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It's how wild animals that are wounded or sick heal. How is this "folkloric nonsense"?
by RobertRoberts 8y ago
It's how wild animals that are wounded or sick heal. How is this "folkloric nonsense"?
- alistairSH 8y agoAnimals fast on purpose to facilitate healing? Do you have a source for this? I suspect some are forced to fast because they are too injured/ill to obtain food. A positive impact from entering a massive caloric deficit when the body is actively burning calories is counter-intuitive.
- JulianMorrison 8y agoThe positive impacts of fasting are supposedly due to increased efforts by the body to scrounge and scrape for calories, which up-regulates processes that have the effect of clearing undesirable built-up matter/cells/etc.
- beagle3 8y agoAnecdotal: Not GP. I don't remember where I read it about wild animals, but my dog would have the occasional "low energy, don't want to play" day, followed by a couple of days of not eating, and then being super-energetic when he went back to eating. On one of these occasions, I took him to the vet, who said he had a fever, likely of viral cause, and that him losing appetite was perfectly natural and likely helping him heal. When I'm sick I lose my appetite (and don't eat, sometimes for a few days). Don't you lose your appetite when you are sick?
- fromthestart 8y agoSometimes I also get constipated when I get sick. Should I start practicing fecal retention?
- beagle3 8y agoThe logic of your argument eludes me. lack of will to eat --> not eating until will returns --> feeling better is supposed to be analogous to lack of ability to poop --> trying not to poop --> ? somehow?
- alistairSH 8y agoNo, unless I'm so sick I just sleep all day, I'm usually extra hungry.