When one undergoes a long period without carbohydrates, the body does become transiently insulin resistant. This is not a pathological insulin resistance, but rather a physiological one. You see the same thing in long term keto people who score worse on an OGTT without a CHO run in period. Once CHO are reintroduced for a period of a couple of weeks and the body has time to recalibrate, insulin sensitivity is at a net positive. I'd like to see the same study done with a zero carb animal based refeed and see how things look.
Lots of folks who are long term keto are reporting their fasting glucose just keeps rising month after month. It's not as if long term low carbohydrate increases IMTG, and it's not as if higher IMTG is clearly associated with insulin intolerance. actually, both of those are true. IMTG is one of the major contributors to insulin resistance in T2 diabetes, keto diet or no keto diet. The fact that keto encourages greater IMTG than the SAD ... "physiologic insulin resistance" ... giving something of concern a name and declaring it not an issue does not make it a non-issue.
just as a PS, I was on very strict keto for a long time in the early 2000s, and I was pretty blase about it, having convinced myself the down sides would eventually play out in better health. I don't know how I convinced myself of that, or what I would have done with this information at that time - the information about IMTG was becoming better known and I found out about it towards the end of my keto phase, but it didn't convince me to end keto. I'm hoping that this stuff is not long-term damaging to people because it would mean I didn't damage myself. It definitely concerns me though.
@@mh9113 i didn’t make it to my goal unfortunately but lost 17 pounds in 10 days… regained about 5-6lbs. But back at it now started another session day 2!
Interesting, I completed a nine day water 💦 fast at True North, I had a positive experience. Look forward to more data releases of prolonged fasting and detailed blood work.
Woah, around 80% of the weight loss was fat loss??!? Fascinating… Thanks for breaking down some of the particular measures, because I think it’s easier to make careful conclusions for the individual. Good summary too, WTF is going on with that huge effect on IR? This man needs his own Televsion series! Doing great work, Brotha 👍🏽✌🏽🙏🏽
@@Physionic I don't see how the assumption that muscle mass loss was low or mitigated makes sense. These people probably aren't resistance training, they suddenly stop consuming protein, carbs and fats entirely, experience rapid weight loss and then more than likely their activity levels drops drastically. Without a doubt their muscle mass would reduce substantially under those conditions.
@@TC-by3ilactually studies have shown that as long as people are able to move around as normal and go about their daily life they actually don’t lose very much if any muscle mass
@@TC-by3ilyou have plenty of energy when fasting if your overweight, I fasted for a week recently and went to the gym 3 days and long walks on the other days and I felt fine. Im going to do a 2 week fast next
I know I'm late to this vid, but omg it is so nice to see real studies supporting extended fasting! I'm currently on a 10 day fast. Not water only yet, because I do have coffee with stevia, cacao powder during the day. Then a diluted veggie broth with nutritional yeast. I think after doing a couple of these i will be prepared for a true water fast. With that said, seeing how much pure fat can potentially be lost is going to motivate me like crazy to get to that. Fasting is also helping me me in other ways like being more disciplined and I'm abstaining from alcohol which is huge!
Please keep those comming man. I'm someone struggling from med induced damage and the first thing that got me a bit better was a 12day waterfast which led into a quite obsession about health knowledge. I've done now 5fasts, but they keep getting shorter cuz eventho I manage clear refeeds it's really hard on my mind. A clean diet and good lifestyle seems to only get me to a certain point , where I wanna hope that waterfasts might give me my health back someday^^
Dang, good for you on doing that 12 day water fast and learning what works for you. My first test run was a 5 day fast and I'm still surprised how profound it was. How did you decide you were going to try an extended fast and how did you pick 12 days? I'm always interested in *how* we (people who do these experiments with our health) get through all the barriers to trying an experiment like this.
Eating a carnivore diet its been seemless going into a fast. Currently 97 hours in, so felt that incredible euphoria last night, feel great today too even after minimum sleep. I hope the difficulty sleeping reaolvea.
The results are interesting but they don't mean much to me because I don't know what they were eating for the weeks or months after the fasting ended, were they keto or carnivore or were they standard american diet where anything goes? Important for people to know this to put this fasting into context in an overall health building strategy. The idea isn't to fast M-F so you can be a party animal for the weekend at the lake. Fasting is part of taking the nutritional fork in the road and sticking by improved habits and in a lot of cases to cure chronic issues or potentially life threatening issues.
I started a dry fast from Wed 9pm all the way till Thurs 9pm, then from Fri it was a wet fast, today is my 3rd day in. Omg being a T2D n anemic i feel extra fatigue, dizzy. I am keeping up with my electrolyte, 2 coffs. I get into ketosis around 12hr bc i get that mad patrol metallic taste in my mouth. Will eat Tues morning 6am start off with coff, pro shake or mush soup, than after a few hrs lunch time something light. 5 day fast, possibly might continue the fast until 7 days or 21 days. Lets see, goodluck guys.
Im on my 4th day! I add fresh lime juice and himalayan salt. I make colloidial silver and am also drinking that. I just drank some and it made me feel fantastic. It also does wonders for my succulent plant!
Another great video! I think the study is lacking in comparison, fasting compared to what? not even a control group? No body fat percentage measured? without Aminoacids from the food and apparently no resist training, the loss a muscle may be substancial, depending on how much was the refeed, they didnt get to the same level of glicogen stored.
Good points, KK. The control group aspect likely isn't an issue, because it's a pre vs post comparison; if they had additional conditions like calorie restriction, then a control group might be more valuable. As for the body fat percentage measured - you're right, it would have been great to see that added, and without amino acids, to your point, they likely lost some muscle, but where that muscle comes from is also important (usually, one of the first sites of loss is in the intestines, not the skeletal muscle, although I wouldn't be surprised if they did lose some in their skeletal muscle, as well). Great points!
• I am surprised I did a 5-day fast ! Day 6, my body/brain told me it's time to eat. Seems I lost approx. 1lb. fat per day - the rest is water and comes back.
This sounds like a much better experimental design with the post-refeed measurements. The post-reeders period might account for the discrepancies as well, possibly suggesting that certain bio marker changes during fasting are transient.
