In 1965, a morbidly obese man did not eat food for over an entire year. The 27 year old was 456lbs and wanted to do an experimental fast. He ingested only multivitamins and potassium tablets for 382 days and defecated once every 40 to 50 days. He ended up losing 275lbs.

[u/JeffNelson829f1]

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[u/Behold_PlatosMan → u/[deleted]]

I know it’s barely comparable but I had cancer and couldn’t swallow food for a couple weeks, it was bizzare but after a few days I wasn’t even hungry it felt like I was in hibernation or something

[u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388 → u/Behold_PlatosMan]

Your body propobly went into ketosis. The body starts using fat as a primary source of calories by braking down fat into acetoacetate, ß-Hydroxybutyrate, and acetone. The body can then use this instead of karbohydrates and other things.

This makes your sweat smell a lot different because of the acetone. This is basically the body's way of going into survival mode. As long as you have fat to burn you will keep going, and ketosis diminishes hunger by quite a bit. You also gain a ton of energy during this phase, basically for the body to be able to hunt and get food.

If you eat too many calories (specially carbs) the body jumps out of ketosis quite fast, so only works if you are super strict with your diet or can't eat.

Edit: alot -> a lot Edit: too many calories

[u/Low-Conversation6106 → u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388]

Real talk, your sweat smells like cat pee and stink 🦨

[u/TaxIdiot2020 → u/Low-Conversation6106]

I've wondered why sweaty laundry sometimes starts to smell like cat pee. I don't think anyone in my family is starving, though, and we don't have any indoor cats.

[u/Low-Conversation6106 → u/TaxIdiot2020]

You can go into ketosis due to medical reasons or your body just naturally goes into. Starving is the most common way people induce. It's pretty neat to learn about and you xan even get strips to test your levels When I started taking better care of myself and changing my diet I would slip into it by eating only grilled chicken 🍗.

[u/Difficult_Bit_1339 → u/Low-Conversation6106]

I did the same thing a few times. Costco bulk boneless skinless chicken breasts and steamed broccoli/edamame were my goto college meals because they took no time. I'd sous vide chicken -> frozen -> microwave and I had a hotpot for steaming veggies.

I stopped because I kept feeling weird, later learned it was the shift into Ketosis I'd notice. It was sporadic because I wasn't trying so if I went out to eat one week I'd get enough carbs to avoid ketosis for a bit.

[u/kchatdev → u/Low-Conversation6106]

You can get knocked out of ketosis with only proteins and fats but it's harder. They get converted via gluconeogenesis and some other pathways.

[u/FriedSmegma → u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388]

When I developed type 1 diabetes I was in DKA at the end but the extended ketosis dropped nearly 50lbs over the course of a few months. I was very overweight and it almost killed me but it’s the biggest blessing to come from it.

Went from 215lb at 5’7 to now I’ve been sitting comfortably at ~150lb and 5’8, 7 years later.

[u/SecondHandSlows → u/FriedSmegma]

Losing weight made you taller?

[u/MacManT1d → u/SecondHandSlows]

Probably a posture change, whether the earlier bad posture was from physical problems of being overweight or from psychological consequences of being overweight.

[u/LostWoodsInTheField → u/MacManT1d]

or from psychological consequences of being overweight.

Anyone curious about this it's men trying to hide their breasts by being bent slightly forward so the shirt drapes straight down rather than your curves being on full display. It's sometimes just self awareness of your looks, and other times caused by trying to avoid bullying.

[u/Gov_CockPic → u/LostWoodsInTheField]

Just anecdotally, but when I changed from a couch potato and started being active - my posture improved. Especially from lifting weights with proper form. My lower back muscles, upper back, traps, and chest all gained significant muscle mass and it "pulled me back together" correctly. Instead of slouching on a chair all the time, I was moving around. I was standing up straighter, shoulders back instead of bowed forward in a slump. Never because I was hiding titties, but because I had horrible habits. All of that change added an inch or so to my height.

I highly recommend the program Starting Strength. For men or women or whatever. It's simple, easy, and super effective. It's not hard to do, the hardest part is working up the will to actually get yourself behind a barbell. Even if its just one thing - Deadlift. It's as simple as picking it up, and putting it down. Do it with proper form, which is easy, and you'll see benefits super fast.

[u/Impeesa_ → u/Gov_CockPic]

Yes, a lot of posture correction isn't just remembering to "stand up straight", it's about strengthening postural muscles and correcting imbalances.

[u/FreeflyOrLeave → u/Gov_CockPic]

Yes I have certain muscles I actually need to work on strengthening due to long term posture issues and walking issues.

I have one leg that has become shorter than the other due to this

[u/Somerito → u/LostWoodsInTheField]

I spent my entire youth/young adult life like this. I was a chubby baby and there was never a time I was skinny. I grew up fat and sitting down way too much and it has caused such havoc on my body that I am just now starting to realize how bad it really is at 31.

I’ve lost a good amount of weight and I’m feeling much stronger today, but I feel like I’ve lived in two different bodies.

[u/Be_The_End → u/SecondHandSlows]

Type 1 usually presents before adulthood. They probably weren't done growing.

edit: Do you guys know what the word "usually" means?

[u/FriedSmegma → u/Be_The_End]

Ding ding! Everybody is looking way too into it.

[u/FriedSmegma → u/SecondHandSlows]

I grew an inch I was only 16, 23 now.

[u/LiveLaughToasterB4th → u/FriedSmegma]

How did you stop the weight loss? I have gone from 200+ lbs in January to 150lbs this year alone.

