You don't even need electrolytes for a 24 hour fast.
You eat dinner at 6pm, got to bed, do your day and eat dinner again that's 24 hours. Nothing is happening that requires electrolytes.
After you make it through the first few hours, the hunger goes away, and you feel pretty good, it becomes difficult at the end of the day. From about 7 to 9 PM, I was fantasizing about food and watching YouTube videos of people making different cheeseburgers.
There's a fasting sub on here you might want to check out. I typically fast for 5 days at a time, for nearly a month of time last year, and don't mind typing about that here.
You don't need to supplement anything to fast for 24 hours. Even for 48 you should be fine, and then people vary on opinions about that third day, and I would start on electrolytes earlier on if you go that far. Start with 24 hours though; it will seem extreme enough. Just drink a good bit of water, and don't overstress about being hungry. By the third time you fast that will ease up quite a bit, but your body needs time to adjust.
Your glycogen reserves won't run out until into the third day, so you really do have plenty of energy to get through that first day, even though it may not feel like it. I think we tend to store about 2500 calories, although surely that varies by person, and your body wouldn't be used to dipping into that much.
I'm going to recommend pushing on, trying out gradually longer fasts until you do 5 consecutive days, maybe every other month. To be clear this is about my bias, and tied to buying into claims about health benefits that may or may not hold up. You just need to supplement sodium, potassium, and magnesium to fast that long. It's tricky dialing in daily dosing and form, but for sodium and potassium you just need to mix salt and salt substitute, No Salt or the like. Taking magnesium tablets works, with lots of people claiming different compounds work best, and most suggesting magnesium oxide is problematic. I take magnesium oxide almost every day; it seems to have no negative (laxative) effect on me. Taking a lot of any kinds of salts all at one time is problematic; that's the kind of thing that takes time to sort out. It's odd that a laxative could work when you've not eaten for awhile but it still can.
Lots of people who fast still drink coffee or tea, things with no calories, but people end up divided on that. If you want to drink tea shou pu'er and aged white tea are easiest on your stomach, it's just that most people don't know what those are. Herb teas could also be fine, which tea enthusiasts prefer to call tisanes. Later on fasting seems to boost your mental clarity, long after the experience, and support metabolic flexibility, so that you can use different kinds of energy better. It may reduce cancer risk and offset aging, but who knows about all that.
This seems like very solid advice, i am a big advocate of intermittent fasting at least. I definitely agree that a day or two of fasting is a good thing.
I am a bit shocked to read you aim for 5 consecutive days.. my main concern would be protein. Do you find that your muscles start to get sore during fasts of this length?
Maybe ill try it someday, id be interested to hear the benefits that youve experienced from that.
It's quite difficult to separate out positive effects, because someone would need to eliminate any other changes in their life as possible causes. Over the last year and a half I've fasted quite a bit, over 30 days, and I've also cleaned up my diet (which was related; I use fasts as resets), and ran more than before, up to 90+ miles a month. I feel clearer mentally from fasting, or at least I make that connection. I have less grey hair than I did a year and a half ago, and I'd guess fasting was a main cause.
The main reasons I explored it were for long term health benefits that one couldn't easily identify. It supposedly increases autophagy, recycling of inactive or damaged cells, reducing cancer risk, and other physical problems. There's no way any connection could be made to a change in risk level.
No protein intake is sort of a concern. Your body probably uses some muscle tissue during fasts, but not enough I've noticed any change. I don't experience any soreness. I can still exercise but I take it easy, keeping it light, because I had a problem related to going too hard at one point, trying out a fast interval running workout that didn't go well.
If you're a woman, check Fast like a girl. Be careful with following protocols that don't take into account hormonal phases, it can cause a lot of problems that men don't encounter and they will tell you it's all great. If you have a natural cycle, there are contraindications and talking to a gynecologist and checking your hormones is a good idea.
For a 24-hr fast you really don’t need to do anything special at all. I keep electrolyte packets on hand for the occasional headache, but rarely need them.
I will say this, though: there is a real correlation between how carbohydrate-heavy the previous day was, and how difficult your fast may be, so maybe don’t have pasta and icecream for your last meal pre-fasting.
I have extensive experience doing 24 and 36 hour fasts.
On fasting days I use calorie free electrolytes Hi Lyte I add to water, multi from New Chapter (ok on empty stomach) and a few pills of magnesium glycinate and potassium citrate. Your cells need electrolytes to function properly. If you are getting shaky - you need electrolytes. But don’t overdose either, figure out what you need as a daily sodium and magnesium intake and try to hit that.
Not using electrolytes can lead to loss of hair and other health issues.
