Fasting for a week:
- Causes significant changes in protein levels across various organs.
- May have health benefits beyond weight loss, but only after 3 days.
- Switches energy source from glucose to fat after 2-3 days.
- Average weight loss of 5.7 kg (fat and muscle), with most fat loss sustained after 3 days of eating.
Implications:
- Provides insights into the molecular basis of fasting’s health effects.
- Paves the way for developing alternative treatments based on fasting benefits.
- Confirms historical use of fasting for specific health conditions.
I wish I had started fasting sooner. When you got for a few days without food it really puts that grouchy kind of afternoon hunger into perspective. I used to feel anxious about where and when I was going to eat, whether or not I was hungry. Now that i’m comfortable with going without food for days i’m just totally unconcerned about it.
It’s like having a super power. I remember being stuck in the Santa Fe airport in the late afternoon waiting for my massively delayed flight to arrive. After three hours or so, it’s past dinner time and people start becoming unglued. One family even has pizza delivered and manages to convince airport security to run it through the security gauntlet for them. I had been fasting for awhile so I was fine, where a year prior I would have been scrambling for food with the rest of them.
Exactly. Even if you plan on eating, just the ability to stretch that for a couple more hours till everyone else isn’t hungry at the same time is huge. Even if people have no plans or reason to fast for health, as long as they can do it safely they should try, just for their own peace of mind.
I was shocked when my doctor suggested intermittent fasting, but having done one meal a day for a while it was only a tiny bit more difficult when I did my 5 day fast. It’s just so freeing to realize that I can go for days without eating with basically no ill effects. It really does reinforce that, if you’re a bit overweight like I am, 3 meals a day, even if they’re healthy, is a luxury I don’t need. To day nothing of the horribly unhealthy food i’d like to be eating.
Even more, it’s helped my relationship with food. I used to worry about the ‘healthy’ option that would still fill me up. In a restaurant that just doesn’t exist. Well, if there isn’t one, I just won’t eat. Or I’ll sit down to a 3000 calorie meal with zero guilt because i’ve either not eaten for long enough that it’s a reasonable intake, or I can just not eat later. It’s really taken a lot of food related stress out of my life. Of course, I see how that could be bad for people with certain types of relationships with food, but it’s helped me immensely.