Do I need to be completely hydrated and peeing straw-coloured water? For whatever reason, I think I’m dehydrated currently - not because I’m thirsty - but my pee is dark yellow - bordering on brown. I feel fine. But should I do a dry fast from this point - or is it important to start with a “healthy” shade of straw? While you are dry fasting, do you pee much? Sorry for the focus on wee-wees - my biggest concern is dehydration and the impacts on kidneys, kidney stones etc.
It sounds like you’re a little dehydrated already. Personally I think you should take a few days to hydrate fully before starting.
Yes I still pee and poop!!! Not as much as usual of course. Also I experience less urgency. The best for me is that I rarely feel the need to pee in the middle of the night after the first day.
You should definitely be hydrating more before a dry fast if you aren’t even fasting and your pee is already that dark. You don’t have to have clear pee to dry fast, but dark yellow/brown is already showing dehydration in the body which would really tax the body during the fast. Not to mention that dark of urine is not natural to the body as is
First I just wanna say - the urine should be clear like water when properly hydrated, not even yellow-ish, even if it´s usually no bigger concern if it varies a bit from time to time between yellow-ish and clear. But if hydrating for a dry fast I would want it to be as clear as possible for at least a couple of days before starting the fast to know that I am properly hydrated. Don´t forget the salt/potassium/magnesium but don´t overdo it either or the imbalance will cause dehydration.
It sounds like you could even have a kidney problem with that dark urine? I had like that for a while after doing very long trail runs in the summer and not hydrating properly (my stomach don´t like drinking while running so I have trouble drinking enough during that long distances) and it didn´t go away even after refilling on electrolytes and water in between the runs, still that brownish color most of the time. I weighed myself before and after the runs, that way I could tell if I should have drank enough, when the weight was back at before the run, which could be as much as 1-2 kilos.
It did go away by itself after maybe a month or so? But I had some aches too that could have been signals of my organs having taken some damage. The plan was to monitor that it didn´t get worse and go visit a doctor if it would have or if the pains had increased.
I wouldn´t worry to much about the kidneys during a dry fast unless you do a very long one compared to what you are used to (like not 3+ days if a beginner or 5+ if more used to it) since the kidneys sort of get a rest when you don´t add new stuff it needs to clean, if I understood Filinovs book correctly, and obviously, I am no doctor so wouldn´t take it as a medical advice but listen to your body and go see a doctor if you are worried. It could be a lot worse to do a water fast since the kidneys will still need to work on the new water you add. When it is reusing it´s own water and creating totally clean water by itself it is like the internal water just gets cleaner and cleaner which should help the kidneys.