We’ve been on and off sick since September. I was doing a Thursday night to Saturday morning fast before but stopped for the last few months. In general I feel hungrier and more tired so it seemed sensible to stop.
However I’m not sure this always-a-little sick thing will end soon. Have other been fasting through feeling off, and in general did you find yourself happier or regretting the choice?
When I had Covid and when I had a bad cold, I did not fast. I wasn’t very hungry anyway, but I made sure to eat nourishing food in regular intervals. Your body needs help fighting sickness, so why not eat?
I’ve found that using a zinc supplement seems to really help with the immune system. Haven’t really had any issues this winter, of course we’re still doing a lot of Covid protocol and masking in public - so that’s probably a big reason for not catching a lot of the other stuff out there.
You mention in a response that you ‘eat so many carbs’ so I have a theory…hear me out.
If you eat a lot of carbs and do fasting, you will have a harder time because your body is likely not ‘fat adapted’ so that bad feeling you are experiencing is your body (like an addiction) craving that sugar/carb hit. If you’ve eaten carb heavy for many years, you have to break that addiction for IF to be a breeze. One of the biggest benefits from IF is getting your insulin (fat storage hormone) to baseline and allow your body to tap into your fat storage for energy (fat adaption) and also kick off autophagy. In order to train your body to use that fat, you need to keep insulin low by eliminating the foods (carbs/sugar) that spike your insulin when you eat. The best way to do this is to follow a keto/low carb diet high in protein, good fat, and fiber. Once you’ve curbed the carbs, I guarantee you will not feel bad on longer fasts because your body is accustomed to running on fat stores and those metabolic pathways are exercised and know what to do.
Hope this helps a little and good luck with your journey.
There’s a reason they feed you so much in the hospital. Recovery takes energy input. Not saying to eat a ton all the time or even broaden your indie, but at least focus on getting your vitamins and leaner proteins. If you have to, resort to protein powder in oatmeal or peanut butter toast. Push fluids and sleep. Hope you get feeling better.
Is it possible you’ve reduced your carbs enough to enter “carb flu”/ketosis? Or, are you in a position to have an allergy panel done?