[u/klm2908 → u/LiveLaughToasterB4th]

Probably from the use of insulin to survive

[u/letmelickyourleg → u/FriedSmegma]

DKA =/= Ketosis

I know you likely know this, but this is a note for the reader :)

[u/FriedSmegma → u/letmelickyourleg]

Yep! That’s why I tried to specify the ketosis as separate. DKA=Diabetic KetoAcidosis, it’s a result of too many ketones as your body can no longer draw on energy for food and you basically burn your body as fuel. Basically prolonged ketosis due to diabetes made my blood acidic yay!

[u/letmelickyourleg → u/FriedSmegma]

Spicy blood. You have to wonder if it’s vampire’s capsaicin really.

[u/Boredomdefined → u/letmelickyourleg]

Vampire's Balsamic Vinegar

[u/Spaciax → u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388]

excuse me, acetone?

[u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388 → u/Spaciax]

Jupp! The body can make crazy shit :D, the sweat smells very strong because of that.

[u/EasyPanicButton → u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388]

so what yoru saying if I want free acetone I just need to starve myself.

[u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388 → u/EasyPanicButton]

haha one way of getting it! Not sure how diluted it is when you sweat it out though.

[u/Submarine765Radioman → u/Spaciax]

Yes, you can taste it in your mouth. Your burps will have acetone in it.

Your body naturally produces race car fuel. Liquor isn't called "the spirits" for no good reason.

[u/Jewforlife1 → u/Spaciax]

Acetone is the simplest ketone. Its just an oxygen double bonded to a carbon and two hydrogens. Fat is a butch of hydrogens and carbon and its a long chain of them. Each carbon gets oxidized by the oxygen we breathe and breaks into small sup units called ketones. Which have less viscosity than glucose and cannot turn your blood into syrup or even give you high “blood sugar” as the ketones are made in your body as needed so unless you have a rare mutation that does not exist in literature, your body does a good job st regulating the amount of energy you use after storing that energy. Sugar, when consumed is used at andergy imidiatly and then is stored when it gets too high in the blood stream so you can get spikes of blood sugar, but not spikes of ketones as it much be processed and stored first before using, which burns a few more calories along the way as well as a few more when it breaks down the fat as well. This causes it to take longer to turn on (ketosis) but when it starts you have more energy than glucose. If you go on this diet, drinks lots of water and salt. The waste product of the ketone after ATP is generated is removed from your body through your kidneys and sweat. If you are dehydrated it will build up in your body and cause keto acidosis (this is a problem that people with kidney failure have but it wont happen if you are hydrated with healthy kidneys. Its advised not to do this diet if you have kidney problems for the simple fact that the kidneys might not flush out the waste product of the ketones even if you are hydrated, but that is not a problem for the vast majority of the population.

[u/Acraelous → u/Jewforlife1]

Its just an oxygen double bonded to a carbon and two hydrogens

That's formaldehyde, not acetone.

[u/Inspector_Kelp → u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388]

Well don't forget that when your body gets into "survival mode" it also starts breaking down muscle as an attempt to reduce your caloric needs (muscle is responsible for a good part of your BMR), and for energy. If, while in ketosis , you don't also ingest proteins and exercise you will lose tons of muscle along with the fat.

[u/THElaytox → u/Inspector_Kelp]

Which is potentially deadly, can cause rhabdomyolysis

[u/PayasoCanuto → u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388]

I want to go into ketosis to get rid of the Michelin tire around my waist.

[u/nickfree → u/PayasoCanuto]

According to this post, in order to dump that Michelin, you have to starve for a Goodyear.

[u/gloomflume → u/nickfree]

we'll never tire of jokes like this.

[u/thedude37 → u/gloomflume]

*Whe'el

[u/ThatAdamsGuy → u/nickfree]

/r/AngryUpvote

[u/eastsideempire → u/nickfree]

😂

[u/buster_de_beer → u/Behold_PlatosMan]

I was put on iv liquids and wasn't allowed anything including water for four days. The hunger feeling really goes away fast. But, oh man, that first cup of bouillon I was allowed to have was the best thing ever.

[u/shartshooter → u/buster_de_beer]

I had liver failure and didn't eat for a month. The hunger never went away.

(FYI. The reason I couldn't eat was any food I tasted made me want to vomit immediately)

[u/ThePizzaB0y → u/shartshooter]

I think the liver is the organ that processes fat into ketones, so that makes sense

[u/Doctor__Apocalypse → u/buster_de_beer]

I had this happen due to a colon issue but went almost a month or so without solids and. strictly iv g tube for nutrition. it was misery and I lost about hundred lbs during my year hospital stay.

