your views on fasting?

paky

it seems to be the case that fasting has been apart of different civilisations throughout history and yet somehow in this presnt day and age its practice has pretty much died out. the only people who i am aware of that practice fasting are muslims during ramadan. even at this stage, the most they fast for is 20 hours or so a day.
some internet websites have claimed that fasting can be very beneficial for your health, as it is a natural state for your body to be in. the purpose of bodyfat is to provide you with energy when food supplies are low. the theory goes that when your body is in a fasted state it has the ability to identify the cells it needs and eliminates the ones it doesnt ie fat . many websites claim that the body in a fasted state has the ability to break down cancerous tumours yet i have yet to see any evidence to back these claims up apart from a guy on youtube who claimed to cure his cancer through a forty day fast.
fasting seems to be kicking off again in the naturalists world with new diets emerging such as the warrior diet and intermittent fasting. intermittent fasting has been shown to prolong the lifespan of labrotory mice.
i think fasting is a fascinating topic and if what people are saying is true its practice maybe the missing solution to many of the worlds health problems.

anyone ever encounter fasting in any shape or form?

looksee

Its an interesting idea, presumably our ancestors are when they had food - so time of year and success of hunt dictated whether they ate. People react differently to not eating though. Some people can miss a meal without too much problem, others - like me - would be trembling, ratty and have a headache in no time if a meal is missed. Be interesting to see some research on it.

slowburner

paky wrote: »

it seems to be the case that fasting has been apart of different civilisations throughout history and yet somehow in this presnt day and age its practice has pretty much died out. the only people who i am aware of that practice fasting are muslims during ramadan. even at this stage, the most they fast for is 20 hours or so a day.
some internet websites have claimed that fasting can be very beneficial for your health, as it is a natural state for your body to be in. the purpose of bodyfat is to provide you with energy when food supplies are low. the theory goes that when your body is in a fasted state it has the ability to identify the cells it needs and eliminates the ones it doesnt ie fat . many websites claim that the body in a fasted state has the ability to break down cancerous tumours yet i have yet to see any evidence to back these claims up apart from a guy on youtube who claimed to cure his cancer through a forty day fast.
fasting seems to be kicking off again in the naturalists world with new diets emerging such as the warrior diet and intermittent fasting. intermittent fasting has been shown to prolong the lifespan of labrotory mice.
i think fasting is a fascinating topic and if what people are saying is true its practice maybe the missing solution to many of the worlds health problems.

anyone ever encounter fasting in any shape or form?

I remember seeing a documentary (can't remember where or when) on the increased longevity of starved rats.
There is bound to be statistical analysis somewhere which investigates the longevity of humans who had suffered prolonged starvation.
If you have ever seen programmes with interviews from soldiers Japanese POW camps during WW2, it is striking how old they lived to be and in such good shape.
Every religion seems to require some period of fasting - maybe they knew something we've forgotten.

paky

i'd say a good portion of the people in the western world get at least three meals a day. people can survive upto 40 days without food. the fact that we are constantly eating may suggest that this maybe preventing our bodies from adopting a natural state and thus perhaps causing some kind of damage to our systems?

the soviets experimented with fasting during the 70s in an attempt to cure schizophrenia. their findings were quite interesting

slowburner

paky wrote: »

i'd say a good portion of the people in the western world get at least three meals a day. people can survive upto 40 days without food. the fact that we are constantly eating may suggest that this maybe preventing our bodies from adopting a natural state and thus perhaps causing some kind of damage to our systems?

the soviets experimented with fasting during the 70s in an attempt to cure schizophrenia. their findings were quite interesting

Paky, what do you think this 'natural state' is?
Could it hark back to our hunter/gatherer past?

paky

slowburner wrote: »

Paky, what do you think this 'natural state' is?
Could it hark back to our hunter/gatherer past?

im not sure but it would take further study for me to understnd it but i assume it would be a slow form of death but being consciously aware of the experience? that being from a rational point of view

JuliusCaesar

paky wrote: »

the soviets experimented with fasting during the 70s in an attempt to cure schizophrenia. their findings were quite interesting

A quote from that 1974 article:

Experience with the fast makes the distinction
between fasting and starvation quite simple and
clear—as long as hunger is absent, one is fasting.
When hunger returns, if one continues to abstain
from food, he is starving.

In that case, I am fasting between breakfast and lunch; however, from about 12.15 onwards, I am starving.

He goes on to talk about "a form of schizophrenia" called Dysmorphophobia - this is nowadays called Body Dysmorphic Disorder and no longer classified as a psychosis.

In short, I'd look for a much more up-to-date (post 2000) reference to back up any assertions about fasting.

Froggy7

A friend of mine from China who is a martial art practitioner recently did a 12 day fast. His body was seriously conditioned to do it though. His energy levels are through the roof since.