3 day fasting to reset immune system

Has anyone tried it ? I’m looking into it, it looks interesting to say the least.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867419308529

https://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-old-immune-system/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1iEj5cJJIo

 

Well I’ve gone without food three days but not through choice and received no benefits

 

I did a 30 day fast years ago and my symptoms remained.

 

I trialed fasting several years ago. The first 24 hours went ok, after that I started getting really weak and heart palpitations, which forced me to stop around the 35 hour mark. It doesn't seem that healthy people get huge issues from fasting for a day, so it seems ME/CFS makes fasting harder as well for some of us.

 

Fasting is part of the sickness response.

Who wants to eat when struck by the flu??

 

Yes, fasting is great for cleaning your body, reducing inflammation and increasing longevity. I try to do several 2-3 day fasts each year.

That being said, I don't expect regular fasting would have much of an impact on ME/CFS, maybe in the short term (temporary relief), but not in the long term.

 

I can't either. If I don't eat regularly I start to feel extremely ill. This has happened since developing ME.

 

I can't tolerate fasting either. I just get weak, wobbly, fuzzy-headed, and cognitively challenged. I also start to fall over more than usual and make painful mistakes when doing dangerous things like cutting vegetables.

 

My mini fast is that I stop eating after 6pm, and don't eat until my breakfast at 7-8 am. As I get older I find that I sleep better if I don't eat after 6 pm.

 

. Surely it wasn’t a complete fast with just water ?

. I wasn’t aware they had something of the sort going on. I’ll look into it.

. How severely ill are you ?

. Have you done a complete 72 hour fast and did you notice even the slightest improvement after ?

You just reminded me : there was a few times when I didn’t eat for about 24 hours and it increased my symptoms and made me weaker. I wasn’t resting though, which didn’t help.

. I have been doing the same for years. I stop eating around 6-7 pm and start eating the following day around 11-12 am. To me this isn’t hard, I’m just not hungry in the morning.

 

Even if resting, I have to eat a little and often. I have some gastric issues that may or may not be related to ME that causes problems if I eat too much in one sitting, or eat too quickly.

I have regular little snacks mid-morning, mid afternoon and 2 in the evening. In addition to lunch and an evening meal. I sometimes have a small.breakfast, sometimes not.depending on whether I sleep through.

If I am more active then sometimes I might need to add another snack so on the rare occasions I am out I normally have something with me.

 

The first 7 days where dry fasting, so absolutely nothing, the next 23 days where with a glass or 2 of water. Some symptoms improved but this is basically because eating worsens symptoms for me. I felt horribly sick for the majority of the fast (nauseous, etc, not usual symptoms) and it took all my will power. I gained no improvement from it however.

 

Before ME for a variety of reasons I did longer water fasts of 3-10 days several times with little trouble other than the expected headaches and lowered blood pressure. Maybe a day or two where an old injury would be aching, probably from being more inactive during the fast. The hardest part would always be the social aspect, and not having food as entertainment. I always felt refreshed and rested after.

I have tried several times to do similar fasts since getting ME and I just can’t do it. My muscles get really achey and I feel worse, not better like before. Obviously some muscle will be broken down during a fast but now it feels like that’s either the only thing being broken down or something is blocking muscle breakdown. Something is not working in the same way, and there’s a clear difference to my experience. The social aspect isn’t as much of an issue anymore but the entertainment aspect is probably worse since there is little else happening during the day.

I‘m planning on trying again for a few days this weekend. It probably won’t have changed and I won’t manage, but I keep hoping it will. I don’t believe it would make any difference to my ME but it does help with some other minor issues I have or at least it did in the past.

My understanding is that only B-cells are regenerated after a prolonged fast so if that worked for ME we should all have been cured by rituximab by now.

 

A common side effect of this sort of thing, not consuming any food or liquid, for that amount of time, would appear to be, death.

So it's not surprising you didn't feel well, in an atypical fashion.

 

Yes, I've fasted for 8 days. It didn't help my issues - chronic bacterial prostatitis and cfs. I don't think it cures anything, neither that it resets the immune system. I also know a guy who tried to cure cancer by water fasting and almost killed himself. He was finally saved after surgery and chemo in the hospital.

 

Please come back here to comment, I’d like to know.

Good observation !

I’ve read 3 day fasting can help people get better after chemio, but it probably doesn’t work for everyone.

 

I will try to remember, tag me next week if I forget