I fractured my ankle a month ago making me unable to run at the moment but I really need to lose weight, so I thought water fasting would be the simple answer. My only concern is that I want my ankle to heal as soon as possible and I am worried that water fasting will slow the healing process down since I am not taking in any food to repair the ankle.
Will water fasting slow down the healing process?
Hi Victor,
No! Fasting increases and speeds up the healing process!
Your immune system and other systems have an incredible response to fasting.
Repairing injuries or illness is not about “food intake”.
In fact, when your system is not busy with the hard work of digestion, it has more time and energy to dedicate to repair/ healing.
Yes, I realise this sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s true.
I’ve been doing extended fasts for over 10 years and the health benefits are pretty amazing.
Agree with icky, but I would not recommend long fasts while you repair. I would suggest you alternate between feast and fast. What kind of fasting protocol were you thinking of?
Cheers
Alec
Btw Victor, my partner had a badly fractured ankle a few years ago, that he wasn’t allow to put any weight on.
Do you have an exercise bike? That’s an amazing way of getting exercise without putting much weight on your ankle. At first, you can even make sure you use “the other leg” to do most of the work and just let the broken-ankle leg “come along for the ride”.
My partner actually used his real bike for exercise while he was off sick from work, he’d strap his crutches to the bike and then go for bike rides (to get exercise) and go on bike rides to hang out in cafes etc.
It a) really helped his mood to not be stuck indoors all day and b) it made his healing sooooo much faster and better.
I don’t think the exercise was important in terms of “weight loss” so much, but because it activates your immune system and it gets your lymphatic system going, etc.
A friend of ours fractured his ankle a couple of years later and did none of this - just spent the entire time at home on his couch and boy was his healing slow and complicated and he felt crap and complained throughout the whole thing.
If you don’t have an exercise bike, try asking friends/ relatives if they have one they’ll loan to you for 8 weeks. Most people don’t use theirs (hahahaha) and would be happy to lend it to someone who needs it for recovery. Also, they are available 2nd hand quite cheaply online, because many ppl buy one intending to use it and then find that they never do, so there’s quite a few bargains to be had re 2nd hand exercise bikes : )
I have one and I like using it while watching TV or dragging it out into the garden and using it in the fresh air and sunshine.
You typed in a water fast? Just to clarify are you planning water only. If so, I would make sure you are getting your salt and electrolytes.
Good luck and hope the break heals soon.
You might want to consider a bone broth fast. You’d get some good amino acids in that way. But fasting is healing for just about everyone I have talked with about it.
Totally agree with this. The body has amazing reserves, and fasting provides access to them, including via autophagy.
That repair of wounds, broken bones, sores, ulcers, etc, takes place very rapidly is well known to those who are experienced in observing fasts.
That’s a quote from the following webpage. Frankly, to me some of it seems perhaps a little over-the-top, but it does address the issue.
http://www.british-institute-of-osteopathy.org/articles/fasting.aspx
I wish I had known more about keto and fasting back in early 2015 when I broke a leg, very badly. Still have a couple of plates and a dozen screws. It took a long time to heal.