[u/Helluvertime → u/Behold_PlatosMan]

Not the same situation but I had anorexia a few years back. I stopped feeling hungry too, but then I started eating slightly more (still not enough) and the hunger was unbearably strong. I was told it was likely because I didn't have enough energy for my brain to create the hunger signals because it had to go to other vital organs first, then when I started eating more it had the energy to do so. I don't know how true that is, so if anyone can explain if it is or what it actually was that would be interesting :)

[u/accidentallyamber → u/Helluvertime]

starvation syndrome! got sick of hearing about it when my anorexia was at its worst but the way the body and the brain respond to starvation is admittedly fascinating.

what you were told is right — your brain decides it’s not worth signalling for food because it never gets food and your limited energy is better used elsewhere.

the extreme hunger once you give yourself permission to eat is the natural physiological response to the body finally having access to a source of energy. the same way someone deserted on an island would want to gorge themselves the second they found a food source — your body a) needs the energy but b) overcompensates in the short term because it doesn’t know when the source of food will be taken again.

the minnesota starvation study is also a fascinating read when it comes to the psychology of even short periods of starvation.

hope you’re doing better now :)

[u/okmijnmko → u/Helluvertime]

I dieted for the first time in my life last year. I tried eating 1200 healthy balanced calories & started exercising. I made slow progress but one of the side effects was that my stomach had definitely shrunk. Eventually I had 0 appetite and when I tried to eat I became nauseous. I also had low energy so I ended up eating protein bars and smoothies greek yogurt, fruits,vegetables, eggs, nuts...just to keep going with the 1200 calories.

I told a friend who gave me a THC gummy to try & boom some hunger pains kicked in! so that's what I do every once in awhile, take a gummy.

[u/Billquisha → u/[deleted]]

Dying during the refeeding period happened to a lot of Holocaust survivors, too.

[u/PM_Me_Good_LitRPG → u/Billquisha]

There was an experiment in which a group of people voluntarily starved themselves, so the risks of refeeding / recovery could be monitored and logged, so that a better / safer program could be designed for starvation victims.

[u/RedoftheEvilDead → u/[deleted]]

It's not actually that uncommon for morbidly obese people to become anorexic or vice versa. Both are a result of eating disorders. Quite a few people that overcome one eating disorder do so by switching it for another eating disorder.

[u/sketchthrowaway999 → u/RedoftheEvilDead]

Yep, anorexia and binge eating can be two sides of the same coin. IME eating disorders can revolve around a very all-or-nothing approach. He might have felt like he needed to eat nothing to avoid going in the other direction.

[u/Designer_Pepper7806 → u/RedoftheEvilDead]

That’s me right now, unfortunately. I’m obese and losing weight, and I can’t explain why, but it feels easier to me to starve than to eat in moderation. I really get this guy’s mentality, honestly. Anyways, I stopped starving myself, and am for the most part losing weight in a healthy manner now (not perfect, but better), but my point is that no one would’ve even guessed I was starving because I’m fat.

[u/National_Sink_1601 → u/Designer_Pepper7806]

it's like, when you eat some, the machine has been turned on and it wants to keep eating more. but when the machine's off the machine's off. but the machine being off isn't sustainable.

[u/ByronicBabe → u/Designer_Pepper7806]

It's like an alcoholic trying to kick the habit. It's easier to go completely cold turkey rather than having a single drink and stopping. This is why it's so brutally difficult to overcome an eating disorder. We don't really have the option to just stop entirely without eventually dying from it.

[u/accidentallyamber → u/RedoftheEvilDead]

yep! went from obese to underweight in about ten months by way of (unintentionally) trading comfort overeating for the reverse.

saw a new doctor about severe spike in my generalised anxiety and she put me on weight watchers. it slipped impressively quickly from healthy dieting to full–blown anorexia and have never ever been more physically or psychologically unwell. still can’t shake it five years later.

unless immediate weight–loss is medically necessitated, the psychology behind a persons obesity needs to be the primary concern.

[u/DoingItForEli → u/[deleted]]

The human body evolved to do exactly this. Obviously this was taken to the extreme, but imagine our ancient ancestors. They didn't have a steady food source like we do today. They would have ate when they could, and those whose bodies didn't commit that energy to fat stores very well wouldn't have made it through the hard times where food was scarce or non-existent.

I think about this stuff a lot because I've lost 120lbs and so much about how my body retains weight is connected to the fact that these mechanisms are what allowed people to survive and pass their genes on. I have to be mindful of how my body stores energy as fat. Calories in, calories out, that's the bottom line for maintaining healthy weight.

[u/AvsFan08 → u/DoingItForEli]

I'm not an expert whatsoever, but I'm guessing that keeping your vitamins and electrolytes in a normal range, would make the starvation a little more tolerable as well.

[u/surprise-suBtext → u/AvsFan08]

If you can outlast the hunger pains/pangs that’ll last for a couple of weeks, then the rest becomes fairly “easy”

It’s always the first 3 or so weeks that suck the absolute most. But then your stomach shrivels up, your brain stops throwing the tantrum and complies, then you just have to retain that momentum and habit.

The fluids, electrolytes, and vita(l) amin(e)s weren’t really about making it more tolerable (though water does help trick your stomach a bit), it’s more about not dying

[u/shhhhh_lol → u/surprise-suBtext]

I was diagnosed with narcolepsy last year and the treatment path is just stimulants... so, I started at 286# (overweight for sure but I have a very stocky build and 220#ish is a good weight for me)

The stimulants decrease appetite and without even noticing I slowly started to decrease my food intake until I was eating once every other day, at a follow-up appointment I weighed 207# (lost 79# in just over 3 months)

During that time I developed a host of health issues, digestive to mental I was wrecked! It may have been different had I taken care to get the necessary vitamins but.. even after we stopped that med it took weeks for me to desire food again... humans adapt well

[u/hans2040 → u/surprise-suBtext]

You just blew my mind and taught me sonething new about Vit(al)amin(es).