Another great video mate. So well explained, and you spoke so clearly (and slowly). I am on Day 5 of a 30 day water fast; I'll let you know how I go :)
@@Physionic Hi again Nick, I completed the 30 day water fast back in June. Amazing experience. I journalled the entire journey and had routine blood tests done. It's n=1 so not statistically significant but it was interesting: Essentially my electrolytes were fine the whole way through (I didn't add any salt or electrolytes, I just drank bottled and mineral water). I lost 19kg, and regained about 4kg in water weight; so it was a fat loss of about 14-15kg.
im f13 140lbs 5'4ft. i wanna do a 2 week water fast but idk if its safe. I will be also doing the chloe ting 2 week shred challange from 2019 to go along with it. im gonna update you guys when im done to see how much i have lost!!
Please don’t, you will hamper your physical development, no calorie restrictions unless overweight until you’re 19 You’re up on the higher end of healthy BMI, just stop eating junk food and start exercising should do it.
i ended up losing 22 pounds and my family noticed I wasn't eating anyway so I was eating like 900cals everyday and exercising 5 times a week plus i didn't eat junk or fast food in the first place so it was pretty easy to eat healthier.@@rod9829
You mean insulin sensitivity increased dramatically right which is good because then body can suck up more nutritional value from food alongside glucose
I'm a lean person doing a 2 week water fast currently. My goal is essentially for healing past joint injuries. Afterwards planning to do 2-3 day fasts every week or 2 while consuming the necessary nutrients to rebuild cartilage and strengthen tendons/ligaments.
Hi Nic enjoying your videos. I like a few others would love more detail on the refeeding. How did these participants continue to eat or what did they eat in the months afterwards.
How long after the refeed did they tested the HOMA-IR? While on ketosis most tissues become insulin resistant in order to spare the little available glucose for erythrocytes and astrocytes. The effect disappears after a day or so of eating carbs. Then if they tested immediately after refeeding the high HOMA-IR is expected.
I wonder if there is any research on the impact of the quality of the 'refeed' post fast. For example, the fast is controlled and consistent across all groups, then different groups consume a variety of refeed plans such as high protein, animal vs plant, high fat vs low fat. Low sugar vs low GI. Also the impact of exercise during the fasting period on body composition. Some research seems to suggest that exercising at the end of a fast followed by a high protein meal then vegetables and fats leads to enhanced autophagy as well as improved muscle to fat recomposition and markers of metabolic health
It's a great question and it's an excellent study to investigate, but I can safely say that water fasting research is in its infancy and adding more layers at this point you won't find studies. Even the two we've covered here leave some to be desired.
@@Physionic in an N of 1 experiment, I do find that even I.F. such as OMAD spikes my blood sugar when I do consume calories unless I combine it with immediate activity to prime my muscles which seems to somewhat blunt the scary spike. If I also combine ACV, cinnamon and moringa too it seems to help off set this alittle . I hope that with CGMs that more data can be gathered in real time to create better information for research potential as well as help individuals themselves to use their own data to become a citizen scientist to improve their health. Have you seen companies such as Inside Tracker and Levels and even ZOE which seem to be bringing this to the market in your part of the world? I wonder what your review on this is?
I haven't looked at those companies. I don't use a CGM - I think they're cool and can supply you with some data, but people misinterpret them all the time.
@@Physionic the really interesting part is when apps like Levels and Inside Tracker or Zoe compile data from other markers of blood, gut microbiome, genetics and sleep patterns
Here you estimate that they lost over 16 pounds of bodyfat, but a video of yours from over a year ago highlighted people on a 10 day fast who lost an average of only 4 pounds of bodyfat. And another video from around that time focused on people who apparently lost about 1/2 pound of fat per day on their water fast. I would be curious to know your thoughts on the discrepancy. (16 pounds of fat vs. 4 pounds of fat on somewhat similar regimens, i.e. 14 days vs. 10 days). I also recently heard a specialist in this area say that a pound of bodyfat can release a maximum of about 30 calories per day, suggesting that even people with 100 pounds of bodyfat couldn't lose over a pound of fat per day, which would accord with the findings of your aforementioned videos, but not this one. Do you have an opinion on that?
Good point, Karin. I think my estimation here is a bit high, considering I'm making particular assumptions (protein content loss, mass of the food in the stomach post-refeed, etc.). The other study still fed people a small amount, if I remember correctly. Also, the difference in fatness plays an important role, as well. If I had to guess, I'd say the real value is somewhere in the middle. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "release" a pound of bodyfat and the relationship to 30 calories a day (is that in the form of a slowing of metabolism?).
I have begun hopefully a 14 day water fast. I am currently more than 24 hours in, I have done WFing before. Generally, I use spring water, not mineral water. I am very obese at 350 lbs, 6'4", roughly ~50% BMI. Any advice of contraindications beyond the normal to look out for, which are, as best I understand : vomiting, severe headaches, severe dizziness? Have you read or know of Dr. Goldhamer's studies or work? What is your opinion on his findings? Thanks for any time spent.
The statement that 80% of weight loss is fat is misleading. At best, each day there can be about 0.4lb fat loss given caloric content in fat to support a human for a day (assuming no workout). So by 14 days i estimate at best 28% of the weight loss is fat given your 9kg/20lb total body mass loss in 2 weeks. The rest of the 72% is just water that will be gained back when resuming normal life (first week after). Why I'm saying that, to set expectations for people. Don't assume you can fast and most of the weight loss is fat. Most of it is water, which will help guide people to know how many fasting cycles are needed to acheive target weight. I recommend more frequent shorter durations (3-5 days)
How did you keep up your physical training during this prolonged period of fasting? Was it all right? It would be interesting if you could talk a bit about it.
Wouldn’t the increased triglycerides and cholesterol be consistent with their body metabolising solely fat and some proteins for gluconeogenesis, there’s many doctors that note the likelihood is your body’s ketogenic system in effect and due to your body having a more free flow of fats for fuel it’s going to release a lot more into your bloodstream, it’s even been studied in some people although rare in a few people have been observed in a carnivoreous diet, it has also reduced the arterial plaque buildup not just significantly slowed it
Hey Nic, hope you're doing well. Do you have any conclusions / recommendations about fasting for folks in their 50s and later? Attia used to recommend it but appears to be actively discouraging it now because the strength, mobility and weight losses cannot be easily recovered by the elderly. I don't know what his age cutoff is though, might not be in the 50s.
