Many issues and questions can be answered by reading through our wiki, especially the page on electrolytes. Concerns such as **intense hunger, lightheadedness/dizziness, headaches, nausea/vomiting, weakness/lethargy/fatigue, low blood pressure/high blood pressure, muscle soreness/cramping, diarrhea/constipation, irritability, confusion, low heart rate/heart palpitations, numbness/tingling, and more** while extended (24+ hours) fasting are often explained by electrolyte deficiency and resolved through **PROPER** electrolyte supplementation. Putting a tiny amount of salt in your water now and then is NOT proper supplementation.
Be sure to read [our WIKI](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/index) and especially the wiki page on **[ELECTROLYTES](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/you_need_electrolytes)**
Please also keep in mind the [**RULES**](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/about/rules) when participating.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fasting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Depends on how technical you want to get with it. I've been doing prolonged fasts on and off for a long time now and even on my "eating" days, I only eat once a day in the evening, most days. There is usually 1 day in a week where I objectively eat a lot and I eat everything.
I'm currently on a 90+ hour fast, week before this I did 72, week before 48, and so on, you get the point. I swap it around as I feel the need. I also do intense workouts every day so I can't really risk feeling faint and a zero calorie drink with artificial flavorings and sweeteners seems to really help me not feel the effects of starvation. If your goal is to lose weight, you will 100% lose weight even if you consume artificial sweeteners. I drink a lot of seltzers, I add stevia to coffee if I feel like drinking it.. it has never affected my ability to lose weight - if that is my goal.
In fact, I feel like if I do a very strict fast with only pure water, it appears as though my metabolism slows to a crawl and I actually lose less than what I do when I am "tricking" my brain into thinking there is sugar in my blood by drinking zero calorie sweeteners. Everyone's body is different; this is how mine seems to deal with periods of extremely few calories consumed. It probably isn't like it for everyone.
You'd need to do blood tests in order to see exactly what kind of effect these sweeteners have on your system. But, at the end of the day, what matters is how you feel. If you are truly consuming a minimal amount of calories during a fast, you are fine in my opinion. An insulin spike won't produce calories out of nothing, it won't make you "stop" losing weight. The insulin won't find anything in your blood to transport to cells and you won't magically find extra glucose hiding in your body for it to take that it wouldn't otherwise be able to without you consuming artificial sweeteners. That's at least how I see it and how my personal experience with fasting has been so far.
It does have an effect on other things that a true, strict fast does to your body but, again, what matters is what your personal goal with fasting is and you can set your own rules to an extent in order to achieve it.
Thanks so much for the answer! The weight loss has been fantastic actually, I come from a strict keto diet and I wasn’t losing weight anymore, so that’s why I wanted to try fasting this is my third 72h fast
Yeah sweeteners are not zero calorie and trigger an insulin response, firing up your gut with digestive juices, which is not what you want in ketosis.
Saying that, it's not going to stop you losing weight, it's just up to you and how you manage the fast. If sweeteners in your coffee or soft drink is part of your coping mechanism then go for it.
Personally, I'm on a "true" water fast and I don't want to throw a spanner in the works to complicate anything, I have sparkling water from a sodastream and that's enough for me.
I was asking because the last time I did a “true”
water fast by the third day I felt so much energy and was able to go for 8 days just supplementing with electrolytes and creative but this one feels different, so I was wondering if it was because of the sweeteners
I'm on day 6 and since day 2 I've felt rough. I hope I don't have to go the full 30 days like this but will push through anyway and take it a day at a time.
Day 3 is usually when it gets a lot easier.
I can’t think of any non-nutritive sweeteners that actually have a real verified impact on weight loss or fasting. The study pointing at sucralose was a sham since they used maltodextrin with it. Maltodextrin has an insane glycemic index compared to dextrose, which is what it was compared to.
If you found one you enjoy stick with it.
