seven years with what became late stage Lyme disease, when I recovered, and I know we’ll talk about that. I wrote the book, because I had been in such a state of despair to the point that I had been on the verge of committing assisted suicide. And when I learned of this radical methodology and thought, Well, I really don’t want to commit suicide. But this body is no longer inhabitable. So I tried it. And when it led to my complete recovery, I thought, I cannot keep this to myself. It’s radical. People may not understand it, but I have to write a book about it so that I could possibly help as many people as I could her suffering from not only late stage Lyme, or Lyme, but also chronic fatigue, mystery illnesses, autoimmune disorders, and there are a lot of them out there, George, so I thought I have a moral obligation to write this book.

george grombacher 2:30
I That totally makes sense. I was gonna say I identify with that. But that’s that’s not possible. So that certainly makes sense. I remember hearing about Lyme disease for the first time, I think in 2001 or two, it was somebody that I’ve met through business and their wife had been struggling with it for a really long time. And now you hear about it, and it’s a terrifying disease, because it doesn’t seem like it seems like it’s always just, it just people don’t can’t diagnose it.

Unknown Speaker 3:04
That’s exactly that’s exactly right. It is terrifying. From for multiple reasons, diagnosing it is difficult. There’s the classic bullseye rash that that the CDC says 70% of people get it, but that but the truth is it so many people don’t get it. And the tics are so microscopic. And, and so I didn’t get the classic bullseye rash. And and so yes, and then the testing itself is, is so sensitive that some people test negative but they’re positive. It’s so it depends on the test that you take. And then they call it the great imitator because there’s so many symptoms that it can mimic other diseases. So it’s hard to actually diagnose the Lyme itself. So it does become and then by that point, if you haven’t diagnosed it, it’s become chronic and then it becomes even more difficult to eradicate. So, it is a very challenging disease. Unfortunately, there are more and more people getting it every year I think about 440,000 people per year contract Lyme disease.

george grombacher 4:10
So, it is Wow, a super sneaky efficient illness. Is it an auto immune diseases or what what is Lyme disease?

Unknown Speaker 4:21
So, it itself is you know, a vector borne disease it is not considered to be an auto immune disease in itself, however, because it weakens the immune system and the body is constantly fighting it off and these spiral keeps that embed into you know the body are egregious. So it leads to a compromised immune system. So in addition to having the Lyme disease, I actually developed an autoimmune disorder and that is very typical for patients with the chronic Lyme, late stage line. So the Lyme led to an autoimmune disorder. In my case, it was psoriasis, which is one of the known disorders. So So I then had to combat that as well. But my treatments cleared all of that up, to my astonishment. So I have no trace of an autoimmune disorder, I have no trace of Lyme disease, and I have not for five years.

george grombacher 5:20
Amazing. So you mentioned that you were you’re essentially bedridden. I’m sure horrible pain and discomfort, does it eventually kill people?

Unknown Speaker 5:34
Many people, it’s it’s controversial about, you know, what the death is actually coming from. But there are many people who die from complications of of line. There. Also, it’s the Journal of neuro psychiatric disorders, reported recently that about 1200 patients commit suicide a year because of these automation inducing cytokines that cause depression in lyme patients. And then there and then there are major complications from Lyme disease. So yes, it absolutely, it absolutely does. And, you know, I, my joint pain was so severe that, you know, I couldn’t put my hands around the steering wheel, to say nothing of, you know, even picking up a book I wasn’t able to, I wasn’t able to read I had severe migraines, I’ve never had a history of headaches. Before I had such memory issues, I would begin a sentence. And I had no idea what I’m talking about, I couldn’t finish the sentence. And just, you know, and then other symptoms, tinnitus, Taka, cardio, night sweats, I couldn’t, I couldn’t really walk very well, sometimes I would slide down on my bottom, from my bedroom to get to the kitchen, and then I would be so tired, I would just lie in the heap at the bottom of the stairs until I could get to the kitchen. So it just it just, it was not a sustainable life. And I know that there are a lot of people out there who have that experience.

george grombacher 7:09
And so you’re, you’re Googling or trying to figure out what what can I do? And he learned about this program in Siberia?

Unknown Speaker 7:18
Yes. And I had employed all of my, all of my tools, is it you know, I have a PhD from Johns Hopkins, you know, I’m a trained researcher, this whole experience for years I had been researching, you know, as a sick person who didn’t really have, you know, the wherewithal to conduct proper research, I would try everything that I could try. So I had, this wasn’t the first thing I tried. I had exhausted a whole variety of modalities from allopathic to alternative medicine. So yes, on that day, which I will never forget, I can remember what I was wearing, what it looks like, the time of day where the pillows were positioned in my bed around me and and I came across guess this interesting phrase and a forum for patients, you know, with autoimmune disorders, and it talked about the work of this doctor filo note in Siberia and MD, who, who said that, you know, the cells in the body can turn into like thermo nuclear reactors and incinerate diseased cells. And somehow, that seemed logical to me. And just like, incinerate disease cells was like, Yes, this is this is what we need to do. It. It might be magical realism, but you know, let’s, let’s, let’s find this doctor. So then I went on a quest to find the doctor and go to Siberia.

george grombacher 8:51
It’s like, literally, it’s it’s like the hero’s journey. You’re venturing out into the unknown to meet the figurative Yoda out in Siberia. What is this team have been doing in Siberia?

