4 ms·

Do you have any reading on the relationship between fasting and having had an appendectomy? Never heard of this before

beagle3 6y ago
I do not, it's an inference I made based on my own experience. I'm not sure fasting after an an appendectomy is dangerous, but I suspect it might be - and that it's almost surely not as useful. I am vegetarian. I had suffered from low B12 since early childhood, to the point of neurological symptoms in my early 20s (which were resolved by monthly B12 injections for a while, and then oral supplements). I slowly stopped taking them while still monitoring, and was stable at the very low end of what's considered acceptable. And then, I did a 25 day fast (not even intentionally at first - I was sick with something, lost my appetite, and didn't eat for a few days; and then I felt great, but still had no appetite, so I didn't eat. It took 25 days for my appetite to come back). I did get my blood tested just before the fast, including a B12 test, and it was low. My GP decided to do a full battery including B12 a month after I stopped fasting (usually only tested once a year or so) - and it was at the high end of normal (any higher, and it would have been suspicious). And it has been between the middle and high end of the range ever since. At the time (over 20 years ago), this was considered impossible, or some unlikely miracle. However, since then the function of the appendix was discovered, which explains this perfectly: The appendix is a backup store of good bacteria that the body maintains "just in case", because the digestive system is hostile (and we make it even more hostile by e.g. using antibiotics). It can go wrong, causing the appendix to rapture, potentially with bad consequences. The conditions under which the body uses this backup to restart good bacteria cultures has not been well characterized yet, but IIRC it does include fasting and starvation. Also, it is known that B12 is synthesized by bacteria in the gut (of humans or animals - the B12 you get from meat was synthesized by the same class of bacteria in e.g. cows - who similarly suffer low B12 because of extended antibiotics use, and who get B12 supplements these days as well). So, my conclusion is that -- for the purpose of restarting your gut cultures -- fasting won't work if you don't have an appendix. I suspect, but do not know, that this might be an important part of why fasting works as well as it does, and might even be a requirement. ... which is why I wrote it the way I did.
- me_me_me 6y ago
  > The conditions under which the body uses this backup to restart good bacteria cultures has not been well characterized yet, but IIRC it does include fasting and starvation. That is very interesting, and would make sense given we evolved in feast/famine environment.

I do not, it's an inference I made based on my own experience. I'm not sure fasting after an an appendectomy is dangerous, but I suspect it might be - and that it's almost surely not as useful. I am vegetarian. I had suffered from low B12 since early childhood, to the point of neurological symptoms in my early 20s (which were resolved by monthly B12 injections for a while, and then oral supplements). I slowly stopped taking them while still monitoring, and was stable at the very low end of what's considered acceptable. And then, I did a 25 day fast (not even intentionally at first - I was sick with something, lost my appetite, and didn't eat for a few days; and then I felt great, but still had no appetite, so I didn't eat. It took 25 days for my appetite to come back). I did get my blood tested just before the fast, including a B12 test, and it was low. My GP decided to do a full battery including B12 a month after I stopped fasting (usually only tested once a year or so) - and it was at the high end of normal (any higher, and it would have been suspicious). And it has been between the middle and high end of the range ever since. At the time (over 20 years ago), this was considered impossible, or some unlikely miracle. However, since then the function of the appendix was discovered, which explains this perfectly: The appendix is a backup store of good bacteria that the body maintains "just in case", because the digestive system is hostile (and we make it even more hostile by e.g. using antibiotics). It can go wrong, causing the appendix to rapture, potentially with bad consequences. The conditions under which the body uses this backup to restart good bacteria cultures has not been well characterized yet, but IIRC it does include fasting and starvation. Also, it is known that B12 is synthesized by bacteria in the gut (of humans or animals - the B12 you get from meat was synthesized by the same class of bacteria in e.g. cows - who similarly suffer low B12 because of extended antibiotics use, and who get B12 supplements these days as well). So, my conclusion is that -- for the purpose of restarting your gut cultures -- fasting won't work if you don't have an appendix. I suspect, but do not know, that this might be an important part of why fasting works as well as it does, and might even be a requirement. ... which is why I wrote it the way I did.

me_me_me 6y ago
> The conditions under which the body uses this backup to restart good bacteria cultures has not been well characterized yet, but IIRC it does include fasting and starvation. That is very interesting, and would make sense given we evolved in feast/famine environment.