Try not to eat between breakfast and the following day's breakfast. You'll be shocked at how difficult this is. Our ancestors went for days without eating; there were not refrigerators, or even agriculture, for most of humanity's existence, so we either had fresh food and ate, or we starved.
Because of this eating/starving cycle, a symbiosis formed, between us and the bacteria that live in us. Think of these bacteria as an extremely blue collar workforce; it's hard work, but you get the job done and then you die. When times are good the populations grow up, but they always stay in balance.
Fast forward to today, and most of us have abundant food available anytime of the day, and for many of us, this food contains such cheaply available calories (glucose, fructose, etc.) that we have created a welfare state for bacteria. Just like with a human welfare state, it's no longer the bacteria that serve the most important purpose that thrive, it's the bacteria that reproduce at the fastest rate, given the available energy medium. As a result, our immune systems are partially tasked with destroying bacteria that have no business existing in our bodies in such high numbers. This wreaks havoc on our health more than any other thing we do.
There are various schools of thought when it comes to fasting, but, as a general principle, fasting, to some degree, on a regular basis, creates a biome inside of you that more closely represents how we naturally existed before the advent of french fries and corn bread.
None of this is medical advice and I am not a medical professional.
Just finished 72 hour fast to heal some things. I do this every 3 months or so. I continue to oil pull, drink green tea and water with electrolytes during the fast. To break the fast, I drink chicken or bison bone broth and have a protein-rich meal 4 hours later to help promote muscle growth when I exercise. After the fast, you feel reborn and refreshed. I highly recommend it for general health.
I do the same and have worked up to over 100 hours now. The “reborn” sentiment is very real. As is the appreciation for food when you come back. The mental clarity is astounding and the biggest reason I keep doing it periodically. During the work week I practice intermittent fasting, eating within a 4-8 hour window everyday - sometimes one meal/day. On weekends I’m more lax depending on what’s going on. I STRONGLY suggest everyone implements fasting into their life.
Nice. During the work week, I also eat within a 4-6 hour window, so I am “intermittent fasting” for 18-20 hours per day. Once you fast, it’s hard to stop because you start to notice how mentally clear and physically rejuvenated you feel. It also helps me realize how toxic our food is and it’s good to let your body take a break from digestion, which is a taxing process on the human body. Over 100 hours is impressive! I have a new goal to achieve.
I agree completely. The mental clarity while waking up every day is shockingly noticeable (and addicting). Anxiety gone, brain fog gone, increased focus… I feel like everything is just “clicking” on a personal mindset and work performance level.
The refueling process has me hyper conscious about what I’m putting in my body following the fast. Real, whole foods only (broth, then eggs, then fruit and meat) and even after 100 hours my refuel time is pretty low compared to what I’ve read- typically have a cup of grass fed bone broth, then 2 pasture raised eggs about an hour-2 later, some bites of banana/berries, then some ground beef/steak and cheese within 6 hours of breaking the fast. I try to use the best quality available to me but I’m on a budget so I’m not always as good as I’d like to be.
As for the extended fasting, After the 3 day marker, the hunger subsided almost completely. I returned to eating after the 4.5 day mark mostly due to boredom (water only) and wanting to workout again. I have been reading some material that encourages working out during the fast but obviously muscle fatigue sets in much more rapidly. Going to try next time.
Well done! I've been a big proponent of water-only fasting and I've been doing it for years now. It's generally safe to do as long as you have stable blood pressure and healthy kidneys, and have enough fat in your body to sustain it (not a problem for most of us).
In fact, you can fast until your fat stores are nearly empty and still function reasonably well, many such cases. Of course, you don't hear about the benefits of water fasting in the media because it's bad for business.
That's awesome. I'm gonna do the bone broth thing I think when I do a long fast coming up. Sounds like everybody uses that.
For some reason I read chicken as children and had to do a double take