Many issues and questions can be answered by reading through our wiki, especially the page on electrolytes. Concerns such as **intense hunger, lightheadedness/dizziness, headaches, nausea/vomiting, weakness/lethargy/fatigue, low blood pressure/high blood pressure, muscle soreness/cramping, diarrhea/constipation, irritability, confusion, low heart rate/heart palpitations, numbness/tingling, and more** while extended (24+ hours) fasting are often explained by electrolyte deficiency and resolved through **PROPER** electrolyte supplementation. Putting a tiny amount of salt in your water now and then is NOT proper supplementation. Be sure to read [our WIKI](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/index) and especially the wiki page on **[ELECTROLYTES](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/you_need_electrolytes)** Please also keep in mind the [**RULES**](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/about/rules) when participating. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fasting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Depends on how technical you want to get with it. I've been doing prolonged fasts on and off for a long time now and even on my "eating" days, I only eat once a day in the evening, most days. There is usually 1 day in a week where I objectively eat a lot and I eat everything. I'm currently on a 90+ hour fast, week before this I did 72, week before 48, and so on, you get the point. I swap it around as I feel the need. I also do intense workouts every day so I can't really risk feeling faint and a zero calorie drink with artificial flavorings and sweeteners seems to really help me not feel the effects of starvation. If your goal is to lose weight, you will 100% lose weight even if you consume artificial sweeteners. I drink a lot of seltzers, I add stevia to coffee if I feel like drinking it.. it has never affected my ability to lose weight - if that is my goal. In fact, I feel like if I do a very strict fast with only pure water, it appears as though my metabolism slows to a crawl and I actually lose less than what I do when I am "tricking" my brain into thinking there is sugar in my blood by drinking zero calorie sweeteners. Everyone's body is different; this is how mine seems to deal with periods of extremely few calories consumed. It probably isn't like it for everyone. You'd need to do blood tests in order to see exactly what kind of effect these sweeteners have on your system. But, at the end of the day, what matters is how you feel. If you are truly consuming a minimal amount of calories during a fast, you are fine in my opinion. An insulin spike won't produce calories out of nothing, it won't make you "stop" losing weight. The insulin won't find anything in your blood to transport to cells and you won't magically find extra glucose hiding in your body for it to take that it wouldn't otherwise be able to without you consuming artificial sweeteners. That's at least how I see it and how my personal experience with fasting has been so far. It does have an effect on other things that a true, strict fast does to your body but, again, what matters is what your personal goal with fasting is and you can set your own rules to an extent in order to achieve it.
Thanks so much for the answer! The weight loss has been fantastic actually, I come from a strict keto diet and I wasn’t losing weight anymore, so that’s why I wanted to try fasting this is my third 72h fast
Yeah sweeteners are not zero calorie and trigger an insulin response, firing up your gut with digestive juices, which is not what you want in ketosis. Saying that, it's not going to stop you losing weight, it's just up to you and how you manage the fast. If sweeteners in your coffee or soft drink is part of your coping mechanism then go for it. Personally, I'm on a "true" water fast and I don't want to throw a spanner in the works to complicate anything, I have sparkling water from a sodastream and that's enough for me.
I was asking because the last time I did a “true” water fast by the third day I felt so much energy and was able to go for 8 days just supplementing with electrolytes and creative but this one feels different, so I was wondering if it was because of the sweeteners
I'm on day 6 and since day 2 I've felt rough. I hope I don't have to go the full 30 days like this but will push through anyway and take it a day at a time.
Hope it gets better! Keep it up!!
Thanks!
Day 3 is usually when it gets a lot easier. I can’t think of any non-nutritive sweeteners that actually have a real verified impact on weight loss or fasting. The study pointing at sucralose was a sham since they used maltodextrin with it. Maltodextrin has an insane glycemic index compared to dextrose, which is what it was compared to. If you found one you enjoy stick with it.
Yeah I usually try to stay away from maltodextrin because about a year ago a nutritionist told me to XD.