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Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle  I would recommend building up to longer and longer fasts, and always listening to your body. It will tell you when to break the fast. Don't keep going out of puritanism or because you need to meet your quota. Stop the fast when you feel real hunger again. |
Unfortunately, that's not true. When you consciously ignore hunger for several days to a week straight, you'll begin to unconsciously ignore it, and the hunger simply won't come back until you will it to. (This applies to many habits; that's how you can break yourself of almost anything with enough willpower. The brain is both wonderful and dangerous.) Instead, you'll experience a kind of euphoria as you become weaker, due to the body's overproduction of BHB & GHB plus adrenaline and dopamine compensating for the lack of nutrients, which also further suppresses appetite. Some people fast specifically to enter this state.
Note that I'm not down on fasts, I'm just explaining why you should always have another person physically present to verify that your view of your condition matches reality. It is completely possible to die or fall comatose believing that you're getting healthier. Don't be that guy that gives fasters a bad name.
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Originally Posted by ginkgo Drinking too much water has nothing to do with fasting. People who are fasting consume a lot less water than people that are eating. |
They are one and the same. Think about it logically: You piss & sweat out vitamins, minerals, and proteins along with all of the toxins, but you only replenish them with water. If you take a 100% water fast too far, rather than occasionally replenishing the basic vitamins, you can end up with water toxicity and malnutrition. It is not something you can feel or detect without invasive tests. By minimizing the water intake you can prevent this, and thirst is much more difficult to shut off than hunger, so you're less likely to accidentally fall ill of thirst. Again, this is something a supervising person can help you with.
Note that I'm not a medical professional in any way. I know some things, I demand scientific explanations for effects, and I try to keep in mind how easy it is to delude myself, that's all.