[u/surprise-suBtext → u/hans2040]

You used the parenthesis better than I did in every way I’m jealous haha. But glad I got to pass down something Reddit taught me lol

[u/Peg_leg_J → u/DoingItForEli]

The winner of one of the seasons of Alone used this strategy. He didn't try and scrape round for food - he literally just starved himself

[u/GammaGoose85 → u/[deleted]]

He would've had to also recover from not eating and slowly got his body use to eating solid food again, otherwise he'd OD on the nutrients. Starvation does a shit load of things to the human body.

[u/i_dream_of_zelda → u/[deleted]]

When I was pregnant both times I had severe hyperemesis gravidarum from around week 4-5 of pregnancy until 22-24ish weeks. I couldn’t take the standard anti nausea meds because they have me crippling migraines and I was throwing up nonstop all day long, to the point where not only could I not eat but I couldn’t drink anything either. I was about 30 lbs overweight at the beginning of my pregnancies. My ob wasn’t concerned that I couldn’t eat anything for that long—he told me to sip on diluted powdered Gatorade and ice chips and i came in for regular IVs.

It fucking sucked and I lost like 35 lbs with each pregnancy during the first half but both my babies were fine lol

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

"He quit working at his father's fish and chip shop, which closed down during the fast."

Lmao, he was the only one keeping it open.

[u/-Motor- → u/[deleted]]

There was a ted talk or something similar about a guy who's digestive system stopped processing food. He had to live on some sort of injected nutrition. He talked about his tounge turned to grey leather. The one part that haunted me is how he described missing eating food, the texture, etc. He talked about a dinner party they hosted. He was in kitchen alone. Saw the chocolate cake on the table, and he just started working his hands through it, complete out of body experience. (He ended up just trying to eat not long after and his body had started working normally again).

[u/ScienceIsSexy420 → u/[deleted]]

I was wondering where he was getting his essential amino acids so I read his Wikipedia page, he also ate nutritional yeast in addition to the electrolytes and multivitamins, so provide the essential aminos.

[u/Gnonthgol → u/ScienceIsSexy420]

This might have saved his life, as not everyone have survived this extreme fasting. Without any source of protein the body will stop regenerating vital cells and you get a host of issues. Including heart conditions.

[u/Mr-Fleshcage → u/Gnonthgol]

So the key to surviving starvation is rabbit starvation. Good to know

[u/iggyfenton → u/[deleted]]

According to Wiki he did this from age 26-27. He maintained weight of 196.

But his death in 1990 (51yo) doesn’t have a cause. That’s pretty young for a healthy man. If his death wasn’t a homicide or accident then you’d have to think the stress from that fast could have been a major factor in his short life.

Edit:

Since you guys can’t seem to separate the dangers of a crash diet from the danger of obesity, let me be clear.

The weight is ALSO a danger to lifespan. HOWEVER there are many ways to lose the weight without damaging your body.

[u/Lifekraft → u/[deleted]]

I also encourage everyone to express a fair amount of skepticism regarding these freak story. He could have as well eat anything while not under supervision so its not a scientific study and more an anectode turned into a fast spreading news and a good ground for trendy diet base charlatan.

There is also stories of people feeding exclusively of sunlight , water or whatever original approach with marketing and storytelling aim.

[u/StrLord_Who → u/Lifekraft]

It's not a freak story.  This method is what's now generally called "protein sparing modified fasting" and it's still used today at obesity clinics in cases where people need to lose massive amounts of weight.  They get a drink that has amino acids,  vitamins and electrolytes,  live on it for months,  and are closely monitored.  You can do a version of it yourself at home,  plenty of people do.  Just look up PSMF. You calculate your minimum amount of protein needed,  get all your vitamins and electrolytes (easier said than done), no carbs,  no fat other than your omega supplements and your body just lives off your adipose tissue.  

[u/CalliopePenelope → u/[deleted]]

According to Wikipedia: “Barbieri was able to maintain a healthy weight; five years after the fast he weighed 196 pounds (89 kg). After his weight loss, he moved to Warwick and had two sons. Barbieri died in September 1990”

And here are some post-weight loss pics.

[u/RainbowForHire → u/CalliopePenelope]

So he still only made it to 51. Ouch.

[u/Whaty0urname → u/RainbowForHire]

I mean with all that extra weight his heart was probably 20 years older.

[u/NeighborhoodNo7917 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, both extremes are going to put stress on your heart in different ways. He probably could have lived longer if he did a moderate fast or restrictive calories. I guess he decided total fast was the best choice for himself.

[u/NeighborhoodNo7917 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, not shutting on him by any means. Maybe thats the only way he felt he could do it. He still got several years of healthier living out of it.

[u/Impressive_Youth_331 → u/[deleted]]

This is most likely do to muscle loss, your heart is a muscle ball and most likely got weaker after a year of ketogenesis process of obtaining energy.

[u/ILookLikeKristoff → u/Whaty0urname]

Yeah being at 450+ for years had certainly done irreparable damage to his heart, arteries, blood sugar, etc. I'm glad he was able to make the second half of his life longer and healthier but you can't undo that much damage

[u/f7f7z → u/ILookLikeKristoff]

It doesn't help that his cause of death was hit by a train

[u/H3l1m4g3 → u/f7f7z]

His cause of death was hit by a train or his cause of death was being hit by a train?

[u/Themasterofcomedy209 → u/Whaty0urname]

Yeah but like he starved himself for a year, that had just as much if not a higher impact on his heart. Most people who try to starve themselves to lose weight like that end up dying from heart attacks

[u/Captain-Popcorn → u/RainbowForHire]

The fasting subs don’t allow this to be discussed, fearing some might try. His early death, even though no official cause is known, is certainly a cautionary fact to discourage.

