72-Hour Fast

What to expect when you do a 72-hour fast.

Cellular Detoxification and Repair

When we eat our body doesn’t really take time to repair itself. It’s too busy digesting. However, when we stop eating for a bit we can enter autophagy

Autophagy is a metabolic pathway that causes the organism to ‘self-digest’ and removes waste material from the cell.

Boosts Growth Hormone and Retains Muscle

While fasting, the body shifts into a state of nutritional ketosis which is characterized by the production and utilization of an increasing amount of fatty acids and ketone bodies. This will torch fat burning as you’ll be drawing all of your fuel from the adipose tissue.

It also means that extended fasts aren’t as catabolic as you might think. The biggest fear people have in regard to fasting is that they will lose their muscle. This won’t happen because ketosis is an anti-catabolic state that decreases the body’s need for glucose and makes you gain all of your energy from your own stored fat. Ketone bodies may rise up to 70-fold during prolonged fasting.

Increased Metabolism

Contrary to popular belief, intermittent fasting doesn’t slow down the metabolism but actually increases it by 3.6% after the first 48 hours.

Instead of slowing down the metabolism, fasting boosts your metabolism and puts it into higher gear temporarily. This is probably caused by increased adrenaline so that we would have more energy to go out into the savannah and find some food

Better Biomarkers

There are a host of health benefits accompanied by the leave of food. The key contributing factor to this is insulin. It’s the key hormone in regards to the storage and distribution of nutrients in the body.

Insulin gets released by the pancreas in response to food intake. When blood sugar levels start to rise, insulin gets unleashed and unlocks the cell receptors for the sugar to enter them. The purpose is to store energy and prevent having elevated blood glucose levels for too long.

The 3 Day Fast Formula

#1 The First 24 Hours

The night before, have a raw salad and some fruit.  Drink your body weight in pounds divided by 2, plus 8oz of water daily.  More if thirsty. Ie… if you weigh 160# you would drink at least 88 oz water daily. 

Be productive. Do paperwork, read books, write something or anything else that keeps your mind busy.

Go for a walk. Low-intensity walking will increase fat burning in a fasted state and will thus actually make you feel like you’ve eaten.

Brushing your teeth with plain water, if you can’t stand that then try some baking soda, but go light. 

#2 The Second Day

If you make it to bed at the end of the first day without feeling excruciating pain and hunger, you can consider the fast already a success. To be honest, it’s all downhill from there because your body will be buzzing with those endogenous ketones. 

At the second day, your mind will also have been refreshed and reinvigorated. Although having not eaten anything for 30+ hours by now, your mind is still very sharp and clear.

#3 Day Three

Going to bed at the end of the second day isn’t nearly as hard as during the first. Your body will have already adapted to creating energy from within and, what’s more, your mind has come out of the habit of eating.

The 3-day fast should also be considered as a mental retreat and a period of downtime. Think of it as the ultimate cleansing of your body and mind. Don’t be stressed out or rushing and simply relax and recover.

Breaking a 3 Day Fast

The worst thing you could do is start eating massive amounts of junk food, or any other food, really. This would cause stress to the intestines and your body needs time to readjust to food. Instead, what we need to do is slowly ease into it and be mindful of how to break a fast.

The best way to start off is with a glass of hot lemon water. The citric acid gets absorbed really quickly and promotes the production of good digestive enzymes in the gut – it gets the juices flowing. Drinking apple cider vinegar will wake up the intestines and prepares them for the feasting to come.

Then, before having your actual first meal, eat something like a watermelon.  It’s wet and fibrous. Wait about an hour then go back into your normal routine.