A 3-Day 80-Hour Water Fast: After 80 Hours (The End)
Well, I had planned to break my fast with breakfast this morning. And I did have breakfast, and it was morning, however, I'd been awake all night.
Weird thing, was a stubborn insomnia. I suspect my body was waiting to be fed with a certain anticipation. I mentioned in a previous post about the mental side of doing such an unusual experiment. I had no fear of failure, unless something physical went wrong, such as cramp or nausea. It was crystal clear to me that this was feasible and potentially beneficial, so pushed through the wobbly second day. So, I may have been too forceful in dangling breakfast to my subconscious; indeed, I could even smell the soup!
So, I did the 80 hours - was more like 82 but who's counting at this point - and, for the moment, feel better for it, though will have to wait a few days to see if there are any visible signs of improvement regarding my immune-disrupted condition.
What did I eat this morning? Broth with Moringa noodles and an egg stracciatella with a drizzle of olive oil - perhaps more than a drizzle.
Photo by Piotr Miazga on Unsplash
Any lessons?
Preparation
Physical preparation
I rather did this haphazardly, but knowing the holiday was coming up, I'd often skip dinner, so would go about 16 hours without food. This was not done with any rigour, or vigour, as would have a snack if I was truly hungry. Was more to practice the effects of hunger and that feeling hungry soon passes.
Mental preparation
This is something I hadn't honestly considered. Again, it seemed obvious, but after reading of so many people giving up, perhaps this aspect should be taken more seriously. The physical preparation helps, the knowledge that it is doable and potentially beneficial help too. One can issue commands to one's subconscious and, if the command is serious and important, the subconscious mind will obey and not put obstacles in your way. If it sounds like a "mini me" inside, then that's because it is; the subconscious is where our beliefs and behaviours are stored, whether we are truly conscious of them or not.
This wasn't going to be a long essay of how to overcome unconscious patterns of behaviour. There are techniques, but all of them require a command be issued that is unequivocal and of the utmost importance.
Water
More water, I think. I noticed that on the 3rd day I wasn't getting thirsty, then noticed I hadn't drunk as much as I had the previous days. Noticed signs of dehydration in the urine, so had to force myself to drink more. Was downing just under 2 litres per day, but was looking like only 1 litre on the third day, before I consciously upped it.
This was supposed to be water-only, so sometimes just added a sprinkle of natural salt to keep electrolytes stable. I know some people will take tea or coffee, which have zero calories but they disrupt metabolism. Anything that says "sugar free" I avoid anyway as will include aspartame or sucralose or any other artificial sweetener - just look up neurotoxin or metabolic dysfunction for any such sweeteners. Had some real coffee earlier and felt like it made me sweat a bit; interesting to see such reactions that we probably rarely notice with habitual foods.
I shall have to investigate whether any teas or infusions could serve as vectors to take in micronutrients without disrupting the ketogenesis. The fasting-mimicking diet has gone down that road, so will research that further.
Vitality
Well, day 2 kinda sucked! Feelings of slugishness and brain-fog took place. Nothing serious, such as nausea or giddiness, else I would have stopped. The third day felt much better and clearer; indeed, as mentioned above, couldn't get to sleep at night. Should have stayed up to do some work, but my body felt tired even though my mind was wide awake.
Could quite easily have carried on, except I had told myself where the finishing line was and was happy to eat some simple food. Next time won't concern myself as much about monitoring the situation and may get more work done with the extra hours gained from not eating nor shopping for food. Although I do have to feed my daughter; this fast is not advisable for children.
Weight loss
This wasn't done as a weight-loss protocol, so I actually forgot to weigh myself on day zero! Checking yesterday and today didn't help much, but I have lost about 6kg in the past two weeks, as was measured when I went for some blood tests. I'd guess about half of that was lost in these 3/4 days, which seems a lot but was probably half a litre of water and 3kg of carbon dioxide. At baseline metabolism, we exhale about 1 kg of carbon dioxide per day, so with zero calories coming in that mass has to come from somewhere. (mmm... double-checked this and nobody seems absolutely sure, but taking an average of estimates it looks like we have a net loss of about 1kg per day of carbon dioxide and water combined, taking into account the oxygen inhaled.)
Anything Else
Just ask!
Thanks again to those who have given support and constructive comments - much appreciated!
Photo by Piotr Miazga on Unsplash
Previous articles on fasting:
Starting a Three-Day Fast: Some Insights From Stem Cell Research
A 3-Day 80-Hour Water Fast: After 10 Hours
A 3-Day 80-Hour Water Fast: After 24 Hours
A 3-Day 80-Hour Water Fast: After 48 Hours (The problem with weight-loss diets)
A 3-Day 80-Hour Water Fast: After 66 Hours
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@rycharde manages the AAKOM project and the MAP Rewarder & Curators Trail.
Let's hope it does that reset you were looking for.
Thanks! I know what it would look like if the genetic switch was flipped back to where it was pre-antibiotic, but that's perhaps in the domain of miracles. However, regenerating T-cells would be good, though not sure if I would feel anything. It worked with mice!!
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Thank you. Your Post is good.:)
Thanks, today am a "happyrych" too ;-)
Congratulations! Some achievement, will you be doing further fasting before your holiday?