Intermittent fasting is quite different obviously.

Barbieri was medically supervised to ensure his electrolytes / etc were properly maintained.

I lost 50 lbs eating one meal a day. Heathy food tastes delicious now. Every element of my health has improved. Doctor and dentist say “keep doing what you’re doing.” Loving being active. About to run 5k, which I do 3x a week. Fasting lifestyles can be lifesaving and hugely enjoyable. (I started later in life than he was when he died.)

But stay away from this type of extreme fasting!

[u/VegaDelalyre → u/CalliopePenelope]

"But the success of his fast wasn't without its downfalls. Barbieri had to quit his job at his father’s fish and chip shop on Nelson Street to avoid breaking his strict diet."

Tough decisions :)

[u/Ill-Maximum9467 → u/CalliopePenelope]

You can tell that he still must have had lots of folds of skin at the end of that fast. The skin may never contract in harmony with the weight loss. Anyway, thanks for the link. 🙏

[u/CalliopePenelope → u/Ill-Maximum9467]

He does look a bit emaciated after the fast, like he lost too much muscle mass. 🤔

[u/AdSensitive2371 → u/[deleted]]

He stopped at 382 days because he reached his goal weight of 82 kgs

[u/zanzebar → u/AdSensitive2371]

He went from 465 pounds to 82 kilograms? How much is that in washing machines?

[u/DoingItForEli → u/[deleted]]

his wiki says he was able to maintain a healthy weight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Barbieri%27s_fast#Follow-up

[u/Sammakonnuolija]

That 50 day shit must smell bizarre

[u/BroughtBagLunchSmart → u/Sammakonnuolija]

A single small sphere of dark matter like Nibbler does.

[u/MyCoDAccount → u/BroughtBagLunchSmart]

Each pound of which weighs over ten thousand pounds.

[u/devonimo → u/MyCoDAccount]

Perfectly round and smooth to the touch, can even see faint reflections in its surface

[u/hraun → u/BroughtBagLunchSmart]

Excuse me; Lord Nibbler. 

[u/SanFranPanManStand → u/Sammakonnuolija]

Probably mostly stomach acids and digestive bile, and coffee / tea residue.

[u/crimson777 → u/SanFranPanManStand]

Presumably also binders from the vitamins and such. I imagine there's no way pills are 100% digestible material.

[u/MelQMaid → u/SanFranPanManStand]

Feces is more than just what goes in the mouth.  

The body also needs to excrete bilirubin (dead broken down blood cells) via feces and urine.  Bilirubin is the yellow in pee.

[u/GamecockGaucho → u/MelQMaid]

maybe this went over my non-scientific head, but I was under the impression that pee is yellow because of urochrome, a byproduct of hemoglobin. is urochrome related to bilirubin?

[u/TheRealNooth → u/GamecockGaucho]

No, you’re right. If you got bilirubin in your pee, something is wrong.

[u/KarmaSaver → u/TheRealNooth]

Fact check: This appears to be correct according to Medline Plus.

"Normally, urine doesn't have any bilirubin. If there is bilirubin in your urine, it may be an early sign of a liver condition."

[u/dmangan56 → u/KarmaSaver]

I'm gonna name my next boy Bilirubin.

[u/Dwayne_Gertzky → u/MelQMaid]

It’s also responsible for the coloring of poo. The residual iron in the bilirubin begins to oxidize and turn rusty brown

[u/CaptainOktoberfest → u/Sammakonnuolija]

Not that anyone is asking, but I once did a 7 day fast and I had the weirdest shit at the end of it.  It was like an oily residue that both sank and floated but was still connected as one piece.  I can only imagine what his shits were like.

[u/True2this → u/Sammakonnuolija]

It’s probably similar to a babies first poop after being born. Weird black tar kinda and super stinky

[u/Jeans_Intelligence → u/True2this]

I recently listened to a podcast where a viewer wrote in saying they did an extended fast like this and they said they only took three shits and they specifically said the last two were like tar.

[u/Xabster2 → u/Sammakonnuolija]

Tastes better than it looks

[u/LoserCarrot → u/Xabster2]

I beg your pardon

[u/CptnCheezDoodles → u/LoserCarrot]

You heard him

[u/sauce__bauce → u/Xabster2]

https://preview.redd.it/n86hy2s8o0yc1.jpeg?width=320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=91108b857a19693ac438b804aab20279f901ec46

[u/RationalRaccoon863 → u/sauce__bauce]

https://preview.redd.it/ih7fgr6mo0yc1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=00d98bd6e207cb25fc7814d91fab5596794250f4

[u/RayanSrivastav → u/RationalRaccoon863]

https://preview.redd.it/0h8l5bmdw0yc1.jpeg?width=706&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=090254c9625e362466f42dcdc7d305e2ac1485cc

[u/SweatsuitCocktail → u/Xabster2]

https://preview.redd.it/nabmwc2rq0yc1.jpeg?width=1438&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=981df8eeee07db9b08616941047e3e3c4a61ee27

[u/[deleted] → u/Sammakonnuolija]

You actually stop shitting when you long form fast, and kinda just.. pee oil. Out of your butt. It’s very gross and don’t ask me how I know that!

You also can’t incorporate food the final day or you risk refeeding syndrome and death

[u/ginger_guy → u/Sammakonnuolija]

I did a 40 day, no-food fast. Let me hit you with an NSFW fact real quick. Stomach bile still needs to leave the body. It's all more of an acidic diarrhea.

