5 ms·

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.)
- thebean11 5y ago
  Definitely didn’t know that. I feel like dogshit if I skip lunch.
  - reedjosh 5y ago
    Because your body isn't used to running off its own fat. If you're on a keto diet you can effortlessly skip meals, but the initial switch to a keto diet is hard for the same reason.
  - gwd 5y ago
    If you'd never run before, you'd feel like crap after running 2 miles. Nonetheless, your body is designed to run; if you have a typical human body, take it slow and keep training, it won't be long before 5 miles is totally do-able. (Obvs individuals will have specific limitations.) It's the same with fasting: If your body isn't used to fasting, you feel like crap; nonetheless, your body was designed to fast. Take it slow and keep practicing, and the rust will work off all those unused chemical pathways handed down by your ancestors. (Again, if you have diabetes or hypoglycemia or something like that, maybe fasting isn't for you.)

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.)

thebean11 5y ago
Definitely didn’t know that. I feel like dogshit if I skip lunch.
- reedjosh 5y ago
  Because your body isn't used to running off its own fat. If you're on a keto diet you can effortlessly skip meals, but the initial switch to a keto diet is hard for the same reason.
- gwd 5y ago
  If you'd never run before, you'd feel like crap after running 2 miles. Nonetheless, your body is designed to run; if you have a typical human body, take it slow and keep training, it won't be long before 5 miles is totally do-able. (Obvs individuals will have specific limitations.) It's the same with fasting: If your body isn't used to fasting, you feel like crap; nonetheless, your body was designed to fast. Take it slow and keep practicing, and the rust will work off all those unused chemical pathways handed down by your ancestors. (Again, if you have diabetes or hypoglycemia or something like that, maybe fasting isn't for you.)