Any benefit experienced may well have been attributable to the fasting; the vigorous exercise of digging the ditch; protracted boredom and mind wandering; and being away from work and other obligations for several hours at a time.
Whenever you hear a line like that, run the other way.
Raw milk. Alkaline water. Pot. Guava leaves. Acupuncture. DMSO. Iron tablets. Fasting. Long, long history of this. The FDA had a museum of the ones that were outright harmful, but it doesn't seem to be on display any more.