Should Women FAST? page

[Health Divas]

Here, here! We, Health Divas, are from London, UK! We love Mark's articles and are a big fan! Mark is the ONLY one out there that writes MORE about women, that's why we follow him. An example, his article, Should Women Fast? Yes? No? It depends?

Boys, you are also welcome to help our divas with your opinion and experience!

Love,
Health Divas

[Nady]

Well, since I've been fasting for the last 45 or so years, you can guess what my vote was~

[PaleoCowgirl]

I think YMMV when it comes to fasting -- what works for some might be disastrous for others. Here's a good article on negative impacts of fasting for women: How Intermittent Fasting Saved Me While Slowly Killing me | Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations

[gopintos]

I think YMMV when it comes to fasting -- what works for some might be disastrous for others.

This.

I only accidentally started doing it, before I knew what it was, but it feels natural most days, however I read, and not sure where, that women of child bearing years (that still WANT to bear that is) should not fast. That is SO NOT me.... therefore I fast.

So my vote for me would be yes, but that is JMO for myself.

[magicmerl]

Boys, you are also welcome to help our divas with your opinion and experience!

Given that the URL takes you to is a 'fasting forum for healthy divas' I would be *astonished* if the results were anything other than in favour of women fasting.

I think that in general fasting is something that women should be hesitant about, and not exceed 14 hours fasted (which means still eating two meals a day).

Men can be much more hard out about it (I personally find a 20hr IF fairly effortless), since we are less complex organisms hormonally.

Edit: looking at the poll, it seems fairly worthless as currently constituted. Technically you are fasting as soon as you have finished digesting your last meal, so if you think people should sleep at night without waking up to eat then you are ok with fasting. I think that if you qualified the poll to have the following options:

1. Yes, multi-day fasts are fine
2. Yes, anything up to 40 hours is fine
3. Yes, anything up to 20 hours is fine
4. Yes, anything up to 14 hours is fine
5. Yes, avoiding snacks between meals is fine (2-3 hour fasts)
6. No. Your body should constantly be digesting food while you are awake for energy
7. No. If you wake up in the night, have a snack to go back to sleep

I personally would select #4 from that list above.

[mike_h]

Well, since I've been fasting for the last 45 or so years

That seems way too long to me; less than 45 hours is probably safer. ( )

[gopintos]

Lol

[amdws1234]

I fast almost everyday. I don't want to eat if I am not hungry so that means 18 a day fast. Also exercise when fasting. No issues.

If I do eat before exercise, I feel like total lethargic dog shite so I take breakfast days off.

[Alex Good]

Well, since I've been fasting for the last 45 or so years, you can guess what my vote was~

Wow, I can only go 2 or 3 days before the food starts speaking to me. 45 Years is impressive.

[BestBetter]

I think YMMV when it comes to fasting -- what works for some might be disastrous for others. Here's a good article on negative impacts of fasting for women: How Intermittent Fasting Saved Me While Slowly Killing me | Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations

+1

Intermittent fasting actually caused a shit ton of health problems for me, so while I think the scientific research behind it is pretty cool, and I really wanted to buy into it, it was a disaster for me.

Eating one huge meal per day triggered some of the most painful IBS flares of my life. Now, as a result, I have to keep my meals small, and space them out throughout the day.

While not due solely to IF, while IFing, my fatigue got substantially worse (though likely this was also largely due to being lowish carb for too many months). I discovered that on fasting days, my body responded to the extreme calorie reduction by basically shutting down operations. I would get cold in my extremities, and in my core, I would move around less and less until basically I couldn't even get myself off the couch.

IFing destroyed my sleep. I realized that my 40-48 hour fasts basically guaranteed to the worst sleep of my life.
I know that fasting does wonders for some folks, but for me it's one of the worst things I ever inflicted on myself.