this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
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Anon fasts (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] -3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

The body's metabolic rate and capability of storing and converting sugar is different for every person. Some people actually struggle to maintain a healthy weight because they can lose it too quickly, and it's often a stigma for bodybuilders and fighting sport athletes. Some people's metabolic rate is so efficient that they would bottom out on blood sugar by day 2 and risk becoming comatose, and if they were to eat something like 12 bananas in that state then their natural insulin levels would send their blood sugar through the roof with risk of going into shock.

For most people it's good to very slowly and very carefully ease into new eating habits, stopping changes before it becomes dangerous. For example, water fasting for a day every week for a couple of weeks is fine, and if you're comfortable you can add another day. Jumping straight into a long fast with no minerals or grain breads/crackers is dangerous.

I actually recommend that people choose a high oil diet over a high sugar diet in case they only eat once a day, because while it can potentially send blood sugar up for an extended period of time that also means it has the benefit of a slow release of energy over time compared to sugar which raises it quickly for a short period of time.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

A general rule of thumb is that you can go 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food and 3 minutes without oxygen.

You would not die of fasting for three days unless you're severely diabetic and had a hypoglycemic shock, as long as you hydrate properly.

If you were stuck in a desert though, sweating your ass off, and only had purified water (and in this hypothetical you're on a planet which has 80-hour days so there's no cool nights in between), you would probably die.

But of a lack of electrolytes, not hunger. Sodium is a critical electrolyte that, along with potassium and chloride, helps to deliver water to your body's cells.

So with a few of those single-use salt bags from McD you'd be fine.

I'm a supply-core NCO (in the reserve tho) and my job was literally keeping soldiers fighting fit. We went over a lot of things related to things like these.

Barring any severe medical conditions, people can fast 3 days with water.

But remembering electrolytes is important. During the summer, we'd add a spoon of salt to every 30l water jug, to prevent the troops from dehydrating. Still, despite that, going for a piss got aptly nicknamed "tossing syrup", as the piss had a consistency of maple syrup, more or less. (I lost 10kg in my first two weeks of basic training, which was in July. A hot July.)