That's right, simply NOT eating a ton of carbs for a few weeks would do more for the average fat person to protect against a scawy cold than the stupid drug trial they are signing up for.
If you're fat, lose weight. The easiest way to lose weight is to eat a Keto diet, which is just eating protein and fat mostly and keeping carbs real low. The fat satiates you and you're not hungry at all. It's easy if you have any discipline and there is no possible health risk from eating a keto diet for a couple months that is worse than being 20+ lbs overweight.
There is no excuse for being obese if you can afford meat.
I've been getting into intermittent fasting lately. It's a good way to start up ketosis, and it's been making me feel a lot healthier. Just mostly been doing 24 and 48 hour periods, but I'm gonna try 72 this week.
I normally only eat once a day, so a 24h for me is normal. I've tried a 72h one in 2019 and it went well so in 2020 I did a 7 day one. Water only.
I'd say that the first 48h are the hardest for anyone used to eating at least twice a day, so unless you're doing a 72+ one, you're getting the short end of the stick - since you'll only ever be experiencing the period where your body goes through the process of getting into full ketosis, and not much of the actual 'metabolic switch' when you're body switches from running on glucose to running on ketones.
I tracked my blood glucose and level of ketones and my metabolic switch was around the 60h mark, with the full effect (as you can see there's a curve even after, the switch is just the mid-way point in which more than 50% of your energy comes from ketones).
What most people should be after is to remain in the period after the switch for as long as they can.
Eating anything that has calories - and I do mean anything, will raise your blood glucose level and produce an insulin response (thus brining you out of ketosis) - so the only way to go about this is water only. No, no diet drinks either, since even though they don't have calories, the sweeteners do produce an insulin response.
I recommend 72h fasts for everyone. Once a month. If you're actually looking to lose weight, not just better your health, then I'd go as far as recommend 4 day ones.
For the rest of everyone, a 24h fast doesn't do much from a health perspective, but it will from a weight perspective, if you don't go abusing food the next day because 'you haven't eaten anything yesterday'. Just eat normal the next day, you'll feel just as full.
The science of fasting is quite well understood, and it can have very, very strong beneficial health effects. There are dedicated 'fasting clinics' in Russia, Germany and many other countries. You go in, you're not given food but you're kept under medical supervision. These are usually reserved for people that want to do 20 or 40 day water fasts. Here's a cool documentary about a Russian one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4TdlGagQ5M
By the way, the 40 day water fast is also called a 'biblical fast' because yes, you guessed it - the bible advocates for one every now and then.
Here's what happened to me during the 7 days of a water fast: 1) My nails and hair stopped growing 2) I had a lot of diarrhea until I learned I need to drink natural water (i.e the one that came from the ground, even if the carbonated it) since that one contains sodium, potassium and magnesium naturally. 3) My skin cleared. I don't have skin issues to begin with but I looked... better. 4) I usually take a shower and 12 hours later I already have dandruff. I had zero dandruff after this for almost a week. I noticed it around Day 5. 5) I lost about about 0.5kg per day. 6) Headaches in the first 48h, problem sleeping in the first 3 nights. 7) Insane levels of energy and mental clarity from Day 3 on-wards.
I'm planning a 10 day one and won't ever do a 48h ever again. I don't see the point. I'd rather do a 10 day one once every 6 months instead of 2 days ever month.
Besides massive health benefits I'd say that the best thing about this is: Once you fast, you're naturally attracted to healthy foods after. A fucking cucumber tastes like heaven, peas are out of this world and a simple bowl of chicken stock is worth its weight in gold as far as you're concerned. The effects persist, especially if you push yourself a bit. They stop the moment you eat any processed food or anything that has added sugar.
Right on, thanks for the info. A seven day fast sounds pretty intense...I'd like to get to that point someday. I felt like I could keep going easily after the 48 hours was up and I had a lot more energy.
It used to be where if I didn't eat something within 12 to 16 hours I'd get migraines and feel like shit. The first few fasts were rough. But now it seems my body prefers it.
[ + ] Flabbygasted
[ - ] Flabbygasted 1 point 4 yearsMay 2, 2021 09:18:23 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] ZorbaTheGreek
[ - ] ZorbaTheGreek 1 point 4 yearsMay 2, 2021 18:19:30 ago (+1/-0)*
I'd say that the first 48h are the hardest for anyone used to eating at least twice a day, so unless you're doing a 72+ one, you're getting the short end of the stick - since you'll only ever be experiencing the period where your body goes through the process of getting into full ketosis, and not much of the actual 'metabolic switch' when you're body switches from running on glucose to running on ketones.
I tracked my blood glucose and level of ketones and my metabolic switch was around the 60h mark, with the full effect (as you can see there's a curve even after, the switch is just the mid-way point in which more than 50% of your energy comes from ketones).
Here's how it looks: https://thequantifiedbody.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Glucose-Ketones-Fast-mimicking-diet.png
What most people should be after is to remain in the period after the switch for as long as they can.
Eating anything that has calories - and I do mean anything, will raise your blood glucose level and produce an insulin response (thus brining you out of ketosis) - so the only way to go about this is water only. No, no diet drinks either, since even though they don't have calories, the sweeteners do produce an insulin response.
I recommend 72h fasts for everyone. Once a month. If you're actually looking to lose weight, not just better your health, then I'd go as far as recommend 4 day ones.
For the rest of everyone, a 24h fast doesn't do much from a health perspective, but it will from a weight perspective, if you don't go abusing food the next day because 'you haven't eaten anything yesterday'. Just eat normal the next day, you'll feel just as full.
The science of fasting is quite well understood, and it can have very, very strong beneficial health effects. There are dedicated 'fasting clinics' in Russia, Germany and many other countries. You go in, you're not given food but you're kept under medical supervision. These are usually reserved for people that want to do 20 or 40 day water fasts. Here's a cool documentary about a Russian one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4TdlGagQ5M
By the way, the 40 day water fast is also called a 'biblical fast' because yes, you guessed it - the bible advocates for one every now and then.
Here's what happened to me during the 7 days of a water fast:
1) My nails and hair stopped growing
2) I had a lot of diarrhea until I learned I need to drink natural water (i.e the one that came from the ground, even if the carbonated it) since that one contains sodium, potassium and magnesium naturally.
3) My skin cleared. I don't have skin issues to begin with but I looked... better.
4) I usually take a shower and 12 hours later I already have dandruff. I had zero dandruff after this for almost a week. I noticed it around Day 5.
5) I lost about about 0.5kg per day.
6) Headaches in the first 48h, problem sleeping in the first 3 nights.
7) Insane levels of energy and mental clarity from Day 3 on-wards.
I'm planning a 10 day one and won't ever do a 48h ever again. I don't see the point. I'd rather do a 10 day one once every 6 months instead of 2 days ever month.
Besides massive health benefits I'd say that the best thing about this is: Once you fast, you're naturally attracted to healthy foods after. A fucking cucumber tastes like heaven, peas are out of this world and a simple bowl of chicken stock is worth its weight in gold as far as you're concerned. The effects persist, especially if you push yourself a bit. They stop the moment you eat any processed food or anything that has added sugar.
[ + ] Flabbygasted
[ - ] Flabbygasted 0 points 4.0 yearsMay 2, 2021 23:16:15 ago (+0/-0)
It used to be where if I didn't eat something within 12 to 16 hours I'd get migraines and feel like shit. The first few fasts were rough. But now it seems my body prefers it.
Ten days would take a lot of dedication