How do you guys feel about fasting?

sabinecbauer

It's a sure-fire way to screw your metabolism six ways from Sunday, and all for absolutely no benefit. 30+ years ago doctors advocated fasting for overweight teens--in fairness, they probably didn't know any better, but that's no consolation for the victims. I did a 3 week medically supervised fast at a hospital at age 17. The first thing that happened was that I started losing my hair by the fistful. It never grew back. Today I've got a hopelessly slow metabolism and am hypothyroid, both of which can most likely be traced back to that fast. Needless to say, I also regained all the weight I'd lost and then some.

Personally I consider fasting an excellent way to do lasting damage to your body.

suziecue66

It's a sure-fire way to screw your metabolism six ways from Sunday, and all for absolutely no benefit. 30+ years ago doctors advocated fasting for overweight teens--in fairness, they probably didn't know any better, but that's no consolation for the victims. I did a 3 week medically supervised fast at a hospital at age 17. The first thing that happened was that I started losing my hair by the fistful. It never grew back. Today I've got a hopelessly slow metabolism and am hypothyroid, both of which can most likely be traced back to that fast. Needless to say, I also regained all the weight I'd lost and then some.

Personally I consider fasting an excellent way to do lasting damage to your body.

No-one is recommending a 3 week fast. Intermittent fasting is for 24hrs or up to 16hrs.

rockinsue285

well im no expert but if it were me Ide say a huge NO dont entertain it

taem

The benefits of (water only) fasting:

1) You reset your taste buds for salt, sugar, fat and other tastes. If you never fast, or reset your taste buds, you will probably be adding more and more salt or sugar to your food to get the same taste sensation.

2) Your fat cells contain most of the harmful toxins and fasting will allow your fat cells to release those toxins. If you never fast, toxins continue to build up in your body. I am sure there are exceptions but water only fasting will help detox yourself.

3) You allow your body's organs like your kidney and liver to rest and to deal with your body and not the food you ingest.

4) You learn to appreciate food again after a few days of water only fasting.

The cons of water only fasting:

1) It does not reduce your weight and should not be used for a weight loss tool as you will gain the weight back. This happened to me and it is hard to break as your cravings will come back.

2) You need supervision if you fast more than 5 days.

3) If you do have health problems, fasting might not be for you.

4) Fasting for 3 days induces ketosis, this is a procedure that Atkin's dieters know very well as carbohydrates are no longer used but protein and then finally fat is being converted to fuel the body's needs. The difference between a water only fast and an Atkin's dieter is well, fat and protein. Ketosis is not bad in itself but you have to realized how it affects you (bad breath for sure).

Some tips on water only fasting:

Do it while you are on vacation, don't work, drive or do strenuous activity that might be unsafe.
Do not take blood tests for about 60 days after the fast, or tell your doctor that you were on a fast and that some results will show as bad as a result of a fast.

I write this as I watched a DVD on water only fasting and thought I would share.

Fasting is great tool to alleviate disease and sickness, but it is not to be used as a weight loss device. Know what you are doing it for. I like that it will help me reset my taste sensations and it makes me aware of the food around me and to appreciate the tastes natural foods have.

For instance, after a fast, you will taste the flavor potatoes or rice will have. If you never fasted, potatoes and rice will have a bland taste, even oatmeal.

Lorleee

It's not necessary to deprive yourself of regular nourishment. Or fun, for that matter. Your body needs fuel.

BeautyFromPain

CRAZY. Definitely not a good idea.

AntWrig

well im no expert but if it were me Ide say a huge NO dont entertain it

Yet, you were compelled to add your .0000000002 cents.

AntWrig

It's a sure-fire way to screw your metabolism six ways from Sunday, and all for absolutely no benefit. 30+ years ago doctors advocated fasting for overweight teens--in fairness, they probably didn't know any better, but that's no consolation for the victims. I did a 3 week medically supervised fast at a hospital at age 17. The first thing that happened was that I started losing my hair by the fistful. It never grew back. Today I've got a hopelessly slow metabolism and am hypothyroid, both of which can most likely be traced back to that fast. Needless to say, I also regained all the weight I'd lost and then some.

Personally I consider fasting an excellent way to do lasting damage to your body.

Re-read your comment and you will see how absurd it is in regard to intermittent fasting.

Matt_Wild

Intelligent Fasting is absolutely brilliant. Having witnessed it first hand I've seen a woman go from 13 stone, to 8 stone 12lb in little over 3 month and everything about her get better -skin, hair, nails and shape. She's had regular blood tests with her her Dr due to an on going problem following the use of the contraception injection so she's had regular blood tests and the tests show everything in her improved in terms of liver/kidneys/thyroid etc etc. So, based on HER bloods and results I would say a resounding YES it is very good. Lots of health benefits and clearly good at controlling weight and lowering it.

AntWrig

It's not necessary to deprive yourself of regular nourishment. Or fun, for that matter. Your body needs fuel.

Did you even read?

The protocol I follow is 16/8. I fast for 16 hours and eat for 8. Now, how am I depriving my self of regular nourishment. The body doesn't work on 3/6/9/12 cycles.

Matt_Wild

This really annoys me - people spouting on about how it is not normal.

NORMAL these days is eating food cooked in fats designed for candles. Huge amounts of food is served retrieved by mechinical means off the parts of animals that were never touched before and turned into meat sludge before being reformed. Normal is filling our food full of preservatives and additives . Normal is removing the natural flavouring and making a chemical version.

Do you think 100 years ago, let alone 500, 1000, 2000 we had this access to foods? Of course not - natural was a meal or two a day after it had been caught, natural was getting a small amount of grain each day or fruit from the bush etc.

