I am in excellent shape and health and I Intermittent fast daily, 24 + hour water fast 1x a week and do 4 extended water fasts a year (4 days) for cleaning with change of seasons. I see people doing 5+ day fasts on here and they almost always seem for weight loss. Is there really a benefit to going past 4-5 days of water fasting if you are already in great shape? And could there be any detriment if you don’t want to loose weight?
My thought is that if someone has a lot of fat reserves then fasting for a long time might significantly easier because their body has all that to burn through while for me I don’t have that physique and it seems like it would just start to whither me down when I don’t want that to happen. I am only fasting for autophagy, immune boost, and neurological/emotional/spiritual purification.
I have done a ten day traditional vision quest so I know what its like to fast for a long time but it seems like you get the whole system re-boot by day 4 and I haven’t found any literature that explains what happens beyond that so it seems like only risk to push it beyond 4-5 days, not a dangerous risk, but one where it might weaken more than empower my system.
Thoughts?
Long term IF and extended water faster. 58 yo woman and been doing this for five years. Currently, best health of my life. Meat based diet (80%), very low carb, 20:4 daily usually, but sometimes do 18:6, so floating eating window. Exercise 4 x week HIIT and always fasted. I do a 96 hour extended water fast four times a year for medical reasons. When I was heavier, I could tolerate longer water fasts more easily and did a series of 120 hour fasts, five times a year. Now I am a more normalized weight, I find that my sweet spot is 96 hours. Took some experimentation to figure it out though, and YMMV.
I’m the same except my longest fast has been only 4 days. I feel like I could easily go an additional couple of days but stopping there when I am full of energy and refeeding isn’t an issue is ideal and for that good autophagy (🤞staving off Alzheimers), 4 days is enough. I eat 20:4 daily and a 4 day 4X a year keeps me feeling great!
Dr. Eric Berg DC has a YouTube channel with videos that explain the benefits of fasting. One is called What Really Happens When We Fast. In it he covers up to 72 hours. He has another video titled, Fasting for 7 Days: Here’s What Will Happen. I have watched the first video I listed, but not the 7 day one (saving it right before I have a perfect window to attempt it).
I’ve seen Dr. Valter Longo suggest that quarterly 5 day fasts might be beneficial from a longevity standpoint. But it sounds like you’re already doing roughly that. I’m not sure any fasts longer than that really have benefits supported by the research, besides quick weight loss.
It honestly sounds like you are already fasting a good amount of time as it is. If you weren’t doing weekly fasts then maybe going 5+ days would be great, but you’re already getting plenty of benefits with your current routine, so I’d say you were good.
I’ve heard of normal weight people doing extended fasting to heal an injury or help a chronic condition. If you don’t have anything that needs to heal then perhaps there’s no physical reason for you to fast beyond 4 days.
Five‐day water‐only fasting decreased metabolic‐syndrome risk factors and increased anti‐aging biomarkers without toxicity in a clinical trial of normal‐weight individuals