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benefits of fasting


Peaceful Isle
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I am thinking about going on a fast, and have read that there are many health benefits for doing so. People claim that fasting can help with pain, cleanse toxins, give back energy and a multitude of other things. 

 

I was wondering if anyone had any real life experience with fasting, whether it be water or juice/veggie fasting. I have seen the documentary fat, sick, and nearly dead, and think I could never go as long as he did on just juice, lol.

 

Just thinking out loud I guess, and would love some ideas.

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My dh and I fast for 36 hours on the first day every month. We do a complete fast, only drinking water. We do it as a monthly recommitment to eating healthy. This started one year when we decided to do a fast on New Years day and then follow up the entire month with a completely non processed, sugar free month. We realized that after fasting for 36 hours the last thing we wanted to do was muck up our systems with junk. I think it is harder for me than my dh because I generally cook most of the meals in the house, and it is so hard to make food for the kids when I am not eating. I am better now about precooking some meals on the day before our fast so I don't drive myself mad. 

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I have, but it's been more than a decade since I did it for more than 24 hours that didn't involve the stomach flu.  "Toxins" is code for pooping a lot.  That happens if you do a juice fast.

 

There are usually about 3-5 pounds of food in your digestive tract (more if you tend towards constipation).  And another 8 pounds or so of water bound to the sugar in your body.  When you juice fast you'll lose the 3-5 pounds in your digestive tract quickly, but you don't lose weight as fast as you would just on a moderate-carb diet.

 

If you water fast, you lose ten pounds in the first 3-4 days, but that's digestion & water weight, not real fat.  After that on average you lose about a pound a day (two pounds if you're obese, half a pound if you're already at your ideal weight).  I didn't find it made me any more energetic.  If anything I got tired.  On a juice fast you can feel more energized, but no more than you would if you drank a coke.  You're consuming pure sugar, whether it has vitamins or not, so you will get a sugar high. 

 

There's quite a bit of benefit to intermittent fasting, where you fast once a week, or a few times a week strictly limit calories.  At least in men.  It's not been studied as much in women and a few things seem to indicate it doesn't work as well for women. Here's an article on that:  http://www.marksdailyapple.com/women-and-intermittent-fasting/#axzz3UsThIloj

 

The main benefit is that fasting acts like a reset - you stop eating junk for a while and then you don't crave it as much.  A hard workout will make you crave water and healthy food too, in much less time and with less effort.

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I have fasted for spiritual reasons and received health benefits in the process. Does that count? :) I have fasted with just juice and water. I have done it with fruits and water only. I have experienced a removal of addiction to certain foods, clearer thinking, more calm, just overall feeling better with more energy.

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I have fasted a lot for religious reasons (Ramadan) but I have yet to see any physical or health benefits. Or maybe I'll live longer in the end and I don't know it yet.  :laugh:

 

I have derived spiritual benefit from it but the biggest benefit for me has been mental. It's helped me see what I can do and that a lot of things are mind over matter. Also my mantra when asked for too many snacks by the kiddos: "It's okay to be hungry." I think a lot of people who have access to an abundance of food miss that.

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Thanks for all the I imput ladies. :) I am very interested in the 5:2 diet and would love to know more about the health benefits of it.

I am not opposed to feeling hungry and would love to try to do a fast of some sort to help my body heal and cleanse itself.

 

Any other tips/advice would be greatly appreciated!

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My dh fasts about 3x a year.  He ramps down, plateaus and then ramps up.  What that means is that he starts the fast by only eating raw foods for a day or two and then transitions to only clear liquids for two days and then ramps up with the raw food diet thing again.  He likes doing it.  Feels better after.  Feels like it's a cleanse.  And like someone else who posted up thread, he feels as if it teaches some self discipline and that it's okay to be hungry.

 

Notice though that "I" have no personal experience to share... :tongue_smilie: I should change that.

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I attempt 5:2 fasting as well, although am not very good at it yet.  I have read up on its benefits and am convinced it's a great way to go for an ongoing lifestyle. 

 

That said, I do feel like I need a longer-term cleansing type of fast, so I'm planning to do The Master Cleanse after Lent is over.  It's 10 days with only a "lemonade" drunk several times a day.  It's made with specific ingredients that include water, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, grade B maple syrup and cayenne pepper. It's not lo-cal because you drink 1200 or more calories a day with this drink; it's supposed to help cleanse and start healing the digestive tract.  I just want to take a rest from food and start over in a sense. 

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I am on the 5:2 diet, but only for the past several weeks.  The person who popularized the regime argues that it has all sorts of long-term health benefits, but frankly, I am unconvinced.  It would of course be wonderful if that turned out to be true, but I am not holding my breath.  Furthermore, I do not feel any more clearheaded, energized, etc., when fasting.  I felt perfectly clearheaded, plenty energetic and was a normal weight before I started this plan, and if anything fasting makes me feel rather worse.  