That’s a great question, Sam. I think it depends on the person, but I think it’s more helpful than disruptive for anyone in their 50s. I think once you get into your 70s, there would be extra precautions one should take. The strength and weight loss aspects are concerns when you aren’t doing anything to maintain them, so Attia brings up a great point. I’ll create some content on this, because it’s important to point out.
@@Physionic Thanks. yes, the major population-wide events happen in the 70s. I've been thinking late 50s because of the major reduction in testosterone in the 40s & early 50s will make it harder to regain lost tissue / strength, but
@@lowbarbillcraig3689 I am in my early 50s with good test levels for my age of 600. I am 5ft 7in and weigh about 74kgs with around 10% body fat and a good amount of lean muscle. I have done a lot of weight training over the course of my life and active sports like surfing and some martial arts but stopped weights a few years back and switched to mainly Pilates, yoga and primal movement based exercise. I also take ashwaganda, tulsi, ginseng and zinc among others and probiotics. Just thought this might be helpful to any older blokes here wanting to fast and hold onto muscle. Oh forgot to mention I do intermittent fasting and eat organic. Stay away from sprayed foods. Glyphosate is an estrogen agonist and will wreck your body, especially sperm production and your prostate. ☮️
Yeah because their muscles were use to uaing ketones as fuel to save glucose for the parts of the body that has to have glucose. So to then start eating a bunch of carbs the muscles wont respond because and absorb as much, so it stays in the blood.
....btw for anyone out there, doing water fast beyond 5 days will drastically cause muscle loss and is not advised, so don't get over excited and go for 2 weeks people, it may do you some harm.
would i be correct in assuming that the people/women in that study were taking any electrolytes or assisting supplements of any particular type? i'm gearing up for trying my first 2 weeks here in a couple months and would love any advice (practicing pf and ef for 2years, mostly in the 48hr-7day zones)
Did you do a video about insulin resistance after fasting uet? I completed a 7 day water fast and ate high fiber, high peotein, low carb for a week after. I've been slowly re introducing carbs back into my diet and my blood sugar is spiking exponentially in the morning, so much so that Im waking up after 4 hours of aleep and cant go back to sleep. Now my whole body system is off and it's causing significant underproduction from me at work. I feel so defeated, stressed, and I don't know what to do. I started back on metformin to help with this and got some berberine but now I'm in a stress cycle which is causing me to crave carbs and I just dont have the discipline to handle this stress from the side effects of the blood sugar spike.
Same thing happened to me when I first tried 9 days water fasting. I learned that my body was still in carbs carving mode and not fat adapted stage(the function which I had lost while being a carbs addict for over 40 years and being a diabetic over 10 years). After couple months later, I started a Keto diet for 2 full months and another month of alternate day fasting followed while being on keto. The followed(second attempt) fasting which lasted 11 days was very, very easy without any issues. Only problem I had while fasting was being extremely bored. Anyway, before going on prolong water fasting, make sure your body is completely over carbs addiction and restored fat adaptedmetabolic function. Also, the way I re-introduced some carbs back to my diet was, consuming a small portion of my favorite fruits 20 minutes before my weight lifting work-out or 1 hour jogging. Now, I am still on keto diet and only carbs I consume is fermented vegetables(Keto korean Kim-chi and sauerkraut). Once a week, I consume my favorite fruits before work-out since I do not want my body forget how to utilize carbs. So far no blood sugar spikes like the first water fasting and no crazy carving for carbs. When My first water-fasting ended, I remember going after cookies and chips and gained all the weights back within 2 weeks. I think you should have done high protein(fat), low(no carbs whatsoever other than vegetables) carbs diet before the fasting.. not after. Your body still wants to use carbs as a main source of energy and 9 days fasting is not enough to become metabolically flexible. It took decades to ruin the system and to recover... I guess it will take at least a few years. I do look forward becoming metabolically healthy again wiyjout limiting healthy carbs but my realistic expectation is on a very far horizon. Good luck to you and take care.
@@Cosmo-Kramer I did not finish the 10 days straight, but I have been doing rolling fasts with varying lengths. Some days are OMAD, some 44/4, some 68/4, and next week I’m starting (3 90/6 rolling fasts. This has been working for me.
@@SomeoneSomewhere1984 Cool. Maybe I'll try rolling fasts sometime. Right now I'm on Day 6 of a planned 10-14 day fast. My record, achieved twice, is 7.5 days.
I’m wondering if when coming off a fast of 3, 5 or more days that returning to feeding with just initially a small, low carb meal and just slowly increasing the meal size to normal while keeping the feedings to low/no carb would reduce the post-fast triglyceride and insulin spikes.
This is crazy we don’t have more studies on water fasting when the early humans have been water fasting since day one of human beginning, it’s literally the oldest form of dieting in the world but yet it’s studied the less this so much stigma behind it, but no stigma behind over eating I don’t get it But that ain’t mine I went from being 316 pounds down to 174 pounds by water fasting for seven days every month
Did they take electrolytes during their fast? I'd also be interested in knowing where the fat loss occurred. Was it subcutaneous, visceral, liver fat, or all of the above?
Should you be weight training while water fasting? Would that just increase catabolism? Or if you're weight training should you do a protein sparing modified fast?
wowowo, wait a minute, what about calories? Does they matter? I mean, you do not consume food, yes, but on the other hand when you do, you shouldn't get fat after eating normal amount of calories, per say 1.400 and to get fat like you eat 3 tumes more than that? I am confused?
From previous literature I've read. Muscle mass is largely preserved and fat mass is sacrificed. That's not to say there isn't some muscle loss, but it's much lower than fat loss.
Essentially still do light resistance training during the fast to preserve as much muscle as possible. It tells the body that its important to keep the muscles and find other resources in the body to use instead.
What about prolonged water fasting and gallbladder health? Is it true that water fasting is harmful in terms of supporting the formation of gallstones due to thickening of bile?
Its ok if someone is 69kg and 1.63 height with low resistance to insulin to fast over 1 week? Its healthy and how possible is to lose body fat and not weigh from water?
How about people like me with already low preassure? mine is 11 to 6. I did 9 day + 2 day re-feed water fasting. AND I have Bradicardi. My pulse drops to 43 while sleeping (Around 10 minutes only though)
Hi Physcionic, unfortunately I am very insuline resistant, could you please give me some advice on how to maintain weightloss with fasting? I'm actually tired of gaining all the weight back after my extended fasts. Would ADF be a good option? Thank you
U can cut out the carbs for a week or two n see how u feel..I did omad only protein n green veggies n my a1c lowered a lot...dr.berg has a lot of video on it
@@savagestation7153 Depends what kind of carbs. Veg's are fine. Grains, not so much. Fruit is bad. Look up the Glycemic Index and choose foods with small numbers.
