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Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

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Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#111

Post by 45w7w8w48 »

elmolino89 wrote: post #105

I am not sure exactly what some people call fasting but I am bewildered by statements "I did 60 days of fasting/it is safe". 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…

> bewildered by statements "I did 60 days of fasting/it is safe".

These people are either overweight or even obese, or just lying to you, or lying to themselves (e.g., drinking juice and coffee, or getting calories elsewhere and not counting it). Also, I guarantee they're completely sedentary.

If you're reasonably physically active (especially if you do any weight training) and you're in a prolonged caloric deficit while already being lean, you will lose muscle mass and bone density, and ultimately get injured:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4834845/

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#112

Post by abdusco »

mateo1 wrote: post #104
abdusco wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ... All I got was headaches, tiredness, feeling sick and constantly thinking about food. I lasted 5-6 days, tried to keep my electrolyte intake as well as I could, and it was miserable.... Fasting is not just about not eating for 16 hours in a day. When you break fast, you need to watch how much you eat, and eat a lot less. If you fast for 16 hours then gorge yourself, your stomach will keep growling and you won't…

I think there's a misunderstanding about the semiotics of fasting. I don't mean intermittent fasting, I mean not eating, at all.

It doesn't really matter. Substitute 16 hours with however long you're fasting. You need to keep your eating habits in check when you break fast.

I'm a muslim who fasts during Ramadan (no eating / drinking until sunset) for a month, and either because I'm just conditioned mentally or because my body adapts itself, I don't really mind being hungry after 2-3 days. And the less & lighter I eat, the easier it is.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#113

Post by brodouevencode »

hi41 wrote: post #108
asar wrote: post #22

It's such a shame that there isn't more research in this area. There are so many seemingly wondrous effects on human health that would need thourugh testing. 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 challen…

I have tried fasting by skipping breakfast and I have mostly failed because I am unable to endure when hunger strikes. I am interested to learn the mental methods you use to over that struggle.

It's been pretty simple for me: just get busy. Wake up, get ready for work, and go. It's tough with kids though because we make them breakfast here and the temptation is real but if I put time boundaries on myself (up at 6, out the door at 6:30) then the fake stress forces me to get out the door. Once I'm on my way to work I really don't think about it. The only thing I consume before lunch is black coffee, and that seems to fix any hunger pangs.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#114

Post by atchoo »

elmolino89 wrote: post #105

I am not sure exactly what some people call fasting but I am bewildered by statements "I did 60 days of fasting/it is safe". 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…

It's not about the duration but the starting weight and health of a faster. These were underweight / lower end of normal range long term prisoners in the early 80's who died when bodyweights were significantly under 100lbs.

That definitely isn't what anyone is suggesting. The people fasting these days for 50+ days with no ill effects are significantly overweight sometimes on the order of 100+ lbs. They can lose 60 lbs over similar duration which would kill someone underweight but leave them still technically obese.

Someone fasting for health will stop once something starts to feel off unlike hunger strikers who experienced serious declines before death. Sudden death from malnutrition during a fast while feeling fine at a normal range bodyweight isn't really a thing.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#115

Post by hsn915 »

sdze wrote: post #28
no1lives4ever wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did a 7 day fast, and I mostly ended up losing fat. While I did not do any scientific measurement, i was able to exercise the same post the 7 day fast and my belly fat came down big time. Maybe body builders lose lean body mass when they fast, but it does not seem to hold true for the average human.

You have mostly lost water to be precise. As well as muscle. You need an expensive Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan in order to precisely tell the body mass composition.

Why would the body shed water instead of tapping into stored fat when there's no external energy coming it?

This is delusional.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#116

Post by emacsen »

elmolino89 wrote: post #105

I am not sure exactly what some people call fasting but I am bewildered by statements "I did 60 days of fasting/it is safe". 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…

There are a number of differences here that should be noted.

Firstly, as you keenly note, we need to define terms like fasting. The kind of fasting people are doing for extended periods always includes water, but more than that, for an extended fast, it also includes electrolytes, and sometimes other nutrients.

Secondly, 60 days is a very long fast. While people are going to point out cases of people fasting for a year or more, the fact is that those are in the extreme minority. Most people consider a 10 day extended fast to be a very long one. A sixty day fast is far different, and there are studies that show negative effects of very long fasts, rather than "medium length" fasts such as seven days.

Third, I think it's a bit of a mistake to conflate a week long fast (what the post is about) with a 60 day fast.

Fourthly, most of the people talking about having done extended fasts talk about doing it in the same way one might talk about running a race- with practice. You'll see people talking about one meal a day, then a 24 hour fast, 48 hour, 72 hour, and then a week.

That gives the body a chance to adapt to the fasted state. These are health conscious people doing a health conscious thing.

Lastly, though, an ulcer isn't caused by fasting. Most ulcers are caused by infection, which was only discovered later in the 1980s. The kidney obstruction could be made worse by dehydration certainly, but it's still not causal.

People do need to eat, and extended fasts can be very dangerous, but there's such a world of difference here that I think it's not worth discussing.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#117

Post by brodouevencode »

egeozcan wrote: post #55
TimSchumann wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really think a 7 day fast should be 'mandatory reading' as far as life experience goes. You learn a lot about yourself. Also echo the mental clarity side of fasting. The weight loss was great, but how I felt was even better. The crazy thing is, if you can get to 7 days, anything past that is just mental and you can go as long as you have the body fat to sustain the fast, provided you're keeping an eye on your elect…

I'm not sure if starting something like a 7-day fast without medical supervision is a good idea, and I'm also not sure if any medical professional would allow you to do that, just thinking out loud. Don't you think it's too dangerous to name it essential life experience and recommend it to random people on the internet? I'm really asking, I'm not knowledgeable about this at all, and my questions stem from pure gut fe…

This is a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-dont situation. If OP says you should fast and someone gets hurt, that's bad. If OP says you shouldn't fast then what gains could have been made in that lost time.

A better way of looking at it is to take it incrementally

* skipping breakfast

* skipping breakfast and lunch

* skipping a whole day

* eating one meal every two days

* eating one meal every three days

* ...you get the point...

I don't think OP would advocate just jumping right into it. Start small, work up from there, listen to your body. You wouldn't jump right into running a full marathon.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#118

Post by hsn915 »

As far as I can tell, the design of the human body takes as a given that a lot of time will be spent without consuming food, perhaps for days at a time.

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.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#119

Post by brodouevencode »

CamelRocketFish wrote: post #68
TimSchumann wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lost zero noticeable lean muscle mass on my 60 day fast, at least no more than I would have sitting on the couch doing nothing. There's just not a metabolic pathway for breaking down muscle/organ tissue for energy when you have adequate fat stores. We would have died off as a species a long time ago if that were the case. In the grand scheme of things, if you have the body fat, 7 days is nothing for a fast. Edit: T…

When you say 60 day fast, are you saying you didn’t eat for 60 days and just drank water?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27619297

I remember his post from a few months back - found it rather inspiring.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#120

Post by [deleted] »

mateo1 wrote: post #100
cleerline wrote: post #90

Due to pancreatitis, my stomach has been closed since October 2020. So I have been effectively fasting for a continuous 18 months. all I think about is food.

People talk about these "wondrous" effects of fasting. All I got was headaches, tiredness, feeling sick and constantly thinking about food. I lasted 5-6 days, tried to keep my electrolyte intake as well as I could, and it was miserable. I managed to eat very little (like 500-600kcal) on day 6 and really gorged myself on day 7 despite knowing about refeeding syndrome, I just couldn't help it. That was during my prime…

[deleted]
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