 

However, I want to lose  about 10-15 lbs, and at my age keeping my weight down unfortunately seems to mean that I have to pay quite a lot of attention to what I eat, which is annoying and tedious.  So far the 5:2 diet seems (1) effective, and (2) rather less annoying and tedious than the other options.  In particular, I've counted calories for many years, and this is much easier.   I also have found that one particular claim is true -- I do feel rather less hungry the day after a fasting day.  

 

All things being equal, of course, I'd rather go back in time to when I was 22 and didn't have to watch every bite I put in my mouth, but since that doesn't seem to be on the horizon I expect I'll be doing some variant of intermittent fasting long-term.  

 

I've also fasted for religious reasons and found it personally meaningful, but I think of that as a whole 'nother thing.  

 

milovany, I just listened to a podcast from America's Test Kitchen in which they interviewed a woman who wrote a book about celebrity diets.  She talks about the Master Cleanse -- you might want to check it out!

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I am on the 5:2 diet, but only for the past several weeks.  The person who popularized the regime argues that it has all sorts of long-term health benefits, but frankly, I am unconvinced.  It would of course be wonderful if that turned out to be true, but I am not holding my breath.  Furthermore, I do not feel any more clearheaded, energized, etc., when fasting.  I felt perfectly clearheaded, plenty energetic and was a normal weight before I started this plan, and if anything fasting makes me feel rather worse.  

 

However, I want to lose  about 10-15 lbs, and at my age keeping my weight down unfortunately seems to mean that I have to pay quite a lot of attention to what I eat, which is annoying and tedious.  So far the 5:2 diet seems (1) effective, and (2) rather less annoying and tedious than the other options.  In particular, I've counted calories for many years, and this is much easier.   I also have found that one particular claim is true -- I do feel rather less hungry the day after a fasting day.  

 

 

My thoughts and experience are similar.  After a year of the 5:2 diet, I had lost thirteen pounds, but my cholesterol figures had worsened.  I think I was actually eating worse, just relying on the fast days for weight loss and not thinking much.  The second year, my figures improved again, but I no longer lost weight.  I suspect that the stalled weight loss is due to entering menopause.  So now I need to do something like the 5:2 just to maintain.

 

I still feel more tired on fasting days, but it's not debilitating - I can still do my 10,000 steps, but I wouldn't do a strenuous yoga class, for example.  I do find the 5:2 rhythm easy to maintain and to fit around cooking for a family.

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My thoughts and experience are similar.  After a year of the 5:2 diet, I had lost thirteen pounds, but my cholesterol figures had worsened.  I think I was actually eating worse, just relying on the fast days for weight loss and not thinking much.  The second year, my figures improved again, but I no longer lost weight.  I suspect that the stalled weight loss is due to entering menopause.  So now I need to do something like the 5:2 just to maintain.

 

I still feel more tired on fasting days, but it's not debilitating - I can still do my 10,000 steps, but I wouldn't do a strenuous yoga class, for example.  I do find the 5:2 rhythm easy to maintain and to fit around cooking for a family.

 

 

Wow, that's a bit alarming, about your cholesterol readings.  I have no idea what my cholesterol is now so I suppose I won't know if it changes, but still.  I'm fine with the diet not having any health benefits but I'd prefer it not to do active harm.  

 

I work out quite hard every day -- spin and other fitness classes, mostly -- but since I go very early in the morning, it's not much affected by the fasting regimen.  I do try to remember to eat a few almonds or a bite of fruit before I leave for the gym the morning after a fasting day.  My main problem has been feeling terribly cold on fasting days, although as the weather is warming up that's becoming less of an immediate issue.  I completely agree about the rhythm being easy to work around family life -- that's probably the main advantage for me, at least.  I don't think my husband even knows that I'm on a diet.

 
 
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Wow, that's a bit alarming, about your cholesterol readings.  I have no idea what my cholesterol is now so I suppose I won't know if it changes, but still.  I'm fine with the diet not having any health benefits but I'd prefer it not to do active harm. 

 

 

Please reread what Laura wrote.  She didn't say that the diet did active harm.  She said that she ate worse on non-fasting days -- that's what would have done the harm.  Not eating much food for a couple of days a week isn't going to increase cholesterol numbers AFAIK.

 

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Please reread what Laura wrote.  She didn't say that the diet did active harm.  She said that she ate worse on non-fasting days -- that's what would have done the harm.  Not eating much food for a couple of days a week isn't going to increase cholesterol numbers AFAIK.

 

 

 

What an unpleasant response.  I must say, I am genuinely surprised, as I have read your posts for a good long while and have never noticed this tone before.

