Fasting For Forty Eight

Dread floods my mind whenever a friend or colleague asks the question “what are your plans for this weekend?” and my plans are simply not eating. There is a growing stigma surrounding young women and fasting; the immediate reaction I receive is a shocked, judgmental stare followed by “that sounds dangerous”. It makes me feel awful. Honestly, it’s understandable why people are so concerned, anorexia and eating disorders are horrific and relentless but fasting on the other hand (if done safely and with the advice of your medical practitioner) is not dangerous.

Scientific experts are discovering more and more benefits to fasting almost daily, so much so, that it concerns me when people passionately advocate against it. If you don’t believe this, just look for yourself.

There are a variety of different methods when it comes to fasting, which method you chose all depends on what you wish to achieve. After years of research and experimenting, I have discovered the best style for the purposes of preservation/longevity to be the “2 day, twice monthly fast”. However, due to my vigorous gym and work regiment, a 48 hour fast every second week is not sustainable or for that matter, pleasant. Personally, I find the “busy persons” sweet spot to be a 48-56 hour fast, once every three weekends. This provides me with enough time to grow my muscles in the gym as well as maintaining my mental clarity whilst working a challenging and full time job.

Why 48 hours? To put it simply, two days is the least amount of time that it takes for your body to go in to it’s highly primitive, survival mode. During this time, your body is desperate for fuel and it will use anything it deems purposeless to burn and create energy for our cells. One of the best “purposeless fuels” your body utilizes is senescent cells. Also known as zombie cells, which if left in your body to stew and accumulate will contribute to aging and inflammation, a huge hindrance to our lifespan.

Our bodies are so intrinsically evolved to hunt, gather and endure hardship but we are currently living in a detrimental age, surrounded by comfort and luxury. We have become our own worst enemy. Our primitive survival circuits are not being triggered because we are tricking our bodies in to thinking we do not need to survive. We need to shock our bodies with intermittent starvation, hard exercise and extreme temperatures to reap the benefits of our innovative internal mechanics.

As I am writing this article, I’m currently 32 hours in to my fast which I feel is the best time to give you guidance while it’s still current in my mind. To begin with, if you are planning on attempting your first fast, please start off lightly. It is recommended that you only do 24 hours and work your way up each time, slowly increasing the hours. It’s also a common misconception that you can only drink water, this is far from true and it’s not sustainable. You can have black tea, herbal tea, black coffee and pretty much any sugar free/zero calorie drinks just along as you are incorporating in some electrolytes. Without sufficient electrolytes, you can get very ill, it’s how our brain communicates with the rest of our body. You can now purchase sugar free electrolyte tablets that you drop in to your drink. If you are like me and do not wish to spike your insulin, add a pinch of rock salt to your morning and evening ~non-sweet tasting~ beverage.

If you are lucky enough to be one of those people that sleeps well during fasts, sleep is your best friend, sleep will help you to pass the time. I schedule my last meal at lunch time and eat lunch again 48 hours later, this way, i’m only really going one full day without eating and i’ve had three nights sleep. In addition to slumber, keeping your mind occupied and giving yourself something to look forward to, such as massages, light walks, binge watching TV and my absolute favorite, shopping. You don’t even think about food when you’re enjoying yourself and if you book a real treat for yourself (cough cough spa day) each time you fast, you will give yourself positive reinforcement and start looking forward to fasting.

The most tumultuous part that hardly anybody warns you about is to not over eat when ending your fast. The sensation to binge eat food is like that of a very thirsty vampire. Your stomach is going to be highly sensitive as it has been digesting it’s own protective lining and it has most likely shrunk too. Three hours before I break my fast I add a little bit of cinnamon and salt to some black coffee, this prepares your stomach for food. The ideal breaking meal is prawns with seaweed and wholegrain rice crackers, it’s important to not have too much protein. High amounts of protein will completely ruin the longevity benefits of fasting, making all those hours of hunger completely worthless. 5g of a protein dense food is the most protein you are recommended to eat before and after. After having your small meal, you must wait 1-2 hours before eating again.

Please check with your doctor that you are still able to take your medication and vitamins before you start fasting. There are certain supplements that can inhibit fasting, for instance, cod liver oil capsules are a whopping 40 calories and will break your fast. Some medication also has to be taken with food so it is imperative that you research and check in advance.

Here is a briefing of the above:

Always check with your medical practitioner before starting a fast.

Check if you are still able to take your medication and supplements.

48 hours, twice a month is the recommended fasting schedule for the purposes of longevity.

Do not over eat when breaking your fast.

You can drink herbal teas and black coffee to your hearts content.

Remember to replenish your electrolytes.

Do not eat too much protein before and after a fast.

Wait 1-2 hours to eat again after breaking your fast with a small meal.

Keep yourself occupied and try to enjoy yourself.

If you have any questions or want to talk about your fasting experience, please feel free to email me or private message me on my social media accounts. Social media links are on my home page.