Extended Fasting

[MichaelDiamond]

At around 33:21 of this video Richard Nikoley says the average person has about 3 months worth of energy in their own fat stores.


He goes on to say the average person could consume nothing but water for 3 months and essentially do themselves no harm and the record is a 400 pound man going over a year consuming nothing but water and vitamins. The rest of the video is a good overall intro to the social/dietary/philosophical approach he espouses on his blog if you have the time to watch and aren't familiar with his work.

This Scientific American article supports a claim that a person can go at least a month without food. How long can a person survive without food?: Scientific American

I used to think I was quite the badass for routinely going 24hrs without food as part of an IF regimen. My law school finals will be over in 2 weeks and I won't have almost any time to exercise in that span, so perhaps a diet of water and vitamins is ideal until finals are over.

How healthy do you think it is to go without eating for multiple days at a time? In the video Nikoley talks about the benefits of extended fasts for cancer patients at the cellular level, may infrequent week-longish fasts be a good idea for healthy people?

Most of the googling i've done on this topic returns forum threads, so I'd be interested to know if any of you know of more reliable sources on the subject of extended fasts.

And no, I'm not talking about doing 3 consecutive 40 day water fasts...

 

[mmafreedom]

Can it be done? Sure. I wouldn't risk it though. Just the fact that it can have cardiac implications due to a lack of EAA is just not worth it to me. Plus, no sex drive what so ever would be horrible.

 

[mkoua]

Dude, eat.

If this is your first semester, just eat; no matter how much you study, you still won't feel good about your finals.
If you are a 2 or 3L and haven't tweaked to an undergrad amount of studying for finals (beyond regular studying/outlining): relax. And eat.

 

[MichaelDiamond]

Dude, eat.

If this is your first semester, just eat; no matter how much you study, you still won't feel good about your finals.
If you are a 2 or 3L and haven't tweaked to an undergrad amount of studying for finals (beyond regular studying/outlining): relax. And eat.

Definitely, I was mostly joking about doing this leading up to finals.

This is also clearly not advisable to do in the lead-up to athletic competition. I was mostly just surprised about the statement that average person can live off their fat for 3 months and do themselves no harm.

This is mainly interesting to me in the context of normal IF, because many times when I'm entering an eating window after a 24 hr. fast I have a food-gorging rage fest. Not with unhealthy food, but in my mind I'm often times thinking "OMG my body needs nutrition NOW, I haven't eaten for a whole 24 hrs!"

I feel like this information will help me be more moderate in the first few hours of a feeding window, knowing that my body isn't severely lacking anything. Hell, it won't be severely lacking anything for a few weeks according to this information.

Also, in the context of situations like long road trips I sometimes compromise standards of healthy eating in pursuit of food choices that are most similar to healthy foods, but far from ideal. This information should make it easier to sack up and avoid foraging at rest stops knowing that I'll be just fine waiting a few more hours for a decent meal.

I'm not advocating anything extreme in the OP, I just find this information interesting in the context of safe nutrition regimens incorporating IF. In my opinion, those without IF experience shouldn't be attempting extended-fasts but I think it's an interesting extension of the widely accepted practice of IF.

 

[LauraSch]

Eating,Eating and Eating I m,a just tired by this and now i am very tired with eating heavy calories these increase my weight.

 

[largemansmay***]

At around 33:21 of this video Richard Nikoley says the average person has about 3 months worth of energy in their own fat stores.


He goes on to say the average person could consume nothing but water for 3 months and essentially do themselves no harm and the record is a 400 pound man going over a year consuming nothing but water and vitamins. The rest of the video is a good overall intro to the social/dietary/philosophical approach he espouses on his blog if you have the time to watch and aren't familiar with his work.

This Scientific American article supports a claim that a person can go at least a month without food. How long can a person survive without food?: Scientific American

I used to think I was quite the badass for routinely going 24hrs without food as part of an IF regimen. My law school finals will be over in 2 weeks and I won't have almost any time to exercise in that span, so perhaps a diet of water and vitamins is ideal until finals are over.

How healthy do you think it is to go without eating for multiple days at a time? In the video Nikoley talks about the benefits of extended fasts for cancer patients at the cellular level, may infrequent week-longish fasts be a good idea for healthy people?

Most of the googling i've done on this topic returns forum threads, so I'd be interested to know if any of you know of more reliable sources on the subject of extended fasts.

