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Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

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

#131

Post by atchoo »

elmolino89 wrote: post #124
atchoo wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 lb…

Really? Bobby Sands started with 155lbs, died at 95lbs. The 155lbs for a chap in the 1980s was certainly in the middle range. Check his wiki page: for sure he didn't look anorectic in the picture taken at the age 19. More importantly: Seems that we are entering the True Irishman or Scotsman territory: Fasting 60 days is super safe but apparently only if you started with 300lbs, your weight did not drop "significantly…

You sound like you think you are disagreeing. The prerequisite health and body fat requirements for safely fasting for extended periods is surely obvious.

The photos I have seen of Bobby Sands show him to be taller than his friends and sknny... unusually skinny by modern standards. This person cannot safely lose 60lbs of bodyweight, others can:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/04/bobby-sands-66-...

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

#133

Post by msandford »

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.

You have to wrap your brain around the idea that hunger isn't pain to be avoided but a natural feeling that comes in waves. It's not you that's hungry, it's your gut microbes and they can be annoying but they don't really hurt you. Hunger is the sensation that one has when some of their gut microbes are running out of food an experiencing stress.

I recently did a significant amount of caloric restriction, from probably 2500/day down to more like 1500/day. The first day was awful. The second day wasn't so bad. By the fourth day this new amount of calories feels fine. I had to give myself permission to do basically nothing for several days though because I just didn't have it in me.

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

#134

Post by m348e912 »

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…

You bring up some interesting points. I've dabbled with fasting in the past and it seems to be relatively safe and beneficial up to 10 days but there are two mistakes I see people make.

Mistake 1: Drinking pure water. Your body does need some specific minerals even when fasting. Cole Robinson, a fasting focused youtuber (who is not for everyone), has shared a Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Sodium Bicarbonate & Water recipe he calls Snake Juice that keeps electrolytes steady during a fast.

Mistake 2: Drinking liquids that break the fast. I've watched youtube videos of fasters add things like diet soda, gatorade, and even jello to their fast. That defeats the whole purpose and negates any positive effect.

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

#135

Post by mateo1 »

abdusco wrote: post #112
mateo1 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>It doesn't really matter.

Yes it absolutely does. You can do intermitted fasting for 10 years but most people will die when they continuously fast for more than 20 days unassisted by IV nutrients. Are we really on the same page here?

Your religious experience of skipping lunch and having a late dinner used to be my daily routine during uni, aside from a couple of coffees with a cig. Fasting for 12-16 hours is very different from fasting for 120-160 hours. Whatever you may think, you cannot be mentally conditioned not to eat at all. I'm having trouble believing that people extrapolate their experience of skipping a meal to not eating anything for days or weeks in a row.

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

#136

Post by anon2020dot00 »

One meal a day fast is the most convenient way to lose weight I think.

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.

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

#137

Post by moonchrome »

wanda wrote: post #125
seer wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I’ve done similar fasting myself, with the same wondrous effects you describe, I want to point out that it seems this might be a lot harder to do for young women (in child bearing age). My partner tried to replicate what I did since I was hyping it so much, and failed miserably. Later we learned that the female body reacts much more violently to the lack of calories than male ones, and its a lot harder for them…

Sorry but that's kind if anecdotal. You're extending the case of one woman age (x) to all women age (x). Yes, you say "maybe she had other compounding factors" which is equivalent to saying her case was idiosyncratic. In which case, why try to generalise it at all then? When I look around the city, I see a lot of underweight women of all ages, including childbearing age — whatever the hell we're defining that as.* Ma…

>Sorry but that's kind if anecdotal.

He said they later learned it's known that women react to fasting differently and can have negative side effects, which we also discovered from our doctor when trying to get pregnant - so don't really see anything anecdotal there.

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

#138

Post by moonchrome »

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…

>It's such a shame that there isn't more research in this area.

From what I've seen there is actually research into it and the weight loss/fitness benefits don't seem to be any better than any other calorie restriction when equating calories (slightly worse for muscle mass when combined with exercise in one study IIRC), and other claims seem overblown.

Layne Norton has a couple of good study reviews (eg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PyBoKSv2tI)

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

#139

Post by rhinoceraptor »

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…

It gets easier as your body gets used to it, and you shouldn't start with a 7 day fast without experience doing 24 and 48 hour fasts.

The first time I tried a 7 day fast it was like you described, I made it to about day 5 and I couldn't take it anymore. I've done about six or seven 7+ days fasts and now it's not a big deal, I feel totally fine the whole time. If I haven't kept up on electrolytes, I might get a little light headed when I stand up, but that's about it.

I use an electrolyte mix that has sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus and iron. It's a bit hard to find mixes that have phosphorus, and that's the main electrolyte that is depleted in refeeding syndrome.

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