I have been reading about fasting and will be starting one next week. One thing concerns me though. How does one avoid losing muscle during a fast or is it just not worth worrying about?

inspirit - aka coolkarma

Dear Inspirit--

I'm a runner and an avid weightlifter who spent the winter building muscle while eating animal protein. I just don't have the energy to lift without it, I'm sorry to say. Before anyone clobbers me, let me say I am now back to 100% vegan.

Last week I fasted for 6 days on fresh juice. I went to the gym and lifted weights with a little less energy than usual, but I gave myself a break. I don't think I lost much muscle---it was mostly fat.

You WILL lose SOME muscle on a fast, but with weight lifting and exercise, I think it can be minimized. And when you're done fasting, hit the gym and build the muscle back up again.

G'luck!

Thanks for the info. That gives me a better idea of what to expect. Today is the first day!

inspirit - aka coolkarma

Are there any "dry fast" success stories?

sabdulsamee

i think dry fasting successes do exist
i tried it for a day
it did feel pretty cool
but the next day, i had to have some water
maybe those things come incrementally
in imperceptible stages
cool if you are out in the desert
and can't find any cacti
but for now
i prefer my liquids

I was worried about losing muscle also. I've lost 7 lbs in 2 days. I'm on day 3. Not sure when to stop. I'm just drinking water. I wanted to get to day 4 because I heard that's the day that your body starts to feed off the REAL toxins, tumors, and fat. I'm not sure what to think about the 7 lbs I've already lost. Can I just say it's "water weight?"

Anyone with experience with fasting, if you could send me a message or reply in this bulletin, that'd be great.

I don't want to damage my body.

Grass juice is the key to avoiding loss of muscle. It gives you enough nutrition to avoid starvation while aiding in the healing process. Wheatgrass fresh or dried is excellent. Wild grasses work well and can be good tasting to boot.

I think the fruit fest is the top healing system. Eat a small amount of whole fruit and a small amount of grass, vegetable or green juice, just enough to keep the desperate pangs of starvation at bay

Ok, here is what I think when I read about muscle loss:

How would you know that you were losing muscle?

Are there fat cells within the muscle which could explain an apparent loss of muscle?

Could an apparent loss of muscle simply be the body cleaning up old muscle cells paving the way for new cells?

Didn't Paul Bragg fast 4 times a year for 7-10 days at a time, and he was heavily into fitness and wouldn't have done it if he was going to lose muscle?

Why would the body use vital cells first, when it could use excess skin and fat deposits, wouldn't muscle cells be one of the last to go?

In a healthy person the body will metabolize stored food reserves, fat, vitamins, minerals and protein in the liver, to keep blood nutrient levels at healthy levels. A healthy person can go on a prolonged water fast with good energy, living off of his/her stored reserves.

This is not true of the unhealthy person who might be metabolically unable to mobilize stored nutrient reserves competently or they might not have some nutrients stored. People with diabetes or hypoglycemia can not maintain healthy blood sugar levels. And I believe there are other similar diseases concerning protein and other nutrients. These people need to eat a little something on their fast to keep blood nutrient levels above the starvation level. Without some supplemental protein (amino acids in the juice) the unhealthy body will cannibalize muscle. And if the unhealthy person goes on a water fast, blood nutrient levels can fall below critical levels for several nutrients, starving every cell in the body, forcing each cell to cannibalize it's own internal structure. This would be devastatingly tramatic to the body. The trauma of starvation can lead to devastating eating disorders also.