My health has declined a lot in the past few years, ME/CFS, POTS, Psoriasis, Diverticulitis
I notice the days i eat the least i have the most energy, doesn’t matter what I eat. Food in general just makes me depressed and fatigued.
I’ve done long fasts in the past and they seemed to help but I’m unable to do those because of an eating disorder I suffered from in my teenage years. (I’m recovered now but don’t want to go to the extremes again)
I want to try fasting again, to help me gain more energy and decrease my inflammation + debilitating brain fog ..
Doctors say my conditions are permanent and incurable and there’s not much I can do.. I refuse to accept that as the truth, so i’m looking for a more holistic approach. I’m 20 years old and have my whole life in front of me so i’m willing to do anything to improve my quality of life (as long as it doesn’t take much energy..)
But I don’t know where to start, any tips, personal stories, suggestions, anything! Would be greatly appreciated :)
With chronic diseases I’d be looking at focussing on a diet based around whole or minimally processed food and reducing or eliminating ultra processed foods. I’d start with time restricted feeding or intermittent fasting, rather than longer fasts.
I’m a big fan of Tim Spector, and there are a many podcasts he’s done about the impacts he’s seen of fasting in his research, and he’s about to start a new wide scale research project into fasting, which I don’t think it’s too late to join.
I have a couple of chronic autoimmune issues that my doctors have said are permanent. I’ve been able to manage a few really well buy sticking to a vegan whole food diet. The worst one is noticeably better when I fast but comes back with eating. I’m working up to longer fasts to see it I can heal. I also developed a lot of weird allergies to foods. I suspect they are all related.
I haven’t really been able to narrow things down to specific food triggers. It may be I’m simply getting more nutrients eating vegan.
I’ve never had an ED and don’t know enough about it either way. You can look into FMD (Fast Mimicking Diet). Prolon is the big one but there’s a sub where people do their own versions.