I recommend doing IF :)
I was practising IF (without knowing it) before the fast so, yes, will keep at it, and without any great stress - being hypoglycemic in this heat and humidity would not be fun. So, I'll do it diligently but also with the perception that I may really need to eat - that borderline between glycogen and ketone breakdown seems to be a vulnerable time. Thanks again!
Glad to hear that you made it through. That's awesome and impressive. Regarding what you said about water. I noticed something similar when I fasted in the past. I was less thirsty as time went on and also, the water moved through my system very fast.
Just my thoughts on the subject.
Well done! Hopefully you notice good results over the next few days.
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Thanks! Yes, I'm sure I peed more than I drank. The water is also useful to flush out byproducts from the kidneys. I'm noticing I still need to drink more post-fasting than I normally would - perhaps my "normal" is actually too low.
Walk into a 7-eleven here and the choice of drinks without additives is... water - natural mineral water, not re-bottled tap water - even my dermatologist told me to avoid anything with preservatives, which pretty much trashes 99% of stuff on the shelves. Organic almond milk is (amazingly) also available in some stores - not the faux-almond-drink with soy milk and sugar added.
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I missed this post. I woke up wondering what your thoughts were at the end of this trial and can't believe you wrote this 10 days ago. I guess I got lost in family time and Easter plans.
I feel the same! In the sense that I was planning some follow-ups - and still will - but the days have just evaporated. Indeed, I was even reading Longo's book, yet it sits there, file minimised, unfinished.
One thing is that I will do it again come the summer holidays. Some symptoms showed a marked improvement without completely healing, so may try it a day longer. It wouldn't have been hard to carry on except I'd told myself a set finishing time and my gut instinct told me to get that soup ready!
So what's the current stat report on your autoimmune a month after the fast?
You're not the first to ask for an update! Thank you! I'm coming up to the summer holidays so will do another experiment, that's the time I can collect my thoughts and any new data and write a few posts before the fast.
The very brief update is that some of the benefits are still being felt; haven't felt the need for so many supplements and the skin feels better, although not totally healed. I'm not sure it ever will be but worth a try to even attenuate it, as it can morph into various closely-related conditions.
One thing I will be investigating is whether the fast needs to be longer or merely done more regularly.
Hope you're well. How does your own condition manifest? I've had bouts of arthritic pains as inflammation-reactions, but keep managing to dissolve them away with a few dietary tweaks.
Mine manifests mainly in joint pain and uveitis. Many years ago when it all began there was a period of some weeks when I could only see a white blurriness from my right eye. Many people with this autoimmune get the uveitis, but back then I didn't connect them, it just seemed like one bad luck after another, and doctors need time to figure out what's going on. And I wasn't an active patient as I am now, I passively gave myself to the doctors. I now know this doesn't work except for more straightforward conditions. A passive patient is a failed patient. Johns Hopkins' "Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis" mentions many times how much better outcomes are for patients who take their fate into their own hands.
So basically pain; exposure to breezes/currents can render me unable to move my neck the next day, things like that. Also the last couple years I've had digestive issues. Diarrhea, basically. I've completely cured it using the low-FODMAP diet (and I tried many). But I'm trying to reintroduce foods and, as always, to cure myself! So even though I can 100% control it now and have a firm grasp of what is causing it, I won't stop until I can eat everything again! (I'm kind of a foodie!)
I find it truly depressing how many people have to cure themselves from sanctioned official "cures", that seemed design to make us all permanently sub-optimal.
Even friends and relatives warn me of how dangerous it is to self-diagnose on the internet - yet another medical lie. Mind you, I'd be pissed off as a doctor with patients coming in telling me they have some rare exotic disease without having checked that... it is only found in kangaroos ;-)
Online there is a wealth of info available to all of us. Sometimes the patient can know even more than a doc just coz the doc hasn't kept up with research. What docs are kinda good at is dismissing causes where some key symptom is absent. My fave med site is Medscape - rare in having differential diagnosis options.
You take care, I'll pick up the writing once on holiday in a couple of weeks.
👍
I think a distinction lost on most people is that doctors are not researchers. We have a specific term for them in Greek which I'm failing to translate in Eng, but it's something like 'livelihood medicine'. Researchers are always up to date and care deeply about their subject, and will lose sleep till they figure it out, whereas doctors often care only about the dough.
I recently saw a very interesting feature about the intestine. Our intestines are like our own brain with, as has been said, more than 200 million nerve cells. In addition, the intestinal flora is of great importance for the immune system and as unique as our fingerprint. Surely you already know that. Anyone who has a botched intestinal system, for example by taking antibiotics, needs fresh and good intestinal bacteria, which make up an immense part of our body mass. It has been reported that patients are given stools whose intestinal flora is broken. Taking some healing clay was also a recommendation. I haven't tried it myself yet, as I don't have any problems with diarrhoea. But with increasing age I notice the sensitivity to some foods and have now stopped drinking so much coffee throughout the day. I now only take a small amount of espresso in the morning and enjoy every sip of it. I think many of the autoimmune diseases come from an attacked intestinal flora and too much mental stress and permanent mental overload. Also from an obsession with diseases, if you ask me ;)
I wasn't obsessed with diseases until I got them!
Yes it's becoming more and more clear to me that quite a lot of diseases start with the gut.
I tried many things, but I haven't eaten shit yet :D Maybe some day :P
And I just read this relevant article: When Evidence Says No, but Doctors Say Yes