@physionic I had a stroke March last year and have left Carotid artery fully blocked, am taking something that will stop the clot from breaking off and straight to the brain, I want to know if I did a 2 week or maybe prolong fasting will this cause issues with this? Especially in terms of autophagy cleaning etc. In terms of my body am 183cm tall weighting currently 116 kg so am looking at water fasting to reset my body and loose weight (Not full purpose of the fast). Many thanks in advance.
what is more likely for the markedly reduced SBP, improved elasticity of aorta(a good thing) or reduced Force of contraction of heart( a bad thing, similar to heart failure)
5 months later, but I'd like to answer this way: TH-cam comments are not the place to get medical advice. Somebody with your condition may be able to fast safely, or may not. Best advice... talk to your doctor about it.
Fasting then continuing to eat carbage is pointless. Fasting was only effective in the long term for me when I went keto between fasts. The carbage brings your insulin right back up. PS: As for the cholesterol, BS Dave Feldman's very scientific site, Cholesterol Code, will clue you in on what's being found there.
First Video in the Series (5 Day Water Fast): th-cam.com/video/L7dvHq5OLuE/w-d-xo.html Next Video (Increased Insulin Resistance Explained): th-cam.com/video/_QNDsulKFrw/w-d-xo.html
I was thinking a 7 day fast once a month or 2 4s and if 1 7 maybe 1 extra 3-4 day too Better to be in autophagy for an extra day or two better to have more and more once or a spike twice yeah 10 days a month for 6-12 months to do a 2 week or 30 day once I could do it by continuing a fast and finishing the other in between another I don't know what my muscle mass is but I'm 120KG when I started sunday night now about 12 hours left to finish 105 hours water fasting. about 100 days fasting a year and the 30 would give you a third a year nearly of healing with some time in super healing. I gor 40kg at a 33% bodyfat I was about 160kg at 40% years back but never went gym so i probably so I need to lose about 30KG as well as gain the health benefits Now a new thing about very long fast so maybe stick to 2 2 week fasts a year instead of a 30 due to insulin resistance spike?? This is the fourth video I've talked on with some good ideas, Here's the last and you can see (someone in this world) some ideas of simple super energy th-cam.com/video/-WnjnpjbJ2Q/w-d-xo.html
![5 Days Water Fasting: What happens to your Health? [Study 55]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/L7dvHq5OLuE/mqdefault.jpg)
![HIWWHEE | OHM [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OJJLtTLqLag/mqdefault.jpg)
When one undergoes a long period without carbohydrates, the body does become transiently insulin resistant. This is not a pathological insulin resistance, but rather a physiological one. You see the same thing in long term keto people who score worse on an OGTT without a CHO run in period. Once CHO are reintroduced for a period of a couple of weeks and the body has time to recalibrate, insulin sensitivity is at a net positive. I'd like to see the same study done with a zero carb animal based refeed and see how things look.
Great catch, Jason. :)
Lots of folks who are long term keto are reporting their fasting glucose just keeps rising month after month.
It's not as if long term low carbohydrate increases IMTG,
and it's not as if higher IMTG is clearly associated with insulin intolerance.
actually, both of those are true.
IMTG is one of the major contributors to insulin resistance in T2 diabetes, keto diet or no keto diet. The fact that keto encourages greater IMTG than the SAD ...
"physiologic insulin resistance" ... giving something of concern a name and declaring it not an issue does not make it a non-issue.
just as a PS, I was on very strict keto for a long time in the early 2000s, and I was pretty blase about it, having convinced myself the down sides would eventually play out in better health.
I don't know how I convinced myself of that, or what I would have done with this information at that time - the information about IMTG was becoming better known and I found out about it towards the end of my keto phase, but it didn't convince me to end keto.
I'm hoping that this stuff is not long-term damaging to people because it would mean I didn't damage myself.
It definitely concerns me though.
I'm starting my water fasting this Monday
I don't understand a thing said here
I’m 3 days into strict water fast… mild dizziness at times and fatigue… lost 7.8 pounds in 3 days! Goal is 35 pounds and will likely require 21 days
How did it go?
@@mh9113 i didn’t make it to my goal unfortunately but lost 17 pounds in 10 days… regained about 5-6lbs. But back at it now started another session day 2!
Likely that 7.8 pounds was all water weight
Is it safe? Do you take any supplements? How do you replace electrolytes and nutrients without eating?
@@Payton35001yeah I heard in another vid they say in the beginning days it’s 75% water loss and 25% fat by weight. So they lost like 2lbs fat
Damn dude your channel is awesome and I love how you analyze the studies and help us understand them better.
Thank you - that means a lot to me, Weop.
Interesting, I completed a nine day water 💦 fast at True North, I had a positive experience. Look forward to more data releases of prolonged fasting and detailed blood work.
How did you do it without losing your mind?
@@timothygibney159it gets easier after 48 hrs.
@@timothygibney159Cut carbs out weeks prior and transition onto naturall ketones beforehand. It helps a lot. Also use electrolytes.
Woah, around 80% of the weight loss was fat loss??!? Fascinating…
Thanks for breaking down some of the particular measures, because I think it’s easier to make careful conclusions for the individual.
Good summary too, WTF is going on with that huge effect on IR?
This man needs his own Televsion series! Doing great work, Brotha 👍🏽✌🏽🙏🏽
That’s an estimate. It could be closer to 60-70%, but regardless, it’s large.
The IR will be explained next video.
Thanks, Hector!
@@Physionic I don't see how the assumption that muscle mass loss was low or mitigated makes sense. These people probably aren't resistance training, they suddenly stop consuming protein, carbs and fats entirely, experience rapid weight loss and then more than likely their activity levels drops drastically. Without a doubt their muscle mass would reduce substantially under those conditions.
@@TC-by3ilactually studies have shown that as long as people are able to move around as normal and go about their daily life they actually don’t lose very much if any muscle mass
@@TC-by3ilyou have plenty of energy when fasting if your overweight, I fasted for a week recently and went to the gym 3 days and long walks on the other days and I felt fine. Im going to do a 2 week fast next
@@TC-by3ilprobably but wouldn’t your body use body fat up first
I know I'm late to this vid, but omg it is so nice to see real studies supporting extended fasting! I'm currently on a 10 day fast. Not water only yet, because I do have coffee with stevia, cacao powder during the day. Then a diluted veggie broth with nutritional yeast.
