To think a starvation diet isn't healthy?

[TillyMint81]

A friend of a friend was recently telling me that she had spent three days eating nothing at all and just drinking water. She was doing it to lose weight and said it was a great way of doing it.
I sort of 'hmmm'ed and came away thinking it sounded unhealthy both physically and mentally.
I once did the 24 hour sponsored fast as a teen and by the end of that I felt ropey and dizzy. I'm not sure I could manage three days and work too!

YANBU, of course it isn't healthy. Does she do this often?

She will say it is detoxing or we were not meant to eat as much as we do these days fasting is blah de blah, of course you are not being unreasonabe but if you say anything you will be in the wrong so nodding and umming is the best way to go.

It's none of your business really.

People have fasted for religious reasons for centuries.

Well the friend has told op about it so has made it her business. I'd probably um and ah too OP because if I said what I thought, it wouldn't go down too well!

I don't know of any religion that eats nothing for 3 days

A friend of mine reckons she’s going to give a 30 day water fast a go and listed off these supposed health benefits. My head nodded along but my face couldn’t keep from displaying my true thoughts which are ‘what a fucking stupid idea.’

Why’s wrong with eating healthily and exercising?!

Why’s wrong with eating healthily and exercising?!

Many overweight people find it difficult, that's what's wrong.
It can be easier not to eat anything.
It's a huge challenge to exercise if you're very unfit.
Eating healthily involves thinking about food, planning meals, and the constant temptation to eat more.

I don't know of any religion that eats nothing for 3 days

Actually fasting is not uncommon, and some Christian churches are proponents of fasts lasting anywhere between one meal and 3 days.

Know the feeling op. My colleague is on a liquid diet as she wants to lose weight quickly but she seems completely obsessed with food and exercise now. It doesn’t sound healthy at all, and I should know as that’s the sort of thing I did when I had an ED.

What winds me up a little bit is that we are the same size and she keeps talking about how much she needs to lose and how chubby she is. We’re both a size 8 or less. I’m finally quite happy with how I look but the constant “eww I’m fat” is annoying. I reckon nothing wrong with getting fit and healthy but when you’re going on a starvation diet it affects your brain as well and makes you obsessed with food (and turns you into a bit of a knob). Obviously you can’t say much apart from the “hmmm” and “ahh”, which is what I’m doing too.

Fasting for days or weeks for spiritual reasonshas been around for centuries.

Not great as a strategy for weight loss though, IMHO.

I don't think it's healthy, but being overweight isn't healthy, either. I'm morbidly obese and I'm finding it easier to restrict my calories dramatically and lose weight fast, than to do anything more gradual. It's easier to keep it up when you see results. Maybe she's the same? Anyway, ultimately, everyone has a different approach to keeping themselves 'healthy' and we all need to learn to to judge.

Surely she will just be starving though so over eat on day 4 and by the end of the week have put it all back on?

Fairly similar to the 5:2 diet which has been popular for ages and shown to have some health benefits. The question is how long is she intending to fast? Also what will she eat when not fasting.

I know religious fasting is restricting food but like i said I don't know any religion that eat nothing for 3 days, not that I would agree with depriving your body of fuel for god or weightloss.

Fairly similar to the 5:2 diet

5:2 calls for restricted calories 2 non-consecutive days a week, not 3 days straight with no food. That's pretty different.

There is a difference between starving yourself and doing a clean fast - which has many health benefits .

Watch the documentary “the science of fasting “ .

I do about 1-2 a year and really enjoy it

It’s stupid and dangerous to not eat a single thing for 3 days. Her internal organs will be suffering from
Having zero energy sources to help them function properly.

Yes the5/2 food is still going in I think 5/2 is meant to regulate your thinking about food

Depends if she is going to do it regularly every week or its just a one off thing to kickstart her diet.

There's a 'right' way to fast though.

You're meant to prepare the body for a few days before the fast. Eating light highly nutritional whole foods and reducing fat, salt and sugar. Upping hydration ect. Planning the time to avoid physical and mental stress while the fast lasts.

Coming off the fast should be controlled too. A reverse of the run up. Building up food intake and physical effort gradually.

You really shouldn't just get on one day and decide not to eat till next Wednesday while rushing about to work and doing the school run!

Probably tmi but I am just recovering from d&v. I’m exhausted. How anyone could not eat willingly is beyond me.

Yes I know but we don’t know if this person has prepared or not .

Some people do 12 day fasts as a holiday in Germany 🇩🇪 there are lots of retreats !

All of the above posters stating how damaging it is should watch the documentary and read some of the many available academic journals discussing fasting

There’s a YouTuber called abbey sharp who’s a registered dietitian and she does loads of videos on Fad diets. She did one on fasting for 3 solid days and it actually wasn’t enough to cause any damage, and does detox the body, but she wouldn’t have recommended it for a multitude of reasons, mostly being because it isn’t a healthy mindset.

That sounds amazing and well done to your DB