Day 2 of The Milk Cure 10-day raw milk fast is chronicled below.
How is your experience going so far if you are participating with us? Are you feeling great? Energetic? Lousy? Tired?
Please post your observations in the comment section to share.
Paula: Slept well that first night. The car is fixed and a new computer is being loaded. Still tired and rather sore so I took a rest day workout wise and had work issues to contend with. I find that I am the hungriest early and mid-morning and by consuming more frequently during that part of the day I need less as the day goes on and the hunger subsides. The biggest difference that I have noticed thus far is that for some reason I am needing to consume a larger amount of milk than I did last year.  Which I find confusing since I weighed about 8 pounds more last year?  Digestion and elimination felt great and “normal”. Weighed in at 117.6 and consumed 14 cups today.
Richard:Â I only drank 3 cups of milk today. Â I just didn’t feel very hungry. Â I also drank herbal tea and homemade kombucha when I was thirsty and not hungry. Â Didn’t get a chance to do any exercise today although felt energetic enough to do some. Â Joints and muscles feel terrific and very flexible. Â Digestion feels very light and unburdened, the same as yesterday. Â Slept very well and had no trouble jumping out of bed at the usual 5 am.
Sarah: I completely forgot that I had committed to go on a school field trip today. Â It involved some hiking, so was a bit concerned how I would handle it being on the second day of a raw milk fast.
The hike turned out to be a lot more strenuous than I anticipated. Â It was a 3+ mile hike, through the Florida wilderness searching for native wildlife. Â While it was incredibly informative and enjoyable (we saw no less than 2 water moccasins up close and very personal – BIG ones!), it was a very hot and humid day and I felt a little weak by the end of it.
I quickly drank 3 cups of raw milk I had in the car after the hike and immediately felt better. Â I was somewhat tired the rest of the day but didn’t get a chance to rest at all as I had to help one of my children finish his Science Fair project among other commitments.
I did manage to spend 15 minutes out on the front porch in the sun with my belly exposed which is so beneficial to the gut. If you’ve never sunned your belly before, you definitely need to try it.  It is so very relaxing and pleasant not to mention health-promoting.
Was feeling so hungry by late afternoon despite consuming 10 cups of milk by 4 pm that I had to take 2 bites of raw gouda cheese to help me along. Â Am concerned that I’ve already lost a couple of pounds. Will go and weigh myself at the supermarket tomorrow.
Hubby was a dear to make dinner for the kids tonight so I wouldn’t have to smell the steak (I want steak!). Â He is not having any trouble at all with the fast. Â I’m older than him, so that’s my excuse!
Took a magnesium salts bath to help relax and detox and felt much better after that. Finished drinking milk at about 9 pm and consumed 13 cups for the day. Â I’m thinking that I’m not drinking enough but drinking any more would make me gag.
Feeling slightly headachy before bed.  Am wondering why am I doing this again? Sipped a cup of chamomile tea and went to bed about 11 pm.
Day 8 went well for me, though I stayed up too late last night visiting and felt a little woozy (hadn’t had milk in about five hours at that point). Feel fine this morning, though. Yesterday was probably my most active day so far… I did a bunch of cleaning around the house. Constipation hasn’t been an issue for me (and it usually is!). I am feeling a little mucousy, but I was before I started, too… not sure that it’s any worse. Finally got around to making some yogurt, so I’ll start adding that today. Thinking I’ll go to the park and take a nice walk in the sun here in a bit.
I was remembering yesterday that I pretty much just rolled my eyes at Paula’s posts last year (Sorry, Paula!) I was just coming around to the idea of raw milk at all and drinking it exclusively seemed absurd and unhealthy. Now I’m the wackadoo with gallons and gallons of milk in her fridge 😉 I can’t even count the number of times I’ve heard, “Is that MILK?” at work this week. Apparently people think it’s odd to have two mason jars of milk sitting out on your desk at work.
We can’t start the fast until April, when the cows are giving more milk, but I’m reading and learning and getting excited about doing the fast. A couple of questions: Is it okay to drink kombucha and eat salad as some have been doing? I’m not asking about it technically being a milk fast; just wondering if it throws off the chemistry of the raw milk.
Hang in there, everyone…I’m learning from your experiences. Thank you for posting!
No solid foods would be best. Kombucha ok.
Day 3- I was amazingly energetic today! After yesterday (which was a bitch, and so was I), today was a breeze 🙂 I went strawberry picking/sun bathing for a couple hours this morning with my 4 kids, then came home and put away 6 quarts of fresh salsa! I had enough energy to clean up the kitchen, which I’ve been neglecting for the past tow days… total, I drank 2 1/2 quarts. This seems to be the right amount for me- everything is moving fine, and I don’t feel as if I am losing any weight!
My second day was good. Again the hardest part was cooking dinner and then having dessert at a friends and coming home with dessert for my husband and watching him eat that. But it was okay. Also, I had a bowel movement. Soft and paler than normal.
Like, Sarah I got to the point where I just couldn’t drink anymore milk, even though I was hungry. So today I am going to add some cream to my milk. Hopefully, it doesn’t constipate me as others have suggested.
