Opinions on the positive effects of water fasting?

ataraxial

In this field** sorry.

magerum

There are none.

wild_wild_life

You need to be more specific because the dose makes the poison.

Do you mean fasting for 5 hours? 12 hours? 40 hours?

Google intermittent fasting if you are interesed in the possible benefits of abstaining from food for short periods.

ETA -- specifically in regards to weight loss, "detoxification" and food addiction issues, there is no direct benefit IMO.

ataraxial

Again, I am not interested in actually fasting, I am just trying to look for some *credible answers.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Are there any professional non-biased people here willing to give their opinions? Perhaps a nutritionist, or someone who has some sort of educational background?

Doubtful. But I'm glad to hear you have no intention of trying this.

ataraxial

I appreciate everyone's answers and blunt honest opinions lol. =]

somerisagirlsname

Isn't water fasting just...fasting?

I mean when people fast for religious reasons they do drink water, right? :huh:

_Pseudonymous_

fasting for lint doesn't usually mean not eating at all. My parents abstain for certain things for religious fasts. Like at the beginning of every year they cut out dairy, sugar, wheat, and meat and pretty much only eat a vegan lifestyle for a month. They still eat, yes they lose weight but they still eat and their fasting is for religious purposes, to cut out any intereference between themselves and God. You are welcome to do as you please but just be careful. There are lots of trends that come up that can be harmful and you should definitely consult your doctor before attempting anything like this, just in case.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Isn't water fasting just...fasting?

I mean when people fast for religious reasons they do drink water, right? :huh:

Yeah, but I think they add the "water" part to differentiate from religious fasting. Besides, in these days, when you say fasting, there's so many different types, you probably should specify.

extra_medium

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.

I'd be interested to see if any people who regularly participate in "fasting" due to the inability to find or afford any food for a day or two were included and how their overall health matched up.

wild_wild_life

Isn't water fasting just...fasting?

I mean when people fast for religious reasons they do drink water, right? :huh:

Just holy water, I think

(joke)

Holly_Roman_Empire

Isn't water fasting just...fasting?

I mean when people fast for religious reasons they do drink water, right? :huh:

Just holy water, I think

(joke)

:laugh:

arghbowl

Isn't water fasting just...fasting?

I mean when people fast for religious reasons they do drink water, right? :huh:

Just holy water, I think

(joke)

This made me laugh entirely too hard.

deksgrl

Are there any professional non-biased people here willing to give their opinions? Perhaps a nutritionist, or someone who has some sort of educational background?

Why don't you look up some scientific studies and form your own conclusions?

ataraxial

I have been, I thought that a fitness site might be a helpful tool in that.................

jackjackattck

Isn't water fasting just...fasting?

I mean when people fast for religious reasons they do drink water, right? :huh:

Not always. I have an Egyptian coworker that fasts each August for Ramadan, which lasts about 30 days. They do not eat anything OR drink liquids (all liquids including water) from sun up to sun down. It even includes in refraining from smoking, sexual relations, and any sinful conduct.

He does lose a lot of weight during this period, but typically gains it all back once the holiday is over as the religious tradition is to break the fast with a huge family feast.

Showcase_Brodown

As others have kind of pried at, I think it depends on the length of the fast. Personally, I would see no benefit in fasting for days at a time. I do IF, but that is a much shorter duration (I do about a 16 hour fast daily). I still meet my calorie goals for the day.

As for possible benefits of fasting, I believe insulin sensitivity may be on that list, but I have not spent a lot of time researching this.

There is a book called Eat, Stop, Eat by Brad Pilon that covers the topic of (intermittent) fasting. I have not read the book, but I have thought about it.

SapiensPisces

Isn't water fasting just...fasting?

I mean when people fast for religious reasons they do drink water, right? :huh:

Just holy water, I think

(joke)

LOL!

To answer the question with some evidence:

There are several studies available describing the benefits, drawbacks, and implications of religious fasting events (i.e. Ramadan). A few of them I've posted below have some interesting conclusions. I haven't found much on specifically water fasting, but perhaps someone else can chime in and provide that information.

The Effects of Ramadan Fasting and Physical Activity on Blood Hematological-Biochemical Parameters (this looks to be translated into English, so there are some grammatical peculiarities in this article, but their methods and conclusions were relevant and interesting): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758056/

Conclusion: Fasting during the month of Ramadan by regular physical activity caused positive alterations in Hematological-Biochemical Index. These changes may be due to the alterations in diet, biology response of the body to the starving and physical activity during this month.

Effect of Ramadan fasting on emotional reactions in nurses (this one looked at the effects fasting on emotional state and stress levels): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3748544/

Results: The findings showed that depression and stress levels were significantly reduced after in comparison with before the holy month (P < 0.05). Despite the reduction of anxiety level in fasting caregivers after Ramadan, the difference was not significant.

Glycogen shortage during fasting triggers liver–brain–adipose neurocircuitry to facilitate fat utilization (this one talks more about the methods by which fat oxidation occurs during fasting, but it's interesting albeit slightly off-topic): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3753545/

These results demonstrate that liver glycogen shortage activates a liver–brain–adipose neural axis that has an important role in switching the fuel source from glycogen to triglycerides under prolonged fasting conditions.

You can search for more information by going here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed You will want to restrict your search to full free articles online unless you only wish to read the abstracts.

ETA: My anecdotal (n=1) and unscientific opinion is that it doesn't work for me, though I often tend to forget to eat if I'm not careful. Fasting throughout the day decreases my ability to avoid junk food and generally makes me cranky. That being said, I know it works very well for others.

darkangel45422

I'm not sure how water fasting differs from normal fasting (presumably it just means you drink water while fasting? dunno) but there is a lot of studies out there on different types of fasts.

Personally I think intermittent fasting can be beneficial, so my advice would be if you're interested, try it out (a few different methods even) and see how it goes. If it helps you, then great! If not, no big loss (I don't think I've seen much info about these kinds of fasts being dangerous but I'm not an expert and could certainly have missed something).

I think there's something inherently logical about intermittent fasting over the belief that if you don't eat every few hours your body will start to be negatively impacted; humans throughout history have rarely eaten every few hours, so why would we be designed to start failing if we don't? That's just my thoughts on it, but obviously you'd be better off looking to the science for real advice on whether or not to try it haha.

stealthq

Given the above findings re: the fasting nurses, would be curious to know if studies of people spending a month with a focus on praying or meditating showed similar reductions in stress and depression. My guess ('cause I'm too lazy to go searching) would be yes. In which case, it would be impossible to tell if the study is simply recording the effects of the holiday (where you would expect an increased focus on praying, etc), or on the actual fasting.