How long can you not eat for?

[Andsoitbegins3]

Hi

this is going to sound a bit daft but I thought I’d ask here since it’s anonymous. How long can you go without eating without being unwell/fainting/not being well?

the reason I ask is NOT because I have an eating disorder etc, it’s just I get really badly upset stomachs (IBS) and the only way I can stop the cramps, discomfort and pain is to fast and only drink water. Sometimes doing it for a day is long enough to let my stomach settle but other times it has to be for a few days, the longest I’ve had was 3 of 4. If I eat ANYTHING in this time I’ll get the most horrendous cramps so I completely lose my appetite and don’t even want to eat. Fasting seems to let my stomach reset itself and go back to normal. I don’t have any issues with my weight and I’m not trying to lose weight, but I’m worried about not eating for several days in case it makes me unwell etc, as I thought if you didn’t eat for a few days you would feel sick/faint but actually that hasn’t happened so presumably it’s fine? It’s the only way I’ve been able to stop the cramps and when I’m nervous I completely lose my appetite altogether, so presumably it’s fine as long as I’m still drinking which I am, and as long as I’m not unwell, which I’m not? Usually I feel slightly hungry for a day after starting the fast and then it subsides by day 2 and I can start trying to introduce food again. I just don’t want to make myself unwell/ faint/ be more sick by fasting when I’m doing it in the first place to stop myself feeling unwell, but presumably it’s ok if I haven’t been unwell so far and it’s only occasionally that it’s up to 3/4 days? If it ever lasted more than 4 days I would obviously go to the doctor because I know that’s too long to fast

TIA x

I basically crawled to my kitchen recently because I missed lunch and was a shaky, dizzy mess.

I do have friends who regularly fast because it gives them energy, clears their head, etc. I'll never understand how it's possible (I'm sure I'd be dead if I tried) but it works well for them.

I don't know how long you could comfortably manage without food but it only takes 3 days for me to reset my body in that time I've lost the bloat, and stomach upsets have gone and I see it as starting again.
I also suggest the low fodmap diet as it helps me.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blog/2018/02/story-angus-barbieri-went-382-days-without-eating/#:~:text=We%20can%20all%20get%20a,hours%20since%20we%20last%20ate.

Guy above - 382 days! True story

I can skip a meal or 2 and not feel shaky or moody (unlike DH) but if I skip eating for too long I will most likely end up with a migraine.

I have IBS.

I use fasting to help control it if it's really bad. Just helps settle it.

I drink tea with lots of sugar if I feel weak, or medical meal replacement drinks (complan and the like).

TBH if my IBS is bad I often feel really nauseaous and don't want to eat.

Can you take those rehydration sachets, op? I’ve found them handy when I can’t eat for a few days, as otherwise my electrolytes can go out of whack. They also seem to help with blood sugar.

You've inspired me to go and look now - it is actually a recognised therapy for IBS that has been researched

Kanazawa M, Fukudo S. Effects of fasting therapy on irritable bowel syndrome. Int J Behav Med. 2006;13(3):214-20. doi: 10.1207/s15327558ijbm1303_4. PMID: 17078771.

Suggests that it works quite well.

Same!!
I'm sat here with my jaw to the floor... I honestly think I would collapse every time I stood up with no food for 24 hours!

Not long. If I miss a meal I generally start getting light headed within a few hours. I don’t eat a high carb diet either, so it’s not carb withdrawal.

I find it hard to gain weight and have remained same weight forever basically, which is a low ish BMI so maybe it’s that. Had full bloods during pregnancy and after and fully healthy apparently.
I think I just have a fast metabolism tbh. Ate 2 scrambled egg, slice toast and banana for breakfast around 7.30am, was ready for my lunch I just ate just gone 12.

I fast 36 hours once a week, and occasionally do a longer fast if DC are not about and have found it beneficial for my health condition. Try and take some electrolytes if you are going longer than 24 hours and ease sensibly back into eating. Lots of reputable and responsible fasting resources out there. Is your IBD under medical supervision? Might be worth discussing the fasting with someone knowledgeable?

Depends really. My mum reckons I went for a week without eating when I had glandular fever (I was exceptionally unwell) although I do remember having iced milkshake through a straw at one point during that time so I guess I was getting some calories in one way or another, just nothing solid or in any decent quantity.

I definitely went three or four days without eating when I had a serious case of food poisoning at university, but I did also end up in hospital on a drip so maybe not the best example.

In normal circumstances, I'm not someone who faints if I don't for two or three days, but in practice that wouldn't happen these days unless I was unwell. When I was in my early 20s and had no money I was extremely chaotic with my eating habits, which I would not advise, and never keeled over, but I wasn't underweight or anything. Maybe I would have fainted if I'd been really thin with no fat reserves, I don't know.

Well, no. Your body is habituated to eating at those intervals.

You go more than 5 hours every night without eating.

I think if you are having plenty to drink and some vitamins then a couple of days at a time would be fine. But take care, watch you don't get too thin and it's probably best to discuss it with a health professional.

I watch Alone (highly recommend) and they go an awfully long time without eating.

It’s usually a week before they start to feel seriously unwell.

I eat around 5pm and then nothing until toast at about 9.30am the next day. That seems quite normal x

I have IBS and can normally sort a flare up if I fast for 72 hours, and I drink barley miso broth to stay hydrated.

IBS is miserable.
I've only cracked mine by going gluten free and eating far less. I eat my evening meal at 6pm so its got 12hrs to settle. I don't have to do FODMAP, just small portions. I have a sharp corner in my bowel which I suspect creates other problems.

When my IBS was bad I did used to have to go a day without food while it settled down.

I'm ok on black coffee and water from dinner time one evening to the afternoon the next day- that's about the longest I've gone. I'd probably be ok longer if I didn't have to do anything important like work or exercise!

I did the Very Fast 800 for about 9 weeks, only eating 800-1000 calories a day - it worked quite well in lockdown as I wasn't doing much. I lost 1 stone 9lbs and got just below BMI 25 for the first time since 2008. But then as soon as normal life resumed I put the weight back on.

It did at least show me I could get back to normal BMI though. Just that I'd have to do something less severe to do so, and maintain it.

A couple of hours. Very, very occasionally maybe 4-5. I spend most of my waking life hungry and sometimes wake hungry in the night.

I eat volumes though and descend into quite extreme hunger pains quickly. And not eating is a trigger for both abdominal and ‘normal’ migraines so I have nothing to gain by trying to eek it out longer.

I am fairly sedentary but I would faint before the day was over

Crikey, about three hours for me and then I feel like I'm going to collapse.

15 minutes.

My father was an army medic in the 1960s and said they often had overweight soldiers who had failed annual fitness tests admitted for a 7 day fast followed by restricted diet afterwards.
They didn't have any choice as they were ordered to come in and had daily blood and urine tests to check they weren't cheating.
Dad said it usually worked very well and weight loss was sustained. The few who "failed" were discharged from the army.