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I'm about 6 hours away from ending a 5 day fast. I can't confirm all of the benefits from the article (I'm neither a diabetic, spiritual person, nor suffering f
by brayhite 7y ago
I'm about 6 hours away from ending a 5 day fast. I can't confirm all of the benefits from the article (I'm neither a diabetic, spiritual person, nor suffering from cancer), but I can attest to the power of the final quote in the article: "'Anyone can reach his goals if he can think, if he can wait, if he can fast.'”
Two main takeaways I've gained from fasting (I've done multiple 24 hour fasts prior to this 5 day one):
1. You don't need to eat nearly as often as you think. Hunger pangs are usually just food cravings, and drinking lots and lots of water, water you should probably be drinking anyway, will mask them more easily than one would expect.
2. The successful self-deprivation of food (in a healthy, reasonable way) and the almost exclusively positive benefits that it brings makes you wonder how much of an economic and nationwide health impact the USA would see if everyone practiced some form of fasting.
- yojex 7y agoBy the way, the phrase "if he can think, if he can wait, if he can fast" comes from the book Siddartha by Hermann Hesse[0] which is (roughly) about Buddhist philosophy. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/431428.Siddhartha https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/431428.Siddhartha
- sjg007 7y agoThere was that really obese guy who fasted for 6 months or so under medical supervision so it's clearly something that some people can do.
- javiramos 7y agoThis [0] classic study where a guy fasted for 382 days. He only took multi-vitamins during this period. His weight decreased from 456 to 180 lbs (0.72 lbs/day). [0] https://pmj.bmj.com/content/postgradmedj/49/569/203.full.pdf https://pmj.bmj.com/content/postgradmedj/49/569/203.full.pdf
- targonca 7y agoThat's very dangerous due to potentially deadly refeeding syndrome on breaking the fast: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refeeding_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refeeding_syndrome
- Someone1234 7y agoIndeed. That's just one of several dangers. People seem to effectively conduct 7-10 day fasts regularly, but beyond that you should talk to a doctor/registered dietician and also take nutritional supplements (and exit the fast in a very gradual way, not feasting).
- grzm 7y ago> "under medical supervision"
- donkeyd 7y ago> drinking lots and lots of water, water you should probably be drinking anyway, will mask them more easily than one would expect. I've recently started intermittent fasting (22:00 - 12:00, still cheat too often, but it's a start) and I've noticed this too. Two cups of coffee and a couple of glasses of water really keeps me alright until lunch. That's when I really start feeling hungry. I wasn't afraid to start IF either, because I often used to skip breakfast because I couldn't get out of bed on time.
- colinmhayes 7y agoIs it not normal to not eat between 10pm and noon? I'm not sure it counts as fasting if you are eating on the normal schedule.
- donkeyd 7y agoIt's a 14 hour fast, as was mentioned in the article. Most people i know eat breakfast when they go to work, between 6 and 8am and people often tend to snack late at night. There's even the saying that 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day', so yeah I'd say that not eating until noon is not normal.
- Retra 7y ago"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is a saying too, but it doesn't mean people are eating apples regularly. If anything, it means people are not doing it as much as someone thinks they should. It could easily be the case that we have such a saying because people don't regularly eat breakfast.
- wysifnwyg 7y agoAn apple a day keeps the doctor away only works if you've got good aim.
- WaltPurvis 7y agoThere is actual data available if you care to google it.
- tdb7893 7y agoI have a lot of trouble trying to gain weight. How easy is it too actually eat enough calories fasting that much?
- magic_beans 7y agoYou're probably not a great candidate for fasting. Not every modality works for every person.
- rsync 7y ago"I have a lot of trouble trying to gain weight. How easy is it too actually eat enough calories fasting that much?" Although I do not wish to gain weight, I do have trouble maintaining a set weight that I would like to live (and compete) at.[1] And yet, I am on a 16/8 or even 18/6 fasting schedule about four days per week. The answer, for me, is almond butter. Tremendously dense in calories and very easy to add 1/3 cup (or more) to a meal replacement shake. It's one of the easiest ways I have found to have a 1500 calorie meal that doesn't involve a tremendous bulk of food. Avocados are another food that fits this same bill. [1] I am a "lightweight", or 168 pound, fighter as per IBJJF.
- ValentineC 7y agoDid you drink "snake juice" to replenish your electrolytes?