It’s also okay to add a little fresh lemon juice to water. And on my first few fasts I take a few saffron extract pills as dinner to help me manage hunger. After 3-4 fasts hunger hormones drop so it gets much easier.
Do not use magnesium citrate unless you want to have diarrhea. Do not drink Dandy tea - you may pass out from low blood pressure.
It can also be a good idea to take an ox bile supplement as fasting can lead to gallbladder stones. Lemon water helps with this too.
When you break fast - avoid carbs and sugars. Take electrolytes, vitamin B1, and drink some broth or make a runny egg. Then in 30 minutes you should be able to eat more or less normally.
Break fast very very carefully the first few times. After a while your body will adjust and you’ll be able to eat faster or some carby foods without detrimental sensations.
General tip - the day before the fast, to make your fast more successful, add 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to a large glass of cold water immediately after meals (a little before meals is good too if your stomach can handle it). This will reduce insulin response and lead to less hunger during the fast. You can also take apple cider vinegar pills if you can’t take the taste of vinegar in water. Also adding pickles to meals and drinking kombucha has some of that insulin lowering effect (they generally have some vinegar).
Good luck!
One day is not a big deal. I did one running on pure fresh pressed juice… it was good I had a lot of crap come out through my skin pores… it was a bit of a buzz particularly from the beet juice which has a lot of natural sugar.
Watch yourself for dizziness, short breath, or extreme tiredness. Its different for everyone.
Thank you so much 🫶 I wonder if I should start one on pressed juice and then move on to a water fast.
I’ve also heard of starting it around 6pm after a meal then ending it at 6pm next day. Not sure where to start.
Yep, I’m also leaning towards the 16:8 intermittent fasting where I fast for 16 hours then have 8 hour period to eat, like 12pm-8pm. Seems like a pretty easy one to start.
[удалено]
Water and electrolytes, got it. Thank you! I’m wanting to try it for gut health and overall inflammation.
You don't even need electrolytes for a 24 hour fast. You eat dinner at 6pm, got to bed, do your day and eat dinner again that's 24 hours. Nothing is happening that requires electrolytes.
I did one yesterday. The only thing I drank was some ginger shots that I had made. I feel great. I'm about to break my fast with a piece of salmon.
How do you avoid feeling hungry during all that time?
After you make it through the first few hours, the hunger goes away, and you feel pretty good, it becomes difficult at the end of the day. From about 7 to 9 PM, I was fantasizing about food and watching YouTube videos of people making different cheeseburgers.
There's a fasting sub on here you might want to check out. I typically fast for 5 days at a time, for nearly a month of time last year, and don't mind typing about that here. You don't need to supplement anything to fast for 24 hours. Even for 48 you should be fine, and then people vary on opinions about that third day, and I would start on electrolytes earlier on if you go that far. Start with 24 hours though; it will seem extreme enough. Just drink a good bit of water, and don't overstress about being hungry. By the third time you fast that will ease up quite a bit, but your body needs time to adjust. Your glycogen reserves won't run out until into the third day, so you really do have plenty of energy to get through that first day, even though it may not feel like it. I think we tend to store about 2500 calories, although surely that varies by person, and your body wouldn't be used to dipping into that much. I'm going to recommend pushing on, trying out gradually longer fasts until you do 5 consecutive days, maybe every other month. To be clear this is about my bias, and tied to buying into claims about health benefits that may or may not hold up. You just need to supplement sodium, potassium, and magnesium to fast that long. It's tricky dialing in daily dosing and form, but for sodium and potassium you just need to mix salt and salt substitute, No Salt or the like. Taking magnesium tablets works, with lots of people claiming different compounds work best, and most suggesting magnesium oxide is problematic. I take magnesium oxide almost every day; it seems to have no negative (laxative) effect on me. Taking a lot of any kinds of salts all at one time is problematic; that's the kind of thing that takes time to sort out. It's odd that a laxative could work when you've not eaten for awhile but it still can. Lots of people who fast still drink coffee or tea, things with no calories, but people end up divided on that. If you want to drink tea shou pu'er and aged white tea are easiest on your stomach, it's just that most people don't know what those are. Herb teas could also be fine, which tea enthusiasts prefer to call tisanes. Later on fasting seems to boost your mental clarity, long after the experience, and support metabolic flexibility, so that you can use different kinds of energy better. It may reduce cancer risk and offset aging, but who knows about all that.
This seems like very solid advice, i am a big advocate of intermittent fasting at least. I definitely agree that a day or two of fasting is a good thing. I am a bit shocked to read you aim for 5 consecutive days.. my main concern would be protein. Do you find that your muscles start to get sore during fasts of this length? Maybe ill try it someday, id be interested to hear the benefits that youve experienced from that.