I think after doing a couple of these i will be prepared for a true water fast.
With that said, seeing how much pure fat can potentially be lost is going to motivate me like crazy to get to that.
Fasting is also helping me me in other ways like being more disciplined and I'm abstaining from alcohol which is huge!
Nice I'm starting my 14 day keto coffee only fast
How is this fasting?
Please keep those comming man. I'm someone struggling from med induced damage and the first thing that got me a bit better was a 12day waterfast which led into a quite obsession about health knowledge. I've done now 5fasts, but they keep getting shorter cuz eventho I manage clear refeeds it's really hard on my mind. A clean diet and good lifestyle seems to only get me to a certain point , where I wanna hope that waterfasts might give me my health back someday^^
I certainly will. Glad it's helping.
Dang, good for you on doing that 12 day water fast and learning what works for you. My first test run was a 5 day fast and I'm still surprised how profound it was. How did you decide you were going to try an extended fast and how did you pick 12 days? I'm always interested in *how* we (people who do these experiments with our health) get through all the barriers to trying an experiment like this.
Jesus is the key to living a blessed life! Get a relationship with Jesus and fast in his name, God gives the best results,when fasting as a believer .
PFS??
I really enjoy your work. Thank you for the info. I've done alot of water fasting over the years. It's definitely helped me with alot of issues.
My pleasure, m rich - and, thank you.
For those with abnormal fluid balance (lipedema & lymphedema) water loss is one of the main reasons to utilize a low carb diet.
Eating a carnivore diet its been seemless going into a fast. Currently 97 hours in, so felt that incredible euphoria last night, feel great today too even after minimum sleep. I hope the difficulty sleeping reaolvea.
Doesn't, but once you do sleep, it's very deep with vivid complex dreams.
The results are interesting but they don't mean much to me because I don't know what they were eating for the weeks or months after the fasting ended, were they keto or carnivore or were they standard american diet where anything goes? Important for people to know this to put this fasting into context in an overall health building strategy. The idea isn't to fast M-F so you can be a party animal for the weekend at the lake. Fasting is part of taking the nutritional fork in the road and sticking by improved habits and in a lot of cases to cure chronic issues or potentially life threatening issues.
Really appreciate you laying out and explaining the data. Other TH-cam content for water fasting is too high level and simplistic.
Off topic, but why is he so handsome?! I'm in the middle of a long term fast so I'm bingeing on fasting videos.
Maybe you're fasting has you hallucinating😂 jk
The end result of the HOMR index actually surprised me. im looking forward to the explanation.
As always fantastic content.
Wow 😳 I’m intrigued for the next video 👏🏻🥰
I started a dry fast from Wed 9pm all the way till Thurs 9pm, then from Fri it was a wet fast, today is my 3rd day in. Omg being a T2D n anemic i feel extra fatigue, dizzy. I am keeping up with my electrolyte, 2 coffs. I get into ketosis around 12hr bc i get that mad patrol metallic taste in my mouth. Will eat Tues morning 6am start off with coff, pro shake or mush soup, than after a few hrs lunch time something light. 5 day fast, possibly might continue the fast until 7 days or 21 days. Lets see, goodluck guys.
these 2 videos were excellent info! Thanks!
Im on my 4th day! I add fresh lime juice and himalayan salt. I make colloidial silver and am also drinking that. I just drank some and it made me feel fantastic. It also does wonders for my succulent plant!
Another great video! I think the study is lacking in comparison, fasting compared to what? not even a control group? No body fat percentage measured? without Aminoacids from the food and apparently no resist training, the loss a muscle may be substancial, depending on how much was the refeed, they didnt get to the same level of glicogen stored.
Good points, KK. The control group aspect likely isn't an issue, because it's a pre vs post comparison; if they had additional conditions like calorie restriction, then a control group might be more valuable.
As for the body fat percentage measured - you're right, it would have been great to see that added, and without amino acids, to your point, they likely lost some muscle, but where that muscle comes from is also important (usually, one of the first sites of loss is in the intestines, not the skeletal muscle, although I wouldn't be surprised if they did lose some in their skeletal muscle, as well).
Great points!
• I am surprised I did a 5-day fast ! Day 6, my body/brain told me it's time to eat. Seems I lost approx. 1lb. fat per day - the rest is water and comes back.
This sounds like a much better experimental design with the post-refeed measurements. The post-reeders period might account for the discrepancies as well, possibly suggesting that certain bio marker changes during fasting are transient.
Thanks!
My pleasure.
Oh, and thank you for the support - just saw.
You are welcome!
Great video! Thanks for the information!
My pleasure, Mark!
Another great video mate. So well explained, and you spoke so clearly (and slowly). I am on Day 5 of a 30 day water fast; I'll let you know how I go :)
Thanks, Thomas - good luck on your water fast.
Congratulations, I am planning to fast for two weeks by the end of August
@@Physionic Hi again Nick, I completed the 30 day water fast back in June. Amazing experience. I journalled the entire journey and had routine blood tests done. It's n=1 so not statistically significant but it was interesting: Essentially my electrolytes were fine the whole way through (I didn't add any salt or electrolytes, I just drank bottled and mineral water). I lost 19kg, and regained about 4kg in water weight; so it was a fat loss of about 14-15kg.
😮😢😅😮😢😮😢😢😅😢😢😮🎉🎉😮😮😮😮😂😅😮😅😮😮😢😮😢😮😮🎉😮😮😢😅😮😢😢😮😅😢😢🎉😂😮😮😮🎉😮😮😊😮😮😢😮🎉😮😮🎉😢😮😮🎉😅😂😮😮😮😮😮😢😮😮😅😮😮😢😮😮
Idk if u have a support system but join a healthy alternative on Facebook
im f13 140lbs 5'4ft. i wanna do a 2 week water fast but idk if its safe. I will be also doing the chloe ting 2 week shred challange from 2019 to go along with it. im gonna update you guys when im done to see how much i have lost!!
