For many years I lived under the assumption that I should eat when I am hungry. I mean, it makes sense, it’s my own body telling me I am hungry.
In order to challenge this assumption I started to experiment with fasting. I didn’t know much about it, but from what I read it seemed to have some health benefits. I remember doing a 24-hour fast. It took a lot of willpower to overcome the hunger, but I kinda liked the challenge and it made me feel good.
Some years later and I am now (trying) to do a 72-hour fast four times a year, in addition to some 24-hours and intermittent. So why do I keep doing it? Why keep putting myself through this struggle?
I guess the short answer is that it feels right.
The little bit longer answer is that I have spent more time trying to understand what happens in the body during fasting. Both by experimenting myself, but also by reading and hearing other people’s experiences.
For me it’s just as much about the mental and spiritual aspect, as it is the physical benefits. Under a fast my perception of the world changes. I feel more clear in some way. I have noticed that my concentration is better, food coma is obviously eliminated, I have more energy and feel generally better. That being said, that is during peak. Sometimes I feel like shit, but that’s also part of it. Fasting is a journey, both physically, mentally and spiritually.
And as for other people’s perspectives on fasting, you can find thousands of research papers on the topic. So I won’t go into details about the possible benefits here. But I want to mention a man named Peter Attia, a doctor who has dedicated his life to studying longevity. In his almost 500-page book on the topic, he writes: «It will hopefully become clear to you, as it is to me, that the first logical step in our quest to delay death is the get our metabolic house in order. The good news is that we have tremendous agency over this. Changing how we exercise, what we eat, and how we sleep can completely turn the tables in our favour. The bad news is that these things require effort to escape the default modern environment that has conspired against our ancient (and formerly helpful) fat-storing genes, by overfeeding, undermoving and undersleeping us all.»
Fasting is not some new-age trendy biohack. It has been a part our human lifestyle for a long time. Our bodies have adapted to benefit from it. And without it, we are not allowing the body’s natural processes to do it’s job. And the consequences of that may be worse than we have realized.
I also wanna say that I am not trying to convince anyone to try fasting. It has helped me a lot, but we are all different. This is more like a reminder that fasting is a thing, and then you can make up your own opinion. So if you wanna try it out, feel free to. And if you have any questions, please reach out.
Sjøli Småjobber 