Evolution to the new availability of foods would take hundreds of thousands, nay millions of years. Yet we dare to call eating for the last 8 hours of the day instead of 16 un-natural?

Get real.

AntWrig

This really annoys me - people spouting on about how it is not normal.

NORMAL these days is eating food cooked in fats designed for candles. Huge amounts of food is served retrieved by mechinical means off the parts of animals that were never touched before and turned into meat sludge before being reformed. Normal is filling our food full of preservatives and additives . Normal is removing the natural flavouring and making a chemical version.

Do you think 100 years ago, let alone 500, 1000, 2000 we had this access to foods? Of course not - natural was a meal or two a day after it had been caught, natural was getting a small amount of grain each day or fruit from the bush etc.

Evolution to the new availability of foods would take hundreds of thousands, nay millions of years. Yet we dare to call eating for the last 8 hours of the day instead of 16 un-natural?

Get real.

Hold on bro! You better stop typing and eat. You may lose all that hard earned muscle.

Matt_Wild

:laugh: :bigsmile:

People go on about bro science. Heck, surely its better than no science? (aka gut instinct).

Anyhoo - this isn't even that - it is measurable and can be seen in the photo's above.

ravihira1892

If you're doing it to detox and flush your system, I think it's a great idea! If you're doing it for religious regions, awesome! But if you're doing it as some short term fix to lose weight quickly, hmmm... you might be playing with metabolism fire. Any kind of starvation is not something one should make a habit out of.

^^^ x 2

byrnet18

Bump. I do IF sometimes, usually it's the 16/8 approach. I've done a 24 hour one once but I didn't enjoy it. I too have read leangains and articles from marks apple and there has been research stating that it is in fact healthy to fast. You just have to educate yourself and be safe.

Qattusa

I've started doing Intermittent fasting these last couple of weeks. It only works if I keep myself busy, so I make sure I don't fast on my days off from work. And to be honest, because it's from 6pm one day to 6pm the next, I barely notice it.

If I do have to do a lot of running around and my blood sugar does go a bit hypo, then I tend to snack on a few nuts such as almonds or macadamia nuts and that does the trick brilliantly. I honestly don't feel hunger until it comes to the evening and by then I am happy with a small meal.

Funnily enough when I have dieted all I could focus on was what I was going to eat next. With IF the focus from food is taken away from me. I don't feel guilty if I do eat something - I simply fast the next day. It is working for me so far. xxx

Huffdogg

I think the most important thing to take away from this collision of intelligent dieting structure and broscience is this:

1. No one things starving yourself is a good idea.
2. Intermittent Fasting (which is NOT what the OP was considering doing) is NOT starving yourself.
3. Lots of people pop off at the mouth with unsubstantiated dietary myths that have no clinical backing.
4. There are a substantial number of MFP members who have made IF a part of their lifestyle and have had positive results.

auntiemare

Not a great idea. It will slow your metabolism. If you do not eat anything your body will start using your muscles for energy, and leave the fat for reserves. I know this because I have done a lot of reading not the subject.

I know we are not supposed to promote other products so the best thing I can say is try to make sure you get all your nutrients. When I am pressed for time I rely on hard boiled egg whites as a snack.

I don't know if this helps, but I do know that it is not healthy to not eat anything.

howeclectic

Over the short term fasting isnt likely to cause any problems. The real issue with fasting (if done too much) could be the formation of gall stones and heart problems that can result in death. Though fasting may work in the short term you have to ask yourself whether its really a lasting solution. Weight loss is as much about retraining yourself to eat and live right again. Fasting will likely lead to yo-yo style dieting as you will never learn to have a good relationship with food and dieting. It will also likely lead to mood swings and may mess with your general sense of well being. If you are eating 1200 calories a day and not losing weight... I'd first buy a food scale and measure everything you eat. Are you SURE you are only eating 1200 a day? also.. 15 mins of exercise isn't much. If you are logging anything more than 150 calories (to eat back) i'd be very skeptical.

michael300891

definitely the worst idea ever..... when you fast your insulin levels spike, when you finally eat again everything you eat will get stored as fat... also in those fasting days how are you going to get protein for muscles? carbohydrates for energy? nutrients and vitamins for your immune system? and even 1200 calories is not enough to supply the body with the fuel it needs...... just eat a lot of small well balanced meals every 3 hours and you will speed your metabolism, starving yourself is not the answer

I agree I personally think its a bad idea - mainly because I think it will be incredibly difficult not to binge out over the week and also as your blood sugar levels drop, your body will begin to break down protein (and of course fat) converting them into glucose via various metabolic pathways. Unfortunately, as your not eating protein youll break down muscle tissue. Therefore a lot of the weight loss can be accounted for by lost "water weight" (i.e. water lost that is normally stored with glycogen in muscle) and a reduction in lean body mass which will also lead to a reduction in BMR. However, insulin will not spike... if you fast insulin drops. There are pros and cons to fasting - you will probably lose fat faster but you may also lose some lean body mass, and probably experience a lot of random emotions so just be careful with whatever you decide to do

As for detoxing... What exactly is detoxing? :S Is it supposed to refer to toxins that build up in the body? If so which toxins? The only toxins im aware of that "build up" are free radicals and reactive oxygen/nitrogen species. If your "detoxing" these then well its probably worth knowing that theyre actually useful in upregulating mRNA synthesis for muscle growth as a response to exercise (although they can also be damaging). Other toxins I can think of is urea? But thats not really an issue... umm anyone know what the "Toxins" actually are? - Genuine question