6 ms·

I just did a 40 hour fast to see if i could do it and it was a lot easier than i thought it would be. I'm trying to build up to a week long. We'll see how it go

I just did a 40 hour fast to see if i could do it and it was a lot easier than i thought it would be. I'm trying to build up to a week long. We'll see how it goes. It's a shame that fasting has been eliminated from the culture, but i guess that's what happens to things you can't make money on.

Engineering-MD 5y ago
Just a word of caution, after 7-10 days of fasting, you can get refeeding syndrome. This can be pretty unpleasant and dangerous, and is best avoided.
- alecst 5y ago
  Hey man, sorry to call you out. I want you to find where you heard that, and maybe post it here so that we can review. I have fasted many times for that length, and I happen to already be thin. Never even got close to refeeding syndrome. I've read a variety of books on the subject. I've spent some time on PubMed. I don't know everything about fasting -- absolutely not -- but I know enough to say that you might be misremembering the time it takes to get refeeding syndrome. I personally believe the number is closer to 30 or 40 days. We are talking Christ-level fasters, hunger strikers, performance artists, or concentration camp victims. I downvoted your comment because I consider it to be spreading misinformation, and because your tone indicates that you have expertise or experience on the matter.
  - float4 5y ago
    You can definitely get refeeding syndrome after 7-10 days of fasting. It depends on your your fat reserves, health, and lifestyle. Say I'm 192cm and 69kg. My BMI is 18.7, which is definitely low, but perfectly healthy. I have an active lifestyle and burn 3500kcal per day. If I fast for 7 days without changing lifestyle, I lose roughly 7*3500/7700=3.2kg of bodyweight. By that point my BMI is 17.9. According to this paper[0] with 632 citations, anyone with a BMI <18.5 who's not eaten for more than 5 days is at high risk of refeeding syndrome. If you think the numbers are fictional: those are my numbers from ~5 years ago. [0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440847/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440847/
    - alecst 5y ago
      Cool, if it’s that clear cut I’m sure you can find a few cases to make your point. It is rare that eating after fasting causes critical illness. Just check online. People do this stuff all the time.
      - float4 5y ago
        I wasn't making "my point". I just knew your comment about 30-40 days and the random mentioning of concentration camp victims was absurd, and it clearly is according to official clinical guidelines. So no, I won't "just check online".
        alecst 5y ago
        > Historically, some of the earliest reports of the refeeding syndrome occurred in starved patients in wartime such as Japanese prisoners and victims of the Leningrad or Netherlands famines. In general, those individuals with marasmus or kwashiorkor are at risk for the refeeding syndrome, particularly if there is greater than 10% weight loss over a couple of months. Patients are at risk if they have not been fed for 7 to 10 d, with evidence of stress and depletion. However, more specifically, this syndrome also has been described after prolonged fasting, massive weight loss in obese patients including after duodenal-switch operations, chronic alcoholism, prolonged intravenous fluid repletion, and anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is one of the more common modern clinical presentations of the refeeding syndrome, as are oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy, the refeeding of malnourished elderly individuals, and certain postoperative patients. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/gim/_pdf/consult/refeeding_syndrome.pdf https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/gim/_pdf/consult/refeeding_s...
thebean11 5y ago
When you say a week of fast, what are you consuming? Surely you need something beyond water for such a long fast right?
- dageshi 5y ago
  Average healthy but overweight (yes I know this might be a contradiction in terms) person can fast that long pretty easily without eating anything. That's why the body stored the fat in the first place...
- sneak 5y ago
  Water, electrolytes, and a multivitamin should be more than sufficient.
- ijidak 5y ago
  The body stores fat for the exact purpose of surviving limited access to food. Most Americans could go weeks without eating, and they'd be mostly fine. Sudden refeeding is an issue, of course, because of electrolyte balance. But we have a misunderstanding of how long the body can go without food, by design. What we mainly need is water during periods without food. After about 3 days without food, the body stops telling you your hungry and switches to fat metabolism.
- coldtea 5y ago
  You don't need anything "more than water", but you do need some electrolytes thrown in for correct hearth operation.
- gwd 5y ago
  > Surely you need something beyond water for such a long fast right? You need electrolytes for sure; but unless you've recently been prepping for a body-building competition, you don't need any calories for quite a bit longer than that. I did a week-long fast for religious purposes many years ago, before the whole IF health craze was a thing. All I had was water, and occasionally some salt. I still had plenty of fat at the end of it, and I wasn't particularly heavy before. According to the book I read at the time (again, focusing on fasting for religious purposes), it's only after 3-4 weeks that a typical person experiences a more urgent type of hunger pang, which is the indicator that your body is starting to cannibalize critical infrastructure (and that it's probably time to stop fasting if you don't want to damage your health). People who are actually overweight presumably have enough calories to last for months. Vitamins and minerals are obviously another thing. You're not going to get a nutrient deficiency in a week, but you might well in a month or two. (I am neither a nutritionist nor a doctor.)
WA 5y ago
So many gurus right now make a ton of money from the IF (intermittent fasting) craze. You CAN make money off fasting. Sell books and courses. Promise a lot etc.
- omosubi 5y ago
  You can only make money through courses etc. if the methods aren't already in the culture, and relative to the amount of money you can make selling junk food or health food/vitamins/supplements, the books and courses are a pittance.
thatguy0900 5y ago
I did a week long fast. My advice is to be constantly drinking water and sleep as much as you can. Make sure you get enough electrolytes in your water or you will start feeling like you're gonna have a heart attack.
- Buttons840 5y ago
  How do you get electrolytes in your water?
  - thatguy0900 5y ago
    Mixture of table salt and no salt, the salt free alternative salt you see in grocery stores for potassium chloride
- zkirill 5y ago
  Forgot about the heart palpitations! That was a fun discovery.

