The Benefits From My 5 Day Water Fast

I’ve been interested in fasting a long time, and was even one of the few that adopted intermittent fasting long before it was popular.

To me, fasting made sense - take a break from food and just allow your body to heal and reset.

But then after overdoing intermittent fasting and combining it with low carb dieting and way too much exercise, I started to burn out and had to take a break from it.

Earlier this year, however, I began reading a short book called “The Fasting Cure” by Upton Sinclair, where he details his healing experiences with prolonged fasting, along with stories of many people who wrote him letters. I also watched the documentary “Fasting”, and decided I wanted to see if fasting could benefit me.

After all, fasting is an ancient tradition. It’s something that people have been using for both spiritual health and physical health since time immemorial, and that should not be discounted.

So I embarked on a 5-day water fast a couple of weeks ago, and detailed my experiences. I wanted to make sure I refed properly, since I believe that is crucial for making the benefits stick.

In this video, I share my experiences doing a 5-day water fast, and introduce some new nutritional ideas and concept to the mix, which I’ll be doing full videos on in the near future.

Enjoy!

[xxcc-cy]

I use fasting(16-48hr) to mediate energy excess problem when my expenditure is not high.
Whole body just feels more and more slow & bloated when i am not doing much, and i find that i tend to eat more to compensate the lethargy which makes it worse long term.
Fasting is like a low-stress low-intensity Cardio to me.

[dbo]

Interestingly enough, I've heard interesting things from Ray about fasting over the past 2 years in interviews. He's mentioned something about how supplying minerals during the fast leads to 95% fat loss and not tissue loss (i.e. thymus). So drinking mineral water like you did was probably a really good move. Making a special mineral & electrolyte blend might to drink during fast might be an interesting idea.

What I love about Ray is that he isn't dogmatic at all, and he wrote to someone in the past that he thought ketones were a very protective fuel, but that in most people he was worried about the stress metabolism needed to get to ketone production.

Georgi also posted something last year about how the benefits of fasting come from significantly lowering the endotoxin and allowing the intestinal wall to heal from irritation. I wonder if taking a little dissolved aspirin or vitamin E daily during the fast could make it even safer, by preventing too much FFA. Personally I did a lot of fasting a couple years ago, when I was also a vegan. I was much healthier then, and my health is probably too shaky now to attempt it.

[unmovable]

Really looking forward to more content like this! The video was awesome!

[stephen]

Hey Tim, useful video. I really enjoyed the Truth Nutra Master Your Gut course btw

[dovydasnesvarbu]

Hey Tim, I have some questions! Would be really thankful for your answer !!
1) The Randle cycle.. Carb and Fat competition . According to some leads to insulin resistance, fat storage and endotoxemia, others say it's bogus and myth. What do you think - is it true or no? Is it really better to eat something like 80g of carbs and 10g of fat or vice versa (more KETOish), say 40-50g of fat and 5-10g of carbs, primarily in fiber form OR vs a "Western" type of meal say cheese sandwich - 60g carbs : 30g fat. 
What do you think are the ideal macronutrient ratios for daily intake and for one-meal intakes in order to have good insulin sensitivity, metabolic and thyroid health?
2) What is the good calcium to phosphorus ratio for optimal metabolism?
3) What is a good range for morning, day or evening temperature or pulse for proper metabolism / thyroid function?

Thank you !!!

[johnlocke]

Good video. I thought you were very much against fasting due to the big increase in stress hormones; adrenaline, cortisol etc?

[elibenson]

Looking forward to the videos coming up! Very good stuff. I benefited greatly from 3 day water fasts and do it a few times per year (plus a weekly one day fast). As you mentioned, respecting a fast is crucial. Keep it coming man 💪🏻

[RD-uskb]

The benefits peak at 72 hrs (growth hormone, metabolic boost etc) and then metabolic rate reduces.

[Glockward]

What about the Ray Peat stuff? I thought you were against fasting and stressing your body

[markaguilera]

Have you heard of Loren Lockman? He makes a living out of making people fast. He's a bit of a fringe practitioner and yet has interesting things to say. He rarely goes below 11 days which is for him when the magic and healing really starts.

[shanyaraleonie]

really appreciate your honesty and clear, straight forward and in depth way of speaking and explaining.whats your opinion on a water fast for women (with hormone imbalances/issues)?

[HeightenedLiving]

Damn love this. Thank you for the learnings brother

[vinscv]

And what do you think about intermitent fasting every day, 16/8, would It be good to reduce the amount of bacteria, get Rif of endotoxins, etc?

[dbo]

I feel like 15 minutes is the ideal video length. 10 minute is too short, 20+ is too long, 15-20 is long enough to sitdown and enjoy content.

[vinscv]

Is It beneficial for someone who have symptoms of low metabolic state?
And constantly symptoms of endotoxins?

[luckbox]

Hi Tim, are you aware of the Newcastle Study?

[empresslove]

This is very interesting and informative Thankyou!! I was just wondering if I could get similar benefits of fasting just by implementing your re-feeding foods and having those for maybe a month with plenty of water and only eating when I’m hungry and fasting for maybe 24 hours before ingesting any of these things? My job is very active and I don’t think I’d be able to do a water fast for five days i’m also a massive caffeine junkie and it terrifies me to completely stop taking in caffeine I’d imagine the headaches will be atrocious!! But I can certainly cut down to one or 2 cups a day what are your thoughts on this please?

[xyzcrw]

Just curious what your thoughts are on a vegan diet based on fruits, vegetables, starches, possibly legumes but without any PUFA. Would this be doable or are the animal nutrients necessary or could you pull it off with just some vitamin D3 and B12 supplemented? Just pure curiosity.

[guillaumeblondiau]

Amazing video. Love how thorough you are with your explanations. Would you recommend a water fast for someone that is underweight ? I have a really hard time to keep my weight up no matter how much a I eat. I think fasting could potentially resolve some issues I have but worried I would lose too much weight.

[johnlocke]

Any noticeable weight loss benefits? I don't directly due to the calorie deficit of the fast but afterwards from increased metabolism etc.