- close04 7y agoI was forced by circumstances to have several of these fasting periods in my life, the longest being ~100 days. During this time I consumed no solid food or food supplements (like vitamins). I replaced that with clear vegetable soups (meaning only the water from boiling the vegetables) and sweetened tea. Very little actual water now that I think of it. Very quickly after starting it just sort of became normal, the hunger pangs were gone, there were no particularly strong cravings even when sitting at the table with people eating normal food. Surprisingly many times I even felt more energetic but this may have been purely a subjective feeling.
- agent008t 7y agoI struggle to gain weight (always have), and fasting sounds incredibly easy to me - all you have to do is not do something. On the other hand, eating to gain weight if you have no/little appetite is hard work - you actually have to take the time to do it. Is there a relatively easy way to boost one's appetite? Drinking a gallon of full fat milk a day on top of one's usual meals is the easiest option I have found, but even that is a lot of hard work.
- RobertRoberts 7y agoI read a book years ago on fasting, and the author discussed people who couldn't gain weight sometimes had issues with their intestines, that after fasting recovered from. And then were able to gain weight more easily. I got the impression it was not just one day of fasting though.
- vonmoltke 7y ago> Drinking a gallon of full fat milk a day on top of one's usual meals is the easiest option I have found That's actually part of Mark Rippetoe's bulking diet. It's apparently the best combination of calorie density and beneficial nutrients. There's a section on diet on Starting Strength, if you are interested.
- dondawest 7y agoNever thought I’d see the day when Dr. Fraud Rippetoe gets recommended on HN. That guy is overweight and out of shape and his lifting advice injures 99%+ of people who take it. Tread lightly when following the incredibly stupid teachings of Mark Rippetoe, man.
- magashna 7y agorather than full fat milk go deeper into the crevasse, melted ice cream
- noir_lord 7y agoI'm struggling like hell to eat enough to keep weight on at the moment, I've stomach issues though so that's the root cause. I've had to resort to body builders weight gainer which is mostly sugar, protein and dairy as I seem to be able to tolerate that OK.
- agumonkey 7y agoI'd like to add something to 1). Often a food desire is really just boredom/anxiety speaking. As if your brain decided it needed to feel good, and right now food was the closest thing to fulfill the goal. When I force myself to do something else, I feel .. let's say a bit manic, but I can often work on other things deeply, and the hunger vanishes rapidly.
- JabavuAdams 7y agoI can relate to this. I definitely eat when I'm bored or annoyed. I've found it useful to distinguish between "mouth hunger" and "stomach hunger". When I'm actually hungry, I feel sensations in my stomach, and will often burp or feel like I'm about to reflux. The "mouth hunger" is when I think of a croissant and start salivating, even though I wasn't hungry a moment ago. Or that store checkout-line "hunger" when you see all the tempting treats they've put there. So, not hunger at all, but craving.
- agumonkey 7y agoYes true hunger feels different. You also aim at different things, less about taste but more about actual nutrients. Even as a kid I never drank 2L of sodas when I was deep into soccer or running. It was straight to water.
- HankB99 7y agoSimilar experience here, perhaps. Wife and I run and our training involves running in the morning before work. I've done a couple runs, up to ten miles, before breakfast and not eaten afterwards until lunch (typically 1100-1200.) I was surprised that following the runs, I was not starving. It really was no effort to not eat. On the ten mile runs, I put a sports drink in my water bottle which includes carbs as well as electrolytes, so I suppose that's not really fasting. Pre and post run I do drink water and black coffee. And then there are mornings like today where I ran 10 miles and then had 2 eggs, 2 strips of extra thick bacon, two buckwheat pancakes (with butter and syrup)and a piece of rye toast with marmalade. Definitely not fasting!
- 7y ago
- RobertRoberts 7y ago> The successful self-deprivation of food (in a healthy, reasonable way) I would argue that perhaps you aren't "depriving" yourself but more like adjusting your intake to meet your actual needs. In other words, most of us overeat, and it just feels like deprivation when we eat less. (until we get accustomed to it)
- burlesona 7y agoDo you have any recommended reading on how to do this “correctly?” I get it that you just don’t eat, but I’m wondering how you should resume eating at the end, and about vitamins / minerals, etc. during the fast. What’s recommended?
