Fasting and Mental Health
One of the fasting forums I follow (based on Dr. Fung's methods) has a rule that forbids discussion of fasts that last longer than 7 days.
Why? It's not because the act itself is physically dangerous (unless, possibly, you're a type 1 diabetic). The world record for fasting is a staggering 388 days. Most people I know struggle to go past about 36 hours, though lots of us have pushed past that to achieve 3-5 day fasts fairly regularly. The problem comes in on the mental health side, so let me just say this very clearly:
If you have a history of disordered eating, obsessive-compulsive behaviour, or serious emotional instability, you should be careful with extreme dietary changes and with fasting. If you fear that you will find fasting addictive in some way, or become afraid to eat (anything!), then you should seek pyschological guidance before making any extreme lifestyle changes. And obviously, it should go without saying that if you specifically have suffered from anorexia in the past, fasting should be approached with extreme caution and medical guidance.
People sometimes ask me what the difference between starving yourself and fasting is. I would say that true starvation is not something that most people reading this blog have ever experienced. Starvation is the inability to find adequate sustenance. Fasting is a controlled, deliberate choice to abstain from eating - not out of a need to punish oneself or compensate for having eaten, but for an array of reasons ranging from religious/spiritual discipline to health-related reasons such as lowering insulin production, promoting ketosis, promoting autophagy (cellular detoxification), and a number of other benefits. Fasting and following specific, self-imposed dietary choices are about making deliberate choices rather than losing control and being slaves to our impulses. It's about actively taking control of when to feast and when to abstain. It's about maintaining a controlled balance.
If you'll allow me the comparison, it's a bit like social media: some people find that they lack the ability to exercise control over how and how much they use it, and find it better to restrict their use of sites like Facebook and Twitter (and others) completely. I have a personality that tends a bit toward extremes, myself, and for me this act of maintaining balance is as much a mental/emotional discipline as the fasting and way of eating itself. It's easier to be obsessively restrictive and more difficult to find a middle way between fasting and feasting, but there's a more general life lesson in there, too.
I don't use fasts to punish myself for excesses, and I don't have cheat meals because I lost control of my impulses: I plan. That's all it is. I plan for vacations and holiday times, and I plan for periods of greater discipline.
The bottom line is simple: if you have any reason to fear that you will go too far with your fasting, then ask for a professional opinion before trying it. That said, I do think that the majority of adults are very much capable of finding a healthy balance. Remember also that the practise is called "intermittent" fasting. Extended fasting (which I've also talked about!) has a lot of benefits, too, but for the most part we're talking about on and off eating, 24-42 hours at a time for the most part, not periods of weeks or months. Know yourself and know your triggers, obviously, and find yourself whatever support you need. Be safe, folks!
Why? It's not because the act itself is physically dangerous (unless, possibly, you're a type 1 diabetic). The world record for fasting is a staggering 388 days. Most people I know struggle to go past about 36 hours, though lots of us have pushed past that to achieve 3-5 day fasts fairly regularly. The problem comes in on the mental health side, so let me just say this very clearly:
If you have a history of disordered eating, obsessive-compulsive behaviour, or serious emotional instability, you should be careful with extreme dietary changes and with fasting. If you fear that you will find fasting addictive in some way, or become afraid to eat (anything!), then you should seek pyschological guidance before making any extreme lifestyle changes. And obviously, it should go without saying that if you specifically have suffered from anorexia in the past, fasting should be approached with extreme caution and medical guidance.
People sometimes ask me what the difference between starving yourself and fasting is. I would say that true starvation is not something that most people reading this blog have ever experienced. Starvation is the inability to find adequate sustenance. Fasting is a controlled, deliberate choice to abstain from eating - not out of a need to punish oneself or compensate for having eaten, but for an array of reasons ranging from religious/spiritual discipline to health-related reasons such as lowering insulin production, promoting ketosis, promoting autophagy (cellular detoxification), and a number of other benefits. Fasting and following specific, self-imposed dietary choices are about making deliberate choices rather than losing control and being slaves to our impulses. It's about actively taking control of when to feast and when to abstain. It's about maintaining a controlled balance.
If you'll allow me the comparison, it's a bit like social media: some people find that they lack the ability to exercise control over how and how much they use it, and find it better to restrict their use of sites like Facebook and Twitter (and others) completely. I have a personality that tends a bit toward extremes, myself, and for me this act of maintaining balance is as much a mental/emotional discipline as the fasting and way of eating itself. It's easier to be obsessively restrictive and more difficult to find a middle way between fasting and feasting, but there's a more general life lesson in there, too.
I don't use fasts to punish myself for excesses, and I don't have cheat meals because I lost control of my impulses: I plan. That's all it is. I plan for vacations and holiday times, and I plan for periods of greater discipline.
The bottom line is simple: if you have any reason to fear that you will go too far with your fasting, then ask for a professional opinion before trying it. That said, I do think that the majority of adults are very much capable of finding a healthy balance. Remember also that the practise is called "intermittent" fasting. Extended fasting (which I've also talked about!) has a lot of benefits, too, but for the most part we're talking about on and off eating, 24-42 hours at a time for the most part, not periods of weeks or months. Know yourself and know your triggers, obviously, and find yourself whatever support you need. Be safe, folks!
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