Warning: This is a discussion of one persons experience with fasting, and is not encouraging severe dieting or starvation.
When it comes to different fad diets, there is every possible permutation of one under the sun on the internet.
Whether it be eating like a caveman, eating nothing but potatoes, or simply – being a vegan – there are 100 different health diets you can do.
One man tried a totally different one, however, fasting.
Whilst fasting is incredibly common in certain cultures, whether it be for religious reasons such as Muslims during Ramadan or particularly devout Buddhists, the length of the fasts in these cases are normally over the course of a day.
One YouTuber, however, decided instead to eat nothing for a whole five days, and revealed the surprising impacts it had on his mind and body.
The YouTuber, Mike Hanna, posted the video ‘No Food for 5 Days… More Productive?’ on his channel two years ago.
Hanna presented the idea as a way of avoiding cravings, if you’re not eating at all – you aren’t forced to choose between unhealthy and healthy food.
Right towards the start of day one, Hanna says ‘how bad could it really be’, before towards the end of the day saying his stomach was ‘grumbling’ and confused.
At the start of the second day, he revealed he ‘couldn’t stop thinking about food’ and ‘his hunger couldn’t go away’.
Obviously, Hanna is not suggesting, however, people never eat or in any way starve themselves through this experiment.
He includes clips from an interview with Dr Jason Fung, a nephrologist and ‘functional medical advocate’ who he describes as the ‘go to’ for intermittent fasting.
Fung questions the logic of having three to six meals a day, with the YouTuber saying that instead, we should be doing ‘intermittent fasting’.
By day four he says he has ‘got over the hump’, however, by day five states that he is feeling light headed and ‘in pain’.
In the end, is he more productive? Well, Hanna annoyingly doesn’t really say, however, he does offer some interesting insights.
The YouTuber said that it gave him a good perspective on the other cravings in his life by choosing to go without an essential part of life.
When hinting that ‘intermittent fasting’ is the way to go, it should be stressed that outright fasting is discouraged by the NHS as being unhealthy and not solving poor relationships with food if struggling with obesity or body weight.
The benefits of intermittent fasting have long been debated, with neuroscientist and Professor at John Hopkins university, Mark Mattson, researching the topic for 25 years.
Mattson says the dieting technique may even have benefits to your brain, saying: “Neurons release a lot of proteins, and one idea is that intermittent fasting may be causing some kind of neuroplasticity (a change in structure) in neurons, causing the release of neurofilament proteins.”
Regardless, the most important thing on a diet is to make sure you feel happy and healthy, and consult a health professional before making any drastic decisions regarding your diet.