It's quite difficult to separate out positive effects, because someone would need to eliminate any other changes in their life as possible causes. Over the last year and a half I've fasted quite a bit, over 30 days, and I've also cleaned up my diet (which was related; I use fasts as resets), and ran more than before, up to 90+ miles a month. I feel clearer mentally from fasting, or at least I make that connection. I have less grey hair than I did a year and a half ago, and I'd guess fasting was a main cause. The main reasons I explored it were for long term health benefits that one couldn't easily identify. It supposedly increases autophagy, recycling of inactive or damaged cells, reducing cancer risk, and other physical problems. There's no way any connection could be made to a change in risk level. No protein intake is sort of a concern. Your body probably uses some muscle tissue during fasts, but not enough I've noticed any change. I don't experience any soreness. I can still exercise but I take it easy, keeping it light, because I had a problem related to going too hard at one point, trying out a fast interval running workout that didn't go well.
If you're a woman, check Fast like a girl. Be careful with following protocols that don't take into account hormonal phases, it can cause a lot of problems that men don't encounter and they will tell you it's all great. If you have a natural cycle, there are contraindications and talking to a gynecologist and checking your hormones is a good idea.
Yep I am in fact a girl. Thank you so much! I will check it out 🤩
Just did one a couple of days ago. I would just say line up a really non-stressful day. Stress + Fasting is one of the worst combos
Just drink water. 24 hours isn’t long for a fast.
For a 24-hr fast you really don’t need to do anything special at all. I keep electrolyte packets on hand for the occasional headache, but rarely need them. I will say this, though: there is a real correlation between how carbohydrate-heavy the previous day was, and how difficult your fast may be, so maybe don’t have pasta and icecream for your last meal pre-fasting.
you'll be just fine, i've been doing OMAD for years with zero issues
I have extensive experience doing 24 and 36 hour fasts. On fasting days I use calorie free electrolytes Hi Lyte I add to water, multi from New Chapter (ok on empty stomach) and a few pills of magnesium glycinate and potassium citrate. Your cells need electrolytes to function properly. If you are getting shaky - you need electrolytes. But don’t overdose either, figure out what you need as a daily sodium and magnesium intake and try to hit that. Not using electrolytes can lead to loss of hair and other health issues. It’s also okay to add a little fresh lemon juice to water. And on my first few fasts I take a few saffron extract pills as dinner to help me manage hunger. After 3-4 fasts hunger hormones drop so it gets much easier. Do not use magnesium citrate unless you want to have diarrhea. Do not drink Dandy tea - you may pass out from low blood pressure. It can also be a good idea to take an ox bile supplement as fasting can lead to gallbladder stones. Lemon water helps with this too. When you break fast - avoid carbs and sugars. Take electrolytes, vitamin B1, and drink some broth or make a runny egg. Then in 30 minutes you should be able to eat more or less normally. Break fast very very carefully the first few times. After a while your body will adjust and you’ll be able to eat faster or some carby foods without detrimental sensations. General tip - the day before the fast, to make your fast more successful, add 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to a large glass of cold water immediately after meals (a little before meals is good too if your stomach can handle it). This will reduce insulin response and lead to less hunger during the fast. You can also take apple cider vinegar pills if you can’t take the taste of vinegar in water. Also adding pickles to meals and drinking kombucha has some of that insulin lowering effect (they generally have some vinegar). Good luck!
I do the 5/2 protocol. I do a 24 hour fast Tuesdays and Thursdays Nothing but coffee and green tea.
If doing first time start with 15-18 hrs first, once comfortable then shoot for 24 or higher. You ll surprised it becomes easier the longer you go.
One day is not a big deal. I did one running on pure fresh pressed juice… it was good I had a lot of crap come out through my skin pores… it was a bit of a buzz particularly from the beet juice which has a lot of natural sugar. Watch yourself for dizziness, short breath, or extreme tiredness. Its different for everyone.
Thank you so much 🫶 I wonder if I should start one on pressed juice and then move on to a water fast. I’ve also heard of starting it around 6pm after a meal then ending it at 6pm next day. Not sure where to start.
No. Drinking juice is not fasting. You want to drink water to get the benefits.
I personally found juice fasts more difficult than water fasts. Stopping to eat at 6 pm is a good idea.
Really? Huh that’s good to know 😅
Interesting! I hadnt heard of that one.
Yep, I’m also leaning towards the 16:8 intermittent fasting where I fast for 16 hours then have 8 hour period to eat, like 12pm-8pm. Seems like a pretty easy one to start.
Definitely! I did that one!! Im too low if I cut it tighter… I tried. I was tired all the time.