What is dry fasting and should you try it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

You will definitely lose weight. Another question is at what cost.

What is dry fasting

Dry fasting was invented a long time ago. But it has become popular lately.

The method consists in temporary refusal not only from any food, but also from liquid. The mild form is when a person simply stops drinking for 1-3 days and tries not to consume moisture in a different form. A strict dry diet is when you refuse to contact with water at all, it is forbidden even to wash your face.

Dry fasting adherents say that when there is a lack of fluid, the body begins to extract moisture from its own fat cells and, as a result, breaks them down. This moisture is called endemic (internal). It is assumed that in the early days of the diet, it is enough to prevent the body from collapsing from dehydration.

In addition, the practice supposedly can reduce the amount of edema and even stop the development of internal inflammations, including tumors - after all, inflammations also need water to grow …

Sounds tempting. But the truth is, these benefits cannot be considered proven.

What Evidence-Based Medicine Says About Dry Fasting

Almost nothing. She stubbornly pretends that dry fasting does not exist.

Reddit users, trying to justify the usefulness (or at least harmless) of the anhydrous diet, were able to find Dry fasting, sweating and metabolic water only a few links to scientific studies. But those that have been found cannot be considered really weighed.

For example, in one of the works of Anthropometric, Hemodynamic, Metabolic, and Renal Responses during 5 Days of Food and Water Deprivation, scientists analyzed the effect of avoiding water and fluids for five days on people. Nothing bad happened to the test subjects. On the contrary, their body volumes have decreased and their kidney function has improved.

However, only 10 healthy adults participated in the study. Its results cannot be extrapolated to everyone.

Basically, traces of an anhydrous diet lead to Russia, where dry (it is also - complete) fasting is mentioned, for example, in a document entitled "The use of unloading dietary therapy (EAD) in restorative medicine (manual for doctors)", issued by the Ministry of Health and Social development of the Russian Federation in 2005. There, in particular, the Application of Unloading Diet Therapy (EAD) in restorative medicine (a guide for doctors) is stated that dry fasting is easier to tolerate than the traditional "wet" fast, and that it is more effective in terms of losing weight and treating a number of diseases.

“We can assume that three days of absolute fasting corresponds to seven to nine days of complete fasting without water restriction,” the authors write.

Unfortunately, the claims are not supported by clinical research. Therefore, it is impossible to check them.

What Really Happens When Your Body Is Low on Water

The person actually loses weight. Fast and guaranteed. True, not for long: such fluctuations in body weight are associated with loss of fluid, and as soon as the drinking regime is restored, the kilograms will return.

This is where the scientifically proven (albeit conditional) benefits of dry fasting end. And solid cons begin.

Much more has been written about the dangers of avoiding fluids. Water is the most important part of all metabolic processes in our body. If there is not enough of it, the metabolism slows down, and the brain of Why Your Brain Needs Water suffers first. Here are the symptoms that will hit you on the first day:

• dizziness;
• headache;
• unmotivated fatigue;
• violation of concentration.

Further, the symptoms will only get worse. Doctors warn Dehydration that the following are possible:

• heat injury up to life-threatening heatstroke;
• the occurrence of problems with the kidneys and bladder;
• convulsions up to loss of consciousness caused by impaired transmission of nerve signals;
• drop in blood pressure;
• violation of the supply of internal organs with oxygen.

In general, dry fasting is an extreme practice, whose benefits have not been scientifically proven, but the harm is quite obvious. Of course, Lifehacker cannot forbid you to try it on yourself. But before you start, at least check with your therapist.

What to try instead of dry fasting

There are many alternative and less hazardous diets that can help you lose weight and (importantly) not regain it. The effectiveness of these options has been confirmed by scientists.

Alternatively, you can try intermittent fasting. It is based on the principles of nutrition, which not only allow you to get rid of extra pounds without feeling hungry, but also:

• slow down aging;
• reduce the risk of many diseases - for example, type II diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and even oncology;
• improve brain function.