PSA: You're Probably Fasting Too Much

[quietwoods]

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and this should not be construed as medical advice.

I've been seeing a significant number of people posting their protocols and plans for SN, and invariably many of them have included lengthy periods of fasting. The most common number I have been seeing is 14 hours, though I have seen 24 and even 48 hours.

To be clear: THIS IS UNNECESSARY AND EVEN COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE.

The purpose of fasting is to reduce the chances of vomiting by emptying the stomach, and more importantly, allow SN to be absorbed rapidly by having an empty stomach/lower intestine.

SN is primarily absorbed in the lower intestine. This is why an AE like Meto is helpful, as it also speeds up gastric emptying from the stomach to the lower intestine.

It takes 2-5 hours for the stomach to empty of food. After that, it takes 2-6 hours for the small intestine to empty.

Due to this, 6-12 hours is a commonly recommended fasting timeline, with 8 being the typical sweet spot. This is the point where the stomach is pretty much guaranteed to be empty and the upper tract of the small intestine will likely be empty as well.

Anything past 8 hours has diminishing returns. Anything past 12 hours is pointless.

The longer you fast, the weaker, sicker, and more nauseous you are likely to become. Long periods of fasting can irritate your stomach lining and cause acid reflux.

This is the exact opposite effect of what fasting is meant to accomplish. This is just going to affect your mental state negatively.

Remember, people have CTB'd on SN without fasting or on 4 hours or less. Fasting is a recommendation, not a requirement.

PPH has recommended 8. The SN Bible and Stan's Guide on this site recommend 8.

Don't overdo it in the vain belief that 'more is better'. Just follow established protocol.

 

[quietwoods]

Let me add the addendum here: YOU KNOW YOUR BODY AND MIND BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE. THE POINT OF THIS POST IS NOT TO DISSUADE YOU FROM A LONGER FAST IF YOU KNOW THAT WILL TRULY HELP YOU.

IT IS TO AVOID FASTING (AND THE UNPLEASANT SIDE EFFECTS) AS MUCH AS YOU ARE ABLE TO.

 

[deathbydesign]

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and this should not be construed as medical advice.

I've been seeing a significant number of people posting their protocols and plans for SN, and invariably many of them have included lengthy periods of fasting. The most common number I have been seeing is 14 hours, though I have seen 24 and even 48 hours.

To be clear: THIS IS UNNECESSARY AND EVEN COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE.

The purpose of fasting is to reduce the chances of vomiting by emptying the stomach, and more importantly, allow SN to be absorbed rapidly by having an empty stomach/lower intestine.

SN is primarily absorbed in the lower intestine. This is why an AE like Meto is helpful, as it also speeds up gastric emptying from the stomach to the lower intestine.

It takes 2-5 hours for the stomach to empty of food. After that, it takes 2-6 hours for the small intestine to empty.

Due to this, 6-12 hours is a commonly recommended fasting timeline, with 8 being the typical sweet spot. This is the point where the stomach is pretty much guaranteed to be empty and the upper tract of the small intestine will likely be empty as well.

Anything past 8 hours has diminishing returns. Anything past 12 hours is pointless.

The longer you fast, the weaker, sicker, and more nauseous you are likely to become. Long periods of fasting can irritate your stomach lining and cause acid reflux.

This is the exact opposite effect of what fasting is meant to accomplish. This is just going to affect your mental state negatively.

Remember, people have CTB'd on SN without fasting or on 4 hours or less. Fasting is a recommendation, not a requirement.

PPH has recommended 8. The SN Bible and Stan's Guide on this site recommend 8.

Don't overdo it in the vain belief that 'more is better'. Just follow established protocol.

Thank you for this. I tried to explain why 24 hours was too long to someone else and you summed it up perfectly.

 

[SilentSadness]

Thank you for the reassurance. I hate fasting

 

[opheliaoveragain]

good post. the users I know about who fasted for a long time (above 12 hours) along with being dehydrated too soon!! had a harder time concentrating etc. which isn't the state of mind you ideally wanna be in with something this important.

 

[EmptyBottle]

good post. the users I know about who fasted for a long time (above 12 hours) along with being dehydrated too soon!! had a harder time concentrating etc. which isn't the state of mind you ideally wanna be in with something this important.

Oh yes, and also, stay hydrated before the 1-2 hour mark, don't want excess thirst ruining your final 1-2 hours. ^u^

Also remember, that you are in control. If you want to continue/delay/stop, we won't think less of you. The protocol is restartable. But once SN is consumed, the chain of self-deletion is in motion, and there is limited window for methelyne blue reversal (which is not certain anyway).