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Comment by nck4222 | Hacker News Reader

I'm not trying to disparage fasting, who am I to say it hasn't helped you, or others?

That being said you call it a health tool, and then say it produces stress, which has been documented as being extremely detrimental to health. You also mention, being unable to focus, and being wired.

I'm glad it's helped you, but this endorsement makes me question the health benefits more actually, and makes me less interested in trying it.

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This is only one study, but there's some evidence that stress and the belief that stress is detrimental are correlated with detrimental health effects [1]. In other words, there may be a negative placebo effect at play where its less to do with the stress and more to do with how you respond to it.

Now, consider that fasting (and, really, consistent exercise as well) is correlated with high self-control and an internal belief that you're doing this to improve your physical health. The worst kind of Stress is stress from sources you can't control, but you have complete control over what you eat.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374921/

> That being said you call it a health tool, and then say it produces stress, which has been documented as being extremely detrimental to health.

The dose makes the poison. Not enough stress has been shown to be extremely detrimental to health too (Fitness training produces stress. Take your pick of studies showing that you should still do it).

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