Fasting

Discussion in 'Health & Fitness' started by Mrs.Lucysnow, Aug 18, 2009.

  1. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,879
    I have been told by a number of people that fasting one day a week is good for the body as it has a chance to 'rest'. The fast recommended was a day of nothing but water. I wasn't aware that providing nutrition was taxing on the digestion system.

    I understand detoxifying fasts but that isn't done once a week and it usually involves juicing (vegetable, fruit, broths)

    So what is so beneficial about Fasting? Is once a week a good regime for optimum health?

    Your thoughts.
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. francois Schwat? Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,515
    hmm, sounds like it should be shocking to the body by putting it into starvation mode, which lowers your metabolism and could cause weight gain.

    But yes, in general, Calorie restriction is good for you provided it's not extreme. Digesting food is a violent act at the cellular level. The less you do it, the better. Scientists found that semi-starving monkeys causes them to live longer.

    Funny--I fasted a few days ago for about 15 hours because I was in between jobs and I was switching from 2nd shift to 1st shift. I read that fasting for around 14 hours and hen eating a big meal at the time you want to wake up will reset your body clock in a single day, as opposed to the usual week. Well it didnt' work because I totally botched it up. Someone asked me to go to a bar and I drank like five beers, which probably screwed up the fast. So I started work and I'm not totally adjusted. I'm tired as hell. Well, good night.
     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. draqon Banned Banned

    Messages:
    35,006
    I fasted and when I did, I had hallucinations...its quite a bizarre experience, but worth it.
     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,879
    Well fasting isn't meant for weight loss its supposed to 'rest' the digestive system or something like that and its supposed to be for just one day a week and no longer.

    You're eating a big meal and drinking beer is a definite fasting no no. In other words you broke your fast...badly

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  8. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,879
    You fasted for a long time. I am asking if its a good thing to do once a week.
     
  9. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    23,049
    HA, what stupidity. If you ever get a hold of the BGL meter that diabetics use try it on a "normal" person. The range should be between 3-8 mmol\L, if it falls below 2 you have unconciousness because the person cant produce the ATP required to sustain brain funtion ect. Its like Hypoxia but in the case of glucose there is no short term gap measure like there is with anarobic respiration.

    Its even more dangerious during winter when the body is very vulnerable to hypothermia (because our bodies "burn" glucose to produce heat).

    During a course i did last weekend we were discussing this, a nurse was saying he never used to eat during night shifts and was always tired, couldnt think clearly, made mestakes, had lowed motivation to move ect. He took his BGL one night and found that he was at 2.8 (very close to unconciousness). After that he snacked right through night shifts and hasnt had a problem since
     
  10. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,879
    I'm sorry I don't understand the post. What are you trying to say about fasts? I don't think healthy people are dropping dead if they don't eat for 24 hours.

    Could you explain what you are trying to say please? I don't think one is meant to fast and work. I thought that fasts meant staying quite and resting all around.
     
  11. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    23,049
    what didnt you understand?
    yes its possable to "burn" fat but it takes the body a while (more than a day) to realise it needs to do that. We arnt designed for sudden rapid changes. There for if you suddenly stop eatting for a day (especially in cold weather) you are putting yourself at risk of a hypogluicimic event.

    ATP (the product of glucose, if your interested in how look it up) is nessary for normal cell funtion ESPECIALLY the Sodium Potassium pump in all cells. Once that fails you have sodium passing unencombed into the cells and the cells swell and burst and they die. If this happens to alot of heart mussle cells you have a heart atack, if it happens in the brain you have a stroke. If it happens to enough cells you have death.
     
  12. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,879
    No I am not asking about a diet or fasting as a way to lose weight. I wrote that it has been said to me that fasting one day a week is good as it rests the digestive system, resting the body.

    I am not speaking of a fast that would put undo strain on the body. Many people fast for one day without incident so I am asking what were the possible benefits to fasting. You're post didn't seem to address any of this. I mean I have fasted but not intentionally for 24 hours while traveling and I didn't have any problems.
     