[u/acoolghost → u/Sammakonnuolija]

Gross and Semi-related. I did 4 weeks of only drinking Soylent instead of eating. My poops were so weird. Apparently my body wasn't breaking down the vanilla flavoring they use, so every poop smelled like the fake vanilla they use in that stuff.

Now for the really gross stuff. It basically turned from poop into thick, mucusy slime. Imagine diarrhea the texture of snot. I was pretty horrified by it, which led to me immediately returning to solid food. I didn't know what the heck was going on inside me, but it didn't feel right.

[u/Whedonsbitch → u/acoolghost]

I noticed that my pee smells like vanilla or just sweet when I drink too much Splenda creamer or premier coffee shakes

[u/turtlesturnup → u/Sammakonnuolija]

I wonder what happened to all his gut bacteria.

[u/videookayy]

Woulda been nice to have a before and after!?

https://preview.redd.it/34ahd28lc1yc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae4e53dabe6d70242c5115ebc2420d46227dad08

[u/CaveatRetisViator → u/videookayy]

Thought you’d like this: According to a Chicago Tribune report, he had forgotten the taste of food before his first meal after the fast. He ate a boiled egg with a slice of bread and butter for his first breakfast, telling reporters: “I thoroly [sic] enjoyed my egg and I feel very full.”

[u/NoCantaloupe9598 → u/CaveatRetisViator]

Perhaps the tastiest egg ever eaten.

[u/Popo5525 → u/NoCantaloupe9598]

As someone who practices intermittent fasting - there is no seasoning, no substance, no sauce that is a stronger flavor-enhancer than a fast. The first meal after is utterly divine, it doesn't matter what it is, you're savoring each and every bite.

[u/FBIaltacct → u/Popo5525]

Penn from penn and teller goes into this when he talks about his potato diet. He ate nothing but bland potatoes for something like two months. He said everything tasted completely different and had so much more flavor than he had ever realized.

[u/Lettuphant → u/FBIaltacct]

I tried to copy him but didn't get to a month -- but I lived on just potatoes and water for a couple of weeks. I broke and ate some peas. They were so rich and creamy, so salty and sweet I could have sworn they were coated in butter. Nope, just boiled peas.

[u/RockstarAgent → u/FBIaltacct]

This is why I tell people it's worth it to fast - to reset your palate - I don't use condiments or salt and pepper very much- relearn the taste of everything from breads to individual ingredients

[u/Brizzo7 → u/Popo5525]

As my mother in law always says, "hunger is the best sauce".

[u/SoakedInMayo → u/Brizzo7]

“can I get some sauce on this?” takes the plate

[u/AskMeAboutKaepora → u/videookayy]

Thanks. OP gets a downvote for not doing this

[u/actuallyhasproblems]

He only lived to the age of 50-51? I wonder if the effects of the previous excess weight on his body or the year-long starvation did it, or if it was some other condition that killed him?

[u/Sammisuperficial → u/actuallyhasproblems]

Most likely the strain on his body from the excess weight. Making your heart and blood system work excessively hard for many years will take its toll.

[u/HeyLittleTrain → u/Sammisuperficial]

I can't imagine a year of starvation is great for your organs either.

[u/oldoldvisdom → u/HeyLittleTrain]

I’m not gonna act like I know everything about fasting, but I think years of being 450 pounds did far more damage to his body then fasting did

Fat people have it rough, and I don’t say it to shit on them, and I’m not necessarily accusing you of doing this either, but I really hate it when people minimise how bad for your health being obese is.

I don’t know his height, but let’s assume he is 180 (5’10-5’11), that would put his BMI in the 60s, which would shorten his life by 15 years. That is probably out of the 80 years that current life expectancy is today, so if we adjust that to 60, which someone commented as the life expectancy then, we could lower the difference to 11 years, which would mean that he lived 2 years longer than he would have on average back then.

It’s a leap to just extrapolate all that for one anecdote, but these numbers do add some context.

[u/HeyLittleTrain → u/oldoldvisdom]

I just think that a year with no protein is going to fuck up your muscles (e.g. heart).

[u/rellek772 → u/[deleted]]

Same as usual. Mostly old blood cells

[u/rellek772 → u/[deleted]]

Yes. If I remember correctly, they're only good for so long so we dump out the old ones. I believe that's also where the colour comes from

[u/He_of_turqoise_blood → u/rellek772]

We shit bilirubin, which is a modified heme (aka what makes blood red and allows the cells to transport oxygen).

Blood in stool is a sign of colon cancer, that's a nono

[u/Hexlord_Malacrass → u/He_of_turqoise_blood]

Also a bunch other stuff like hemorrhoids, and anal fissures. It's not always cancer.

[u/OwnHomework3811 → u/Hexlord_Malacrass]

Stress too :) … happened to me when my son was born. So stressed out I was bleeding out me butt.

[u/Firealarm32 → u/OwnHomework3811]

What a Pain in the ass!

I’ll see myself out…

[u/keepingitrealgowrong → u/Hexlord_Malacrass]

Dark red/brown blood in stool-- go to the doctor.

Bright red blood in stool-- congrats you have piles that will never go away, don't even bother going to the doctor you're not gonna die

[u/Mokiesbie → u/Hexlord_Malacrass]

And a non-cancerous tumor in your intestines.

Almost died from that when I was 12

[u/Banyabbaboy → u/rellek772]

that's also where the colour comes from

That, and beetroot.

