I was sick with a really bad strep throat the last few days, and I didn't eat anything except ibuprofen tablets and (drank) water. I lost about a pound a day, and it made me wonder about fasting. Opinions?

Chart : That's awful. My first year in the US I got step throat and ended up getting very bad since I wasn't taken to the hospital at all. It got very bad and I ended up in bed for 3 months; it started as step throat but who knows what else it became as I never got to see a Dr. Fever, chills, could barely walk, and lost a lot of weight. Bit careless of my family to say it will cure itself.

Fasting- I did fast for blood exams for just a few hours. But, years ago I really got into the Mormon religion and I started to practice fasting more. They think that you should weaken your body to strengthen your soul and faith so I did a 24 hour fasting and to me it was very hard. I was very weak, my stomach just kept making very loud noises, I was very tired, we were in church all day so there was constant activity and it made it that much harder. Once I got home, I just slept all day. Next day I ate a whole box of pizza and I felt like my stomach was a balloon full of air and it just didn't feel too good so I just slept all day as I still felt tired and under the weather. I guess you should take it easy and start small 24 hours doesn't sound like much but add a lot of activity to it all day and it becomes a stress on your body.

It really made me think of homeless and the poor-  very sad they have to endure hunger. But going back to the topic, I would do fasting again for a few hours and just eat liquids to do a body cleanse other than that, I won't fast anymore. 

jlove92 : That's horrible! 3 months? Gosh, My family was about to take me to the doctor which almost guaranteed a hospital visit. He (my doctor) sends you if your white blood cell count is high.

Causes
By Mayo Clinic Staff


A high white blood cell count usually indicates:
•Smoking
•Stress, such as severe emotional or physical stress
•Tuberculosis
•Whooping cough
•An increased production of white blood cells to fight an infection
•A reaction to a drug that increases white blood cell production
•A disease of bone marrow, causing abnormally high production of white blood cells
•An immune system disorder that increases white blood cell production

Specific causes of a high white blood cell count include:
•Acute lymphocytic leukemia
•Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)
•Allergy, especially severe allergic reactions
•Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
•Chronic myelogenous leukemia
•Drugs, such as corticosteroids and epinephrine
•Infections, bacterial or viral
•Myelofibrosis
•Polycythemia vera
•Rheumatoid arthritis


I had a slight fever and chills, too.

Chart : Yeah, I was in middle school barely knew the language.It sucked because it's not like I stayed home and relaxed. I was just very ill and would get up early to bathe and go to bed and eat in bed and just stay there. At first it was for sure a cold then it prolonged so figured step throat but then, it got really worst. It was my first winter ever and I remember that was the time when there was a lot of hail rain in FL so there were a lot of factors that could have caused such illness either way my antibodies were really having a tough time and with no home remedies, medicines, or any attention at all it just became worst. Yeah my family was too preoccupied back then with getting stable here so I spent a lot of time alone trying to get better.

 I was under a lot of stress at the time leaving a lot behind and was being bullied a lot in school so,  got a bit depressed and wasn't eating well at all. I think stress, poor nutrition, climate change, and lack of reinforcement (medicines, etc) played all a role there.

As an adult, as soon as I get a cough, I drink orange juice, oregano oil, grape seeds extracts, and honey. I get as many natural vitamins as possible and if that doesn't help I get medicines right away. 

But  back to the topic, there are a lot of cultures and religions that embrace fasting once a month for about 3 hours. I don't see anything wrong with it as long as you are in control of your body and once you feel sick you stop and get some nutrients and vitamins. Fasting in my opinion should be done as something beneficial to the body and not a strain on it.

jlove92 : I was thinking about starting off with fasting one day every other week. What do you think? Also, how would I get nutrients while fasting?

Chart : Start small. I say if you start fasting for a day see how you feel. If you feel ill eat. And then just prepare more for next time you fast. For me I would eat more fruits the previous day and a good strong dinner- get some vegetables and meat. And before bed eat some fruits. Just something that can hold your stomach.  You can also make it into a milestone, see how many hours you can comfortably fast each week and work on increasing that amount until fasting for a whole day doesn't feel like your stomach has a whole in it. I found that my stomach after eating the following day felt full of air like I was hungry yet felt full at the same time. 







janus He is probably the best person to ask. Knows a lot about good nutrients. 



From experience and tips online, cut down on caffeine products a day or two before fasting just to make the process easier. I found that there are other types of fasting that involves eating only a specific fruit for the time you are fasting mainly because of the fruits nutrients (Mono-fasting)



Black grapes-  chew the seeds to give your body micronutrients 



Pears-  7 grams of fiber and are good for the digestive system (you need 25-30 g a day) So at least 2-3 pears a that day. The skin is good for Alzheimer's and cancer due to something called quercetin. So this even if you don't fast should be added to your regular diet.



Melons- good for the kidneys. Lowers blood pressure.  re-hydrates and it's digested very fast. Eat them alone though to get the best of it.



So, fasting for your body's sake does not mean you go completely without eating. You can Mono-fast in a way that is the most beneficial to the body. What I did was spiritual fasting which was breaking your body to its limit and just pray and not drink any water all day- it wasn't good I must say. 



I recommend mono fasting. But Janus here is very savvy.
Here are some threads I have good advice on nutrients and dieting and one from Janus about nutrients:



https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=92057



https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=90501

Chart : You don't get nutrients while fasting.  That's why it's a bad idea.

I'm in the fitness profession and a healthy, balanced, disciplined diet is much more beneficial compared to just not eating for whatever reason.

