All About Fasting

[BlackCartouche]

I remember I did try fasting when I lived in Oman many years ago. I struggled there a bit because I had fallen in love with the fish curry that the canteen prepared and didn't want to miss out on it.
The next day after the fast I really enjoyed my breakfast! Was very simple bacon and egg but tasted great.

You ate bacon in Oman?

 

[Rich]

You ate bacon in Oman?

Yes, but here I was talking past tense about the time I lived there. My admiration of breakfast here was a reference to last week after finishing a day of fasting.
For expats in Oman Bacon is actually very much on the menu. There are special shops that serve the expat community who stock a range of non-muslim products. It was a while ago and so I forget what the shops were called. It wasn't Bacon Shop but if I was a retailer I think that would be a store I would visit! :)

 

[Rich]

Sorry, I thought someone would know or would very kindly be able to direct me to a place that gives advice on ideal frequency for fasting?

 

[itellsya]

Sorry, I thought someone would know or would very kindly be able to direct me to a place that gives advice on ideal frequency for fasting?

It seems that, for most, rather than fasting for days on end or some variant of, intermittent fasting can bring about the same benefits. Intermittent fasting is where one chooses a number of hours in the day where they eat, and then they fast for the rest. It would be advisable that anybody attempting to do so be aware of any underlying health issues and that they listen to their body and adjust accordingly.

A recent session discussed intermittent fasting:

Q: (L) Oh, and there was one thing I had at the bottom of the list. I guess it goes with diet. I thought it was a good idea to fast one day a week.

A: Intermittent fasting will do.

As for how many hours this eating window should be, according to: Doctor: Intermittent fasting and zero carb diets are safe and effective -- Sott.net

If you are insulin resistant, the keys to avoiding the pitfalls listed in the article on the epidemic of the metabolic syndrome are intermittent fasting and a low carb, high fat diet. I feel that the more insulin resistant you are the narrower the eating window will need to be. Again there are no controlled studies to go by but from experience over the last 3-4 years talking to people about this it seems to me that insulin resistant people, even if it is mild insulin resistance need to keep the daily eating window no wider than 8 hours. For moderate to severe insulin resistance a 6 hour eating window with 2 all you want meals of food that is 70-80% fat calories is the way to go. I personally have found that a 12 hour eating window every other day works out best with my schedule and I have followed this regimen for the last 290 days (I was formerly on the 6 hours per day plan).

Obviously if one has never tried this before, it may be best to try it out once a week and work up slowly, paying attention to how the body reacts.

There are many more articles on SOTT regarding intermittent fasting Sott.net

 

[Rich]

Thanks itellsya That is helpful. Will check out some of those articles.

 

[SevenFeathers]

Sorry, I thought someone would know or would very kindly be able to direct me to a place that gives advice on ideal frequency for fasting?

Dr. Mercola at mercola.com has much information about fasting. He especially recommends intermittent fasting. Here is one of his articles: This Eating Habit Can Radically Shorten Your Life

 

[kolobar]

Sorry, I thought someone would know or would very kindly be able to direct me to a place that gives advice on ideal frequency for fasting?

I'm sorry to be late with my input. I'd recommennd a book, which IMO is a complete guide on Intermittent Fasting:
VanDerschelden, Michael. The Scientific Approach to Intermittent Fasting

Re. the frequency, IMO it depends on your body-mind condition and on your goalsq i.e. what do you want to achieve with the fasting - cure some health issues, anti-aging therapy, lean muscle or just lose weight

 

[WIN 52]

Too much water makes you thirsty and too much food makes you crave more. At least this is how my body has been reacting lately to those two issues. Eating one meal a day seems to work best for now. A good paleo style of eating seems to satisfy the best. It's not necessary to abstain from or restrict food intake for days.

 

[Ocean]

Yes, but here I was talking past tense about the time I lived there. My admiration of breakfast here was a reference to last week after finishing a day of fasting.
For expats in Oman Bacon is actually very much on the menu. There are special shops that serve the expat community who stock a range of non-muslim products. It was a while ago and so I forget what the shops were called. It wasn't Bacon Shop but if I was a retailer I think that would be a store I would visit! :)

It was Al Fair supermarket and still is.
However the government has just put a 100% tax on all pork products!

 

[Nachtweide]

I was amazed when I first read about fasting here. My development was strange. In my childhood, I was rather strong and forced myself to fast. Without success. My hunger was always there. Even though I had eaten less, my weight was the same or even increased. At age 36, I had my first major life crisis. Amazingly, I could not eat anything anymore. For days. There was no hunger or desire. My weight started to decrease very quickly. I only ate when the insulin level was in the basement and I got cravings. After that first crisis something changed in my body. There was no more hunger. So I ate nothing for 1-2 days sometimes. My lifestyle also made regular eating impossible. There were no fixed meals, I ate little but spread throughout the day. At some point, I realized that there was a change. Once I had a normal rhythm, on vacation, I could not stand food anymore. My energy was gone. As soon as I ate and fasted again very little, I was able to work without any problems for 12 hours a day. I also noticed that in difficult times, when my head had to think a lot, my weight had also decreased with normal food intake. At some point I read an article that thinking consumes a lot of energy and calories, which I can only confirm. To this day, fasting is part of my life although I do not intend to fast. There is very little appetite. Strangely, I have an incredible amount of energy and have never gotten sick. Whether there is a connection here, I do not know.

 

[WIN 52]

There seems to be a line/threshold a person can cross, when it comes to eating. Eating when the body needs food rather than eating when your ego demands food.

An interesting observation from someone experimenting with 12 hour fasting.