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A year without food (2012)

abc.net.au

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Re: A year without food (2012)

#11

Post by solarmist »

alphaoverlord wrote: post #3

There are significant risks to such an experiment, and it's a shame that there isn't any record of what happened to him after the fact or his long term health. There is a significant body of literature suggests that in addition to risks during starvation, there is significant harm and danger in trying to eat again [1]. The GI tract atrophies (much like when we don't use a muscle or a limb for a long time with a neuro…

They mention "Some five years later, he had regained only 7 kilograms", so it seems they had a least one follow up and I assume if he were permanently harmed by this they would've mentioned it as a caution.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#12

Post by lostlogin »

cupcake-unicorn wrote: post #6

Thanks for this article - I've often wondered how long one could live by fasting if they were quite overweight, and this helped answer it. I feel like a 2 year old asking this, but, "He defaecated infrequently, roughly every 40 to 50 days." How does that work if he wasn't eating any food?

Have you see what a new born baby produces? That liver is still ticking along...

Re: A year without food (2012)

#13

Post by darrickwiebe »

Harpers Magazine published a much better written article that discusses this same Scotsman along with an American who achieved some slight fame for his fasting around the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, the author writes about his own fairly significant fasts.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/95722979/Starving-Your-Way-to-Vigo...

After reading that article and doing a little bit of further research online, I tried a pair of fasts. The first was a week, followed a few months later by one of 10 days. My experience was very similar to what the author describes. That is, I felt good during the fast after the miserable 2nd day. Coming off the fast was no problem, either. Food was actually not a significant temptation during the fast and I found the discipline aspect to be much easier than the couple of standard diets I've ever tried.

I'm tall and about 50 pounds overweight (~200 lbs would be my target weight). In the 10 day fast I lost roughly a pound per day, but for me the weight came back within just a few weeks. I suspect that to have the best results I'd have to continue my fast for 5-6 weeks.

In fact, I only broke my fast because I was leaving for a road trip vacation in which I had to drive. My focus was actually fine and I was able to write software with no problems during my fast, but wasn't willing to experiment with long stretches of driving.

I'm actually looking forward to my next fast which I hope I can make last at least several weeks.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#14

Post by ekianjo »

darrickwiebe wrote: post #13

Harpers Magazine published a much better written article that discusses this same Scotsman along with an American who achieved some slight fame for his fasting around the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, the author writes about his own fairly significant fasts. http://www.scribd.com/doc/95722979/Starving-Your-Way-to-Vigo... After reading that article and doing a little bit of further research online, I tri…

Nitpicking, but did you provide a scribd link on purpose?

Re: A year without food (2012)

#15

Post by darrickwiebe »

ekianjo wrote: post #14
darrickwiebe wrote: post #13

Harpers Magazine published a much better written article that discusses this same Scotsman along with an American who achieved some slight fame for his fasting around the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, the author writes about his own fairly significant fasts. http://www.scribd.com/doc/95722979/Starving-Your-Way-to-Vigo... After reading that article and doing a little bit of further research online, I tri…

Nitpicking, but did you provide a scribd link on purpose?

Simply the first link on Google to the text of the article.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#16

Post by rickdale »

Been fasting everyday for 20-24 hours since June 1. Once you get used to it theres nothing to it. I like that I can feast everyday and on top of that its much easier to eat healthy and make a good decision about the foods for your feast. The benefits to my focus while fasting is significant. There are streaks almost daily where I feel like I am on adderall just pumped with adrenaline. Also, you get a muscle pump during a fast. I don't know, not for everyone, but it works for me.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#18

Post by wfunction »

rickdale wrote: post #16

Been fasting everyday for 20-24 hours since June 1. Once you get used to it theres nothing to it. I like that I can feast everyday and on top of that its much easier to eat healthy and make a good decision about the foods for your feast. The benefits to my focus while fasting is significant. There are streaks almost daily where I feel like I am on adderall just pumped with adrenaline. Also, you get a muscle pump duri…

> Been fasting everyday

> I can feast everyday

Pardon me for asking, but which one are you doing exactly?

Re: A year without food (2012)

#19

Post by Scaevolus »

wfunction wrote: post #18
rickdale wrote: post #16

Been fasting everyday for 20-24 hours since June 1. Once you get used to it theres nothing to it. I like that I can feast everyday and on top of that its much easier to eat healthy and make a good decision about the foods for your feast. The benefits to my focus while fasting is significant. There are streaks almost daily where I feel like I am on adderall just pumped with adrenaline. Also, you get a muscle pump duri…

> Been fasting everyday > I can feast everyday Pardon me for asking, but which one are you doing exactly?

It sounds like he's doing Intermittent Fasting (IF), where you only eat for specific periods each day-- the precise amounts vary, from 16 hours fasting / 8 hours eating (basically 2 big meals) to 20/4 "Warrior Diet" (1 huge meal).

http://www.leangains.com/ is one of the better-researched sites promoting it.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#20

Post by mingabunga »

I've been eating once a day since May last year, I eat only at dinner time and eat what I want and quite a lot. I don't get hungry until about 4pm, but then I go and do exercise. It's helped a lot with alertness, thinking is much clearer during the day, and I've always done a lot of sport and been quite slim, but I've really cut up since doing this (I'm 40 now, no fat around my middle). It's had no negative effect on my exercise or energy levels, so I'm just going to continue. I'm not completely strict with it, if someone asks me for breakfast or lunch then I'll go, but otherwise I've been pretty consistent with it.
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