re: Could you fast for 10 days if it would cure your worst/most annoying health problem?

I am a breatharian. We laugh at these little games everyone else tries.

You dont need food to live.

Was in ICU for 28 days. No food and no water, except for an IV. Saved my pancreas and my life. Lost 42 pounds in 28 days at OLOL.

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For 99% of Americans, yes.

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Got any backup on that?

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Yeah, obesity rates

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So, no

I've been fasting for the better part of the last year. I started back in the gym a couple of years ago but the weight was coming off. I was building muscle and losing fat but still not the results I wanted. I started fasting for 20 hours a day 4-5 days a week, I eat in a 4 hour window and don't gorge myself just a sensible meal. I'm 46 years old, 5'10" and weighed 244 when I started. I'm now 200 lbs. by doing this. I've done several 3-4 day fasts in that time and the biggest problem I have is muscle cramps after about 48 hrs. Your body loses so much salt it's hard to replace with no food. Most of my longer fasts have ended due to the cramps not hunger. It's not for everyone but it has helped me get alot closer to my goal. I went from a waist size of 38 down tpo a 33 since February, and I already know I was a fatass

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I have completed 2 30-day water-only fasts and a 45-day water-only fast in the last couple of years

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How do you survive on nothing but water for this long? Surely you had some calories during that time

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In the 5 minutes of reading I did, there do appear to be advocates for the pure water fasting (i.e., no food/calories at all) for 10 days or longer although the health benefits for going that long are certainly debated among medical professionals.

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I read this whole thread, and not a single example of anything fasting can cure other than losing weight cause it resets your metabolism. That was pretty obvious though. Ha.

I have premature degenerative discs which causes a lot of pain and prevents me from doing things I love. I would totally fast for 10 days to have a good healthy back.

Yes

Wow! I appreciate this thread.

I have fasted (water only or snake juice* only) for 2 to 3 days several times, 5 days maybe three time, 8 days once and 10 days once.

As far as my noticeable health benefits, I had a skin condition, like psoriasis go away or just not be a problem anymore. Plus, it is the fastest way to lose body fat.

If you have diabetes, you should seriously look into the benefits of fasting. If you have cancer, you should seriously look into the benefits fasting. In combination with a carbohydrate restricted diet or a no carb diet, fasting can be an extremely powerful tool to combat damn near all diseases.

As far as criticisms, fasting won't decrease your metabolism, but a low calorie diet will. Fasting puts your body in a different state than a low calorie diet. You stop burning sugar and start burning fat. You will perk up and start feeling better.

Fasting is not dangerous. Unless you are missing an organ or you are ripped (very little fat on you), then you can go 40 days without eating anything. The 40 day mark is when you start breaking down muscle (true starvation). But if you are extremely fat, you can go much, much longer. Basically, you should stop fasting once you get ripped. After that, you are no longer burning fat, but muscle.

A fat frick went a year without eating (only vitamins) and had no ill effects. LINK

For wieght lose inspiration check out: Lawrence Malcheff Force Production Powerlifting
This man works out and powerlifts while fasting. He lost a lot of weight in a short period of time. He documents his journey.

For first timers, I recommended fasting 1 day. If you don't feel bad, aside from feeling hungry, go another day. Once you realize that you won't die, you will grow a pair and be ready to do more days. For me, the 3rd day is the hardest. And you don't need to drink a lot of water. If you drink too much water you will piss out your electrolytes and make yourself feel like shite. Hence the Snake Juice recipe below, which will make you feel better.

Basically, the cells in our body burn two types of fuel: glucose or ketones. When we eat carbohydrates like refined flour or sugar, we burn glucose. If we stop eating carbohydrates (which are non essential) or start fasting (stop eating), we will burn through the glucose (blood sugar) in about 24 hours and start burning ketones. So basically, the goal of fasting is to get into ketosis or a state where our bodies are burning fat.

But get this. Healthy cells can burn glucose and ketones, but fricked up and cancer cells can only burn glucose. Result? Without glucose as fuel cancer cells die.

The reasons for fasting is to 1) increase human growth hormone (HGH) and 2) initiate autophagy.

1. Fasting increases human growth hormone (HGH).

"HGH deficiency in adults leads to higher levels of body fat, lower lean body mass (sarcopenia) and decreased bone mass (osteopenia)."

"Fasting is a great stimulus to HGH secretion. During fasting, there is the spike in the early morning, but there is regular secretion throughout the day as well. Hartman et al also showed a 5 fold increase in HGH in response to a 2 day fast."

"This HGH is crucial in the maintenance of lean mass – both muscle and bone."
-- Dr. Jason Fung, M.D.
Source: LINK

2. Fasting initiates autophagy.

Autophagy in an intracellular degradation system involved in the disassembly and recycling of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components. When involved in cell death, this process is known as autophagic cell death. Prolonged fasting is a robust initiator of autophagy, and is thought to help protect against cancer and even aging by reducing the burden of abnormal cells.

Autophagy begins between 24 and 36 hours after starting a fast. It activates cellular garbage recycling and cellular remodeling.

Autophagy mainly serves as an adaptive process to protect organisms against diverse diseases. It maintains homeostasis or normal functioning by protein degradation and turnover of the destroyed cell organelles for new cell formation.

This is a good first video to watch:
Science of Fasting

Check out the Snake Diet (Cole Robinson):
https://www.snakediet.com/getting-started/
This dude is a motivator. He sounds crazy, but he gets results. You probably have to watch 3 or 4 videos before you buy into his methods. If I wouldn't have watched the science of fasting video above, I would have blown this guy off.


To make this very simple, if you want to be healthy, fast until you are at a normal BMI and then maintain your weight with a low carb diet and intermittent fasting. Do a 72 hour fast three times a year. If you start gaining weight, fast until you're back where you need to be.


*Snake Juice Recipe: for 2 liters of Water
--1 teaspoon Potassium Chloride (NoSalt) It's a sodium-free salt alternative you can buy at Walmart.
--1/2 teaspoon Sodium Chloride (Himalayan Pink Salt)
--1 teaspoon Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) Arm & Hammer is ok to use but Bob's Red Mill is better.
--1/2 teaspoon Magnesium Sulfate. (This is epsom salt, but you have to use the Food Grade type. I personally use Magnesium Citrate from bulksupplements.com, which I already had on hand to make an electrolyte drink.)

This 2 liter water solution contains about 50% of the daily recommended amount of Potassium, Sodium and Magnesium.