Preparing for a 3-Day Water Fast – Tips and Advice Needed!

[shree]

I'm planning to start a 3-day water fast the day after tomorrow and would love to hear any tips or advice from those who have experience with extended fasting.

 

Here are a few things I'm particularly curious about:

1. Preparation: What should I do to prepare my body and mind before starting the fast?

2. During the Fast: Any tips for managing hunger and maintaining energy levels?

3. Breaking the Fast: How should I reintroduce food once the fast is over?

 

 

Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[aurum]

@shree honestly I don’t really recommend longer fasts for people at this point. My experience is that the benefits are largely overhyped and you’re mostly just putting yourself through unnecessary suffering / risk. You’ll have to decide for you.

If you are going to do it, here’s some hacks that will help:

1) Electrolytes. There are specific fasting supplements that exist you can purchase. Some people try to make their own or just add salt to their water, not recommended. Get a real brand. Also I’d recommend spring / mineral water (not distilled!)

2) Essentially amino acid supplement (EAAs). These are such a hack because they allow you to get protein in without breaking your fast. Perfect Amino is a brand I like.

3) Assume you will have no energy to do anything. You may be functional, but that’s not gamble you want to take. Plan like you know you are going to be sick for those couple days. And just relax.

4) I like breaking my fast with watermelon. Super easy to digest, kicks you out of fasting mode quickly.

 

[shree]

5 hours ago, aurum said:

@shree honestly I don’t really recommend longer fasts for people at this point.

My experience is that the benefits are largely overhyped and you’re mostly just putting yourself through unnecessary suffering / risk. 

 

Thanks @aurum

Why not? 

What risks are you talking about?

[The Caretaker]

I agree with aurum. After ~36h you might feel very exhausted and have tingling sensations in the arms, but that is quite individual. Just be careful how you break your fast. Refeed syndrome is a real thing. Even after a short fast, I took too many calories (by too many, I mean something like half of a usual meal) and almost fainted. It's no fun at all.

[shree]

12 hours ago, The Caretaker said:

I agree with aurum. After ~36h you might feel very exhausted and have tingling sensations in the arms, but that is quite individual. Just be careful how you break your fast. Refeed syndrome is a real thing. Even after a short fast, I took too many calories (by too many, I mean something like half of a usual meal) and almost fainted. It's no fun at all.

Thanks for haring your experience. I’ll definitely be careful when breaking my fast.

[aurum]

On 5/18/2024 at 11:41 PM, shree said:

Thanks @aurum

Why not? 

What risks are you talking about?

Whatever risks exists related to not taking in nutrients for 72+ hours. You’d probably have to speak to a doctor or dietician with an understanding of fasting to get a real assessment of your personal risk profile.

The most obvious one to me is simply muscle loss. To put it plainly, if your fast causes you to lose muscle, then it’s hard to justify it in terms of cost / benefit.

Muscle is extremely valuable from a health perspective. But it’s also easy to lose and hard to gain back. You will be in an extended catabolic state while fasting and it’s very possible you could lose muscle.

Other potential risks could be dehydration from throwing off your electrolyte balance, exacerbating already present nutritional deficiencies, passing out, hypotension, heart palpitations etc.

In general, people in the alternative health community can be sloppy with their risk assessment of their various interventions. They will point out all the potential side effects of pharmaceuticals, but not mention their own.

Edited May 23, 2024 by aurum

[shree]

On 23/05/2024 at 4:10 AM, aurum said:

Whatever risks exists related to not taking in nutrients for 72+ hours. You’d probably have to speak to a doctor or dietician with an understanding of fasting to get a real assessment of your personal risk profile.

The most obvious one to me is simply muscle loss. To put it plainly, if your fast causes you to lose muscle, then it’s hard to justify it in terms of cost / benefit.

Muscle is extremely valuable from a health perspective. But it’s also easy to lose and hard to gain back. You will be in an extended catabolic state while fasting and it’s very possible you could lose muscle.

Other potential risks could be dehydration from throwing off your electrolyte balance, exacerbating already present nutritional deficiencies, passing out, hypotension, heart palpitations etc.

In general, people in the alternative health community can be sloppy with their risk assessment of their various interventions. They will point out all the potential side effects of pharmaceuticals, but not mention their own.

Thank you. I completed approximately 85 hours of water fasting, and it was a positive experience. Although I've heard from several individuals that it could be risky, I chose to proceed with it. For my next attempt, I plan to aim for five or more days.

[aurum]

6 hours ago, shree said:

Thank you. I completed approximately 85 hours of water fasting, and it was a positive experience. Although I've heard from several individuals that it could be risky, I chose to proceed with it. For my next attempt, I plan to aim for five or more days.

Great, glad to hear it was positive for you.

[EugeneTheSage]

I'm fasting for one day (36hrs) every week, and here are my advices:

• If you had a terrible diet before then I suggest doing a colon cleanse (shankhaprakshalana or sth). It was very hard for me to endure the fast without the colon cleanse
•  don't eat eggs, diary, meat, fish a few days before the fast. I once ate fish or meat day before and I've had so emotional and energetic low - It was one of the worst experiences in my life

I hope this helps