If You’ve Had COVID You’re Likely Protected for Life

I’ll have to look into fasting for autoimmune disorders. Interesting subject. A while back I was reading about new discoveries about long lived plasma cells that are responsible for long term immunity. There are a number of things that are beneficial to the survival of these cells and it turns out autophagy is one that has a very positive effect on LLPC survival.

Geez. Fasting for a year? I have a hard time getting past 24 hours.

 

Protected for life does not mean that you can't get it again. t just means your immune system remembers it and may recognize it early. Also, 9 months is not "life". We really haven't had enough time to really know. The article compares it to tetnus----one shot doesn't protect you for life with that either. That is why we do the 5 to 10 year boosters.

 

now that I am keto, I can fast much longer easier without that first 24 hours being painful, that is carb withdrawal, your body has to transition to being a fat burner and one is suffering low glucose until the body adjusts (if keto, the body has already adjusted before even going on the fast)

to fast a year, one would need a lot of body fat, and like that guy, should be medically supervised

 

That's actually pretty interesting.

 

I remember reading somewhere (a few years ago) that if you start having random starvation days (fasting) then your body will start accumulating more fat in anticipation of more starvation in the future. The way I understand it, you want your nutrients to come in small consistent doses throughout the day.
I’d be careful with fasting and resulting “autophagy” as you are getting to a point where you force your body to start trading functionality for nutrients.

 

I'm a Type 1 Diabetic, along with several other autoimmune driven conditions. A 'fast' of 2-4 days would quite literally kill me.

 

Agree 100%. I’m not committed keto but I can tell a difference in the “hangry” and cognitive effects of fasting based on what I eat leading up to the fast.

 

Fasting can have massive consequences on your body.
Read up about chicken molting. Some farmers deny their chickens food and water for a period of time to induce molting, which results in better egg production. But, what’s good for the chicken farmer is not necessarily good for the bird.

 

yes, long fasts should not be a weekly thing, a couple times a year is plenty, too much of a good thing is also bad

just like getting too much sun

 

water fasting is not the same as food fasting, and no, if you're trying to have a baby, don't fast, think that is common sense, and long water fasts can kill you in a short amount of time (never done a water fast, no point in it)

also malnutrition is a thing, why people take water-soluble vitamins and electrolytes during long fasting periods - fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the fat, so less issue, but water-soluble vitamins get depleted faster

 

insulin is the fat storage hormone, so want to teach your body to store fat, eat a high carb diet and teach the body to keep insulin high

when insulin is high, you can't tap into your fat storage as the body sees that as a time to store fat for the next shortage of food

the longer you keep insulin high, the better your body gets at storing fat

when you eat low carb and your calories fall short, the body can easily grab energy from your own fat supply

when you eat high carb and your calories fall short, your cells think you're starving, and they are as the high insulin stops you from accessing your fat storage until the insulin levels drop

 

I did a 3-day fast once. I actually found it to be much easier than I thought it would be. What I found to make it easier was to constantly keep busy with stuff from morning to evening (basically to not sit in front of the TV).

 

When all we had to go on for evidence was anecdotal from religious associated fasting traditions etc. I was pretty skeptical of the concept.(I was skeptical of acupuncture as well until a Native American and a quarter horse showed me the error of my ways LOL).

Now we have formal studies confirming the positive effects of fasting induced autophagy. Fasting is just one process that initiates autophagy. Another one that has traditional religious history but has been confirmed by science is hot/cold treatments.

Probably the strongest argument for fasting though is evolutionary theory applied to humans. Our bodies did not evolve or develop under circumstances where meals were regular and scheduled. We developed in situations of “feast and famine”, primarily on keto type diets. Very small meals may be a way to mitigate our deviation from a proper human diet, but I don’t believe that’s what natural selection has set us up for. An endless supply of carbohydrates (simple sugars and starch especially) isn’t what we were set up for. We are animals that have had eons of selective pressure that favors genes that deal well with intermittent fasting and high protein, high fiber diets. The “cave man” who benefitted in the way of better stamina and mental clarity from fasting induced autophagy slew the next saber tooth cat and ate again. The cave man who didn’t benefit from or didn’t inherit the ability to benefit from fasting was eaten by the cat instead.

 

I’ve never gone much over 24 hours. I’d like to someday. I agree staying busy helps. Most of my 16-18 hour or so long “fasts” are unintentional and happen probably once a week. Like today. Got up and started chores before breakfast, got a call from a neighbor saying I had cows out so went and dealt with that. Now I still have a few hours of work before I can go eat. It’s been 14 hours since I’ve eaten and counting. I’m not hurting at all. My problem is at the end of the day I go in the house and my wife has cooked and the house smells like food and I like to eat so I do.

When I do intentional 24 hour fasts I try to plan ahead so I’m not tempted to eat before I want to. So far I’ve just fasted to facilitate healing of injuries and once for an infection of my gums caused by an injury. Twenty-four hours has always done the trick so I’ve not been terribly motivated to go farther.

Did you notice any specific benefits from going 3 days?

 

Don't blame ya lol

I go roughly 20 hours every single week day (as I do not eat breakfast or lunch and only eat after I get home from work).

Besides losing a bit of weight, not really. Nothing that I thought was "mind-blowing".

 

~ Excellent !

 

Last year I learned the value of acupuncture with my first ever case of sciatica. I had it for weeks before visiting the doctor. First treatment made a big difference immediately, and after about 2 or 3 weeks of twice weekly visits, it was completely gone!