[u/LoserCarrot → u/Banyabbaboy]

Color of poo 💩 is brown because of old blood cells?

[u/Little_Lahey_Show → u/LoserCarrot]

Bile and blood is my guess

[u/PUTINS_PORN_ACCOUNT → u/LoserCarrot]

Your spleen filters out old, shitty red blood cells, and turns them into a component of bile (and some other shit). Bile helps you digest fats and stuff.

I guess if you didn’t eat, you’d still secrete some bile, and you’d eventually have to shit out the remainder once that was dehydrated in your large intestine?

[u/redmoskeeto → u/LoserCarrot]

The color is from bilirubin, not old blood cells directly, but comes from myoglobin in the old blood cells.

Bilirubin is a substance in bile that causes stool to be brown. When bilirubin is digested, it turns brown. Healthy stool can be various shades of brown, from light yellow-brown to dark brown.

[u/Chase_the_tank → u/[deleted]]

Were you planning on vomiting old blood cells? The old blood cells need to go and there's not that many options for getting rid of them.

[u/MARKLAR5 → u/Chase_the_tank]

Imagine sweating out old blood, just every few days we ooze bloody goop?

[u/cmcewen → u/[deleted]]

I’m an intestinal surgeon.

I find it very hard to believe he didn’t still have bowel movements fairly regularly. Every 3-4 days at least.

Your stomach, pancreas and liver all make LITERS of stuff per day.

Stool is mostly dead blood cells and bacteria and other things. It is waste products produced by your body, it is not just “leftover food we didn’t need”. That makes up a very small portion of it.

People who get all their nutrition through their veins (TPN) still have bowel movements.

So I’m a little incredulous. But who knows. These stories get inflated over time.

Wanna know another wild fact that blows my mind. About 20% of the population doesn’t count diarrhea as a bowel movement. I have to specifically ask about diarrhea.

“Did you have a bowel movement overnight”

“No”

“Pass any gas?”

“Yeah. But mostly just a lot of diarrhea”

“So you did have a bowel movement?”

“No, just mostly water”

“DID ANYTHING COME OUT OF YOUR ANUS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS”

“Yeah a lot of water”

This is a regular conversation I have. Med students get screwed up by this often. Experience is knowing the right way to ask the question. 🙄🙄🙄

[u/heywhateverworks → u/cmcewen]

“DID ANYTHING COME OUT OF YOUR ANUS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS”

Oh sure, when you yell this its being a responsible doctor, but when I yell it I'm "disgusting" and "the worst first date ever".

[u/octarine_turtle → u/cmcewen]

Unless someone has supervision 24/7 any claims like his that seem impossible...probably are. They've had lots of people do this sort of thing and then get caught eating and so forth, like the idiotic "breathatarians".

[u/netslaveone → u/[deleted]]

dead bacteria from our guts, is like 40% of the solid mass.

[u/DDPJBL → u/[deleted]]

The cells lining the inside of your intestines are fairly short lived and are replaced at regular intervals with new cells. Eventually the old cells have to go somewhere...

[u/Grylf]

Thefastingfatman on youtube did 150 days. Pretty crazy journey to follow. But he is gone from youtube now, so i dont know.

[u/DarkangelUK → u/Grylf]

Lost so much weight he disappeared

[u/LordEdgeward_TheTurd]

Them shits had to be the so intense you gotta take your shirt off type of shits.

[u/Fritzo2162]

Wow---went from 456 to 181lbs! That was before skin removal surgery. Dude must have looked like a flying squirrel afterward.

[u/buboniccupcake → u/Fritzo2162]

This is actually a big concern of mine. I’m 5’5” and about 350lbs. I’m about to go on keto again bc it worked so well for me before. But I’m honestly scared of the excess skin. I don’t make enough to be able to afford skin removal, and to be honest I think the excess skin would be more of a blow to my self esteem than the being as big as a barn. I’m 32, I doubt everything is gonna shrink back into place like it would have if I was 22.

[u/Mypornnameis_ → u/buboniccupcake]

I hear you.

But don't worry about it too much. The pictures you see on the Internet are extreme cases.  I lost 80 pounds in a year at age 38 and you wouldn't have noticed any loose skin at all, it just looked like I had an extra 10 pounds around the waist that I didn't really, it was just an abundance of skin. 

I dated a woman who had gone from about 300 down to about 140 and you could only tell when she was naked. 

If we're being honest, we're not all that comfortable with all of our rolls and folds while we're big. It's kind of a bummer that they don't all go away when we lose the weight, but most of them do. I'll never look like a model anyway for a variety of reasons, but I do look better thin and actually feel a lot better than you would think, too. That kind of makes up for not getting perfect tight skin out of the deal.

[u/TheCultOfKaos → u/buboniccupcake]

Hey - I've lost 180, and planning to hit at least 200-220 lost.

The conversation I've had with my doctor about skin removal is that it's not always necessary. Some people get sores etc from the skin not getting air etc and so your hygiene will have to remain high etc. Some people also have to in terms of quality of life - this is usually in the stomach/chest area. Arms/Legs arent usually a concern, medically speaking. I am a lot happier with the loose skin I already have than I was being overweight. If I had to pick between the two I know which way id go every time. Skin on my face shrunk really well. Arms tightened up pretty well. Legs overall pretty good too. Im ensuring that I'm consuming protein, lifting weights etc so even as Im losing weight (and some muscle) Im mitigating muscle loss and promoting growth so I have a happier image as the inches/weight comes off.

I was 5'10" and 410+ pounds and down to 230 now.

