How long can you go without food?

[_random_]

I did a 30 Hour Famine once, and I've never really tried beyond that.

 

[MrPopov]

My dad has done 40 day fasts at least twice, I think 3 times since I was born. The first time he consumed absolutely nothing but water, but the more recent times he had plenty of grape juice and a meal replacement shake once a day.

DId you really just claim that your father for 40 days had nothing but water?

 

[dannyshenanigan]

If your a Breatharian you can survive without food indefinitely.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breatharian

Jasmuheen (born Ellen Greve) was a prominent advocate of breatharianism in the 1990s. She claimed "I can go for months and months without having anything at all other than a cup of tea. My body runs on a different kind of nourishment." Interviewers found her house stocked with food; Jasmuheen claimed the food was for her husband. In 1999, she volunteered to be monitored closely by the Australian television program 60 Minutes for one week without eating to demonstrate her methods. Jasmuheen stated that she failed on the first day of the test because the hotel room in which she was confined was located near a busy road, causing stress and pollution that prevented absorption of required nutrients from the air.

Wiley Brooks is founder of the Breatharian Institute of America. He was first introduced to the public in 1980 when appearing on the TV show That's Incredible!. Brooks stopped teaching recently to "devote 100% of his time on solving the problem as to why he needed to eat some type of food to keep his physical body alive and allow his light body to manifest completely." Brooks believes to have found "four major deterrents" which prevented him from living without food: "people pollution", "food pollution", "air pollution" and "electro pollution".

In 1983 he was allegedly observed leaving a Santa Cruz 7-Eleven with a Slurpee, hot dog and Twinkies. He told Colors magazine in 2003 that he periodically breaks his fasting with a cheeseburger and a cola, explaining that when he's surrounded by junk culture and junk food, consuming them adds balance.

 

[Huayna Capac357]

I'm a total wuss. Probably 12 hours.

 

[Ramius75]

12 hours... after that, i will get very angry...

 

[_random_]

DId you really just claim that your father for 40 days had nothing but water?

It's totally possible.

 

[classical_hero]

It was part of a national event a lot of churchs participated in. Totally voluntary. It was basically fasting the 40 days prior to Easter to honor Jesus own 40 day fast. It didnt have to be food, but you could have given up something else to fast from as well.

I guess you might say I wanted to test my will and see how far I could go. The lesson I learned is that you can make your body do far more than you think you can.

Well by having juice you were not fasting since juices are a type of food, just in liquid form. A proper fast without food requires no juice. That is why when I have had to fast for some surgeries, they say no juice is to be drunk in the period before and no milk also, it can only be water to drink.

 

[Cull]

20 or so hours.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Yes, he did that when I was about 2 years old.

He was of course rather overweight when he started, and quite thin at the end. I doubt he could have made it much more than 40 days.


Actually, he probably kept taking some medications in addition to water. He has had Hashimoto's since before my parents married, so he probably did not stop taking his thyroid medication. On second thought, stopping or reducing the dosage of that may have reduced his metabolism and made the fast easier. I probably would have advised against it had I been is doctor though.


I guess he thought it was a good idea to emulate Christ in that way, or maybe felt like God was telling him to fast for some reason. I don't really know. I do know it was not actually during the Lenten season. I think it was late summer.


Also, during the second 40 day fast, when he still had juices and the occasional meal replacement shake, he decided it was a good idea to run at least a mile every morning. Again, something I would not have advised.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Well by having juice you were not fasting since juices are a type of food, just in liquid form. A proper fast without food requires no juice. That is why when I have had to fast for some surgeries, they say no juice is to be drunk in the period before and no milk also, it can only be water to drink.

Technically you are right, however, its really irrelevant. Its a fast, with the exception of juice and milk. That's what he decided to do and he did it.

 

[dirtyparrot]

I'm not sure how long that I can go without food given that I'm thin. But, I don't get hungry often (and when I do it often passes within 15-20min) and I get full pretty quick, so I figure that I could go for a few days. The question is why would I want to do that. I have a pretty hard time keeping on weight as is, so there really isn't any point in trying this nonsense.

 

[PeteAtoms]

2 weeks.
Just sodas, water, V8 tomato juice and lemonade.

After the 2nd day, it's actually not that difficult. The first day or so is definitely the toughest, but past that, the "pain" of hunger becomes dulled and for me, bearable/ignorable.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

One time, I think a week. But since then I cant really go more than a few hours. A few weeks ago we were out of food for two-three days and I nearly fainted from that. I have a thyroid condition.

 

[azzaman333]

I like eating, so not very.

 

[Racsoviale]

cigarettes and coffee are some of my weapons against hunger, meaning I usually eat when I get back from work, and I can go for a whole day without anything else. One meal a day seems to fit rather well for me.

 

[madviking]

Uhh...like...a few hours?

 

[_random_]

Technically you are right, however, its really irrelevant. Its a fast, with the exception of juice and milk. That's what he decided to do and he did it.

Fasting doesn't mean not eating per se. The traditional weekly fasts of the Orthodox Church (daily during Lent) involve abstaining from all products originating from a backboned animal, as well as wine and olive oil. Of course, this thread is about not eating, a more extreme fast, so the definition of a broad term isn't relavent. Still, juice is drunk, not eaten, so the accomplishment stands.

 

[Godwynn]

I honestly couldn't do more than 24 hours (if healthy) unless forced against my will.

 

[Glassfan]

Bobby Sands and the other lads went over two months without eating in a successful (to the death) hunger strike in the 80's. Most successful(sic) hunger strikers have been men. The NOW strikers who tried to coerce Illinois into ratifying the ERA in the early 80's all dropped out after a couple of weeks.

 

[MobBoss]

Well by having juice you were not fasting since juices are a type of food, just in liquid form.

Rofl. /whatever.

You do it. See how well you do and how long you last.

And is there a particular reason you want to devalue what I did?

A proper fast without food requires no juice. That is why when I have had to fast for some surgeries, they say no juice is to be drunk in the period before and no milk also, it can only be water to drink.

And fasting before a surgery is typically 12-24 hours. I can do that standing on my head.

They also say no coffee, due to caffiene having an affect of anesthesia. Ah well.