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Comment by omarchowdhury | Hacker News Reader

You went 60 days without eating?

Yep. Lost 80 lbs in 2 months. Got a few e-mails about this comment already so I'm throwing together a quick summary of what I did, results, and logs I took during the fast. Learned a lot since that fast though, it was over two years ago at this point.

Eating is definitely optional if you have the body fat.

For a second there, I thought you were this body builder:

http://contests.npcnewsonline.com/contests/2018/npc_teen_col...

Hi could you post the summary here too

I just found out that the record is 382 days.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Barbieri%27s_fast

Breatharianism, however, is a fraud. Example being Jasmuheen [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmuheen

Apparently yes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18928489

I think it was a typo and he meant 60 days without carbohydrates.

A 60 day fast with no calories is far from impossible. I see no reason to think he made a typo.

No, 60 days, first 30 water/salt only, second 30 I added in a few supplements, nothing that could really count as calorie intake though.

I also adhered to a strict no coffee/tea policy.

In the other thread you mentioned strict "no flavored anything". Can you elaborate why not?

In my case I tend to feel less hungry after drinking lots of flavored water (e.g., lemon juice or flavored electrolyte powder [1]), but I haven't yet done long fasting. I want to try soon.

Also, have you noticed any cognitive decline when you were fasting for weeks? Difficulty concentrating, memory loss, lightheadedness, mood, ability to interact with people?

[1] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IIGVUQA

not that dude but if you drink sweetened or flavoured waters it produces an insulin response so your body really doesn't enter 'fasting' the same way.

water, black coffee, and salt do not produce this reaction.

Some unflavored sweeteners have been shown to produce mild insulin responses. For me it was more of a psychological thing, especially on a fast that long.

And no, no cognitive decline whatsoever. If anything I had more energy. Also, I was supplementing electrolytes, and I ended my fast at like 25% bodyfat though, so keep that in mind.

Maybe he ate nothing but protein? I don’t even know...

I looked at his comment history and found 37 weeks ago that he says he only drank water and salt the first 30 days and added supplements the last 30 so I'm pretty sure he meant no calories. I also don't think that is a world record by any means. I found this site where someone they cite a 1972 NIH study of someone who fasted for 382 days but evidently I can't paste in this android client. Hunger strikes have definitely gone on for longer than 60 days. Water is essential but the body can subsist for a lot longer without food.

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