Fasting Vs Starving
Fasting isn't the same as starvation because of the voluntary control that's involved. Starvation is an involuntary abstention, whereas when you fast you can choose to stop and start eating again at any time.
People might choose to fast voluntarily for a number of reasons, whether they be for spiritual reasons, or health concerns etc. But the individual is choosing to go into that fasting mode; it's quite different from starvation in that sense.
Comparing the two, fasting and starvation, might be akin to the difference between someone who is swimming for recreational purposes, and someone who is swimming to get away because a shark is chasing them. Voluntary control makes a difference and sets this action of fasting apart from starvation.
Any amount of time that you aren't eating you're fasting.
In our lives we will consume tens of thousands of meals and to imagine that skipping only a few, that it might be considered starvation or an act that might be harmful, seems rather absurd to consider. We have stored fat for a reason, it gives us energy for the long term even if we skip a few meals.
Fasting has been practiced by millions of people for thousands of years and is suggested to be associated with a variety of health benefits including increased energy, promoting longevity, lowered risk of coronary heart disease, lowered blood pressure, and more.
On the other hand, there is arguably no correlation to be seen between good health and unchecked, constant eating. Given how many millions are suffering from one illness today or another, it's not surprising that interest surrounding fasting and intermittent fasting has continued to climb, with fasting becoming an increasingly popular dietary therapy that many are personally opting for.
The information that is posted above is not intended to be used as any substitute for professional medical advice, or diagnosis or treatment. The above is posted for informational purposes only.
Been Intermittent Fasting for 7+ years, changed my life 😉
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before it was google trendy😄 📈
Have just published a post about some research before I start a 3-day fast, which would be classed as periodic fasting rather than intermittent. How do you actually feel it has helped?
Here in Thailand it's no big deal, in the sense that Buddhist monks fast from midday till breakfast the following day. Admittedly, some do smoke, which kinda ruins the exercise!
I'm a weight loss coach dealing with morbidly obese people. The only thing I ask is that people on the fasting fad track the nutrition of the foods they do eat.
Are you getting 120% of the us rda of the 31 essential nutrients on a weekly basis? If so, good! Fast away.
You can easily find online trackers that will let you know about the nutrition in your food. The problem I encounter with the obese people trying this is that they are breaking the fast with crap food. Fortunately, this lifestyle is not sustainable for the majority of them in any case.
Yes, here it is hot and humid, so my main concern is electrolyte loss, especially on a 3-day water-only fast. I'll see how it goes - plenty of nutrients the night before (not the McD defense of "our food is nutritious because it contains nutrients"!)
I'm in SE Asia, so I know about the electrolytes for sure. I ended up in the ER with a lack of them when I first got here a few years ago. I don't know if one meal will last for three days. Just make sure you are not groggy or confused. This was the advice the hospital gave me along with the sugar/salt packets.
I've only had luck with a couple of people to track their nutrition on this fasting. Neither was getting anything close to adequate nutrition with the food they were eating. One girl went to shakes for the meal times and was packing them with all kinds of powders. She still could not come close, but maybe you can.
Yes, here too in SE Asia. Some years ago suffered sever dehydration and ended up with a neuropathy in the leg, luckily that healed itself but very slowly. Have aircon and have no good reason to go outside - not even to buy some food!
I do have some natural pure salt and sprinkle a bit in the water. The problem with electrolyte powders is that they also have a lot of glucose, which would set back the ketogenesis. Most of the time people need both saline and glucose, but not in this case.
I don't quite understand your last comment about "tracking nutrition on this fasting".
Well, I am a weight loss coach and work with morbidly obese people. They tend to go to any fad instead of learning about food and nutrition. My plan of:
is not sexy!
But at least if they are going to try fasting, I want them to get nutrition in what they do eat. So these are the 31 Essential Nutrients:
If you are only eating a few meals a week, they are hard to get. No matter what, they are not easy to get in the Standard American Diet (SAD.)
When I work with people who try my ideas without fasting, I have them pick two - usually Fiber and Vitamin C - and use a tracker to see how they do for a few days.
Then focus on getting those up to the US RDA for a few weeks.
Next move on to another nutrient once the first couple are taken care of. After a few nutrients are going good, most are going good without really trying, and you just need to tweak things. Iodine and selenium are two that people often need to hunt for.
With the fasting people, they need to track longer, and have more trouble getting the nutrients since they have to "wean back" on food somehow.
I'm not eating keto, but I agree with you about the packets, @rycharde. They also have colors and flavors I want to avoid. I have organic sugar, real salt, and limes at home usually and try to pack that when I am going somewhere. But when you are out on the street in 100 degree heat with nothing and about to pass out, the packets are life savers while being cheap and easy to find.
Even the hospital grade saline sachets have lots of glucose, but luckily tend not to have the garish colourings and synthetic flavours.
Do you not suggest they get those nutrients from supplements, even added to their junk diet?
One question I can't seem to find an answer to is whether it is OK to take such nutrients during a water fast. I hope you read my first post on this - I'm not doing it for weight reasons. Most things I've read rightly point out that most supplements have fillers that may interfere, or reset, the ketogenesis, but I do wonder if they would also affect the blood counts I discussed in the post. I'll need to research this further.
Today I cam across @mariahvitoria, who seems to have done 30 (or is it 54?) days of fasting to lose weight. She seems happy, but I haven't delved deeply into her precise regime.
I'm not a big believer in supplements for myself. I prefer eating than drinking for nutrition. I have used various powders in smoothies, but they are usually just one ingredient such as chorella or bean protein.
I'd rather see the junk diet improved in most cases. Since I am normally talking to people who are morbidly obese and getting almost no nutrition in what they do eat, small improvements over time are fairly life changing.
I'm also not doing the keto lifestyle. I am low carb, but not keto, and do not have a way or desire to check blood counts. I will take a look at your first post. I'm pretty sure you can do what you want on this fasting - it's not like there are any fasting police watching you.
Dang! 30 or 54 days of anything is a miracle of it's own. Few people can go a week on this from what I have seen in my weight loss groups.
I'm not sure how one can eat without any nutrition!
For me, it's not so much what I do eat - which tends to be fresh - but what I avoid, which is anything with preservatives or highly-processed or toxicolas.
I know I feel better all around when I fast. There's so much debate centered around which kind of diet to follow these days. It makes your head spin! Before grocery stores, this wasn't even an issue.
@doitvoluntarily Hello dear friend. Excellent information
Since our grandparents in our family only fasts before the arrival of Easter and previous days, in question of health or overweight, or our idea is that you feel better or slimming, eating healthy and respecting the six daily meals.
Thank you very much dear friend
I wish you a great day
Interesting claim. However, I'd like to see some evidence to back up this article's central thesis. That is, there is a difference between passive and active engagement in not eating for a period of time. Is the hunger that results qualitatively different? What research backs this up?
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Muy lindas las imagenes y deliciosa las comidas y postres,saludo desde venezuela y buenas tardes.