The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting

by Jason Fung

drinking sparkling water with lemon often helps.

Low magnesium, which is particularly common in diabetics, may cause muscle cramps.

Epsom salts,

Add a cup to a w...

soak in it for half...

magnesiu...

Will fasting make me cranky?

nobody would stereotype a Buddhist monk, who engages in fasting almost daily, as a cranky guy.

they expect to be cranky, so they act out their role in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I take medications with food. What can I do during fasting?

Aspirin can cause stomach upset or even ulcers.

Iron supplements may cause nausea ...

Metformin, often prescribed for diabetes, may cause n...

with a small serving of leafy greens,

If you take blood-pressure-lowering medications, you may find your blood pressure becomes too low, causing light-headedness.

You must closely monitor your blood sugar during your fast. If you repeatedly have low blood sugar, it means that you are overmedicated, not that the fasting process is not working.

the blood sugar response to a fast is unpredictable, close monitoring by a physician is essential.

your body generally carries enough glycogen for twenty-four hours,

exercising in the fasted state trains your muscles to burn fat.

Muscles adapt to use whatever energy source

is available.

when you are adjusting to the change from burning sugar to burning fat, you may notice a decrease in your athletic performance.

This lasts approximately two weeks.

your muscles need time to adapt t...

Your energy, muscle strength, and overall exercise capacity will go down,...

This process is sometimes called ket...

adapt...

exercise while fasting?

You can train harder due to increased adrenaline.

You’ll recover from a workout and build muscle faster due to increased growth hormone.

You’ll burn more fat due to increased fatty ...

Like everything in life, weight gain is not constant; it’s intermittent.

But if obesity is the result of losing the fasting, what happens when you lose all the feasting? Well, life becomes a little less special. If you are the person at the wedding who won’t drink, won’t eat the cake, won’t eat the full meal, won’t eat the appetizers— there’s a name for that: the party pooper. And nobody wants to be the party pooper.

dehydration and decreased levels of electrolytes and can be easily remedied by consuming a good homemade broth.

bone broth has one advantage: unlike vegetable broth, it contains gelatin, which is very beneficial for those who have arthritis or other joint problems.

As time goes on, you will find that you need less and less broth during your fasting periods.