Engineering-MD 5y ago

Just a word of caution, after 7-10 days of fasting, you can get refeeding syndrome. This can be pretty unpleasant and dangerous, and is best avoided.

alecst 5y ago
Hey man, sorry to call you out. I want you to find where you heard that, and maybe post it here so that we can review. I have fasted many times for that length, and I happen to already be thin. Never even got close to refeeding syndrome. I've read a variety of books on the subject. I've spent some time on PubMed. I don't know everything about fasting -- absolutely not -- but I know enough to say that you might be misremembering the time it takes to get refeeding syndrome. I personally believe the number is closer to 30 or 40 days. We are talking Christ-level fasters, hunger strikers, performance artists, or concentration camp victims. I downvoted your comment because I consider it to be spreading misinformation, and because your tone indicates that you have expertise or experience on the matter.
- float4 5y ago
  You can definitely get refeeding syndrome after 7-10 days of fasting. It depends on your your fat reserves, health, and lifestyle. Say I'm 192cm and 69kg. My BMI is 18.7, which is definitely low, but perfectly healthy. I have an active lifestyle and burn 3500kcal per day. If I fast for 7 days without changing lifestyle, I lose roughly 7*3500/7700=3.2kg of bodyweight. By that point my BMI is 17.9. According to this paper[0] with 632 citations, anyone with a BMI <18.5 who's not eaten for more than 5 days is at high risk of refeeding syndrome. If you think the numbers are fictional: those are my numbers from ~5 years ago. [0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440847/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440847/
  - alecst 5y ago
    Cool, if it’s that clear cut I’m sure you can find a few cases to make your point. It is rare that eating after fasting causes critical illness. Just check online. People do this stuff all the time.
    - float4 5y ago
      I wasn't making "my point". I just knew your comment about 30-40 days and the random mentioning of concentration camp victims was absurd, and it clearly is according to official clinical guidelines. So no, I won't "just check online".
      - alecst 5y ago
        > Historically, some of the earliest reports of the refeeding syndrome occurred in starved patients in wartime such as Japanese prisoners and victims of the Leningrad or Netherlands famines. In general, those individuals with marasmus or kwashiorkor are at risk for the refeeding syndrome, particularly if there is greater than 10% weight loss over a couple of months. Patients are at risk if they have not been fed for 7 to 10 d, with evidence of stress and depletion. However, more specifically, this syndrome also has been described after prolonged fasting, massive weight loss in obese patients including after duodenal-switch operations, chronic alcoholism, prolonged intravenous fluid repletion, and anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is one of the more common modern clinical presentations of the refeeding syndrome, as are oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy, the refeeding of malnourished elderly individuals, and certain postoperative patients. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/gim/_pdf/consult/refeeding_syndrome.pdf https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/gim/_pdf/consult/refeeding_s...

thebean11 5y ago

When you say a week of fast, what are you consuming? Surely you need something beyond water for such a long fast right?

dageshi 5y ago
Average healthy but overweight (yes I know this might be a contradiction in terms) person can fast that long pretty easily without eating anything. That's why the body stored the fat in the first place...
sneak 5y ago
Water, electrolytes, and a multivitamin should be more than sufficient.
ijidak 5y ago
The body stores fat for the exact purpose of surviving limited access to food. Most Americans could go weeks without eating, and they'd be mostly fine. Sudden refeeding is an issue, of course, because of electrolyte balance. But we have a misunderstanding of how long the body can go without food, by design. What we mainly need is water during periods without food. After about 3 days without food, the body stops telling you your hungry and switches to fat metabolism.
coldtea 5y ago
You don't need anything "more than water", but you do need some electrolytes thrown in for correct hearth operation.
gwd 5y ago
> Surely you need something beyond water for such a long fast right? You need electrolytes for sure; but unless you've recently been prepping for a body-building competition, you don't need any calories for quite a bit longer than that. I did a week-long fast for religious purposes many years ago, before the whole IF health craze was a thing. All I had was water, and occasionally some salt. I still had plenty of fat at the end of it, and I wasn't particularly heavy before. According to the book I read at the time (again, focusing on fasting for religious purposes), it's only after 3-4 weeks that a typical person experiences a more urgent type of hunger pang, which is the indicator that your body is starting to cannibalize critical infrastructure (and that it's probably time to stop fasting if you don't want to damage your health). People who are actually overweight presumably have enough calories to last for months. Vitamins and minerals are obviously another thing. You're not going to get a nutrient deficiency in a week, but you might well in a month or two. (I am neither a nutritionist nor a doctor.)

WA 5y ago

So many gurus right now make a ton of money from the IF (intermittent fasting) craze. You CAN make money off fasting. Sell books and courses. Promise a lot etc.

omosubi 5y ago
You can only make money through courses etc. if the methods aren't already in the culture, and relative to the amount of money you can make selling junk food or health food/vitamins/supplements, the books and courses are a pittance.

thatguy0900 5y ago

I did a week long fast. My advice is to be constantly drinking water and sleep as much as you can. Make sure you get enough electrolytes in your water or you will start feeling like you're gonna have a heart attack.

Buttons840 5y ago
How do you get electrolytes in your water?
- thatguy0900 5y ago
  Mixture of table salt and no salt, the salt free alternative salt you see in grocery stores for potassium chloride
zkirill 5y ago
Forgot about the heart palpitations! That was a fun discovery.