digest
Short Summary
Main recommendation: Dr. Nick Zyrowski uses multiple day fasting, especially three-day fasts about once a month, for general health and to help his body heal, and he recommends working with a doctor first if you have diabetes, take medication, are underweight, or have any health concern. He also describes how he prepares for, sustains, and ends his fasts, including a vitamin C flush at the end.
Key Points
- Fat-loss math: he cites roughly 3,500 calories per pound of fat and an average burn of about 2,000 calories per day, so losing about 10 pounds of fat would take around 20 days of fasting.
- Duration options he discusses are three, seven, 14, and 14-plus days, with three days being his usual choice because his physical job requires energy.
- Expected experience: day one is mostly mental cravings and social disruption, day two often brings the hardest hunger, and by day three hunger usually eases.
- He cites a supervised 382-day fast by a man who began above 400 pounds, lost 276 pounds, and came out healthy, while stressing that very long fasts need medical supervision.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions:
- Before fasting, eat one meal a day with intermittent fasting first, and optionally enter ketosis (for example, through a ketogenic diet) so the transition is easier.
- During the fast, drink bone broth (with a pinch of sea salt for electrolytes) and an electrolyte elixir made from potassium, sea salt, and magnesium; he says he uses potassium, sea salt, and magnesium for this elixir.
- Drink warm water with a couple pinches of sea salt to help quench hunger.
- Drink plain water as much as you feel you need; do not restrict water intake.
- To end a fast, break with steamed vegetables and probiotic-rich foods.
- On the last day (day three of a three-day fast, day seven of a seven-day fast), take high doses of buffered vitamin C as a "vitamin C flush" to help clear the colon.
- He says he doesn't recommend going off prescribed medication, and that those with diabetes or health concerns should consult their doctor first.
- The 382-day fast was medically supervised and included vitamins and minerals; he says that length should be done only with a doctor.
Bottom Line
Multiple day fasting, approached gradually and with medical oversight when health conditions or medications are involved, is presented here as a practical way to support health, with careful hydration, electrolytes, and a gentle refeeding plan.
