• Trollception@sh.itjust.works
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    6 months ago

    Do you have a source on starving yourself/fasting can cause you to die? I know that’s true for cats but never heard of it in humans, our bodies are designed to burn our fat reserves to create energy.

    • Zeppo@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      One, you can run out of fat reserves. You can also run low on critical minerals or electrolytes like magnesium or potassium and have a heart attack. Also, while fat may replace a carbohydrate source, you need protein intake as well. It’s obviously happened to people in famines.

      • Trollception@sh.itjust.works
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        6 months ago

        Yes but they are talking about weight loss, this isn’t famine or an emergency. In normal situations not eating is perfectly fine. I often won’t eat for a day if I have too much going on.

    • Wav_function@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      This guy fasted for a year but consumed some essentials.

      I think if you consume nothing but water you will die at some point.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Barbieri's_fast

      For 382 days ending on 30 June 1966, he consumed only vitamins, electrolytes, an unspecified amount of yeast (a source of all essential amino acids) and zero-calorie beverages such as tea, coffee, and sparkling water, although he occasionally consumed small amounts of milk and/or sugar with the beverages, especially during the final weeks of the fast.

      • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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        6 months ago

        VERY important to note that he did this while in close communication with a doctor, consuming vitamins and other essential nutrients. No one should try to do this alone.

          • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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            6 months ago

            there’s a good chunk of hateful losers on the internet who just like to blame weight struggles on people’s “failure mindset.”

            not only are they assholes ignorant of basic medicine they are also fucking dangerous because they essentially encourage eating disorders.

    • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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      6 months ago

      Not a doctor nor dietitian—Protein-Energy Undernutrition is what can bring this about. More or less it’s a deficiency of macronutrients, even though there is technically enough energy in the form of fat, which leads to potentially life threatening conditions.

    • PainInTheAES@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Fasting and starving yourself aren’t the same. Starving is either being out of food without fat reserves or eating too little each day so your body never switches over to burning fat stores. Fasting is overall pretty safe and becoming better studied recently.

      I’ve been fasting every other day since October and used it to lose 50 LBS. I’ve felt pretty great the whole time and eat high protein/take a multivitamin on eating days to make sure I don’t run into any issues. Occasionally I drink electrolytes on fasting days if I’m being active. Many also do time restricted eating without issues