- ignorantguy 7y agoCheckout A Complete Guide to Fasting by Dr. Jason Fung
- bart_spoon 7y agoI'm not sure there is a "correct" way to do it. There's lots of variations that work differently for different people. But even at its simplest (fasting 16 hours, eating for 8) doesn't really require a ton of extra planning. The point is that during the 8 hours, you fill up about as quickly as you do when you don't fast, so you don't really end up consuming more. What does change is you remove the snacking/overeating that occurs throughout the rest of the day. So even if someone eats the way they normally would during their 8 hour period of non-fasting, many people will see benefits. Obviously there's lots of other additional dietary steps one can take, but most of them don't actually differ much from traditional healthy eating advice: limit carbs and sugar, balanced meals, don't drink your calories, etc.
- rasengan0 7y ago3 years ago This changed our lives for the better https://youtu.be/ocioTKVidQc https://youtu.be/ocioTKVidQc Watch, learn, try And remember we are in charge of our own health. The healthcare system, your providers and their team get PAID for seeing patients usually with a broad range of conditions (unless they are volunteering in a region in need of health services)
- prostoalex 7y agoThis is a bit verbose https://link.medium.com/WKzY5QxeSW https://link.medium.com/WKzY5QxeSW but has good general guidelines. It's easier to proceed gradually rather than going into it cold turkey.
- DyslexicAtheist 7y agoI do intermittent fasting since a couple of months, initially started with 16:8 and then moved to 18:6 after the first 4 weeks. It took around 3-4 weeks until I noticed results which seems in line what I was told by others. What stood out beside the weight loss (I was very close to my ideal weight anyway) was my ability to concentrate. I noticed a huge improvement after around 5-6 weeks. When I try to come up with the right words in a conversation it feels I have immediately in mind what I want to say.
- heyoni 7y agoI will verify this claim by going through your post history and report back here! (j/k)
- DyslexicAtheist 7y ago:D
- sp332 7y agoHunger pangs are caused by a hormone called Ghrelin. It's more of a reminder to eat than an actual signal that you need more food. But it makes you feel like you're starving.
- lhl 7y agoGhrelin is also entrained and pulsatile - you get hungry when you’re used to eating, and then the signal goes away whether you’ve eaten or not (until your next meal time). It also decreases in severity over time, which is why anyone who hasn’t ever done any extended fasting imagines that you’ll get hungrier and hungrier until you’re gnawing your hands off, but anyone who has usually has the opposite experience.
- ahallock 7y agoI really don't think you should be giving vague advice like this -- it could be dangerous for some people. > drinking lots and lots of water People who are sedentary and probably drinking more water than someone who finished a marathon does not sound like a good idea to me. I was drinking a ton of water throughout the day based on ideas like this and got sick from it. I feel much better now having cut my water intake. Could the converse also be true, that we're overestimating how much water we actually need? > Hunger pangs are usually just food cravings Are you sure? For me cravings and hunger pangs are entirely different feelings. I don't doubt there are benefits to some forms of fasting, but people should consult their doctors first and tread carefully.
- nyjah 7y agoI was drinking a ton of water throughout the day based on ideas like this and got sick from it I get your point, but what was in your water? Did you just drink too much water once or this happened over a period of time?
- ahallock 7y agoI was drinking Essentia 1.5 liter bottles throughout the day for a few months. I started noticing I didn't feel right after drinking it -- it was almost like a headache. I know this isn't scientific and there could have been another cause, but drastically cutting my intake removed the symptoms.
- tempguy9999 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia Drinking too much water is dangerous. People have died from hyponatremaia. The original poster should not be spouting general advice unless he knows his stuff, which I doubt.
- tempguy9999 7y agoI'm normally not going to fuss over petty downvotes but as hyponatremia can kill, perhaps you can hold off this time?
- deshpand 7y agoAnother related point is to increase eating raw/uncooked food. I'm noticing how much less I eat as I decrease cooked food portions. It may be easier or better than outright fasting. Of course, I am only referring to certain veggies or soaking things like peas/beans/lentils in water overnight (instead of cooking). Please don't eat raw meat or anything after you see my message!
- dondawest 7y agoThe way you phrased it — “outright fasting” — makes it seem as if eating uncooked food is a form of fasting. To be clear: it isnt. Decreasing the amount of cooked food you eat provides NONE of the health benefits that fasting provides. Eating less cooked food is not a form of fasting, and your phrasing is hilariously laughable.