Unknown Speaker 9:05
That’s precisely right. It is the hero’s journey. George, so he’s from Siberia. He comes from a family of medical doctors and a part of Siberia that, you know, it doesn’t look like tundra. It’s an important beautiful part UNESCO protected part in the mountains. It’s a luscious landscape with beautiful rivers and mountains, the songbirds, you know, the tall pines, so it’s this it’s this very peaceful sanctuary like setting and this is this happens to be you know, where he is where he is from, and he believes that, you know, it’s a favorable condition for the patient to be in nature, away from the city, you know, while while while conducting these dry fasts, so he has he has a rustic clinic there. So that’s why that’s his that’s his place. It’s conducive to healing.

george grombacher 10:01
Was it hard for you to go there? I mean, just with with, I don’t have any idea if if an American could just go to Siberia?

Unknown Speaker 10:10
Yes, well, at this time, unfortunately, circumstances don’t permit that. But he does conduct fasts in Western Europe. And in Turkey, where, you know, everyone seems to be able to go, I did have to renew a Russian visa that I already had. And, and right my partner at the time, I had to literally pick up my body from my bed and sort of haul me to Siberia, which which involves several flights and, and a long car ride. And then you know, even navigating some backcountry roads to to arrive there. Once I arrived. It it felt like I was in the scene of some fairy tale with, you know, the doctor is right wife is running through this sort of feel to calling by name. And I was like, I have arrived. So yes, it was not easy to get there.

george grombacher 11:08
And so I don’t even know what dry fasting is.

Unknown Speaker 11:13
A lot of people don’t, it’s the primary question. So dry fasting means to abstain from all substances, including water. So absolutely nothing is ingested during a dry fast. And actually, one does not even take a shower, brush one’s teeth, apply lotions or creams, because all of that could provide an external power supply to, you know, provide nutrients for for the body. So I call it I call it a practice, it’s similar to marathon training. So you work the body up to being able to undergo extended dry fasts. And I like to say, right away that no one should try this at home today, feeling miserable in bed and saying, Well, I’m going for it. This is not how it’s done. Dr. Fiona is on Dr. feelin off.net. He does zoom consultations with people all over the world with a translator now, really, largely thanks to me coming as the first American patient and then writing a blog and all of a sudden there was a flood of people and he organized, and now does zoom consultations with a translator. But the dry fasting itself, you know, the body has this as an, you know, unknown process. It’s an ancient practice. So, so the body knows what to do, it sort of becomes its own doctor and goes into this sophisticated process of recycling compromised cells and renewing, you know, blood cells and, and, and, you know, recycling cellular debris.

george grombacher 12:53
What was your just sort of in general terms? What was your diet like, before going there?

Unknown Speaker 13:00
So that’s an excellent question. Because, as I said, one doesn’t just simply dry fast. And Dr. Phil on oath likes to have three months to prepare a patient. So my diet was already very clean. I’ve always had a very clean diet. So you know, organic vegetables very plant based. But uh, you know, I reduced portions. Absolutely, you know, no sugar. I never was, I had long known that, you know, white bread, etc. Was was a no, no. So it was it was very, you know, healthy plant based. I avoided caffeine alcohol. But what he did, I had, I had always been trying to put all these supplements in my body. And I never thought of this elegant solution of what I could take out of my body. So he took me off all medications, all supplements, and, and he had me employing some simple things like activated charcoal to, to, you know, reduce, you know, the effects of all of these medications I’ve taken for so long. So I had a very simple diet, and then he put me on short, dry fasts. So I did a one day dry fast. They did a three day, three day dry pass at home before I went to Siberia. And so I had already been just fasting water fasting, really since I was a teenager. So I was stranger to to that process. So I did I did his preparation before I spent two months in Siberia with him.

george grombacher 14:29
And those two months

Unknown Speaker 14:31
and those two months with him saved my life.

george grombacher 14:35
Yeah. What was what was the longest drive fast that you did?

Unknown Speaker 14:40
The longest drive fast that I did when I was when I was very sick because I now do maintenance dry fast, not for Lyme disease, but because he cancels all of it. He says the toxic world. People should be dry fasting, everyone should be dry fasting. So the longest one I did when I was sick there with him was nine days. And the important thing about it, so I first did a seven day, and then he rehabilitated me with the exit. And it’s very important, of course not to overdo it in the exit. And then and then we did the longer nine day and what he says it’s, you know, you can’t cure a disease with a two or three day drive fast, it has to be cumulative days, those cumulative days, the body is working up to this, you know, really powerful mechanism of sorting through the cells, the organs are resting, you know, the healthy cells are preserved, but it’s going through this really sophisticated process, and it takes time. So he says, The nine day is the most important day, so you have to make it to the ninth day with no food and no water. Which, which, which I was able to do. Yeah.

george grombacher 15:49
Amazing. So you were accustomed to doing fasting when just just growing up or whatever, before you got sick? Nine days? Could could could you have done 20? Because you’re so sick?

