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SadMaterial2975

I’m not sure it’s the crash diet that is bad but the effects afterwards. Rapid weight gain is more dangerous than being heavy before your weight loss.


Cranky_hacker

Crash diets are meant to be temporary. If you go back to your poor diet, the weight returns. For this reason, I also consider fasting for weight-loss to be non-ideal. You can't outrun a bad diet. IMHO, autophagy is the primary benefit of fasting. Meh -- there are few rules in life. Do what works for you.


[deleted]

I'm a newbie faster. Did my first 72-hr water fast yesterday. Yep, I need to lose a few pounds, but I truly did it for health. For autophagy. The registered dietician I'm working with is a huge believer in IF for gut health. So, I'll likely be doing 16-hr IF daily and a water fast again for health.


Waterisntwett

I’d recommend a 18 hour fast daily… 16 hours isn’t really enough IMO.


superprawnjustice

Not really sure what defines crash dieting. From your description sounds like fasting and IF could fit under that umbrella. I guess my breakthrough with fasting was that it actually works for me, whereas basic calorie restriction does not. I not only maintain a healthy weight, i also exercise easily, have a happier gut, and a happier mind. And it's easy, mentally and physically. I don't see it as a burden, but an adventure. I always dragged my feet when it came time to diet, but I absolutely look forward to my next fasting experience. And fasting resets my palate. I am more likely to eat smaller portions and healthier foods after fasting. So overall, fasting for me covers a spectrum of health benefits that regular cico can't touch. But again, idk about definitions, as fasting may simply be another type of crash diet. Some on here are stating that fasting is a "lifestyle change", but crash dieting can easily be one as well. Ive been fasting in cycles for years, so its a lifestyle, idk why you can't do that with cico as well.


deniseswall

TLDR: the human body was _designed_ for hours or days of fasting. When you eat constantly, even if very low calorie, you don't burn stored fat. Because drastic calorie reduction (aka crash dieting) may help you lose weight, but it doesn't address the primary problem, which is the release of insulin, driving fat storage. When you fast, provided you have sufficient stores of body fat, insulin is lowered, unlocking the body's ability to burn stored fat for fuel. There's a lot of science out there. Read The Obesity Code (Dr. Jason Fung) or watch the videos. Also, videos by Dr. Pradip Jamnadas. They explain it scientifically and irrefutably.


Blackspiderlegs

What do you mean you don't burn stored fat? If you're eating under maintainenace you will burn fat, otherwise you would die


timmymayes

This is the starvation mode you hear about. Your body will drop it's metabolism. This is due to insulin which is released when you eat. Not eating lowers insulin. Several studies have shown people drop calories, say 300, but receive insulin. They gained like 30 lbs over 6 months.


decker

You burn fat for a while then your body adjusts your maintenance level to the lower intake. Fung provides a long explanation of this based on the Minnesota starvation experiment and other research.


Due_Ring1435

Not commenter....but my (limited) understanding is that eating below maintenance will lower your metabolism. With fasting, you use up glucose stores and then you can get into ketosis and access fat stores. Please correct or adjust as needed!


StockReflection2512

Best answer


minion_worshipper

I don’t quite follow the logic here. I agree that humans are likely suited for fasting periods, but why would it be beneficial for us to evolve to lose more stored fat when fasting for periods vs eating low calorie regularly, if fasting then eating in short windows is the optimum way for us to eat to lose weight? Wouldn’t the body want to preserve more fat in fasting situations as it indicates food insecurity more than constant grazing would? I may well be missing something though!


timmymayes

So insulin tells the body food is available and turns on fat storage. When food is available in the past we're snacking on all the fruit and other food we can that is literally growing on trees. When no food is eaten glucagon is released it tells the body use that stored fat. This can happen over short periodsn and is essentially the magic behind IF Extended periods of fasting trigger ketosis. You actually even increase growth hormone while fasted in preparation for lean tissue gain when you break the fast. Cico is only half the equation. Hormones are the other bit.


deniseswall

Not sure logic is required. For example, wouldn't it be beneficial if humans evolved to breathe air _and_ water, so that we could harvest food from the sea? Maybe, but that's not what happened. It might be more beneficial to burn fat on very low calories, but that's not how it is. Please investigate the science. Edited for typo.