If you want to lose weight, you can fast, drop some weight, and go back to eating what you were eating and doing what you were doing and you'll gain that weight back.  Fasting is uncomfortable, affects the body negatively, and doesn't produce long term results.  You just go back to what you were when you started.

Instead, try some simple life style changes, one at a time.  Try to drink half the soda or pop you already drink.  Try to walk a little bit further every day or try standing instead of sitting when you watch tv.  Move your computer to where you have to stand to play.

Those small things change your body for good.  Fasting changes it short term.

Intermittent fasting (once, MAYBE twice a week) is seen by many as a good thing for the body. I personally do it, mostly for economical reasons since I eat so much to maintain my muscle mass. But "fasting" doesn't mean you don't eat anything; when I did that I would simply chug on food for supper and kill the purpose entirely. Rather, if you eat like 1000 calories for that day and spread them through the day (say, eat a little something each hour) then it's manageable.

I think that fasting is great if you are doing it for religious or spiritual purposes. It makes you give up food making your mind and soul stronger. 
However, I don't think it is the right way to approach losing weight. Like Ghostbear said, you don't get nutrients while fasting, so although you may lose weight(good for body), you are losing nutrients(bad for the body). If you want to lose weight, I don't suggest fasting. Get more exercise and/or eat healthier. Instead of trying to lose weight, you can make the weight you already have, turn to muscle. If you lift-weights or do a strength program regularly, you will likely put on a little weight, due to muscle mass, but your body will be healthier overall. 

RDay13: It depends on your body composition. People with more fat (over 10% for men and 20% for women) will lose some of it with intermitent fasting without hindering their lean body mass. But doing it repeatedly will make the body go on sleep mode so it preserves itself and increase fat mass (energy storage, really).

I personally love food, so I couldn't imagine having to be forced into Fasting. I hope I never have to get something like Strep Throat or any of that that prevents me from eating....I like my nutrients.

I can't imagine fasting (for any extended period of time) to be good for you. I had a similar experience, but with a stomach virus, where I was sick for about 3 weeks and lost nearly 20 pounds. A lot of that weight lost was muscle too. It was in the middle of basketball season, and I kept practicing and playing through the sickness and lack of nutrients. I'm no nutritionist, but I can't imagine depriving your body of what it needs to sustain itself to be positive for anything more than a "quick fix." 

I always assumed "fasting" was a lack of food, and a "diet" (in one sense of the word) was cutting back how much. But that's just how I've seen them referenced.

Look up "intermittent fasting" if you are interested in trying it. One method of intermittent fasting is you only eat during a certain period of the day... instead of eating all day starting when you wake up. What this means for most people is simply skipping breakfast by staying busy instead of eating. This does have results for cutting fat / weight loss because you are eating less calories by doing that.

Um....for this one and it sounds silly I would do it when I am at church. I can't fast for long because I take medications that requires for me to eat. And when that happens the fast is off. I eat at certain hours of the day. I don't eat my breakfast when I should in the mornings and end up eating like in the afternoon or late afternoon after forgetting to go, and get something to eat. I say I can only fast for a certain amount of hours before I eat. I'm not sure how to say it could be like 4 hours or more. It really depends on what the fasting has me settled on really. :/

I would say the only time I fast is when I am really sick. When I vomit a lot it doesn't allow me to eat for days because hours on I would vomit for like 5 or 10 mins or maybe even longer. And then I would sleep then vomit again. Its just really sad when that happens. And when the docs finally found something to settle my stomach and when I am not vomiting I would take the medication when it is very relaxed. And that would stop my fasting for that problem. '-'

I heard fasting has a lot of nice health affects, they just reccomend you eat a lot of fruit a few days before you start.
It's typically used to cleanse your body of toxins, people believe it can cure a lot of illnesses, I'm not really sure how true that is, but I've tried it and failed miserably, it's not for everyone. 

I'd say there's nothing wrong with fasting, so I'd encourage people to fast just like I encourage sleeping on the floor, they're both decent to try.

I think that fasting once in a great while can be good especially if it's only for a day or even only skipping one meal. Doing it all the time would be pretty unhealthy. Usually I only fast when I need to for a surgery which is pretty rare. I plan on also doing it for Lent starting next year (since I didn't this year).

Fasting doesn't have to be giving up food entirely, it can also be giving up certain foods. For example, this January I gave up all desserts for the whole month. It's definitely one of the biggest challenges I've faced!

I used to not be able to do it because I would eat a fair bit in a day, But now I do it kinda often because; I just am not hungry for a full day, I don't have the energy to get up and get something to eat, or I do it just out of pure self-hatred

I could probably fast due to current and previous events.

My mother had been in the out of the hospital for 2 months straight for stomach issues due to surgery (I know, everyone feels bad, but she is doing better now), and normally when my parents are not home, I dont really make much for myself. I have now gotten to the point where I do not need to eat other than maybe once a day. I could possibly go the whole day without eating if I wanted. I just don't feel hungry.

And I'm about to break the idea of this as well.

My mother has had a Gastric Bypass surgery, use for losing weight/dieting. By doing this, she eats in small portions now. She has told me that you *Have* to eat to be able to loose weight. That you cannot just eat nothing and expect to loose weight that way. Your body will lose function due to the lack of vitamins in your body. And I also find this to be true. You could try and eat in smaller portions, but to burn extra fat, or , energy cells in your body, you must have some to begin with. But that's just my opintion.

I fast for religional reasons, and our fasting isn't simply lack of food or drink, but also lack of swearing and doing bad deeds. Fasting is very healthy for us. It cleans the human body, and it 'resets' it too. Fasting isn't easy, and whenever I'm tired during fasting I simply sleep until dinner time.