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 have severe IBS. Luke you I've tried everything, been to all the clinics. I keep mine under control by not eating for 2-3 days but I drink coco cola to keep my blood sugar up. Doctors and dentists know and they accept that this is the only way to stop the incontinence.

I have never gone more than 24hrs without eating unless I've been unwell, and at which point I'm feeling like shit anyway

You will get a big range of answers OP. But remember that people with a healthy relationship with food won't tend to go whole days without eating as its pretty uncomfortable. I would take a lot of the answers with a pinch of salt

Best thing to do would be to speak to your doctor. If it helps with IBS it maybe safe to fast but it's dependent on many thing e.g. your existing weight and health.

It's also completely normal to feel faint or lightheaded if you haven't eaten anything for a while.

overnight or during the day? Working or just staying at home on the sofa and reading or watching TV? Alone or looking after children? I think all these factors contribute plus some people have additional health issues.
I can do 14 hours but it won’t be comfortable, if it’s just a break between meals and doing something - 6 hours max.

I do intermittent fasting of 16 hours and occasionally it's not worked time wise for food and it's been 20 hours

I wouldn't be great at more than 20

I fast 18 hours a day drinking water or black tea for weight loss. Some days it’s longer depending on what I’m doing. If I started to feel dizzy or shaky I would eat something. I think as what you do is only every now and then and you are keeping hydrated it won’t do you any harm.

@CarPour

But remember that people with a healthy relationship with food won't tend to go whole days without eating as its pretty uncomfortable

This is simply not true. A lot of people who have done their research engage in fasting because they recognise that 'a healthy relationship with food' is a relationship that respects their health in the way that they want it to, rather than sticking to a senseless '3 square meals a day' protocol that isn't based on anything. Regular fasting stops it being uncomfortable, and many very healthy fasters enjoy the feeling.

About three hours. I start to get brain fog, feel tired and confused, and feel shaky. I'm told I get irritable too.

I’ve done 6 days and was fine. As long as you drink plenty. The first few days you may experience headaches and have brain fog if you don’t drink plenty of water and haven’t fasted before.

There's loads of emerging evidence about the benefits of fasting, including increased autophagy and reducing inflammation, which might explain the 'reset' feeling you get.

I've done IF on and off in the past, currently doing 23:1 most days (so 23 hours fasting and then one hour of eating) and I don't have any problems with energy or feeling faint. Actually the opposite; I'm a lot less sluggish, particularly in the afternoons.

If it works for you, OP, then I'd stick with it.

I feel dodgy if I even have a meal a bit late, especially breakfast. I eat when I'm unwell, even with something like norovirus I'll have dry toast or cereal. I just get so hungry. I could never do intermittent fasting now, I feel like I'm wasting away if I skip breakfast.

I wasn't like that as a teenager or young adult though, I could get by on OMAD so not sure what's changed.

People saying they cannot go more than 3 hours is not normal ffs. That's not people missing meals, that's people who are either malnourished and eating insufficiently or pre-diabetic

Under normal circumstances I can't really go more than 3 hours without food.

I'm not malnourished. I might be pre-diabetic.

I am seriously disabled with multiple autoimmune disorders and I use a wheelchair.

(When I have an IBS flare up I can go quite a long time without eating because my body flips into "if you eat I'll vomit mode" )

Pretty sure I'm not pre-diabetic (no family history, not of a group known to be more prone). And I eat plenty. For example, breakfast is usually two decent-sized slices of grainy/sourdough/seedy bread, with avocado and either cheese or sometimes something like salmon pate. Lunch will be a freshly made sandwich on the same sort of bread, with tuna, chicken or cheese, and salad. Or a salad with a grain like quinoa, some protein (egg, fish, cheese), salad leaves and some chopped veg.

People are just all different.

No, nothing wrong with me and I’m a healthy weight. I have a very physically intense job, I also run, I have to fuel it appropriately. I’d be in trouble at work if I didn’t eat beforehand as I’m burning through energy and I’d feel it quite quickly. I know the whole of MN is obsessed with not eating carbs etc. but carbs are essential fuel for physical activity, that’s why athletes eat porridge etc. and take carb gels during a run/cycle. I don’t use gels generally as I’m not training at a professional level and I can manage my fuelling with food.

I feel like I'm wasting away if I skip breakfast

Many do, but they're not, and often are carrying spare fuel around on their bodies. It's really unhealthy, and then if you stray from it, people tell you that that's unhealthy (as evidenced by this thread)

Feeling hungry due to missing a meal or two isn't the same as feeling hungry due to starvation. In fact, many people who do go hungry for any period of time report that hunger pangs actually fade away after a day or two. They have nothing to do with ensuring adequate nourishment, and everything to do with maintaining habits that keep us shovelling food in. Hunger pangs are a response to our biological need to store as much fat as possible, and are designed to ensure regular consumption in times of plenty, because scarcity is always a threat. Except it isn't, and it never comes for many of us. That's why we have an obesity crisis. We are programmed to eat more than we need, in the same way as we like to have more in our bank accounts than we need, 'just in case', but then we feel ill if we try to induce the necessary scarcity, and solve the problem immediately by eating, rather than waiting it out and learning to go longer without food.

but carbs are essential fuel for physical activity

Biologically untrue.

Isn't that protein?

Protein and fat are essential, @HarrietJet . Carbohydrates aren't.

Are you an expert on this? Athletes fuel their runs/cycles with carbs.

Carbs are useful though

Just a word of warning- I spent 8 years thinking I had IBS/ dairy allergy and I've just found out it's gallstones. I regularly don't eat for periods (not skinny and nothing to do with weight control and I hate as women we need to clear that up) as I thought it helped.my tummy settle. It actually makes gallstones worse and has been exasperating them.

Enlighten me, how do you get glycogen to your muscles to fuel intense physical activity without eating carbs? Do you fuel a 30k by munching on a piece of chicken?

3/4 days?!?!

It doesn't matter who I am or what athletes use for fuel, @smooththecat There is no essential carbohydrate for the human body.

Carbs are useful though

I agree, @OneTC

I've done 7 days a few times. Can do 5 pretty easily.