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'Agua, Agua'
- hasoleju 2y agoThe guy in the story basically survived 6 days without water and traveled up to 160 miles during that time. It's almost unbelievable. I thought that once you loose 4-6 kg of water due to sweat the body does not function any more due to the changed concentration of minerals in the cells.
- nabla9 2y agoYou risk heart attack even if you are in water only diet (without salts and potassium) for longer periods of time (several weeks).
- sph 2y agoStupid question, but if stuck in the desert you can suck on some rock to recoup some lost minerals, no? I guess like any deer we'd immediately recognise (and love) the taste of rock salt
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- darby_nine 2y agoI've got to imagine this would mess with our ability to cool ourselves even if it gave us more water retention.
- 77pt77 2y agoThat basically only happens if you do a water fast with distilled water. Regular mineral water will avoid that.
- Enginerrrd 2y agoUhmm, No... no it will not. That is dangerously incorrect. Mineral water may have a small amount of trace minerals, but it has basically zero electrolytes at relevant physiologic concentrations. Functionally, there'd be almost no difference between distilled and mineral water fasting with respect to electrolyte management. Imbalances in sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium can get VERY serious very quickly. Mineral water does not really have relevant concentrations of those. I think you're conflating the idea that distilled water isn't particularly good for you since it starts leaching out the trace minerals from parts of your body, with the entire concept of electrolyte management. These are VERY different things, occurring with VERY different relevant concentrations... like at least 1-2 orders of magnitude.
- cycomanic 2y ago> Mineral water may have a small amount of trace minerals, but it has basically zero electrolytes at relevant physiologic concentrations. Functionally, there'd be almost no difference between distilled and mineral water fasting with respect to electrolyte management. This might be correct for what is considered mineralwater in the US (I honestly don't know), but 1l of typical sparkling mineralwater in Germany has about a third of your daily magnesium and calcium recommended amounts (as well as relevant amounts of a view others). https://www.gerolsteiner.de/wissensquellen/wasserwissen/mineralien https://www.gerolsteiner.de/wissensquellen/wasserwissen/mine... And there are waters with even higher concentrations.
- Alupis 2y agoJust a note, most mineral waters are not entirely natural, and contain added minerals and electrolytes. The water coming out of your tap, for instance, does not contain anywhere near the levels of minerals and electrolytes as a bottled mineral water product. The GGP mentioned "regular mineral water" - but most of us (at least in the US) do not purchase bottled mineral water to drink on a day-to-day basis. Most of our water consumption, in one way or another, comes out of the tap.
- f1shy 2y ago
- space_oddity 2y agoWhen I read these stories, it's like a reminder of the incredible, albeit rare, resilience of the human body
- nabla9 2y agoTendai "Marathon monks" in mount Hiei finish 1,000-day kaihōgyō with 9-day period without food, water, and sleep but they have to walk only 400m in those last 9-days. Only 46 men have finished. If I remember correctly the 9-day period was shortened to something like 6 or 7 days, because too many of them died.
- samstave 2y agoI'm willing to bet that whomever originally came up with the 'auspicious' 9 days never did it themselves.
- giraffe_lady 2y agoSince it seems like a group that already practices and values feats of fasting and endurance it's probably most likely that it commemorates a single particularly notable fast attributed to a specific individual in the community's history. It's possible that that individual didn't actually succeed and it was based on a myth. But I seriously doubt some guy decided one day to try to trick his peers into doing a brutal fast that had never been done.
- singron 2y agoIn the origin legend of the marathon, the runner dies upon completion.
- lambdaba 2y agoI'm into dry fasting, and I know people that did up to 20 days no food/water, and obviously little (but some) physical activity like slow walking.
- Loughla 2y agoLegit question: What's the draw to that? Why do you do that to your body?
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- vouaobrasil 2y agoI think it's pretty stupid to challenge yourself in ways that are guaranteed to harm your body in some way, even if the harm is temporary.
- diggan 2y agoWe all have your vices. Surely you too have a vice or two that isn't ideal for your body, but you do it regardless? We only live once, to avoid anything that might damage your body would lead to a very boring life.
- vouaobrasil 2y ago> We all have your vices. Surely you too have a vice or two that isn't ideal for your body, but you do it regardless? Well, I eat a sweet thing about once a month. I guess that's pretty harmful.
- sorokod 2y agoYou offer criticism of a spiritual practice you do not understand.
- InDubioProRubio 2y agoHe offers criticism based upon a biological outcome to a spiritual practice, he does not need to understand to declare the outcome stupid. The cultural practices are protected from criticism stuff does not fly- less all insanity of the past comes back crawling from the cracks. Cant criticise witch burnings as they are a "cultural" practice..
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- kjs3 2y agoHuman sacrifice, genital mutilation and various forms of slavery have all been excused as a 'spiritual practice'. "Understanding" will not make me go 'oh, sure...now your destructive practice makes total sense...carry on'. Get over yourself.
