The Science of Fasting

I had liver damage from Hep C I contracted from a blood transfusion as an infant. Once I got through my Harvoni regimen and the virus was gone, I started doing frequent 20-40 hour fasts in hopes autophagy would help heal it. Not sure if it made a difference, but at the time of my final liver screening it was back in a much healthier range.

I don’t know enough about medicine to say it made a difference or not, but I can’t imagine it hurt. And, I did lose about 20 pounds along the way.

Unfortunately, these days, I am struggling to get back into my fasting routine. I had a lot of stress last fall and dealt with it by abusing my body through over eating. I have gained back some of the weight I lost. And, even though I feel like I’m in a healthier spot mentally I am struggling to get my bearings in terms of fasting. I will just keep making attempts and I imagine one day I’ll knock out a 40 hour and after that it’ll be easier to get back into the groove. My normal IF routine is 20 hours of fasting and four hours of eating. And then I’ll throw a longer fast in every one to three weeks.

My doctor said my liver damage probably took 5-10 years, my guess is probably closer to the 10 which is when I started to have a more difficult time to keep weight off. The last 4 years is when the weight went about 20-30lbs higher than what I had been for years and the issues have really started to add up over the last 2 years.

My plan is to use autophagy as much as possible to heal it the best I can. I haven't attempted a long fast yet, but I'm going to attempt one soon. I think I could do a 20/4 fast if I tried. Maybe eat between 5-9pm and fast the rest of the time.