How does fasting work? page

[Whatyoudoing]

So here: Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy? | Mark's Daily Apple
the health benefits of fasting are mentioned. But how long should you fast to experience these benefits?

Also, about how long does it take before you're out of carbs and you start burning fat, and how long does it take before you start burning protein?

[Grumpycakes]

I don't think you burn one fuel source at a time exclusively. What you burn is triggered by hormones. I'm pretty sure that to spare protein and favour fat, you should be relaxed and happy and taking it easy, for the most part. Fasting benefits come about in as little as 8 to 12 hours. If you are healthy, 24-36 hours a couple times a month should not do you any harm.

[Eric5105]

Intermittent fasting never clicked with me until I began doing a serious weightlifting program combined with post-workout carb loading. I'm losing body fat for the first time in nearly half a year and my strength gains are coming rapidly. I read that there are huge increases in growth hormone production during fasts, and my training has been benefiting from it. I strive for a daily 16 hour fast, but sometimes the hunger hits me around 14 and half or 15 hours in, so I just break the fast earlier. I also shrink my eating window that day to try and make up for the early break.

[SeanM]

I've found that it helps not to think of it as fasting. That implies that you're doing without something, a certain number of times a day, which our society has told you to do. I figure Grok ate when he could, and it wasn't always three times a day. It wasn't always every day, probably. So I eat when I'm hungry and I stop when I'm not. And since I'm not eating stuff that makes me hungry an hour later, that might only be one meal a day. To me it's not fasting, because I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. It's my favorite part of this whole primal deal, actually: not being hungry all the time.

[fiercehunter]

I've been doing intermittent fasting for almost a year and though I've had a lot of success I am still thinking of doing the leptin reset just as insurance, just because I've been doing this so long and still don't have perfect results.

[js290]

So here: Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy? | Mark's Daily Apple
the health benefits of fasting are mentioned. But how long should you fast to experience these benefits?

Also, about how long does it take before you're out of carbs and you start burning fat, and how long does it take before you start burning protein?

Health Correlator: The amounts of water, carbohydrates, fat, and protein lost during a 30-day fast

[camel]

After reading Marks latest post on fasting, I am going to try one 24 hr fast per week. Eat dinner, then fast until the next day's dinner. You're still eating that day, but there is 24 hrs between meals.

[fiercehunter]

I love intermittent fasting, have actually lost a lot of weight on it. I've gone from a size 25 to 24 jeans in less than a year. I like to do the Atkins Fat Fast also- sooo primal and really seems to fry the fat off.

[pklopp]

So here: Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy? | Mark's Daily Apple
the health benefits of fasting are mentioned. But how long should you fast to experience these benefits?

Also, about how long does it take before you're out of carbs and you start burning fat, and how long does it take before you start burning protein?

Take a look at the links in my sig for "Everything you wanted to know about fasting, but were afraid to ask (TM)".

Having said that, it takes on the order of 24 hours before you exhaust stored glycogen. It takes about 48 hours of fasting to see the concomitant increase in GH release, but there is an inverse correlation with adiposity, meaning that the leaner you get, the more a fast will stimulate GH release.. That increase can range up to fivefold. Going beyond two days is probably going to be highly proteolytic and counterproductive.

-PK