Please don’t, you will hamper your physical development, no calorie restrictions unless overweight until you’re 19
You’re up on the higher end of healthy BMI, just stop eating junk food and start exercising should do it.
i ended up losing 22 pounds and my family noticed I wasn't eating anyway so I was eating like 900cals everyday and exercising 5 times a week plus i didn't eat junk or fast food in the first place so it was pretty easy to eat healthier.@@rod9829
looking forward to the next video
Great - tune in tomorrow.
You mean insulin sensitivity increased dramatically right which is good because then body can suck up more nutritional value from food alongside glucose
Were these people significantly overweight to start with? I wonder what the results would be for a lean person.
Yes, they were. Me too, Rose.
I'm a lean person doing a 2 week water fast currently. My goal is essentially for healing past joint injuries. Afterwards planning to do 2-3 day fasts every week or 2 while consuming the necessary nutrients to rebuild cartilage and strengthen tendons/ligaments.
How is it going? Any results yet?
Hi Nic enjoying your videos.
I like a few others would love more detail on the refeeding.
How did these participants continue to eat or what did they eat in the months afterwards.
How long after the refeed did they tested the HOMA-IR? While on ketosis most tissues become insulin resistant in order to spare the little available glucose for erythrocytes and astrocytes. The effect disappears after a day or so of eating carbs. Then if they tested immediately after refeeding the high HOMA-IR is expected.
Immediately after the refeed.
That's an excellent point, Mario - you're right.
I wonder if there is any research on the impact of the quality of the 'refeed' post fast. For example, the fast is controlled and consistent across all groups, then different groups consume a variety of refeed plans such as high protein, animal vs plant, high fat vs low fat. Low sugar vs low GI.
Also the impact of exercise during the fasting period on body composition. Some research seems to suggest that exercising at the end of a fast followed by a high protein meal then vegetables and fats leads to enhanced autophagy as well as improved muscle to fat recomposition and markers of metabolic health
It's a great question and it's an excellent study to investigate, but I can safely say that water fasting research is in its infancy and adding more layers at this point you won't find studies. Even the two we've covered here leave some to be desired.
@@Physionic in an N of 1 experiment, I do find that even I.F. such as OMAD spikes my blood sugar when I do consume calories unless I combine it with immediate activity to prime my muscles which seems to somewhat blunt the scary spike. If I also combine ACV, cinnamon and moringa too it seems to help off set this alittle
.
I hope that with CGMs that more data can be gathered in real time to create better information for research potential as well as help individuals themselves to use their own data to become a citizen scientist to improve their health.
Have you seen companies such as Inside Tracker and Levels and even ZOE which seem to be bringing this to the market in your part of the world? I wonder what your review on this is?
I haven't looked at those companies. I don't use a CGM - I think they're cool and can supply you with some data, but people misinterpret them all the time.
@@Physionic the really interesting part is when apps like Levels and Inside Tracker or Zoe compile data from other markers of blood, gut microbiome, genetics and sleep patterns
Quality of refeed is so important it can kill u..
Here you estimate that they lost over 16 pounds of bodyfat, but a video of yours from over a year ago highlighted people on a 10 day fast who lost an average of only 4 pounds of bodyfat. And another video from around that time focused on people who apparently lost about 1/2 pound of fat per day on their water fast. I would be curious to know your thoughts on the discrepancy. (16 pounds of fat vs. 4 pounds of fat on somewhat similar regimens, i.e. 14 days vs. 10 days).
I also recently heard a specialist in this area say that a pound of bodyfat can release a maximum of about 30 calories per day, suggesting that even people with 100 pounds of bodyfat couldn't lose over a pound of fat per day, which would accord with the findings of your aforementioned videos, but not this one. Do you have an opinion on that?
Good point, Karin. I think my estimation here is a bit high, considering I'm making particular assumptions (protein content loss, mass of the food in the stomach post-refeed, etc.). The other study still fed people a small amount, if I remember correctly. Also, the difference in fatness plays an important role, as well. If I had to guess, I'd say the real value is somewhere in the middle.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "release" a pound of bodyfat and the relationship to 30 calories a day (is that in the form of a slowing of metabolism?).
Love your channel.
Great video alwasy plesure to listen
Thanks, Jon!
Excellent video
How much pink Himalayan salt should you intake a day and how much water? Any recommendations
1/2 teaspoon per 2 liters of water
1/2 tsp salt, 1/2tsp food grade epson salt, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp KCl (salt substitute) + 1 gal distilled water per day = snake juice
Interesting segway from the earlier study ...5 days and beyond ..On On !!
I have begun hopefully a 14 day water fast. I am currently more than 24 hours in, I have done WFing before. Generally, I use spring water, not mineral water. I am very obese at 350 lbs, 6'4", roughly ~50% BMI. Any advice of contraindications beyond the normal to look out for, which are, as best I understand : vomiting, severe headaches, severe dizziness? Have you read or know of Dr. Goldhamer's studies or work? What is your opinion on his findings? Thanks for any time spent.
I haven't, but I expect to look into them. Good luck, Robert.
Those side effects are for low electrolytes
5:22 end
Ok going on a month long fast
The statement that 80% of weight loss is fat is misleading. At best, each day there can be about 0.4lb fat loss given caloric content in fat to support a human for a day (assuming no workout). So by 14 days i estimate at best 28% of the weight loss is fat given your 9kg/20lb total body mass loss in 2 weeks. The rest of the 72% is just water that will be gained back when resuming normal life (first week after). Why I'm saying that, to set expectations for people. Don't assume you can fast and most of the weight loss is fat. Most of it is water, which will help guide people to know how many fasting cycles are needed to acheive target weight. I recommend more frequent shorter durations (3-5 days)
Fat cells are mostly water.
Good videos pal
How did you keep up your physical training during this prolonged period of fasting? Was it all right? It would be interesting if you could talk a bit about it.
Wouldn’t the increased triglycerides and cholesterol be consistent with their body metabolising solely fat and some proteins for gluconeogenesis, there’s many doctors that note the likelihood is your body’s ketogenic system in effect and due to your body having a more free flow of fats for fuel it’s going to release a lot more into your bloodstream, it’s even been studied in some people although rare in a few people have been observed in a carnivoreous diet, it has also reduced the arterial plaque buildup not just significantly slowed it
They screwed themselves over by giving them plants for their refeeding period.
I have 100lbs to lose. What’s the best fasting regimen would you recommend?
Just eat less and move more. You have too much to lose to get specific. Take steps.
@@e-8715
That's like saying live old horse and you will get grass.
