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Intermittent fasting is a real thing and a valid way to lose weight. It can also help reverse type 2 diabetes, particularly in conjunction with a low carb diet.
 
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On many occasions I’ve gone four days without food, and a few occasions six days with the last three without water too. All with high levels of physical exertion.
 
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A necro-thread… but still a valid question. :)

Personally, I have done Intermittent fasting the past 10 years.

I eat one meal a day — so that's pretty much 23 hours fasting and 1 hour for meals — I keep my electrolytes up and drink 4-5 litres of water.

Not doing it for weight loss as I am quite skinny. (5'6" and 130lbs, 54yo), but there are benefits. Autophagy and low insulin.

Once a month I do a 72 hour water fast.

While fasted I manage to do an hour of yoga at least 5 times a week, with hiking or cycling over weekends.

I have never been good with breakfast. Whenever I have eaten breakfast I have the munchies all day long. So intermittent fasting slotted in really well into my lifestyle.
 
I'm intrigued with and fascinated by cultures and religions where fasting is a core principle.

This is where it is no longer necessarily an individual choice (although it is always sold as such) but a collective one, enforced by the wider culture & society.

Islam, obviously, with Ramadan/Ramazan.

Fasting - or, observing the fast - during Ramadan/Ramazan is one of the "five pillars" of Islam. I have experienced Ramadan in three different Muslim societies in three different continents. Interesting, to say the least.

Then, there are the older forms of Catholicism, where, prior to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the two great fasting periods in the Catholic Church - Lent and Advent - each of 40 days duration - preceded two of the great Church Festivals, namely - and respectively - Easter and Christmas. In Catholic cultures, these fasts (prior to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council) used to be strictly enforced, as was the prohibition on the consumption of meat - or copious consumption of food - on Fridays.

These days, Orthodox Christian societies (Greece, Russia, the Balkans, the Caucasus) place considerable emphasis on fasting during Lent and Advent. Actually, their fasts are progressive - that means that more and different foods are prohibited - in addition - each successive week as the fasting period progresses - and are quite demanding; again, I have observed this taking place in the Caucasus. Restaurants - to my astonishment - had what they termed "fasting menus".

And then, there is the version of fasting in Ethiopia: There, not only are the great fasting periods (Lent and Advent) observed (and strictly), but in addition, every Wednesday and every Friday are also - still - recognised as fasting days.

Culturally, while the emphasis has long been on personal and individual strength, there may have been additional reasons for seeking to promote a culture or tradition of fasting.

Historically, in times of scarcity of food, (such as spring, when the winter stores might be running low), it made sense to try to persuade people to eat less (and share more) and reinforce that with the power of religious teaching; if appeals to generosity - and logic - fail - fear may work.

Likewise, in poor countries - where scarcity was a permanent feature of life, poor harvests, climate horrors, - fasts of a communal nature, religiously policed and enforced, made total sense. The population, somewhat thinner, may have survived, but famine may have been averted.

And there is a school of thought - which I first came across when reading material on Ethiopia - that argues that fasting on a more or less permanent basis (and yes, Ethiopian famines are notorious, but their fasting regime is unusual for its extent, severity and duration - people end up fasting for around a third of the year) serves to weaken the population, focus them on survival, and thus render them less likely to challenge authority, irrespective of whether it is secular or religious, as they simply may not have the time or energy to wish or want to do so.
 
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Recently i spent 3 days in the pub just drinking and didn't bother eating anything. I was getting plenty of calories from the booze and i never felt hungry.

Don't think i could go longer than a day without drinking water or anything as i've always drunk loads of water/juice/booze/whatever is available.
 
Well... not through lack of food in the house, but lack of good food in the house I haven't eaten since 6pm yesterday which makes it around... 28 hours (I think, I've never been too good at maths) of no food.

I have been drinking lots of pure orange juice though. which is high in sugar so my blood sugar levels should be okay. I may not even be eating until breakfast tomorrow morning, where i'll only have cereal.

um. so yea, what happens if you don't eat? how long until I pass out :D not that i'd want that. but im happy right now. strangely enough.
28hrs??? rofl you have about a month till you die. No food no wáter.
 
Nothing will happen. You'll slowly lose weight, wither away and die. Your body's thermic reaction will slow down over time, but you'll still convert lipids (fat) into fuel, and when that goes away, your body will break down lean body tissue. When that levels out, your heart will undergo cardiac atrophy. Then, you die.
 
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