# advice on fasting

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-fasting/269910>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 18, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-fasting/269910 "2004-10-18T21:54:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![vinniepaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-fasting/269910/1 "2004-10-18T21:54:20Z")

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ok for various reasons, i’m attempting to go this entire day, midnight to midnight, without eating. i’m 15 hours into it and i’m starting to feel it. i can however drink water, and im drinking a lot. i’ve drunk 75 ounces so far. is this advisable? would it be good to eat a lot of food at midnight tonight or ease into it? would it be unhealthy to do this occasionally?

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**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-fasting/269910/2 "2004-10-18T21:58:38Z")

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Ease into it after the fast.

Once you get two bites into your stomach, you’re going to want to rush and eat as much as you can as fast as you can. Resist that urge.

Eat something after your fast, let it digest for about ten to fifteen minutes and then resume.

When you do break your fast, break it on something light. Don’t break it on meat or poultry.

Just some advice from someone who does a 25-hour fast twice a year and sunrise-to-sunset fasts several other times a year.

Zev Steinhardt

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**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-fasting/269910/3 "2004-10-18T22:33:48Z")

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Zev, what are the 25 hour fasts?

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**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-fasting/269910/4 "2004-10-19T02:35:53Z")

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I fasted for the first time this Yom Kippur and after sunset I ingulfed water and a turkey sandwhich in about five minutes with no ill effect, but then again, I have a stomach like a steal trap so I’m not sure I count.

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**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-fasting/269910/5 "2004-10-19T04:34:27Z")

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> [@Padeye](#):
>
> Zev, what are the 25 hour fasts?

Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av

Zev Steinhardt

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-fasting/269910/6 "2004-10-19T05:09:53Z")

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Don’t go for more than 48hours.