It has recently been reported that Rishi Sunak regularly fasts for 36 hours, consuming only water, tea or black coffee from Sunday at 5pm through to Tuesday at 5am.
Fasting is reputed to have many health benefits and it is one of the protocols that we can support at Amchara.
In this article we will look at the benefits and negatives of 36 hour fasting, who this is suitable and not suitable for, and advice if you are looking to try fasting.
1. What are the benefits of regular 36hr fasting?
The main benefit of fasting for 36 hours compared to for example 8 or 16 hours is that, as well as moving from glycogen to fat burning as your energy source, this extended length of time enables the body to to enter a process called autophagy.
This can be triggered anywhere from 18 hours of fasting to as long as 4 days, although not enough research as been collated on the ideal period of time for it to begin, and of course every individual is different.
Autophagy is a form of cellular housekeeping where misfolded proteins and damaged organelles are degraded and removed from cells. This plays a vital part in the homeostasis of cellular health and can play a role in preventing or reversing type 2 diabetes, certain autoimmune diseases, infections as well as neurodegenerative, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.
Regular 36 hour fasting can also help with losing weight, provided you do not binge eat afterwards and your calorie intake isn’t too high for the rest of the week.
It can also help to reset your appetite by reducing cravings and realising you don’t need three big meals a day to maintain good energy levels.
Regular 36 hour fasting can also reduce inflammation, which is a key contributing factor in the development of many chronic conditions, including autoimmune and metabolic.
2: What are the negatives of regular 36 hour fasting?
Symptoms that typically can arise during any period of fasting include weakness, lethargy, brain fog, headaches, inability to focus on normal tasks such as work or normal physical activity.
If you have a weak constitution, maybe as a result of a chronic health condition or during recovery from an illness or surgery, the depleting action of the fast may not outweigh the benefits. Certain risk factors are outlined further in number 4 below.
3: Is there a limit?
To answer this it’s important to clarify what fasting means. If this means taking no food and consuming water only, we wouldn’t recommend regular, unsupervised fasting of longer than 36hrs. If juices, soups or smoothies are part of a liquid fast this time can be extended yet supervision is recommended.
4: Certain people or body types this would be suitable/unsuitable for
Suitable:
Unsuitable:
Advice
Fasting is not to be embarked upon casually. It’s an important time for your body to focus on important jobs it doesn’t usually have an opportunity to do. It’s most effective if you are able to take sone time out of your normal daily activities, particularly if they are busy or stressful, to connect your mind with the process.
We would also recommend building up to 36 hour fasts with 12 to 18 to 24 hour fasts first.
