From what I understand a three day fast can be incredibly good for you. However some get heart palpitations when I fast and really do not like this feeling. These can be avoided by drinking bone stock a few times a day as it is rich in electrolytes. However most stocks have about 20 calories per serving.
If a person consumed stock several times a day and ended up consuming 60 calories would this still fulfill the function of a fast and give the benefits of a total three day fast?
Don’t worry about the calories. The fasting protocol that Dr. Jason Fung outlines includes bone broth. Also - make sure you are taking in enough salt.
@Ajax Thank you. Could you clarify a little further? Why shouldn’t calories be worried about?
Look up Valter Longo’s fasting mimicking diet that he promotes for those unable to do true fasts. He’s a researcher and finds it produces much of the benefit of true fasting over 5 day “fasts” with people eating 30-40% of their maintenance calories though restricting protein more strictly.
So 3 servings of bone broth daily would be far stricter and ought to be that much closer to perfect. Don’t let a desire for perfection get in the way of doing good enough.
What @brownfat said. Also in keto we try and not focus on calories. You may think about an electrolyte drink. KetoAide homemade
Thank you. Keto aside I am looking at studies that show fasting has good benefits and calorie intake is relevant to this.
As to ketoaide I love the idea but I have read that potassium salt can cause stomach lesions and so if I can drink bone stock and get the same minerals with 20 calories per serving and still get the fasting benefits I’ll do that.
Restricting some foods vs eating no food, are not the same. Eating “keto” and fasting are different. Consuming bone broth, coffee, artificially sweetened drinks, etc is not the same as consuming only water. The former can introduce nutrients or chemicals, elicit a response from taste receptors, hormones, gut biome, etc even in the absence of calories. The complete abstinence of anything except water, allows the GI system to shut down and channel the energy and resources elsewhere in the body. Eliminating water consumption (dry fasting) takes that even further.
Whether this matters depends on your goal. If the purpose is weight loss or metabolism improvement, consuming a few calories won’t significantly effect the results. If the purpose is cancer prevention or improving illnesses, then it may matter. The Nobel Prize on autophagy was based on water fasting. Cancer researcher, Dr. Seyfried encourages a distilled water fast once or twice a year.
On the 5:2 diet you consume 500 cal per fasting day so I think you’re safe! My fasting savior is salt, salt, salt(can be in a bit of broth). Made me feel like a fasting superhero when I started adding it!