Because most cannot do it safely. Besides caloric intake, food provides our bodies with a lot of essential nutrients, minerals, vitamins, electrolytes, and even water that our bodies cannot obtain otherwise. Also, over long enough periods, your body will have to start breaking down muscle fibers to provide the amino acids it needs to repair other structures due to wear-and-tear.
To supplement all of that without food is certainly possible, but not easy without a ton of research and a plan. Given that most people cannot stick to a normal reduced-calorie diet, it’s a leap to think that full-on fasting will be possible for the general populous.
That said, I do intermittent fasting all the time, and occasionally do a 24-36 hour fast if I feel I need it. I don’t have an eating disorder, but there are times where my calorie surplus gets away from me during family occasions. The longer fasts help me get back on track, especially in tandem with a hard weightlifting workout at the gym to use that surplus to its fullest potential.
A muslim friend of mine suggested that I fast with her for Ramadan. I only did it for one day, but honestly it was a pretty interesting experience.
I come from a country where skipping a meal is unthinkable and grew up thinking it was unhealthy to not eat when you're supposed to, let alone not eat at all.
During that day I was surprised how "energized" and focused I felt after the initial lunch-time "hump". I reached a point at which I just wasn't hungry any more; I wasn't feeling full of energy but I wasn't tired either, and I was very focused for some reason.
Oh same here. Anytime I tell people I do keto, or IF, they lose their minds. The good thing is that I’ve always done my own thing without regard for what others think (hopefully within reason).
What you found is exactly how I feel daily. By sticking to keto, that loss of focus is minimized as less energy goes to my gut for digestion.
When I did keto, the biggest thing for me was that while I eventually got hungry, it wasn't like one of those "gnawing at your gut" types of hungry. It was very mild. Problem with keto for a lot of people is that they don't consider the problems that a lack of soluble fiber in their diets can cause. I love salads and pickled veggies so it wasn't a big issue for me (I also ate some chia seeds once a day), but others would probably have issues.
I've been doing IF for almost a year, and I don't consider it a diet anymore. I consider it my new way of life. I was absolutely blown away with the increase in energy I got when I started doing the fasts. I do 3 24 hr fasts a week, and on non-fast days I usually have dinner and either lunch or breakfast.
I've read before that you can totally do it, but you need to eat a lot of vitamins and other things that aren't stored in your fat cells and that you usually get through food, to make sure you survive without significant damage.
If, like this guy, you have doctors monitoring you, you'll be okay.
If you just try to go about it without eating, you'll eventually end up with a deficiency in something or other, and have health problems until you eat whatever nutrient it is your missing again.
As compared to clogging your gloms with advanced glycosylated end-products? The routine electrolyte checks indicate his kidneys did fine and electrolyte requirements are fairly straight forward to calculate.
He had electrolyte maintenance and periodic monitoring. Fasting is a remarkable component of the cure for all sorts of things.
> Punishing your gut bacteria/etc just because you can is not healthy.
Your gut bacteria don't care. They exit as poop and the remainders will be selected for survival, not "punishment". How does one "punish" bacteria? What does that even mean?
I do not think he was speaking literally, suggesting that the fellow was taking his naughty gut bacteria out and spanking them but rather suggesting that long fasts could disrupt the balance of your gut flora and cause issues when you start a natural diet and start feeding a different ecosystem of bacteria.
How does one "punish" bacteria? What does that even mean?
Let's be charitable. He probably meant that the intestinal fauna population would be greatly impacted. For what it's worth, about half the time I read, "What does that even mean?" I can immediately think of a possible interpretation, and it makes me think the one who asked should have tried at least a little.
And your specific mix of gut bacteria / the ecosystem might be a factor in "making you fat" due to the feedback process between gut bacteria and the brain / hormones. So applying evolutionary pressures to that bacteria might be a good thing.
To supplement all of that without food is certainly possible, but not easy without a ton of research and a plan. Given that most people cannot stick to a normal reduced-calorie diet, it’s a leap to think that full-on fasting will be possible for the general populous.
That said, I do intermittent fasting all the time, and occasionally do a 24-36 hour fast if I feel I need it. I don’t have an eating disorder, but there are times where my calorie surplus gets away from me during family occasions. The longer fasts help me get back on track, especially in tandem with a hard weightlifting workout at the gym to use that surplus to its fullest potential.