Its not helpful at all.
there's a difference btween pathalogical insulin resistance and non pathelogical. . hence why coming out of a fast u need to slowly introduce carbs.
Hey Nic, hope you're doing well.
Do you have any conclusions / recommendations about fasting for folks in their 50s and later?
Attia used to recommend it but appears to be actively discouraging it now because the strength, mobility and weight losses cannot be easily recovered by the elderly.
I don't know what his age cutoff is though, might not be in the 50s.
That’s a great question, Sam. I think it depends on the person, but I think it’s more helpful than disruptive for anyone in their 50s. I think once you get into your 70s, there would be extra precautions one should take. The strength and weight loss aspects are concerns when you aren’t doing anything to maintain them, so Attia brings up a great point. I’ll create some content on this, because it’s important to point out.
@@Physionic Thanks.
yes, the major population-wide events happen in the 70s.
I've been thinking late 50s because of the major reduction in testosterone in the 40s & early 50s will make it harder to regain lost tissue / strength, but
@@lowbarbillcraig3689 I am in my early 50s with good test levels for my age of 600. I am 5ft 7in and weigh about 74kgs with around 10% body fat and a good amount of lean muscle. I have done a lot of weight training over the course of my life and active sports like surfing and some martial arts but stopped weights a few years back and switched to mainly Pilates, yoga and primal movement based exercise. I also take ashwaganda, tulsi, ginseng and zinc among others and probiotics. Just thought this might be helpful to any older blokes here wanting to fast and hold onto muscle. Oh forgot to mention I do intermittent fasting and eat organic. Stay away from sprayed foods. Glyphosate is an estrogen agonist and will wreck your body, especially sperm production and your prostate. ☮️
Where can I find your next video after this please? I'm on a water fast for just over 2 weeks due to upcoming surgery.
Great info but the use of dull out at the end definitely has a double meaning . Geesh consider doing sleep videos?
Yeah because their muscles were use to uaing ketones as fuel to save glucose for the parts of the body that has to have glucose. So to then start eating a bunch of carbs the muscles wont respond because and absorb as much, so it stays in the blood.
Heavy on fruits and vegetables refeed? Yikes. Protein should be the first refeed food for muscle repair.
Why? Muscles are made of amino acids that are available from vegetables too
Refeeding with carbs will increase the probability of suffering complications from refeeding syndrome
Have a trial on prolonged water fast and improvement of soft plaque and hard plaque. Atherosclerosis
Thanks
Good series Nic. 👍
I hope you'll do one for dry fasting too.
Ok, ok stop shouting, I know you're busy. :)
....btw for anyone out there, doing water fast beyond 5 days will drastically cause muscle loss and is not advised, so don't get over excited and go for 2 weeks people, it may do you some harm.
@L D Hi, I'm sorry I didn't quite understand, care to explain?
would i be correct in assuming that the people/women in that study were taking any electrolytes or assisting supplements of any particular type?
i'm gearing up for trying my first 2 weeks here in a couple months and would love any advice (practicing pf and ef for 2years, mostly in the 48hr-7day zones)
How would you even measure insulin resistance while fasting? You have minimal if any insulin production?
Did you do a video about insulin resistance after fasting uet? I completed a 7 day water fast and ate high fiber, high peotein, low carb for a week after. I've been slowly re introducing carbs back into my diet and my blood sugar is spiking exponentially in the morning, so much so that Im waking up after 4 hours of aleep and cant go back to sleep. Now my whole body system is off and it's causing significant underproduction from me at work. I feel so defeated, stressed, and I don't know what to do. I started back on metformin to help with this and got some berberine but now I'm in a stress cycle which is causing me to crave carbs and I just dont have the discipline to handle this stress from the side effects of the blood sugar spike.
Same thing happened to me when I first tried 9 days water fasting. I learned that my body was still in carbs carving mode and not fat adapted stage(the function which I had lost while being a carbs addict for over 40 years and being a diabetic over 10 years). After couple months later, I started a Keto diet for 2 full months and another month of alternate day fasting followed while being on keto. The followed(second attempt) fasting which lasted 11 days was very, very easy without any issues. Only problem I had while fasting was being extremely bored. Anyway, before going on prolong water fasting, make sure your body is completely over carbs addiction and restored fat adaptedmetabolic function. Also, the way I re-introduced some carbs back to my diet was, consuming a small portion of my favorite fruits 20 minutes before my weight lifting work-out or 1 hour jogging. Now, I am still on keto diet and only carbs I consume is fermented vegetables(Keto korean Kim-chi and sauerkraut). Once a week, I consume my favorite fruits before work-out since I do not want my body forget how to utilize carbs. So far no blood sugar spikes like the first water fasting and no crazy carving for carbs. When My first water-fasting ended, I remember going after cookies and chips and gained all the weights back within 2 weeks. I think you should have done high protein(fat), low(no carbs whatsoever other than vegetables) carbs diet before the fasting.. not after. Your body still wants to use carbs as a main source of energy and 9 days fasting is not enough to become metabolically flexible. It took decades to ruin the system and to recover... I guess it will take at least a few years. I do look forward becoming metabolically healthy again wiyjout limiting healthy carbs but my realistic expectation is on a very far horizon. Good luck to you and take care.
@@ryanlee1353Great information! I’m attempting a 10 day fast and your experience is very helpful to keep in mind.
@@SomeoneSomewhere1984 How did it go? I'm on Day 3 of a planned 14-day water fast w/electrolytes.
@@Cosmo-Kramer I did not finish the 10 days straight, but I have been doing rolling fasts with varying lengths. Some days are OMAD, some 44/4, some 68/4, and next week I’m starting (3 90/6 rolling fasts. This has been working for me.
@@SomeoneSomewhere1984 Cool. Maybe I'll try rolling fasts sometime. Right now I'm on Day 6 of a planned 10-14 day fast. My record, achieved twice, is 7.5 days.
Aloha,
Can you pleaaase share the best thing to Refeed with after a 14 day water only fast??? There’s so many mixed views out there…
I’m wondering if when coming off a fast of 3, 5 or more days that returning to feeding with just initially a small, low carb meal and just slowly increasing the meal size to normal while keeping the feedings to low/no carb would reduce the post-fast triglyceride and insulin spikes.
