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Fasting is possibly the most effective and powerful health tool I have come across. The only issue I have had with fasting is the intense energy levels I get du

• odorousrex 8y ago
  What is your fasting regimen like? Do you make any other alterations to your diet?
  • ams6110 8y ago
    There is no diet. You stop eating. Drink only water (some people allow for coffee/tea but I think if you're being strict about it that should be avoided also).
    • odorousrex 8y ago
      I meant in general. Many people on intermittent fasting adjust their diet off-fast in various ways to compensate for nutrition they may have missed (i.e. increased protein intake in the following meal, etc)
      • ambicapter 8y ago
        I don't think that's true, or at least the 'Many' here is probably a minority. IF doesn't necessitate any changes to diet.
      • bonesss 8y ago
        Some people break their fasts with a high protein meal for some hormonal benefits, but there's no "missing nutrition". Some people over eat when breaking their fasts early in their adaption. Otherwise: our digestive cycles take a long time to work.
• crescentfresh 8y ago
  My sleep patterns get completely messed up on my fasts. I'll sleep for 4 hours and then wide-awake. I switch back to normal eating and I get a full 8hrs sleep that night. It made me think I was doing something wrong but then the more I thought about it, maybe I just don't need more than those 4hrs of sleep when I'm fasting.
  • creaghpatr 8y ago
    I have noticed this as well.
  • goda90 8y ago
    I wonder, is it that your body is worried about getting food and will cut off sleep to give you more time to find it, or is it that the build up of chemicals like adenosine(which seems to play a role in sleepiness, and gets cleared out during sleep.) in the body has slowed so that less sleep is required?
    • _up 8y ago
      It's HGH. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC329619/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC329619/
    • sametmax 8y ago
      My guess is mostly increased hormone production and energy saved from the digestive process.
  • geoka9 8y ago
    Same here, I sleep less when I eat little. But I don't feel any downsides to sleeping less that way, so I suspect it's normal.
  • zip1234 8y ago
    This was mentioned in Matthew Walker's book "Why We Sleep." Ghrelin and dopamine levels are high which keep you awake. It is suspected to be an evolutionary boost that you are alert more in order to find food.
• mathnmusic 8y ago
  I have recently gone from 1 day water-fasting to 7-days water-fasting at a time. The first 3 days are the hardest. On 7th day, I was still completely full of energy and felt like I could have easily gone to two full weeks (which I didn't just to avoid risk). Has anyone here tried 2 full weeks of water fasting? Any extra precautions to take?
  • goda90 8y ago
    I'm curious, do you take potassium and sodium supplements while water-fasting?
    • mathnmusic 8y ago
      Yes, typically on the 4th day.
    • 40acres 8y ago
      I typically put pink salt in my tea, does not taste great but after a few days it's legitimately satisfying. Amazing how your standards can change so quickly in desperation.
      • rootusrootus 8y ago
        Why pink? For the iron?
  • ckosidows 8y ago
    I just tried to do a 48-hour fast and only made it to 24 before I had to eat. I felt dizzy, irritable and couldn't concentrate on anything other than my hunger. How do people make it past this?
    • gambiting 8y ago
      It will sound almost confrontational, but you literally have to force yourself not to eat. I'm not going to pretend it's easy, but that's the way to do it. The feeling will go away once you get past that stage of not being able to think of anything else but food.
• SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
  > Fasting is possibly the most effective and powerful health tool I have come across. What healthy changes have been observed? Has your doctor noted changes? Do you couple this with exercise?
  • chimpburger 8y ago
    The first time I fasted 4 years ago, it cleared up the brain fog (for lack of a better description) that had been an ongoing issue for about a year prior to that. The difference was extremely noticeable and happened overnight. Since then I've always noticed increased mental clarity and energy after fasting (minimum 24 hours - strictly water only).
    • SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
      So no real changes other than the lifting of a psychological "fog"?
      • chimpburger 8y ago
        Increased mental clarity, energy and feeling of wellbeing is quite real. What exactly are you expecting to happen within 24 hours? Super powers? 10 years increased lifespan?
        • SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
          I was hoping for information on the effects or longer term, repeated fasting, as the article lays it out. It would seem that 24 hours of fasting has the same effects as going for a jog.
          • chimpburger 8y ago
            Not the same as going for a jog. I had been regularly exercising intensely for 10 years prior to that. It's not the same effect. To understand the longer term or scientific viewpoint, there is an abundance of research on the benefits of caloric restriction. Just Google it (on http://scholar.google.com/ http://scholar.google.com/).
• emiliobumachar 8y ago
  Off-topic, but what's wrong with being unable to drink as much coffee because you already have an equivalent effect? Are you that fond of the taste of coffee?
• toomuchtodo 8y ago
  > My primate brain screams at me to get out and hunt/gather. Kinda stressful. I can't drink as much coffee either because I'm already wired. Try taking 200mg-400mg of L-theanine with each cup of coffee. It'll temper the anxiety feeling you're having. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18681988 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18681988 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18006208 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18006208
  • Legogris 8y ago
    Or replace the coffee with strong green tea with high theanine content.
• awa 8y ago
  I am curious about fasting as well, and have been considering trying it. Can you point me to some practical advice on how to get started on fasting that worked for you and some research to back up the claims.
  • valgor 8y ago
    I don't know what your day is like, but for myself I started during the work week by doing intermittent fasting. I would stop eating (in particular, no calories, so I stopped drinking too!) by 8pm the night before and then do not eat before 11-noon the next day. This gave me an 8-9 hour window to eat. It was only rough the first few days, but if you stick with it, you might find yourself doing intermittent fasting on the weekends without even trying.
