I fainted because of fasting

Months ago, I decided to fast for a whole day, then on the evening I went to get a belly piercing and fainted. Apparently I had “hypotension” (I’m not english native so I went to google translate for this, hope it’s the right word). I was so scared and since then, I have switched to having small meals throughout the days, and have successfully lost weight ever since. I think fasting is only suited for people who dont do a lot of physical labor, or hard exercise, or do a lot of sports. If you’re a super physically active person, you will want to eat throughout the day. And what if you have an unexpected small accident like falling off your bike or something? I think a person who fasts will be in greater damage than someone who doesnt. Just my two cents, please correct me if I’m wrong. Thank you.

Answer

This is…SO NOT TRUE. You cannot make heath generalizations like this. I regularly run in a fasted state.

I’ve done runs during 48 hour fasts, no problem. Now, I DID have to take some electrolytes, but that was in pill form. Plenty of water and I was good to go.

What works for one person may not work for others though.

Answer

Same thing happened to me when I was trying to reduce my water intake. Dry fasting + excercise causede to pass out. Now I just make sure to drink water while fasting and I’m fine.

I normally do 20+ mile MTB rodes and have gym’d 3 days in a row on a five day water fast. It’s certainly doable and fine for most people. Just drink water.

Note: went to doc. Doc said that since I’m in pretty good shape my resting Heartbeat is already pretty low. Fasting + no water dropped my blood pressure and caused me to pass out.

Lesson:. Drink plenty of water.