  13. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    23,049
    no concerntration problems? no driving problems? no diffculty acting rationally? ect

    As i said im sure alot of people DO get away with it, that doesnt negate the dangers of it either. Lots of people get away with lots of risky activity (look how people drive) without incident, that doesnt make it safe, it makes them lucky.
     
  14. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,879
    Well I did have to catch gates and keep track of things like that but I was able to read etc without a problem. I had to travel for a little over a day and went without food for the whole time. I was tired but I probably would have been anyway.

    So you are saying that going without food for a day is dangerous?
     
  15. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    23,049
    very, limiting food intack isnt a problem if done slowly (for instance change in diet). Stopping food altogether for a sudden period IS dangerious. Think about it, if we were roaming around on the suvana we would have yesterdays leftovers ect so we would be slowly going into a fast rather than going "as of this second i will not eat untill...". Our bodies developed to change slowly in responce (ie spring, into summer and then into autum and winter ect)

    Its the same with O2, you can slowly limit your intake (for instance going to a mountain region and a climatising first ect) and the body will cope well. Fly to the top of the mountain in a hour (rather than a month) and try to do your normal everyday stuff and you put yourself at risk of Acute pulmonry odema
     
  16. Carcano Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    6,865
    Fasting with a liquid diet is believed to let the body rid itself of toxins that build up and are stored in fat deposits. Advocates believe that a thick white tongue coating is a sign of detoxification.

    It is also believed that the colon does not empty itself completely without fasting...causing half digested protein to putrefy, creating toxic chemicals that are absorbed into the blood stream.

    To what extent this is all fact or theory...I have no idea.

    One of the best writers on the subject is Peter Glickman.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFZ6NbQfhDk
     
  17. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,879
    Yeah I think it was this is what someone was referring to. I would wonder though if this were true whether a one day fast would actually be a remedy. I would have thought that the body would have a natural way of emptying the colon so one wouldn't need to fast. I mean unless someone is chronically constipated I would have thought the colon is equipped to ensure against toxicity.
     
  18. Carcano Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    6,865
  19. Xerxes asdfghjkl Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,830
    It's called intermittent fasting, and is said to produce similar benefits to calorie restriction.

    It stimulates the body to go into autophagy- your cells recycle waste products and dead tissue, it basically cleans up the junk in and between cells which hasten aging. I don't think the benefit has anything to do with giving the digestive system a rest, as allowing the cleaning crew to do their job.

    I'm not a doctor, but as Asguard has pointed out, anyone with poor blood sugar control shouldn't attempt this. If you want try it maybe get your fasting glucose levels tested, or buy an accu-check..
     
  20. visceral_instinct Monkey see, monkey denigrate Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,913
    How the fuck does anyone manage to fast and not pass out?

    I get very fucked up if I go too long without eating, unless I've had caffeine or something sugary. I feel extremely weak and sleepy and every small movement makes me need to hyperventilate.
     
  21. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

    Messages:
    39,397
    It seems to me that if you fast your body will switch into preservation mode. When you start to eat again, you'll be hungrier, of course, and your body will store as much as it can as fat. Your metabolism will slow down and you'll likely put on weight. At the same time, you're likely to be lethargic and unable to think clearly, as well as hungry.

    The best thing for your body, in my uneducated opinion, is to have regular meals and give your body a chance to regulate itself, rather than forcing it to change strategies every few days.
     
  22. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    23,049
    which is exactly what i said james

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    except you can go further than just lethagia into unconciouness and possably death.

    as i said glucose is as important as oxygen
     
  23. John99 Banned Banned

    Messages:
    22,046
    It doesnt take long to digest food nor is it all that strenuous on the body. the eaier things to break down get digested faster regardless of what was eaten first. I never head of anyone becoming ill or dying due to overworked digestive system and like i said humans are not continuously consuming (hard to digest foods) and actually there are far more hours a day when NOT consuming. unless you are looking for a psychological solution then have at it.
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2009

Share This Page