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Comment by psychphysic | Hacker News Reader

Good lord! 10 days no calorific intake?

I just ended a 16 day fast today. Any caloric intake was limited to miso soup broth (< 35 cals) and a pickle every few days. Lots of coffee, black tea, some diet sports drinks and water (with electrolytes added). Was surprisingly easy, physically, but I also have a relatively high BMI. I ended because 1) it gets very boring, 2) I was constantly consumed with the idea that I was in a fast -- it could basically crowd out any other thoughts and my work suffered a bit.

Thanks for sharing. I was always wondering why I was so distracted while fasting. But it looks to be normal thing.

I would categorize the mental focus struggle into two parts, the first being the first four days of the fast, where I was in an almost anxious, reflexive state of wanting to end the fast. After the fourth day this quickly gave way to a low level hum of fasting related thoughts. Kind of like the difference between acute, sharp pain and a dull aching pain.

I'm curious to know how your experience ending it today is like compared to before you started it. Do you feel like it's easier or harder to eat less compared to before your fast?

Easier to eat less by nature since my stomach is smaller, but overall I would say there is no expectation that the fast would magically regulate my an unhealthy relationship with food/consumption. My poor habits have to be addressed separately (particularly my beer consumption rose quite a bit in the last few years).

The fast served as a kickstart toward weight loss and in a way a test of my resolve.

I'm continuing to fast fwiw, doing what is known as "rolling 48s" which is just a large meal every other day. I went for a couple mile jog last night after starting to eat again and felt pretty good so I'm going to keep doing that while fasting for short periods and see where this takes me.

Curious why the pickle?

I craved salt bombs and the vinegar was a nice touch too. They are pretty negligible calorie sources and livened up the doldrums a bit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Barbieri's_fast

> Died: 7 September 1990 (aged 50–51)

Odd how this part often gets ignored when his example is cited.

Well, he lived for a long time at >200kg (>450lbs), and lost over 120kg (270lbs).

It's not a surprise that his lifespan was shorter than average.

Given his death was a quarter of a century after he finished his fast, I'm not sure it makes the causal implication you are suggesting.

> It's not a surprise that his lifespan was shorter than average.

Given all of the purported health benefits of fasting I see touted on HN, and given how long he fasted, if anything I'd expect him to have lived to 100.

Well he would have if he didn't start eating again.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21673486

Allegedly health problems from obesity and stomach bleeding killed him. Questionably related to the fast,probably related to the health problems that got him to do the fast in the forst place.

That was 25 years after his fast, but there have been other cases with complications

E.g. one lady (1st case in the lnk below) who fasted for 4 months ended up in the hospital for 3 weeks with cardiac arrhythmias and they also found her heart tissue muscles were scared and filled with holes (I believe thats what vacuolated means)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1238550/pdf/wes...

I'm a fan of a 7 day prolonged fast, but not for anything longer

Without any cause listed dying at 50-51 is not rare at all and should not be assumed to be related to a particular cause. In fact, life expectancy of those born on 1940 was 60.8 years, making it within 10 year of the average, something totally normal IMHO (it's like today, with a 78-year life expectancy, someone dying at 68 years old, totally not surprising).

Life expectancy is a tricky stat. One of those cases where mean vs median vs mode is really important. Especially when talking about a period anchored in a global conflict with vast civilian casualties.

25 years after the fast. Are you implying fasting reduces lifespan? Because that would be an hilariously first world concept.

"Remember, to be healthy you need to have 5 small meals during the day. Don't let yourself get hungry," cry the Western dieticians.

If you don't have a metabolic disorder and you have enough body fat, the remaining concern is water and electrolytes.

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