And How Water-Only Fasting Addresses Each Factor
A recurring infection does not always mean a person needs a stronger antibiotic, a longer antifungal prescription, another antiviral, or a larger stack of natural remedies.
- Sometimes the organism was never fully addressed.
- Sometimes the diagnosis was wrong.
- Sometimes the treatment was appropriate.
Most importantly, the conditions that allowed the infection to develop and linger may still be present.
When a problem repeatedly returns, it is reasonable to ask a broader question:
Cause and Effect
For example, someone who repeatedly tests positive for mold may spend most of their focus identifying the sources of mold in their environment. That sounds reasonable. They may then spend a great deal of time trying to fight it with antifungals.
The problem with that approach is that they may not be asking why other people exposed to the same mold spores are not experiencing ill health.
I am not advocating being irresponsible about mold exposure. I am asking how it is that some people are exposed to mold and remain healthy.
In that question may lie an important part of the answer to recovering from mold, fungus, viral, parasite, or bacterial exposure.
A deeper dive into the cause-and-effect of these patterns is addressed in Dr. Colafranceschi’s one-on-one work.
What is continuing to make this body, tissue, or environment vulnerable?
Another valuable question that is often not asked is: What is the fungus, bacteria, virus, or parasite feeding on?
Or, more importantly: What is the purpose of the microbe within that environment?
Here are five common reasons infections keep coming back.
1. The Source Is Still There
Sometimes medication is being used against an infection that has a physical source requiring correction.
A medication may temporarily lower the number of organisms, but it may not fully solve an infection trapped inside a pocket of pus, poorly supplied tissue, an obstruction, or around a foreign object.
You cannot always medicate around a structural problem.
For example, many skin abscesses require drainage because the pus itself needs to be removed. Water only fasting addressing this optimally.
2. The Exposure Keeps Repeating, or the Immune System Is Too Weak to Deal With It
Sometimes the infection is not simply returning from inside the body. It may be repeatedly reintroduced through continued exposure.
The question is not only: “What killed the infection?”
It is also: “What keeps bringing it back?”
And: “Why is the immune system not adequately dealing with the exposure?”
Water-only fasting is intended to help address the internal conditions that may be weakening the body’s ability to respond, recover, and restore balance.
3. The Body’s Barriers or Drainage Systems Are Not Working Well
The body depends on barriers and flow.
Skin protects against outside organisms. Mucus and cilia help clear the airways. Urine flow helps flush the urinary tract. Normal bowel function, saliva, tears, circulation, and immune cells all play a role in keeping microbes from becoming a larger problem.
One clinical pattern I have observed is that GMO and pesticide exposure can directly correlate with these systems becoming impaired. Repairing the gut lining is paramount and is addressed through water-only fasting.
When these systems are impaired, infections may recur more easily.
A person can repeatedly take medication while the underlying issue remains unchanged.
4. The Internal Conditions Continue to Favor Infection
Some people are more vulnerable to recurrent infection because their internal conditions make it easier for organisms to grow, spread, or persist.
This does not mean the person is at fault. It means there may be a condition worth identifying and improving.
These can include:
- Uncontrolled blood sugar or diabetes.
- Poor nutrition or inadequate protein intake.
- Heavy alcohol use.
- Severe sleep deprivation.
- Chronic stress and poor recovery.
- Immune suppression from medication, cancer treatment, chronic illness, or other causes.
- Repeated antibiotic exposure that disrupts normal microbial balance.
- Chronic inflammation or damaged tissue.
- Smoking or vaping.
- Ongoing dehydration.
- Physical exhaustion or inadequate recovery.
Diabetes, for example, is associated with an increased risk and severity of several infections, including urinary infections and certain serious bacterial infections. (CDC)
The answer is not to blame the body. The answer is to ask whether there is something modifiable that is lowering resilience or impairing normal defense.
Water-only fasting may help address some of these internal conditions by reducing dietary burden, allowing the digestive system to rest, and supporting the body’s process of repair and recovery.
5. The Diagnosis or Treatment Is Not Actually Matching the Problem
A recurring “infection” may not be an infection. Digestive symptoms are often assumed to be yeast, parasites, or a “gut infection” without confirmation.
This is why repeatedly trying stronger medications, herbs, supplements, antifungals, antibiotics, or antiparasitic drugs without confirming the diagnosis can become a cycle.
The person may be treating the wrong organism. Or more importantly missing the bigger picture of lifestyle, and emotional factors.
The Better Approach
When infections keep returning, the goal should not be endless suppression.
The goal is to identify whether there is:
- A source that needs removal or drainage.
- An ongoing exposure that needs to stop.
- A barrier or drainage problem that needs correction.
- An internal condition reducing resilience.
- A diagnosis or treatment plan that needs to be reconsidered.
Medication may still be necessary. Natural support may still have a role.
Neither should become a substitute for asking why the problem keeps coming back.
The best question is not simply: “What can I take?”
It is: “What has to change for this problem to stop returning?”
*Ask if water only fasting is right for you.
Mark Colafranceschi, D.C. • Licensed Chiropractic Physician – Arizona License #009154 • Scottsdale, Arizona