Subject: A 5-day water and enzyme fast...[my results and why I did it]
So for 5 days, I drank nothing but water and ate nothing but proteolytic enzymes...
I did this just a few weeks ago as experiment to see what the effect would be.
If you're not familiar with the benefits of fasting, it goes well beyond fat loss.
You WILL lose substantial amounts of fat because of the tremendous caloric deficit (zero calories is a big deficit), but the primary reason I do these longer fasts is for health reasons.
When you eat regularly (as we all do), your digestive system never really gets a chance to rest and regenerate. The same goes for your other organs.
Your body is so busy just dealing with what's coming in that it never gets a chance to "reboot" and break down a lot of the junk that accumulates in your body...like the recycle bin of your computer.
When you don't eat for 3-5 days, you're body goes into a process known as "Autophagy"...literally self-eating.
Your body starts breaking down the "junk" in your system...this could be waste products, old dead cellular material...even pre-cancerous cells.
The process really goes into effect after about 3 days of no food. I opted to go 5 days to extend the period. I haven't done a 7 day but I feel for me, 5 days is about good.
I don't lose any muscle mass or strength in that time. I don't do any weight training during the 5 days (just fast walking) and after a couple of days of getting my body back used to food again, I'm right back into it...
...and I feel MUCH healthier for it.
For me, 5 day fasts have been an eye-opener. I've done a few of them before.
This time, I decided to add in proteolytic enzymes.
Right now, they have it on a 25% off sale, which is actually something I'm going to take advantage of myself and stock up on some more :)
Because what I did was take an ENTIRE 250 capsule bottle over the course of 5 days...that's 50 capsules a day (25 in the morning and 25 at night).
Proteolytic enzymes are fantastic for breaking down junk proteins...which is the exact process I was trying to focus on.
When you don't eat food with the enzymes, they don't have any protein to digest in the digestize system, so they turn their attention to OTHER proteins in your body.
I actually removed all the poweder from the capsules and took it directly in water. I don't know if that was fully necessary but I wanted to take everything out of the equation that could be extraneous, including capsule material (it's cellulose, so probably not a big deal).
My Results:
After 5 days of fasting, I had dropped 12 pounds on the scale. I've since come back up another 6 after stabilizing my weight.
And having not dropped any mass or strength, I feel that was at least a 5 or 6 pound fat loss in those 5 days.
Healthwise, I do feel better. My digestion has improved. I feel my recovery is better and, most notably from the enzymes, I feel a lot of nagging aches, pains and old injuries have healed up.
Again, if you want to try something like this, I HIGHLY recommend using the MassZymes enzymes. They're on sale for 25% until tomorrow at midnight.
These enzymes are something I currently take with every single meal, to maximize my protein utilization.
I actually don't even count protein grams anymore. I eat a fair of protein-containing foods, but because I take these enzymes, I know I'm getting the most bang for my buck in terms of protein utilization.
Bottom line, fasting is not a lot of fun, for sure, but it's absolutely amazing for your health. It gives your body a chance to clean itself up and get rid of a lot of the junk that it otherwise wouldn't be able to get at.
I don't have any scientific evidence to back it up, but I feel like my own experiment with adding in the enayzmes was very beneficial and next time I do a 5 day fast, I'll do it again like this.
Compared to the water-only fast, I had more energy and just felt overall better while I was doing the fast and definitely after.
MassZymes Can Help You Build Muscle
As I mentioned above, I take these with every meal...have for years. They're one of the few supplements that I NEVER go without.
I find that they make a huge difference in my training, recovery and mass and strength. To me, they've been a gamechanger.
I just turned 46 last week, and as you get older, your levels of digestive enzymes start to fall away. You don't notice it so much in your 20's and 30's but once you hit 40's, it will hit you.
That's when I noticed it and that's when I started religiously taking MassZymes.
If you're over 40, to me, a good digestive enzyme supplement is a "must have." Whether you take this one or another good one, I think it's critical, especially if you want to maintain your strength and muscle mass and performance as you get older.
Being honest, if I had to choose between buying a protein supplement and buying MassZymes, I would choose MassZymes every time.
When you take a good enzyme supplement, you can get more protein utilization from the FOOD that you're eating...and you won't even need to take a protein supplement.
If you have any questions about the fasting with enzymes and want to give it a try yourself, just let me know and I'll be happy to give you more specifics!
Nick Nilsson
The Mad Scientist of Muscle
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