This is crazy we don’t have more studies on water fasting when the early humans have been water fasting since day one of human beginning, it’s literally the oldest form of dieting in the world but yet it’s studied the less this so much stigma behind it, but no stigma behind over eating I don’t get it But that ain’t mine I went from being 316 pounds down to 174 pounds by water fasting for seven days every month
Did they take electrolytes during their fast? I'd also be interested in knowing where the fat loss occurred. Was it subcutaneous, visceral, liver fat, or all of the above?
Should you be weight training while water fasting? Would that just increase catabolism? Or if you're weight training should you do a protein sparing modified fast?
Using muscles during a fast prevents them from getting eaten.
Doesn’t it make sense to re-feed with a Longo-type regimen to not shock the body? This is an odd study.
I think something a bit more gradual would have been nice.
When you say "only water" does that mean no electrolytes and would that not be dangerous in the wild and out of the chair?
Yeah refeed with an only glucose diet and Wonder why insulin résistance came back lmao
wowowo, wait a minute, what about calories? Does they matter? I mean, you do not consume food, yes, but on the other hand when you do, you shouldn't get fat after eating normal amount of calories, per say 1.400 and to get fat like you eat 3 tumes more than that? I am confused?
how do you get to the assumption, that little muscle mass was lost during that time?
i´d be afraid that most of the weight loss was muscle mass
From previous literature I've read. Muscle mass is largely preserved and fat mass is sacrificed. That's not to say there isn't some muscle loss, but it's much lower than fat loss.
Essentially still do light resistance training during the fast to preserve as much muscle as possible. It tells the body that its important to keep the muscles and find other resources in the body to use instead.
Nick I can’t find any material from you to refeeding period, but I just might be in hurry.
Why would u go with a plant based diet?? Right back to carbs. Get u some good breads and oatmeal to so u can b right back where u were!!!
What about prolonged water fasting and gallbladder health? Is it true that water fasting is harmful in terms of supporting the formation of gallstones due to thickening of bile?
Any study on prolonged water fast and soft plaque using CIMT?
My eyes turned yellow after 4 days of water fasting is that normal?
my friend what about the fact that Im 64 your a younag man , if I fast one day I feel like i might die
Its ok if someone is 69kg and 1.63 height with low resistance to insulin to fast over 1 week? Its healthy and how possible is to lose body fat and not weigh from water?
How about people like me with already low preassure? mine is 11 to 6. I did 9 day + 2 day re-feed water fasting. AND I have Bradicardi. My pulse drops to 43 while sleeping (Around 10 minutes only though)
But what are they eating that is the issue
Hi Physcionic, unfortunately I am very insuline resistant, could you please give me some advice on how to maintain weightloss with fasting? I'm actually tired of gaining all the weight back after my extended fasts. Would ADF be a good option? Thank you
Yes, it would.
@@Physionic Do I need to stop eating carbs while on ADF or is that only for prolonged fasting?
U can cut out the carbs for a week or two n see how u feel..I did omad only protein n green veggies n my a1c lowered a lot...dr.berg has a lot of video on it
@@savagestation7153
Depends what kind of carbs. Veg's are fine. Grains, not so much. Fruit is bad.
Look up the Glycemic Index and choose foods with small numbers.
@physionic I had a stroke March last year and have left Carotid artery fully blocked, am taking something that will stop the clot from breaking off and straight to the brain, I want to know if I did a 2 week or maybe prolong fasting will this cause issues with this? Especially in terms of autophagy cleaning etc. In terms of my body am 183cm tall weighting currently 116 kg so am looking at water fasting to reset my body and loose weight (Not full purpose of the fast). Many thanks in advance.
What about muscle loss on a long fast
How can I b a participant in water fasting
what is more likely for the markedly reduced SBP, improved elasticity of aorta(a good thing) or reduced Force of contraction of heart( a bad thing, similar to heart failure)
may also be due to reduced BP set point of baroreceptors. That may be a good thing.
But is the insulin resistance temporary or permanent?
That's a good question - tune in tomorrow. :)
Re feeding syndrome ?
how can it be that the majority was fat loss? isnt the body feeding on muscles faster?
Absolutely, but muscle loss will never outpace fat loss.
Heart is a muscle too. Does it man there is a risk for heart dystrophy?
Are you dutch?
I have some Dutch background, but I'm mostly German.
@@Physionic Cool. your surname is Dutch, more specifically Flemish
If they were not in ketosis the study falls abit flat.
Is that insulin resistance that you mention good?
Hey.i don't know if u would answer me but i willquestion ask my anyway..do u think it is a safe thing to do for someone who has hypothyroidism?
5 months later, but I'd like to answer this way: TH-cam comments are not the place to get medical advice. Somebody with your condition may be able to fast safely, or may not. Best advice... talk to your doctor about it.
Terrible idea to break a fast with plant foods
Anyone ever tell you that you look just like Phil Hellmuth?
A fat white guy? First time! ;-P
You are a beautiful man
Fasting then continuing to eat carbage is pointless. Fasting was only effective in the long term for me when I went keto between fasts. The carbage brings your insulin right back up.
PS: As for the cholesterol, BS Dave Feldman's very scientific site, Cholesterol Code, will clue you in on what's being found there.
First Video in the Series (5 Day Water Fast): th-cam.com/video/L7dvHq5OLuE/w-d-xo.html
Next Video (Increased Insulin Resistance Explained): th-cam.com/video/_QNDsulKFrw/w-d-xo.html
First
Haha, yes.
I was thinking a 7 day fast once a month or 2 4s and if 1 7 maybe 1 extra 3-4 day too
Better to be in autophagy for an extra day or two better to have more and more once or a spike twice yeah 10 days a month for 6-12 months to do a 2 week or 30 day once I could do it by continuing a fast and finishing the other in between another
I don't know what my muscle mass is but I'm 120KG when I started sunday night now about 12 hours left to finish 105 hours water fasting.
about 100 days fasting a year and the 30 would give you a third a year nearly of healing with some time in super healing.
I gor 40kg at a 33% bodyfat I was about 160kg at 40% years back but never went gym so i probably so I need to lose about 30KG as well as gain the health benefits
Now a new thing about very long fast so maybe stick to 2 2 week fasts a year instead of a 30 due to insulin resistance spike??
This is the fourth video I've talked on with some good ideas, Here's the last and you can see (someone in this world) some ideas of simple super energy
th-cam.com/video/-WnjnpjbJ2Q/w-d-xo.html