    • novaRom 8y ago
      I do similarly for many years, my no_calories window is between 10pm and 12-noon. This is very simple, just avoid any breakfast and drink some water instead. Also important to quit coffee, I find it improves a lot of things (after a week of withdrawal symptoms).
      • elbear 8y ago
        What improvements have you noticed after quitting coffee? I ask, because I drink coffee in the morning during the fast. From everything I've read, it doesn't break the fast. Btw, I don't use coffee as a sleep substitute. I wake up every morning without an alarm. I drink coffee for the taste. I simply love it.
        • novaRom 8y ago
          >> What improvements have you noticed after quitting coffee? Better mood and feeling more energized through the day. Better vision. The latest is quite strange, but I can really see better, probably a side effect of improved concentration and calmness.
      • 8y ago
• etrautmann 8y ago
  As someone new to the concept - what are the goals of fasting? It does not seem like weight loss is a primary driver for most people on this thread?
  • qqqwerty 8y ago
    My non-scientific, and poorly researched understanding is that calories in/calories out is how you manage weight. But digestion itself is also a somewhat 'taxing' processes, and eating 3 square meals a day means you are pretty much constantly digesting food through out the day. For example, if you look into how type 2 diabetes works, your body basically can't produce enough insulin to process the glucose in your system (roughly), so you end up with high blood sugar. One way to deal with it is to reduce total calorie consumption, but it also feels like simply compressing your eating into a smaller window could have similar impacts (i.e. your average glucose levels throughout the day might be lower, even if you are eating a little more). I wouldn't be surprised if there are other functions and processes in the body benefit (maybe kidneys and the liver benefit from some more 'downtime'). I am not a huge fan of the 'evolution' argument, but I assume our distant ancestors ate meals in somewhat sporadic schedules, so it would kinda make sense that our bodies are tuned to that cadence, as opposed to the constant supply of processed foods that we currently subsist on.
• clamprecht 8y ago
  What about muscle loss? I haven't tried fasting because I don't want to lose muscle mass. Maybe my concern is unfounded?
  • ams6110 8y ago
    Not an expert but I would not think you would suffer much muscle loss in a short (less than 1 week) fast. It takes longer than that for your metabolism to transition into starvation mode. Maybe there's some risk if your body fat is already very low.
    • SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
      > https://www.lifehack.org/389060/how-much-muscle-mass-can-you-lose-during-a-water-fast https://www.lifehack.org/389060/how-much-muscle-mass-can-you... It looks like you can lost a fair amount of muscle mass, and that you lose the most muscle mass early, so 1 21 day fast would be better for you than 3 7 day.
  • Legogris 8y ago
    Plenty of bodybuilders do fasting, especially intermittent fasting. Make sure you get the nutrients you require before and after a fast and combine with resistance training and you have no reason for concern (IANAN)
    • SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
      > Plenty of bodybuilders do fasting, especially intermittent fasting. I know that they do IF, but do we have examples of bodybuilders that do 3+ day regular fasts? I'm not aware of any. IF can simply be a neat way to calorically reduce, but legitimate multi-day fasting is another beast entirely.
  • loeg 8y ago
    Probably unfounded, unless you're in the uncommon niche of having very low body fat and not exercising regularly (a few days a week). Depending on how long you fast, of course. 12-24 hours isn't going to make all that much difference.
• nck4222 8y ago
  I'm not trying to disparage fasting, who am I to say it hasn't helped you, or others? That being said you call it a health tool, and then say it produces stress, which has been documented as being extremely detrimental to health. You also mention, being unable to focus, and being wired. I'm glad it's helped you, but this endorsement makes me question the health benefits more actually, and makes me less interested in trying it.
  • 013a 8y ago
    This is only one study, but there's some evidence that stress and the belief that stress is detrimental are correlated with detrimental health effects [1]. In other words, there may be a negative placebo effect at play where its less to do with the stress and more to do with how you respond to it. Now, consider that fasting (and, really, consistent exercise as well) is correlated with high self-control and an internal belief that you're doing this to improve your physical health. The worst kind of Stress is stress from sources you can't control, but you have complete control over what you eat. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374921/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374921/
  • sgift 8y ago
    > That being said you call it a health tool, and then say it produces stress, which has been documented as being extremely detrimental to health. The dose makes the poison. Not enough stress has been shown to be extremely detrimental to health too (Fitness training produces stress. Take your pick of studies showing that you should still do it).
• agumonkey 8y ago
  Tried skipping meals for curiosity's sake. When hunger reflex strikes (boredom + 12 or 4pm ..) I try to divert the fulfilling need with activities. As if I could get mental satiety with action instead of nutrients.
• pombrand 8y ago
  Experience the same, have water fasted 5 days before and doing it twice a year. Three options here 1. Accept you will seemingly need less sleep and go to bed later, use any sleepless time in bed as an opportunity to read and meditate. 2. Be extra careful with sleep hygiene. 3. Use hot then ice cold showers before bed, and possibly sleep aids spanning from 1 mg melatonin to 7.5 mg doxylamine (very safe, but gives you a hangover due to long half-life, maybe not so bad if you feel too wired) to benzodiazepines or hypnotics like ambien (shorter half-lifes, more effective, ideally with assistance from a doctor). Some argue that sleeping less is a good stress during a fast, but I haven't seen any good evidence to support that.