Opinions on the positive effects of water fasting?

ataraxial
ataraxial Posts: 185 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have been reading a lot about the topic and there is a ton of controversy. I read that (obviously) it's not a good solution to permanent weight loss, but I also have read a lot of positive effects i.e. alleviating food addictions and detoxification. Just curious what everyone things. thanks =]
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Replies

  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Do a search for "water fast", and you'll see a lot of negative feedback and closed threads. Dangerous and pointless approach.
  • ataraxial
    ataraxial Posts: 185 Member
    I'm well aware of the negative feedback, but there is also a lot of positive. I am not referring to fasting for weight loss; more detox and such, also assuming that you are doing it correctly.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    Fasts have always put my food addiction in to high gear. I remember having vivid dreams about food when I was fasting, and the minute the fast was over I'd spend $200 just in binge food at the grocery store.
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
    I don't know of any positives. There is no such thing as detoxing unless you are a drug addict. You have organs that "detox" you every minute of every day.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I'm well aware of the negative feedback, but there is also a lot of positive. I am not referring to fasting for weight loss; more detox and such, also assuming that you are doing it correctly.

    There can be positives to short term fasting. How long do you plan to do it?
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    You'd be hard pressed to find positive reviews of "water fasting" on a fitness site where people mostly try to go about it the healthy way. Detox? Don't even get me started. Unless you've just ingested arsenic, there's nothing to detox. Even then, you'd need more than a water fast to help you.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I don't know of any positives. There is no such thing as detoxing unless you are a drug addict. You have organs that "detox" you every minute of every day.

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/regular-fasting-may-boost-heart-health/?_r=0
  • dayone987
    dayone987 Posts: 645 Member
    I'm well aware of the negative feedback, but there is also a lot of positive. I am not referring to fasting for weight loss; more detox and such, also assuming that you are doing it correctly.

    I'm not aware of much positive unless maybe for religious reasons.
    How does one do a water fast correctly?
    BTW your body detoxes naturally using your kidney, liver, bowels, and lungs, so going without food is not necessary.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    I'm well aware of the negative feedback, but there is also a lot of positive. I am not referring to fasting for weight loss; more detox and such, also assuming that you are doing it correctly.

    Detoxing meaning??
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    I don't know of any positives. There is no such thing as detoxing unless you are a drug addict. You have organs that "detox" you every minute of every day.

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/regular-fasting-may-boost-heart-health/?_r=0
    The study showed only an association between fasting and better heart health, which means it’s possible that fasting may not have a direct effect but might just be more common among people who are healthier to begin with. Devout Mormons, for instance, abstain from alcohol, smoking and caffeine, which are all factors that could affect heart health.

    at best correlation but more likely selection bias
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I don't know of any positives. There is no such thing as detoxing unless you are a drug addict. You have organs that "detox" you every minute of every day.

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/regular-fasting-may-boost-heart-health/?_r=0
    The study showed only an association between fasting and better heart health, which means it’s possible that fasting may not have a direct effect but might just be more common among people who are healthier to begin with. Devout Mormons, for instance, abstain from alcohol, smoking and caffeine, which are all factors that could affect heart health.

    Yeah, I read it. An association between fasting and better heart health is a positive in my book.

    And yeah, I also know that correlation does not prove causation. But it doesn't disprove it either.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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  • gabbygirl78
    gabbygirl78 Posts: 936 Member
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  • Hauntinglyfit
    Hauntinglyfit Posts: 5,537 Member
    I have an oxygen addiction, I wonder if a water fast would alleviate that.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    mj-laughing.gif

    The most fitting gif for this thread!
  • RekindledRose
    RekindledRose Posts: 523 Member
    I think that the best thing you can get from a short term water fast is the mental and spiritual benefits of it. You're overcoming a desire that has a strong hold on you; the desire to eat to fill the emptiness inside.

    The emptiness can be emotional or spiritual, but by fasting you can focus on better ways to fill that emptiness. Some people use the time they would normally eat to instead pray, read the Bible or books of encouragement, to meditate or to journal.

    Just be careful not to let it become an addiction to fast. Some people here like the Intermittent Fast for health benefits. I'd suggest searching the 'groups' section for them and asking questions there.

    Best wishes.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I don't know of any positives. There is no such thing as detoxing unless you are a drug addict. You have organs that "detox" you every minute of every day.