- FDAiscooked 2y agoThe title immediately reminded me of this story from 2018: https://globalnews.ca/news/4318789/one-year-old-boy-immigration-judge/ https://globalnews.ca/news/4318789/one-year-old-boy-immigrat... > The 1-year-old boy in a green button-up shirt drank milk from a bottle, played with a small purple ball that lit up when it hit the ground and occasionally asked for “agua.” > Then it was the child’s turn for his court appearance before a Phoenix immigration judge, who could hardly contain his unease with the situation during the portion of the hearing where he asks immigrant defendants whether they understand the proceedings. > “I’m embarrassed to ask it, because I don’t know who you would explain it to, unless you think that a 1-year-old could learn immigration law,” Judge John W. Richardson told the lawyer representing the 1-year-old boy. > The boy is one of hundreds of children who need to be reunited with their parents after being separated at the border, many of them split from mothers and fathers as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance policy.” The separations have become an embarrassment to the administration as stories of crying children separated from mothers and kept apart for weeks on end dominated the news in recent weeks. > Critics have also seized on the nation’s immigration court system that requires children — some still in diapers — to have appearances before judges and go through deportation proceedings while separated from their parents. Such children don’t have a right to a court-appointed attorney, and 90 percent of kids without a lawyer are returned to their home countries, according to Kids in Need of Defense, a group that provides legal representation.
- Xen9 2y agoI wonder what would happen if we had a huge truck of fish, then loaded thousand of fish to one of those most dry areas in the world – IE without coyotes – layed out evenly. Would these make good good in few years? edit: good food
- semi-extrinsic 2y agoYes it makes good food, but no you don't need to have an extremely dry place to do this. What you want is a cool climate so there are less issues with insects and bacteria. And it only takes around 3 months. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockfish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockfish
- aaroninsf 2y agoAdjacent to this I highly recommend the nature writing of Craig Childs, which is somewhat akin in style to John McPhee with a dash of the more lyrical side of Edward Abbey: http://www.houseofrain.com/ http://www.houseofrain.com/ http://www.houseofrain.com/bookdetail.cfm?id=1183863164364 http://www.houseofrain.com/bookdetail.cfm?id=1183863164364 for example, the epigraph of which burned into my memory: > There are two easy ways to die in the desert: thirst and drowning.
- lambdaba 2y agoWhile I did in the safety and chillness of my own apartment, I did a 10 day "dry" fast last year. As opposed to water fasting, with dry fasting you are not hungry AT ALL, but the thirst is something else. It's not unrelenting though, it can fade into the background if the air is humid enough and you refrain from talking too much, the mouth hydrates by itself. During dry fasting the body gets H20 from lipolysis (this is called "metabolic" water), sort of like a camel (though camels have obviously a lot of specialization for this). Anyway, thought it was a propos, so AMA if curious.
- CollinEMac 2y agoThis sounds incredibly dangerous
- lambdaba 2y agoIt does indeed sound incredibly dangerous, it isn't though. Russians (and some other European nations chiefly Germany) are into fasting, though I only know about Russians organizing dry fasting retreats, like Dr. Filinov https://www.wildestvitality.com/portfolio/items/winter-2023-medical-dry-fasting-retreat-buljarica-montenegro-january https://www.wildestvitality.com/portfolio/items/winter-2023-... I know it's both a cliché and something that westerners often have forgotten how to do, but you can actually listen to your body and know minute by minute if you're in danger or not. For dry fasting, you are told that if you start getting persistent high heart rate you should stop. Now what you should find intriguing is why would anyone put themselves through this? Well, it has immense and unique health benefits, that's why. It's been studied, although less than water fasting for obvious reasons. Even water fasters think we're crazy, so I understand.
- Alupis 2y ago> Dr Sergey Filonov is a world leader in clinical dry fasting expertise and the successful treatment of diseases, acute illnesses, chronic disorders and undiagnosable conditions. > you can actually listen to your body and know minute by minute if you're in danger or not Friend, this is all hocus pocus bogus from a crackpot doctor. Other sources even say dry fasting is rarely done today (because it's hocus pocus), even if it was once popular in the Soviet Union. You will also notice how this crackpot doctor charges $2,200 for a supervised 2 day dry fast - not 10! Please don't go 10 days without liquid intake - especially when you are without medial supervision for crying out loud. You cannot monitor yourself properly under these extreme conditions. Even if you survive 10 days without any liquid intake, you may (and probably will) cause irreversible damage to your body and organs.
- qingcharles 2y agoI used to know a lot of Hispanic immigrants in Chicago. One of them told me his story. It start with his mom sewing two hidden amounts of dollars into the lining of his pants. When the coyotes he'd hired dumped him and 12 others in the desert near the border they were surrounded within minutes by gunmen who put them on their knees. He said a gunman tore straight into his pants and found one of the bundles (but clearly wasn't expecting a second one and didn't find it). He said the gunmen were slashing everyone's water bottles. He begged his captor not to slash his, and him and one other person got lucky. All the bad dudes then left these people to their own fates. He said he spent three days walking in the desert. They shared the little water they had, but it was gone after a day. Most of the people fell in the desert and didn't get up. At one point a woman with a baby fell and refused to get up. He went back to try and carry her but his two friends dragged him off and told him if he tried to save that woman and her baby that he would die with her. He says a day doesn't go by when he doesn't think about this woman. On the third night Border Patrol found the three of them, and they all ran, getting split up. He said he spent the entire night hiding in some brush. In the morning he found a backroad and started following it and a pickup pulled up to him with a Mexican family in it. They took him home, fed and watered him and asked him if he had any money. He gave them everything he had left ($180) and they put him back in the truck and drove him to Chicago and dropped him there with nothing and wished him good luck.
- Xen9 2y agoThe Devil's Highway by Luis Urrea has similar plot—except less brutal! I wonder if there are any coyotes nicknamed The Virgil though.
- Loughla 2y agoJesus Christ that's brutal. I'm not trying to bait political arguments, but how do we fix the problem with the US/Mexico border? It seems to me that fixing that requires fixing central American countries first? Why do I feel like this is just hopeless?