Long Term Fasting

I'm trying to see if anyone has Experience with long term fasting, by this i mean fasting for periods longer than approximately 3 days. if so why did you do it what were your results, and any tips you may have.
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Replies

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Yeah, no. That sounds like a bad plan.
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  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    edited November 2017
    To actually answer OP's question, I've done a 3-day fast just to try it out.

    I stuck to low-calorie liquids like water, sugar-free jello, broth, diet pop and tea.

    I felt pretty good the first day. A couple hunger pangs in the afternoon, and it was challenging falling asleep when I'm not used to going to bed hungry. I woke up wide awake and bouncing off the walls with energy. Second day was a little easier. Third day was TOUGH, I felt tired and just wanted to eat again.

    It actually did temporarily help me out with my food cravings. Before the fast, I felt really controlled by food and like I needed junk food all the time. After the fast, I had a psychological mind shift and felt much less reliant on food and cravings. I just felt more in control. Now - I said temporarily! Because eventually I fell back into my normal eating habits. But if you did a 3-day fast, say, every month - the psychological benefits may stick around.

    I also did a 2-day liquid fast leading up to a colonoscopy and it went very well. The third day seems to be the tricky one.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    toxikon wrote: »
    kls8080 wrote: »
    https://paleoleap.com/long-fasts/
    long term fasting promotes autophagy.
    in other words it helps to rebuild your bodies cells.

    Not sure why this comment is getting flagged. There are studies being done about the effect of long-term fasting on the body, including the sped-up process of autophagy.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3106288/
    Sporadic short-term fasting, driven by religious and spiritual beliefs, is common to many cultures and has been practiced for millennia, but scientific analyses of the consequences of caloric restriction are more recent. Published studies indicate that the brain is spared many of the effects of short-term food restriction, perhaps because it is a metabolically privileged site that, relative to other organs, is protected from the acute effects of nutrient deprivation, including autophagy.17 We show here that this is not the case: short-term food restriction induces a dramatic upregulation of autophagy in cortical and Purkinje neurons. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that food restriction leads to in vivo neuronal autophagy. Our data extend recent reports in tissue culture systems,18,20 and have implications for individuals who, by choice or necessity, have limited food intake. Our findings also may have therapeutic implications, as outlined below. Autophagy is sometimes referred to as cellular “cleansing”, and our observations provide an attractive neuronal parallel to the organismal benefits that, historically, are perceived to derive from fasting.

    Our observation that a brief period of food restriction can induce widespread upregulation of autophagy in CNS neurons may have clinical relevance. As noted above, disruption of autophagy can cause neurodegenerative disease, and the converse also may hold true: upregulation of autophagy may have a neuroprotective effect.

    https://idmprogram.com/fasting-and-autophagy-fasting-25/
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3946160/
    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/science/06cell.html?_r=0

    A potentially useful series of articles for those practising or considering practising Intermittent Fasting, which I myself used to do and still do periodically.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    IF promotes autophagy just fine, as does exercise.

    And it's not something extreme like prolonged fasting.
  • Lesscookies1
    Lesscookies1 Posts: 250 Member
    edited November 2017
    Muslims do it for a while month in the month of Ramadan. It's usually around June, July I think.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    Muslims do it for a while month in the month of Ramadan. It's usually around June, July I think.

    Fasting for Ramadan begins just before sunrise and ends at sunset
    Also as thier calander relies on the moon it actually changes every year so while the last couple of years its been in the summer time it isn't always this way
  • Lesscookies1
    Lesscookies1 Posts: 250 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Muslims do it for a while month in the month of Ramadan. It's usually around June, July I think.

    They still eat after sundown

    Yes true!! I just finished the post didn't notice the part about 3 days yikes.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,089 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Muslims do it for a while month in the month of Ramadan. It's usually around June, July I think.

    They still eat after sundown

    Yes true!! I just finished the post didn't notice the part about "longer than" 3 days yikes.

    FIFY
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    happy friday guys
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  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited November 2017
    My experience: Felt horrible.
    My results: landed in the hospital (intestinal blockage isn't fun).
    My tips: don't do it.
  • Lesscookies1
    Lesscookies1 Posts: 250 Member
    This actually sounds rather dangerous, and I think unsafe habits is against the forum rules.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    From what I have read, the body reacts to VLCD just like fasting. It isn't necessary to go completely without food.

    139418598.png
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    From what I have read, the body reacts to VLCD just like fasting. It isn't necessary to go completely without food.

    139418598.png

    But it's necessary to get enough food to fuel your body, which unless you're under a doctor's care VLCDs do not do.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited November 2017
    From what I have read, the body reacts to VLCD just like fasting. It isn't necessary to go completely without food.

    139418598.png

    I find your "making strides towards health" badge funny since your recommending a VLCD by the sounds of it and if your not id edit it to be more clear OP's liek this tend to grasp onto what they want to hear vs all the other answers. Although this OP seems to have made their mind up long before posting. Sad.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    How is this thread still even here?