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/regular-fasting-may-boost-heart-health/?_r=0
    The study showed only an association between fasting and better heart health, which means it’s possible that fasting may not have a direct effect but might just be more common among people who are healthier to begin with. Devout Mormons, for instance, abstain from alcohol, smoking and caffeine, which are all factors that could affect heart health.

    at best correlation but more likely selection bias

    It's so cute when people think they know more than researchers without actually doing any research.
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
    Apr. 26, 2013 — Intermittent fasting is all the rage, but scientific evidence showing how such regimes affect human health is not always clear cut. Now a scientific review in the British Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease published by SAGE, suggests that fasting diets may help those with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, alongside established weight loss claims.

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130426115456.htm


    Also

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fasting-diet/AN02161
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    I am all for it!
    good fasting groups on here.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    I don't know of any positives. There is no such thing as detoxing unless you are a drug addict. You have organs that "detox" you every minute of every day.

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/regular-fasting-may-boost-heart-health/?_r=0

    This says nothing of a water fast.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I don't know of any positives. There is no such thing as detoxing unless you are a drug addict. You have organs that "detox" you every minute of every day.

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/regular-fasting-may-boost-heart-health/?_r=0

    This says nothing of a water fast.

    No, it's about fasting in general. And I am certainly no expert on fasting, but I assumed every fast included water to prevent dehydration.
  • Thomasm198
    Thomasm198 Posts: 3,189 Member
    I don't know of any positives. There is no such thing as detoxing unless you are a drug addict. You have organs that "detox" you every minute of every day.

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/regular-fasting-may-boost-heart-health/?_r=0

    This says nothing of a water fast.

    No, it's about fasting in general. And I am certainly no expert on fasting, but I assumed every fast included water to prevent dehydration.
    Water fasting has nothing to do with IF.

    Water fasting is starving yourself and never eating any food at all.
  • ThickMcRunFast
    ThickMcRunFast Posts: 22,511 Member
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  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I don't know of any positives. There is no such thing as detoxing unless you are a drug addict. You have organs that "detox" you every minute of every day.

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/regular-fasting-may-boost-heart-health/?_r=0

    This says nothing of a water fast.

    No, it's about fasting in general. And I am certainly no expert on fasting, but I assumed every fast included water to prevent dehydration.
    Water fasting has nothing to do with IF.

    Water fasting is starving yourself and never eating any food at all.

    Never eating any food at all for how long?

    ETA: the studies were not on IF in the way I've heard it described most often on MFP, which is the only place I've heard of it.

    From the article re: the first study
    The downside of the study is that it didn’t ask for specific details on the type and duration of fasting among the patients. However, preliminary interviews suggest that the most common form of fasting involved a monthly ritual of abstaining from all food and drinking only water for 24 hours.

    From the article re: the second study:
    For that research, also presented at the New Orleans conference, 30 patients were asked to fast for 24 hours with water only.
  • Thomasm198
    Thomasm198 Posts: 3,189 Member
    I don't know of any positives. There is no such thing as detoxing unless you are a drug addict. You have organs that "detox" you every minute of every day.

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/regular-fasting-may-boost-heart-health/?_r=0

    This says nothing of a water fast.

    No, it's about fasting in general. And I am certainly no expert on fasting, but I assumed every fast included water to prevent dehydration.
    Water fasting has nothing to do with IF.

    Water fasting is starving yourself and never eating any food at all.

    Never eating any food at all for how long?
    It varies. I have seen threads where people where going to try doing it for 40 days or more.
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
    NO
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Never eating any food at all for how long?
    It varies. I have seen threads where people where going to try doing it for 40 days or more.

    Yeah, that would be crazy. Which is why I said there were benefits to short fasts and asked how long the OP planned to do it. No answer yet, though.
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    I don't know of any positives. There is no such thing as detoxing unless you are a drug addict. You have organs that "detox" you every minute of every day.

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/regular-fasting-may-boost-heart-health/?_r=0

    This says nothing of a water fast.

    No, it's about fasting in general. And I am certainly no expert on fasting, but I assumed every fast included water to prevent dehydration.
    Water fasting has nothing to do with IF.

    Water fasting is starving yourself and never eating any food at all.

    Never eating any food at all for how long?

    However many days they choose to do it. No food at all.

    I love how you were condescending to others when you said...
    It's so cute when people think they know more than researchers without actually doing any research.

    yet you didn't do any on this either. Pot...this is kettle calling.
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    Never eating any food at all for how long?
    It varies. I have seen threads where people where going to try doing it for 40 days or more.

    Yeah, that would be crazy. Which is why I said there were benefits to short fasts and asked how long the OP planned to do it. No answer yet, though.

    It's not the same kind of fast.

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