I am a 21 year old male that is 5’ 9” and weighs \~135lb. I am not interested in doing a fast to lose weight, but rather for the health benefits. I have a pretty normal diet for a college student, perhaps a little healthier. I do not consume any soda, but I do eat fast food pretty often and don’t eat as many vegetables as I should be. I workout pretty regularly (2-4x per week).
I find lots of conflicting information online about water fasting. I am interested in autophagy and the cleansing benefits. What would be an appropriate amount of time to get these benefits, while ensuring safety? 2 days? 4 days? A week? Do I need to consume any vitamins or drink any liquids other than water? Any advice is appreciated!! Thank you :)
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Considering the following daily supplements during my water fast:
400mg Magnesium
1.5 tsp of No-Salt
2 tsp table salt
Given that it sounds like you’re basically at a healthy weight already, I might start with fasting every other day, while eating normally on feast days. If you tolerate that well enough, then maybe extend past 48 hours. There’s some dispute about when autophagy actually kicks in - in mice it seems to take less than a day, but their metabolisms are a lot faster than ours.
Strictly speaking, you might not need to supplement if you’re doing ADF, but it won’t kill you. And you don’t need anything besides water.