And no, I'm not talking about doing 3 consecutive 40 day water fasts...

Drastically changing your diet (especially to nothing but water) would be great for your mental health, especially during a stressful and taxing time like law school finals. I say go for it. You will definitely get better grades. There is no way you would completely crash and not be able to concentrate and bomb your finals.

Literally that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard.

EDIT: Well its good to hear that you were joking. Anyway, its bullsh*t that you can survive without food for 3 months while doing yourself no harm. I don't care what the video says.

 

[Nemesis48]

Intermittent fasting has basically the same benefits as extended fasting and isn't unhealthy for you.

I fast from 6 PM to 12 PM and have been burning fat like a motherfucker.

I eat 3 meals.

 

[315MMAFighter]

This could make you lose fat you've wished of burning for years, if done correctly. No food at all, just pure water. I've done 7 days and lost 18lbs. I am currently attempting 30 days

 

[TrueBias]

Intermittent fasting has basically the same benefits as extended fasting and isn't unhealthy for you.

I fast from 6 PM to 12 PM and have been burning fat like a motherfucker.

I eat 3 meals.

So...youre skipping breakfast.

 

[bean88]

This could make you lose fat you've wished of burning for years, if done correctly. No food at all, just pure water. I've done 7 days and lost 18lbs. I am currently attempting 30 days

Does this not cause you to lose all strength and massive amounts of muscle as well as fat?

 

[dannysmith]

Ive done 24 hour fasts on a semi regular basis. 48 hours is the longest ive gone without food due to sickness.

I think a 24-36 hour fast can be a way to up your appetite if youre struggling to choke down food, and also a good way to clear out your stomach if youre having digestive issues and feel like you couldnt fit any more in your stomach. This happens to guys who have been bulking for a long time.

One meal a day is a viable option for those who perpetually overeat as well. Just have one big meal at the end of your day and move on.

 

[315MMAFighter]

Does this not cause you to lose all strength and massive amounts of muscle as well as fat?

No, not for me at least. All of my lean muscle stays, my fat literally fizzles away though. Just one and a half days of not eating and just drinking some water i lost 9.8lbs

 

[315MMAFighter]

Does this not cause you to lose all strength and massive amounts of muscle as well as fat?

My strength feels the same but I'm sure because im lighter it might not be the same as when i got up to 180lbs. Say you dont eat for 3 days, you'll lose at least 10 or more lbs right there. All water weight and the fat burning starts right about after that the longer you go. Their are alot of different takes about fasting from different people. I've listened to Dr.Jason Fung on YouTube. The man breaks it down pretty good on youtube. Its his specialty

 

[Robocok]

A little high quality salt (not cheap, iodized table salt) every day will do you good during a fast.

 

[Robocok]

Also, Thomas Delaurer has good info on fasting. Yes, he's clearly cycling roids, but he has a lot of legit advice.

 

[wufabufa]

Also, Thomas Delaurer has good info on fasting. Yes, he's clearly cycling roids, but he has a lot of legit advice.

Siim Land, Mike Mutzel, and Dr Jason Fung(who GSP works with) are good resources too. While Thomas has concise videos that are easy to digest, he's been known to misinterpret information and studies from time to time.

 

[dannysmith]

A little high quality salt (not cheap, iodized table salt) every day will do you good during a fast.

This so much.

I use iodized lite salt (it has potassium as well...close to a 50/50 split of sodium and potassium) in a glass of crystal light a couple times per day when fasting and also a glass with just pure sea salt.

This definitely helps with fatigue on a long fast (24+hours)

 

[steroid-doc]

Intermittent fasting has basically the same benefits as extended fasting and isn't unhealthy for you.

I fast from 6 PM to 12 PM and have been burning fat like a motherfucker.

I eat 3 meals.

This isn't a fast ! its called missing a meal in a Western modernised diet where we drastically over consume calories. If you look at digestion times you are not fasting at all , unless your 6pm meal was water .

as for the original topic , if your at death's door and its your only choice then yes , for anyone else it's pretty dumb . total lack of EFA's , fibre, digestion, intestinal health , gut health , colon health , hormonal health , I would guess they would be introducing foods as soon as they are out of the heart attack zone.

 

[physioboy]

sorry if it's already been mentioned - obese bloke fasted for over a year - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/

 

[Crash Lance]

I always thought that fasting was very underrated.