Hard Dry Fast vs. Soft Dry Fast

Various fasting practices are adopted by people. Some people might take the whole day without eating any kind of food, while some may choose to nourish themselves with small meals or a single meal a day. You are also likely to drink water throughout the day. Hence, when it comes to the numerous types of fasting, there is often a lot of confusion between them, especially hard, dry fast, and soft dry fast.

This article deals with these two types of fasting and the significant differences between them.

What Is a Hard Dry Fast?

A dry fast means you don’t consume any type of food or water for the duration of the fast that usually lasts from 12 to 17 hours. Dry fasts can be of two types: soft and hard. Hard dry fasters are very diligent in making sure they are not exposed to even a single drop of water. It means no brushing, bathing, and showering for the period of the dry hard fast to avoid any chances of water being swallowed and breaking the fast. Hard dry fasts are undoubtedly the strictest fasts.

What Is Soft Dry Fast?

There is much more flexibility in the soft dry fast than a hard dry fast. Though water consumption is not allowed in a soft dry fast, you can use water for other purposes like bathing, showering, brushing teeth, cleaning your face, and rinsing the mouth. Even if you swallow some small quantity of water by mistake, it will not nullify you soft dry fast.

In short, a soft dry fast is the one in which you don’t drink water but is allowed to use water for washing your face, bathing, and brushing teeth. On the other hand, hard, dry fast strictly prohibits any type of contact with water.

As a beginner faster, you should always try soft fasting because initially, you may find it very difficult to stop water consumption completely. If you decide to try a hard, dry fast as your first option, you can face some health complications in abruptly inhibiting water consumption, along with avoiding other basic hygienic practices for the period of the fast.

Some Benefits of Dry and Soft Dry Fasts

Some of the most common and significant advantages of dry fasting are:

• Increased weight loss as fat is burned at a very high rate. Compared to a soft fast, hard fasting can make your body burn fast rapidly due to a lack of metabolic water.
• Like other types of fasting, dry and soft fasts can increase your metabolism rate by burning fats, triggering lipolysis, and producing norepinephrine.
•  According to a study by Neurology International, people who fasted for an entire month of Holy Ramadan, had enhanced nerve growth rate, increased serotonin levels, and better cognitive functions.

After reading about some of the many benefits of soft and dry fasting, you might be tempted to try them out. You should make a smart choice in terms of the type of fasting and make sure that fasting is suitable for your health and body conditions. You can consult some medical experts for this purpose as well. Once you have started fasting, you are likely to enjoy the process and get many benefits from it.