I don’t believe this nick
don’t believe it either....there is such a thing as malnutrition and electrolyte imbalance and obese people an suffer from both..
Of course, it also can kill you.
I don’t either.
I do and , in fact have recommended exactly this when asked by obese people for help. They have not been enthusiastic but a couple have agreed and lost the weight.
I remember distinctly the moment I realized this really is the answer when studying for a Biochem Final in Med School. Arguably, there never has been a day in my life when I had a better grasp of the meterial. Fasting does no harm. You may want to consider some B vitamin supplement. Some potassium if you get muscle cramps. A few urinalysis and basic metabolic profile along the way to make certain the kidneys are OK.
Not recommended if one has a history of MI or arrhythmia, but with that history what IS recommended?
Certainly safer than continuing to have a BMI over 40.
That said, I perfectly understand better than anyone else that we don’t know everything. The advice we give is in most cases correct but in individual circumstances can be wrong for reasons we don’t understand. I had a guy I used to see twice a year when I worked for the Army. He was a retired E-6 who weighed 450 lbs. I used to give him the standard lecture every visit thinking I just had to “get through to him”. The years went on. His cholesterol numbers and EVERYTHING was as good as mine. Every year I would harangue him and warn him they wouldn’t stay that way. Year after year. I finally realized the only thing I was accomplishing was making the poor guy feel terrible FOR NOTHING. His numbers were fine and stayed that way. He never showed the least indication of insulin resistance, his triglycerides were as good as mine. The MI I fully expected never happened. The worst thing he did to himself was trash his hips and knees but I would not even bet on that. The last couple years I just thanked him for teaching me something I should have known better and apologized for my prior behavior. He was still going when I left.
Is Angus still around?
I fasted for weight loss maybe last year, or the year before, 4 straight months. I ate almost nothing, except for maybe a salad once a week, or a bite from a hot dog. Maybe 3 or 4 times I gave in to temptation (I was even having dreams about food) and ate a proper meal, which was quite hard on the stomach by the way. In general, however, I ate nothing for almost the entirety of 4 months. (The first 3 or 4 days are the hardest for a fast, I would add. After that, hunger disappears as your body switches to burning fat.)
Anyway, I lost about a hundred pounds and felt very very good. Some of that weight was probably just water (I was losing 2 pounds a day the first month, then it varied thereafter), but, otherwise, I fit back into all my clothes.
I highly recommend a good, long fast, at least 30 days, if you’re fat enough to support it! Especially for praying purposes. (You get very emotional.) If this guy was almost 500 freaking pounds, I can see it as possible, though he should have at least been taking vitamins or eating a salad every 7 days or so.