Also, has anyone else had more mucus? I notice my throat and nose have more phlegm. That’s a common side effect of milk though.
Also, this morning when I didn’t have milk for about an hour I started getting hangry (you know, angry hungry). I spilled my milk and seriously wanted to throw a little tantrum about it. lol If I am going to do this I need to stay on top of drinking the milk!
A raw milk tantrum! Oh, I love that! Too funny!
Sarah, thinking about you losing weight and not being able to drink anymore w/o gagging….could you add some cream to every glass you drink? Would that help at all?
I’m feeling great, except for not sleeping well at all, which is typical for me, only this is maybe worse….5 hrs. a night? Just started reading The Mood Cure book and know I need to up my seratonin. Am debating on whether to start implementing her advice now or wait for after the fast so as to know what heals/fixes what…..not really wanting to wait but don’t want to mix results.
I’ve not had any difficulty not eating. I feel lighter, clearer, content with life. This may sound wierd, but my face looks somehow different to me in the mirror….don’t know what exactly it is. More relaxed…brighter…less pinched…I actually wonder if there isn’t less wrinkles??? Is that strange to think that?
Still need to figure out how to flush the released toxins out of my body with no access to a sauna, no dechlorinator on my tub/shower…still haven’t looked into an enema – i think fear is stopping me from figuring it out.
Hi Erika, I’ve determined I’m not going to force myself to drink more. When I am done for the day, I will just stop. I’ll let the chips fall where they may as far as my weight is concerned. I don’t feel it is ever healthy to force oneself to eat or drink anything. If I don’t want anymore, there is a reason even I don’t know what it is.
By the way, our milk has so much cream on it already .. I think adding more cream might make actually making things worse!
Sarah, I couldn’t agree with you more! I hope you didn’t think I was encouraging you to drink more? I was actually curious if adding cream to the amount of milk you were interested in drinking every day would help you to maintain your current weight…it was an honest question. I wouldn’t mind losing a little bit of weight, but being a newbie, wasn’t sure of the answer to that question. I think what I am learning is, the more fat we consume, the more we lose weight. So I’m not sure adding the cream would help…. (just re-read my post and realized that you probably thought I meant would you be able to drink more milk every day if you added cream to it – totally not what I meant)
Not at all Erika .. I was more typing as I was thinking. This is my first time ever doing a raw milk fast, so everything is new to me and I’m trying to figure out the best approach for me as the fast goes along.
I just read excerpts from a book written by Bernarr Macfadden (a contemprary of Dr. Porter – The Milk Cure). He stated that the day before going on the cure that only fruits should be consumed (he actually was a proponent of at least a 3 day fast prior to starting). He also suggested that milk from Jersey cows might be too fatty so to let your milk stand for 2-3 hours and then skim the fat off before drinking. Actually, for purposes of the cure, he felt that milk from Holsteins or goats might work best (especially for constipation issues). Additionally, drinking no less that 5-6 quarts was preferable (for various reasons, including how to avoid constipation).
Anyway it was an interesting read.
Sorry for the crazy post. Auto correct on my smart phone is not too smart
Thanks Sarah. I must not get enough fat in my diet yet. I eat a ton of coconut pill but not as much butter. Seeing Megan talk about te same thing I would love is u ever blogged about that gives me hope! Also I was reading online about the raw milk cure and I saw that they said if u don’t drink enough of the milk you will get constipated. Too much and u will get diarrhea. Do t know if that helps anyone …
I am 54 and on day 2 of the cleanse. I am drinking closer to 1 gallon per day. I started at 5 oz every half hour because I read that the Mayo Clinic used between 5 and 8 oz per person every half hour. I have found that drinking 10 oz every hour works best for me although when I get up I have been drinking 15 oz to start my day.
I am doing my normal light exercise, taking care of my horses takes a couple of hours in the morning and an hour in the afternoon requiring a lot of walking, brushing and throwing hay.
I feel great! No joint pain at all. I have plenty of energy though I have found I get a little tired if I get behind on my ounces. I am overweight and have lost 3 pounds, I have not been able to lose weight no matter what I tried so I am curious to see if this continues and if I am able to keep it off. My basal temperature was 97.9 today. I have worked very hard to get this up to the normal range, if it decreases I will stop the cleanse. My bowels are a little slower than they had been but no constipation.
Hi Sarah,
I’m so excited to read your blog and wish I’d had this when I did my milk fast several years ago. Just reading the comments reminds me of so many things that happened. I had NO CRAVINGS at all!! I wasn’t hungry, and I also remember having ‘issues’ with bowel movements! Milk can be very constipating! I felt great had energy, but truly, what surprised me most was the complete lack of hunger and I made meals for my husband and we even went out to eat. (we live in a very small town and I just brought my milk with me. LOL) I’m now 66 and have chronic pain and I was so hoping it would help, but alas…it had no impact at all on that. I’d jump in and join you all again but the cows are dry right now so we have no source!
Hi Sarah, thanks for your testimony…….I was wondering how long you went, and if you noticed any lasting benefits…………thank you 🙂