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Why did you decide to fast for 12+ days?

by etblg 9y ago

lkrubner 9y ago
Health benefits. There is a whole world of study regarding the health benefits of long fasts. It gives your immune system a chance to generate a greater variety of responses to different pathogens. Also, it might have some benefit in staving off cancer, as it has been shown to offer aid with chemotherapy. See here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fasting-might-boost-chemo/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fasting-might-boo...
- qbrass 9y ago
  Why 12 days though? Did you quit after seeing the downturn, or were you planning on 12 to begin with?
  - lkrubner 9y ago
    Social obligations. Which is what always ends my fasts. I had scheduled to do some traveling and meet some friends. I ate vegetarian food for the first week after the fast. It was two days till I got my strength back, and several more days before I felt 100%. I've read there is a unique kind of diabetes that comes up when you do a long fast. When we say "diabetes" we tend to think of Type II, which comes from over-eating, but I've read that "diabetes" actually refers to any disregulation of the insulin response. And it makes sense that we wouldn't have much of an insulin response after 12 days without food. Because the purpose of insulin is to sweep excess nutrition out of our blood stream and into our cells, especially our fat cells, but if you've just gone 12 days without food, then there is no excess -- the cells are desperate for whatever nutrition they can get.
    - davnicwil 9y ago
      > I've read that "diabetes" actually refers to any disregulation of the insulin response I am assuming you know the difference between type 1 and 2 diabetes, but for the benefit of other people reading this, please be aware that in type 1 diabetes, the body's response to insulin is irrelevant - the body (pancreas) does not produce insulin at all, and thus it is necessary to inject insulin. It is a wholly different condition from type 2 diabetes.
    - projektfu 9y ago
      Diabetes, technically, refers to the production of excessive urine. Hence the two major diseases called diabetes, diabetes mellitus (sugary diabetes) and diabetes insipidus (tasteless diabetes, an unrelated disease). Generally, people are only talking about diabetes mellitus, of which there are several etiologies. While some conditions are on the spectrum of insulin resistance (metabolic syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome), you wouldn't call it diabetes unless the urine contains glucose.

Why did you decide to fast for 12+ days?

by etblg 9y ago

Why did you decide to fast for 12+ days?

Health benefits. There is a whole world of study regarding the health benefits of long fasts. It gives your immune system a chance to generate a greater variety of responses to different pathogens. Also, it might have some benefit in staving off cancer, as it has been shown to offer aid with chemotherapy. See here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fasting-might-boost-chemo/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fasting-might-boo...

qbrass 9y ago
Why 12 days though? Did you quit after seeing the downturn, or were you planning on 12 to begin with?
- lkrubner 9y ago
  Social obligations. Which is what always ends my fasts. I had scheduled to do some traveling and meet some friends. I ate vegetarian food for the first week after the fast. It was two days till I got my strength back, and several more days before I felt 100%. I've read there is a unique kind of diabetes that comes up when you do a long fast. When we say "diabetes" we tend to think of Type II, which comes from over-eating, but I've read that "diabetes" actually refers to any disregulation of the insulin response. And it makes sense that we wouldn't have much of an insulin response after 12 days without food. Because the purpose of insulin is to sweep excess nutrition out of our blood stream and into our cells, especially our fat cells, but if you've just gone 12 days without food, then there is no excess -- the cells are desperate for whatever nutrition they can get.
  - davnicwil 9y ago
    > I've read that "diabetes" actually refers to any disregulation of the insulin response I am assuming you know the difference between type 1 and 2 diabetes, but for the benefit of other people reading this, please be aware that in type 1 diabetes, the body's response to insulin is irrelevant - the body (pancreas) does not produce insulin at all, and thus it is necessary to inject insulin. It is a wholly different condition from type 2 diabetes.
  - projektfu 9y ago
    Diabetes, technically, refers to the production of excessive urine. Hence the two major diseases called diabetes, diabetes mellitus (sugary diabetes) and diabetes insipidus (tasteless diabetes, an unrelated disease). Generally, people are only talking about diabetes mellitus, of which there are several etiologies. While some conditions are on the spectrum of insulin resistance (metabolic syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome), you wouldn't call it diabetes unless the urine contains glucose.