 

On topic, it seems entirely possible to me that a person who -- like myself --  is on the 5:2 diet might eat more poorly on non-fasting days and there wind up with worse cholesterol.  Since Laura implied that she improved her diet in the second year and her numbers went back down, that is certainly a reasonable theory.   However, given what we know about the history of nutrition and diet trends, it does not seem wildly far-fetched to think that we could conceivably discover ten years down the line that the 5:2 version of intermittent fasting has unforeseen negative health effects of some kind, under certain circumstances or for certain populations.  Considering that I am personally finding the diet to be quite useful, I certainly hope that this turns out not to be the case (or at least not the case for me) and in fact all the claimed health benefits prove to be very real.  However, like many other people, I will be paying close attention to what we eventually learn about the long-term health implications of this method of weight control.  

 
 
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I fast every Ramadan, sunup to sundown for 29, 30 days, no water or food for the daylight hours. Probably not what you are looking to try, at least not a whole month,  but I do experience benefits. shed a few pounds. I feel like my mood is more even. The first few days do feel like the body is cleansing. And you will definitely notice when it's time to eat and you eat the wrong thing. If you do eat mostly only wholesome things when it's time to eat, you can break bad habits.

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What an unpleasant response.  I must say, I am genuinely surprised, as I have read your posts for a good long while and have never noticed this tone before.

 

Eek!  When I hovered my mouse over the post on the main board, and the little preview window popped up, I saw my quoted post and thought, "Well that didn't sound very nice!" and then saw your reply.  You're right, that came out very snarky, didn't it?  It really, really wasn't my intention.  Just trying to say that it probably wasn't the diet itself that caused the problem, but more likely the choice of food (that Laura alluded to).  Please forgive me for the very, very poor wording.  I wasn't trying to chastise at all. 

 

Let me try again:

 

Hey, just a thought.  I think maybe it wasn't the diet itself that may have caused the rise in cholesterol but perhaps, as Laura mentioned, the food choices on her non-fasting days that may have caused the rise in this number.  What do you think? 

 

Is that any better?  It may not be, so if not, just forget I ever commented in the first place.  It was just something that popped in my head and maybe shouldn't have come out my fingers. 

 

As for long term effects of intermittent fasting, it's been done the world over in different practices, cultures and religions (for example, I know our faith practices something similar and has since its inception a couple of millenia ago, although often we focus more on the content of the food we eat on these two days more than on eating a very limited amount of food; some do practice the fasting type of moderation as well). On one of the intermittent fasting videos I watched, I recall seeing someone interviewing a 90+ year old (maybe Indian?) man who had eaten this way for years and years ... the reporter was having to walk fast to keep up with him as he took part in some kind of walking race or event.  He was very healthy.  Maybe your library has some books on this?  That's where I got some of my information. 

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Thanks for all the I imput ladies. :) I am very interested in the 5:2 diet and would love to know more about the health benefits of it.

I am not opposed to feeling hungry and would love to try to do a fast of some sort to help my body heal and cleanse itself.

 

Any other tips/advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

There's a great 5:2 group on Facebook.  I've done that WoE (way of eating) for almost 2 years now & it has worked very well for me, not only with weight loss, but generally improving my health as well.

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I do intermittent fasting. There are various time frames with some people doing 24 hour fasts weekly to more what I do. I try to keep my eating confined to about a 9 hour window between 9am and 6pm. That gives me 15 hours of fasting daily. I can post links if you're interested.

Hmm, I do this naturally. I don't eat breakfast (when I do eat it) until around 9 or 10, and supper is 5pm. I don't eat anything afterward because I go to bed around 7 and read until 8 then sleep. Sure doesn't help me lose weight though. 

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I am trying to fast at least a meal a day this week, and not eat more with the other meals, but eat smallish meals for my other two meals.

 

My benefits I have noticed the past few days... I have more energy in the morning, when I am not bogged down with food in my stomach. I tend to eat healthier options, but I am not just mindlessly eating, and I enjoy the food I am eating. 

I have not lost weight this way, at least not much, I did lose 22 pounds with atkins the last few months, but I can't keep it up, because, honestly...I hate meat!! There, I said it. lol I have kept the 22 pounds off, and hope to slowly lose more by this method.

 

 

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milovany, thanks for your very gracious apology.  It certainly seemed entirely out of character, as your posts are usually very helpful and kind.   Tone is such a tricky thing on the internet, that's for sure.  Sorry if I misread!

 

In any event, Deb, it's great to hear that you -- like Laura -- have had long-term success for the 5:2 plan, and I've enjoyed hearing about what other people are doing as well.  For all of my allergy to some of the hype that seems to surround diet plans (not to mention exercise regimes -- I nearly switched hairdressers because I could not bear one more minute of talk about CrossFit), I really am very pleased with how doable this particular diet is.  Hope you find something that works for you, peaceful isle.  

 
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Hmm, I do this naturally. I don't eat breakfast (when I do eat it) until around 9 or 10, and supper is 5pm. I don't eat anything afterward because I go to bed around 7 and read until 8 then sleep. Sure doesn't help me lose weight though.

It's not really about losing weight for me but maintaining.

http://www.refusetoregain.com/2015/01/time-restricted-eating-does-it-work-you-tell-me.html

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