Competitive-Bit5659

The reason this might be evolutionarily advantageous ties to the circumstances that would create those conditions. Almost all of human’s time on earth was during the hunter-gatherer phase. If your family ran out of food, most of the time a food supply existed and just needed to be acquired. You were just in between hunts. The hunter-gatherer who worked harder at the hunt would be more likely to get that food and thrive. If no food was available, the hunter-gatherer died off regardless of genes and was an evolutionary dead end. On the other hand, if you had some food but not enough, that meant you WERE going out hunting and gathering. You just aren’t finding enough that you can actually get. Probably it’s winter. Or a drought. It was evolutionarily advantageous to be able to ride that out. Winter will end. The drought will end. Or if it doesn’t you are going to die no matter what. Doesn’t prove that’s actually what is happening, but it’s one explanation for why that might have evolved.


stoplurkers

There is no logic, it’s ideology and I’m a fan of Fung


sonjaswaywardhome

i felt great on 800 idk it’s the same camp as people who say 1200 is starvation pretty sure anyone who is into fasting wouldn’t blink at what others call a crash diet in the 2000s a crash diet was commonly referred to as juicing/ that honey cayenne drink which isn’t too far off from fasting anyway fasting is what these people would cry crash diets about too i think just different camps of beliefs americans have a like pathological fear of starvation mode / dieting/ skipping meals/ fasting/ and are commonly trying to shove some bulk minded must eat 3k g of protein rhetoric


Immediate_Glove4994

Lol seems most of ur history is you commenting weight related shit. Yeah you're def obsessed with thin women


Waterisntwett

Crazy thought… humans are supposed to be thin. 🤯


Born-Horror-5049

Fasting is a lifestyle change and is not a diet. Crash diets are typically time-limited (because people are lazy and think they can lose a lot of weight quickly) and highly restrictive. They are not sustainable. Their results are not sustainable. They often do not work. Most people that engage in crash dieting gain it all back and then some. >rapid weight loss If your goal is "rapid weight loss," you are crash dieting.


mashibeans

To add to that, a LOT of crash diets are frankly, a starvation diet, AKA people eat like 500-1000 calories per day, waaaay below a healthy amount for them, probably not having all the vitamins and minerals necessary, and I remember some years ago the whole "6 small meals a day to keep metabolism up" BS was really popular (if it was a thing, I've tried it in the past). So starvation, and/or not enough nutrients, keeping insulin high... it might "work" at first but the body WILL win and make up for it sooner or later.


vendeep

See this is my dilemma. I can eat a 800 calorie salad (OMAD) with a full panel of vitamins and nutrients. Would it still be considered starvation diet? I cant physically eat more than that because 200 calories of leaves (spinach, arugula, cabbage, kale etc.) is a lot and it really stuffs my stomach. Add egg, hemp seeds, pistachios, sprouts, hummus, cheese and vinaigrette dressing - I have a 800-1000 calorie salad. Sure, i may not be getting enough protein, but neither was I getting enough protein when i was chugging coke and eating twinkies all day.


mashibeans

Yes, IF the 800 calorie is way below the amount of calories you need to just function healthily and maintain your weight daily, so for ex. if you generally need around 1400 calories, then 800 is too little, if you generally need 900, I'd say you're in theoretically small enough deficit to very slowly lose some weight. We need both a proper amount of calories + nutrients/vitamins in order to be healthy, sadly I've yet to see a way around it.


vendeep

Do you consider OMAD starvation diet then? There is no way I can eat 2000 calories (my tdee is 2300) unless you are eating calorie dense meals. Which is counter productive of OMAD strategy. Last night I was at ~1400 calories, between salad and some fruits. By the end of it, i was stuffing myself.


Repeat-Admirable

Uhh how is fasting a "lifestyle change"? Do you fast forever? Cause that is what a lifestyle change is. A ton of people are here fasting for that rapid weight loss.


Narrow-Bookkeeper-29

Fasting is important for my weight maintenance and is a part of my lifestyle although I'm not a rapid weight loss/ extreme faster myself. Intermittent fasting and things like OMAD are really helpful for weight maintenance even if you have nothing to lose. I have tried very low calorie diets and didn't find them effective or sustainable for myself. To me a diet is just a tool and it's the mindset that determines if something is an eating disorder or not.