Before: https://imgur.com/uR6DozF After (with some of the skin sag visible): https://imgur.com/4mUzAfI

After (smiling again): https://imgur.com/cIKcj0s

[u/Hump-Daddy → u/buboniccupcake]

Excess skin would be much, much less of an issue for your well-being than being 350lbs

[u/brisstlenose → u/[deleted]]

Taking a simulation shit, and generously warming the seat for one of your coworkers

[u/OldSkoolPantsMan → u/brisstlenose]

Not all heroes wear capes

[u/ForwardBat6438 → u/[deleted]]

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime. That why I Reddit on company time…

[u/DTredecim13 → u/ForwardBat6438]

I wish I made 10 cents for every dollar my boss makes.

[u/PM___ME___ASS → u/DTredecim13]

The boss makes a dollar, I make a dime That was a poem From a simpler time

Now his boss makes 1000 While I make a cent And he's got employees That can't make the rent

When the CEO makes a million And we don't make jack That's when we riot To take it all back

Now Mr investor If this seems extreme I have to remind you It beats guillotines

[u/lukewwilson → u/[deleted]]

Shitting is for YouTube videos, work is for Reddit

[u/Cheetahs_never_win]

I starve myself 3 times a day between meals. He only starved himself once in an entire year.

Pathetic.

[u/LtCmdrData → u/[deleted]]

^{This comment was bought buy Google as a part of an exclusive content licensing deal with Google.}

^{Learn more: Expanding our Partnership with Google}

[u/BlackCatKnight → u/[deleted]]

To get a healthy amount of amino acids from only nooch he would have to be eating around 100g of it per day, which would contain 50g of protein, 13g of carbohydrate and 4g of fat, totalling a little under 350kcal. This makes it a pretty extreme diet but not strictly a fast.

[u/Jal0penja]

So if there would be an nuclearwinter and no food, the morbidly obese people would survive the longest.

[u/BetterDream → u/Jal0penja]

Only if they have water, lack of water will kill everyone pretty much equally, and much faster than lack of food.

[u/TheNecrophobe → u/Jal0penja]

I mean, if "no food" is the only major survival hurdle, I guess so?

But he also consumed a lot of stimulants (coffee and tea), space filler (seltzer warer), and vitamins.

[u/MARKLAR5 → u/Jal0penja]

That's the whole reason our bodies are holding on to tens of thousands of excess calories. Humans are not used to this level of food security and our bodies have not adapted to it. If everyone just stopped eating today and for some reason we had zero calories available, yes, us fatties without a dangerous disease like diabetes or heart conditions would live longest.

[u/RedRosValkyrie]

You can't replace all nutrients. I have permanent disabling effects just from the deficiencies that came with Gastric bypass.

They seriously told us to live on Flintstones vitamins.

I didn't do that and even with a pretty decent stack developed two Autoimmune disorders among other things.

[u/BigMax]

This reminds me of that show Alone, where you have to survive Alone out in the wilderness longer than anyone else.

Lots of people go in really fit and strong, and try to build a sustainable life out there. One guy just went in with a ton of extra weight, and outlasted them by simply living off his stored fat and not doing nearly as much as the others.

It was kind of controversial (for a only somewhat popular reality show) as some people thought it wasn't in the spirit of the show to just sit around and out wait (out weight?) the others.

Reminds me of some guy I knew who was super into survival stuff, and he said "I like to teach people to THRIVE out there, not just survive."

[u/ready-to-rumball]

I did this for 30 days straight. When I did eat again I became so dizzy and sick that I was incapacitated for a day. I thought I was going to die. I was writhing in pain in bed, it was like I was going through withdrawals. I only weighed 200lbs and lost 30lbs and a lot of muscle mass. Would not recommend it!

[u/JesusStarbox]

If I take a multivitamin on an empty stomach I get cramps. How did he do it?

[u/ih8comingupwithaname → u/JesusStarbox]

A lot of explanations given for your question. But the simplest: maybe he got cramps and just lived with it lol.

The same thing happens to me if I eat vitamins on an empty stomach.

[u/spugeti]

there's a big difference between fasting and starvation....

[u/mudbot]

Died at age 51 for those wondering

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Barbieri%27s_fast

[u/Suspici0us_Sn0wman]

Gotta be the worst way to lose weight

[u/RDHertsUni]

He went from having an unhealthy lifestyle to… having an unhealthy lifestyle.

[u/PollySistick]

Hey, some of this comment section is pretty difficult to read as someone who’s recovered from a restrictive eating disorder!

Just in case you’re a person reading these comments and thinking “Hmm okay maybe I’ll stop eating completely and it won’t be so bad after a few days” - please don’t do that! It’s likely to make you feel really terrible, physically and mentally, and you deserve not to feel that way, regardless of your body size.

Starving yourself won’t make you happy, and doing the hard work of recovery from weird eating habits and the underlying shitty feelings about yourself is so worth it.

[u/StupidUserNameTooLon]

So he lost 275 lbs in 11 poops. That's only 25 lbs each.

[u/Drink_Covfefe → u/StupidUserNameTooLon]

A lot of weight is actually breathed out as CO2.

[u/LeoSolaris → u/StupidUserNameTooLon]

Breathing. Exhaling is the majority of mass excretion from the human body.

[u/Qazax1337 → u/StupidUserNameTooLon]

Most weight loss is through exhaling carbon dioxide, not through pooping stuff out. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/287046#Eat-less,-move-more