Unknown Speaker 16:06
No, I want to say I want to be very clear. For the listeners out there that there are their, you know, there are social media accounts circulating in the US about these long 20 Day dry fast. This is very dangerous and and that human bodies should not undergo ever more than 11 days. And Dr. Fiona would never allow a patient to go past 11 days, what he would do instead would be to do a seven day dry fast than a nine day, take a few weeks off and do another nine day. That’s the safe way to practice this. And he has been using these treatments for 30 years. So he you know he can he observes the patient, it’s this patient is under medical supervision, he would never approve of a 20 day dry fast. So I’m so glad that you’ve asked that question.

george grombacher 16:59
And I just pulled the number out of the air. I’ve never heard of Dr. Bass before our conversation today, it was more from my perspective of would you have done anything to get better, I would have a logical standpoint,

Unknown Speaker 17:12
if I knew that it was safe, and I did put a lot of trust in Him because because I could tell he’s very wise, he’s very logical, he’s very rational. And I can see that, you know, him, he makes, you know, very careful decisions with his patients. And so I did put myself I did, you know, put myself in his hands. And, and I thought, you know, none of these symptoms I have, well, dry fasting, a little bit of thirst, you know, a little bit of fatigue, it’s nothing is worse than my Lyme symptoms. And I was so motivated to get better. And surprisingly, I felt increasingly better as I kept dry fasting, it was like my body was burning off this junk, so to speak, and macular and, and I felt better as the days progressed, while I was still dry fasting, which to me was miraculous. When I came out of it, I really felt like I had been put back into my 17 year old body. I was just like bouncing and my memory, I had no idea that these things would come back. And you know, I went on to write four books in the last five years, they’re still you know, in the process of coming out, this is the first one to come out. But I’ve you know, I spent the whole summer this year hiking through the Swiss Alps, with my daughter, and you know, I’m running every day and, and I just I have this, I have this really high energy like I used to have. So that that to me, is the reason why I need to put this out there.

george grombacher 18:51
Yeah, I think it’s I think it’s incredible. And I’m so happy that it worked obviously. And, and and that you’ve got, you’ve got your life back. So

Unknown Speaker 19:02
thank you for that every single day.

george grombacher 19:05
So when people pick up the book and read it, what, what what are you hoping that they’ll get out of it?

Unknown Speaker 19:11
Well, I want them to, I want them to understand that there’s hope if you’re in despair, I want them to see it’s also a sort of a love letter to life itself. It’s not just staying in despair, it’s really lifting up and, you know, finding finding your path to wellness. It’s so and then I include very detailed protocols that I discussed with Dr. Pillow NOFX even recipes, and I used a lot of meditations while I was try fasting just to you know, keep calm during that process. So I include those in an appendix and even for if someone is not ill. I think that it’s an inspiring story and that we can all improve our health and the world. You know, the world does present a lot of challenges with pollution and just the toxins that we encounter, living in, you know, living in cities. And so what my doctor, you know, is always stating is that this process is for everyone. And, you know, the people who I have seen, who have seen me and then decided to dry fast, have just felt marvelous. And so I just, I would I would like people to, to have access to that.

george grombacher 20:26
I love it. Yeah, it’s so true that our lifestyles today and all the different environmental factors that are so dangerous for our bodies, let alone all the crap that we put into our bodies and things that are self inflicted. So the more that we can do to position our bodies to be healthy, the better so make sense. Michelle, thank you so much for coming on. Where can people learn more about you? And where can they pick up a copy of starving to heal in Siberia?

Unknown Speaker 20:56
Thank you so much, George. So serving to heal in Siberia is sold where books are sold. It’s also available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, all of the different web booksellers. I do have a website, Michel sedar.com, and some social media accounts. I think there’s a Michelle site or New York on Instagram, et cetera, et cetera. So I may be found there. I’ve also written a blog. I wanted to point out for your listeners who might have Lyme disease or other illnesses that there is an audio book available. I really wanted that to be out there because people who are ill can’t just sit down and read a whole book. So I wanted to have the audio book available that is available now. So they’re

george grombacher 21:39
awesome. Well, if you enjoyed as much as I did, show me show your appreciation and share today’s show with a friend who also appreciates good ideas pick up a copy of starving to heal and Siberia wherever you buy your books. And also keep in mind that the audiobook is also available. And the go to Michelle slater.com. It’s mi ch e ll e s l a t e r to find the blog as well. Thanks again, Michelle.

Unknown Speaker 22:04
Thank you, George.

george grombacher 22:06
And until next time, remember, do your part by doing your best

Transcribed by https://otter.ai