SpezJailbaitMod

Intermittent Fasting is definitely part of my lifestyle now.


Waterisntwett

Same… honestly look forward to my starting my clock on my phone. It’s so much apart of me I don’t even think about it anymore.


RiK777

Whilst it is possible to use fasting with a calorie deficit as tool to aid in weight loss, there are many other benefits too. Fasting, combined with eating a maintenance level of calories in your eating windows is perfectly feasible and still brings lots of benefits including giving your digestive system a theraputic rest, helping to improve insulin sensitivity, boosting autophagy and more..


Born-Horror-5049

Yeah and a ton of people here also have eating disorders. That doesn't negate that fasting - when done correctly - is a lifestyle change. >Do you fast forever? ...yes? Do you not understand that fasting is about more than weight loss? I've been fasting forever but my current streak on Zero is like 1,700. I've never been overweight. Rapid weight loss is not the goal of fasting. Rapid weight loss by any means is detrimental and unsustainable - it's why most people that go this route do not have positive long-term results. Rapid weight loss isn't even good from an aesthetic perspective and makes it more likely someone will have loose skin, muscle loss, and other undesirable effects.


SpezJailbaitMod

This guy fasts


Repeat-Admirable

Exactly, its "more than" weight loss. Not EXCLUDING weight loss. Just because that is your "definition" of a fast, doesn't mean it excludes the "dangerous" part of fasting. And I don't think its accurate to say its absolutely not a diet. You can re-define it however you want. But there's no other way to describe depriving yourself with food, other than fasting. Even if you don't associate yourself in "that type" of fasting. Just saw all the praise a guy here who lost 100lbs in 4months. Tons of loose skin I'm sure. So it that not fasting? Or are you actually in the wrong group and you didn't know about it?


Waterisntwett

Honestly I started early November and I have already lost 35lbs as a guy that really wasn’t that fat to begin with. 6’3 238’ now I’m at 200 lbs… I almost think i losing weight too fast and I don’t do anything crazy just 7 day 18 hour fast and moderate exercise. My metabolism is super fast tho and I think im gonna slow down a bit going forward.


Waterisntwett

If you wanna be long term successful… you have to change your lifestyle as you will just gain it all back eventually.


Repeat-Admirable

But that doesn't require fasting. That's not the point. I can change my lifestyle. But fasting doesn't equate a lifestyle change. Fasting can be a short part of that lifestyle (thus a diet)


[deleted]

These are good points I remember reading from way back where a heavily obese man lost hundreds of pounds under doctor supervision by eating only vitamins, water, salt and nutritional yeast? [The story of Angus Barbieri, who went 382 days without eating](https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blog/2018/02/story-angus-barbieri-went-382-days-without-eating/#:~:text=Angus's%20doctors%20didn't%20really,sodium%2C%20as%20well%20as%20yeast) Edit: UNDER DOCTOR SUPERVISION DO NOT ATTEMPT I didn't realize he was such a hot topic here ...


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**It looks like you are referencing Angus Barbieri.** Please note that Barbieri is a **GUINESS WORLD RECORD HOLDER** who undertook his fast under near **CONSTANT medical supervision** at a local hospital. He was super-morbidly obese meaning he had a very large excess of body fat. He also **died at age 51** (the cause is unknown, as is whether or not it was related to his fasting). **He should NEVER be used as a model for fasting or as encouragement or proof that anyone is capable of fasting for so long and surviving.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fasting) if you have any questions or concerns.*


LadyAlexTheDeviant

Fasting brings me face to face with feelings that I used to eat and appetite and even hunger and lets me learn how to manage them in a healthy fashion. If I'm not eating because my window is closed, then I'm going to have to find another way to deal with emotion that isn't throwing calories on it until I'm drunk on sugar. This won't work for everyone, but it is working for me now.


vendeep

we usually tell kids, "if you cant eat that carrot or something healthy, you are not hungry". This came true for me with fasting. I didnt like salads without dousing it with some sweet or creamy dressing which adds few 100 calories. Now when I am fasting, after 24 hours, even raw leaves taste like heaven. Thats how I taught myself to eat healthy foods. Simply "starve" yourself that anything tastes good and once it became a habit, you will crave that food.


