by fzliu on 5/17/22, 2:31 AM with 167 comments
by asar on 5/17/22, 7:26 AM
Apart from physiological benefits though, the mental aspect of fasting from my own experience can be quite exciting as well. A 7 day fast was the longest I did so far, but 72h really hit the sweet spot for me. It was like a journey through my mind, I got challenged in very new ways to break the fast and also questioned my purpose in life a lot, as I seemingly live to eat. It was quite shocking to realize how much time I spend during a normal day to: buy food, prepare it, consume, dispose, cleanup etc. The rewards of fasting to me were long phases of absolute clarity and great concentration.
by DoreenMichele on 5/17/22, 5:09 AM
And, of course, in mice.
(Still noteworthy if you are trying to understand why fasting seems to help with many different ailments.)
by ComradePhil on 5/17/22, 7:05 AM
All human cultures with abundant food had fasting as a part of their rituals... except for the modern American one... which then spread everywhere through food industry funded "science".
It's not that fasting is healthy... it's the other way around... eating too much all the time is unhealthy. Fasting is the default.
by cleerline on 5/17/22, 11:53 AM
by fithisux on 5/17/22, 4:43 AM
by elmolino89 on 5/17/22, 1:07 PM
Here one can read about the "safety" of ca 60 days hunger strikes. See the section: "People who died on hunger strike"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Irish_hunger_strike
The oldest one died at age 29.
Bonus: "Other participants in the hunger strike". Column: Reason for ending the strike
One poor guy got a perforated ulcer and internal bleeding after 13 days.
by TimMeade on 5/17/22, 11:46 AM
The research going into this over the last few years is off the charts.
https://www.healthline.com/health/autophagy#:~:text=Autophag...
by tpoacher on 5/26/22, 3:00 PM
by hsn915 on 5/17/22, 2:21 PM
So, some mechanisms are designed to kick in when you're eating food, and some other mechanisms are designed to kick in when you're not eating food.
By not having any period of time when you're properly hungry, a lot of the body's builtin mechanism never get a proper chance to fully kick in.
by Taylor_OD on 5/17/22, 2:50 PM
Here's to hoping that the cost comes down and insurance starts to cover it.
by anon2020dot00 on 5/17/22, 4:02 PM
Also, to echo the top commentator, aside from the physical benefits of losing weight; another great effect is the mental clarity that fasting gives since less attention is given to eating and so moving away from living to eat.
Also, sugar drinks is fine I think, and is an easy way to get some energy in moderation.
by victorclf on 5/17/22, 4:52 PM
"We go out of our course to make ourselves uncomfortable; the cup of life is not bitter enough to our palate, and we distill superfluous poison to put into it, or conjure up hideous things to frighten ourselves at, which would never exist if we did not make them."
by eixiepia on 5/17/22, 11:37 AM
by sj4nz on 5/17/22, 4:11 PM
by smm11 on 5/17/22, 3:35 PM
by rashthedude on 5/17/22, 9:03 AM
by davidkuennen on 5/17/22, 4:37 AM
by DeathArrow on 5/17/22, 5:15 AM
by amrx101 on 5/17/22, 5:10 AM
1. Was the study a human study or mice study?
2. If the study was human, how long should one fast for?
3. If the study was done on mice, what would be the equivalent hours of fasting in humans to observe same benefits? For example, rats fasted for 3 days experience autophagy, but rats would die if fasted for 5 days, so that 3 day cannot be applied to humans without an equivalent inflation of the time frame.
3. Was fasting the trigger or the resultant calorie restriction?
Thanks