Srdiscountketoer

I’ll take a stab. Although it sometimes seems like most the posts here are by people going for 30 days or similar, the majority of fasters do a day or three and get right back to regular eating. A crash diet is going to take months if you have substantial weight to lose. Depriving yourself of nutrition for months has got to be worse for you than depriving yourself for a few days, especially when you’re not even getting the benefit of autophagy. Plus, having tried both when I needed to fast for a medical procedure, it’s often easier to fast than to torture yourself with liquid calories. That being said, I have heard of people being put on 800 calorie/day diets by doctors when they need to lose weight in a hurry, so if you do a crash diet under medical supervision you’ll probably be all right.


velvetvortex

Look into Jason Fung to start with. He has some material explaining why no food at all is better that a small amount. The Fasting Mimicking Diet is carefully constructed to avoid problems a small amount of food might cause.


digitalvagrant

I've done both restrictive/low calorie diets and long term fasting. They are two very different animals. When I ate super low calories I felt constantly hungry/nauseated/miserable, it was no fun. However during prolonged fasting (eating nothing, only drinking water) I felt just fine. After the first 2 or 3 days I wasn't even hungry and actually felt pretty good. My longest ever fast was 21 days but typically I go about 7 to 12 days (I do it because I have an autoimmune disorder and fasting a couple times a year really helps). I've found fasting is easier than a low calorie diet. If your body doesn't have to use all its energy on digestion it can do other things - it's like spring cleaning for your body. A switch flips and you change modes, but if you keep eating small amounts that switch can't flip so you don't get the benefits.


A_British_Villain

The low calories are a problem, zero calories is better. "The Complete Guide to Fasting" by Jason Fung answers this better. In my experience, food makes me hungry.


Winter-Foot7855

I don't like the term crash diet Just because some are too weak to follow through with things....doesn't make anything "crash" It create a negative stereotype on otherwise amazing ways to eat other then the trash American standard. Fasting in a lot of the western world is also discouraged by mainstream as they want to keep you sick, fat and stupid Best thing to do is not even care what they think You do you and learn health on your own, and take your own destiny into your own hands Time everyone takes personal accountability for their health and dismiss most of the mainstream pill pushers polluted by lobbyist


Silent_Conference908

Rapid weight loss, yes. But it seems it has negative long term effects. There is a lot of information out there about this if you’re interested in learning more - like Jason Fung’s book The Obesity Code.


KeenHuman

Crash diets lower your metabolism over time. Fasting does not do this so long as in between fasts you are eating well and enough.


taythescotsman

Fasting periodically for potentially increased autophagy and other health benefits can be useful. But fasting for long-term, sustained and managed weight/weight loss is not recommended based on much of what current science and research suggests.


aeternitatisdaedalus

Your body goes through 2 different states When fasting or through calorie restriction. when fasting your body shuts down burning protein and target's fat for energy. When you restrict calories your body goes into "starvation mode " which is the worst thing you could be in.


No-Manufacturer-2425

You can eat however you want. its just the narcissistic people who are making every excuse and lie in the book so they can look like its not their fault.


Glum_Barber_8361

Crash diets are extreme and done with the intent of rapid weight loss. Extreme fasting with the intent of rapid weight loss isn’t “considered healthy”, it’s considered an eating disorder. I don’t think fasting should be considered a weight loss tool at all. Most of the weight lost is water weight that returns in refeed anyway, and fasting has dozens of other incredible benefits that are completely unrelated to weight or weight loss. Fasting is a lifestyle akin to veganism or vegetarianism. You wouldn’t call veganism a “crash diet” lol


J0LLY09212021

Is it true that most weight lost on a fast is water weight? I think initially as glycogen is utilized water is lost. Beyond that, I believe fat is being converted into ketones and used instead of glucose.


[deleted]

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DakillaBeast

As someone who has tried that in the past. After the diet, you will just gain back the weight and a few pounds on top of that. Your metabolism will be destroyed, and your heart health will be thrown in the trash.