Fasting can cure autoimmune diseases?

[mickstability]

An interesting piece by Jenni Russell in The Times today, which you can view if you're a subscriber. Here's a link to a slightly edited version which I hope can be viewed by everyone:

interweave-consulting.blogs...

[Marz]

Thanks for the interesting read - next I have to find the courage

[greygoose]

Pity she didn't say which autoimmune diseases she has. I'm not at all sure that fasting will help a thyroid that has been partialy destroyed by Hashi's. And it's likely to make nutritional deficiencies even worse. I think specific research needs to be done on Hashi's and resulting low thyroid.

[MidnightBlue]

I am very interested in this, I heard about the research done on fasting and diabetes, looks like an interesting avenue for further research.

[nightingale-56]

Did a three day fast about 30 years ago under the care of my son's paediatrician because of suspected Candida. Felt no different while on fast and thought I would not be able to eat again, but didn't feel hungry. On the 4th day went back to eating, yoghurt, salad, soup, and felt really good. This was before Levothyroxine and I would be scared to try this now while on meds. It did bring a gluten intolerance to the fore though.

[Hidden]

Hmm...this is interesting! I have to say though not sure if I could handle it...I feel so nauseous at times that I just have to eat 😏 it would definitely be testing. I agree with grey goose though about nutritionally...I wonder what the negatives are of doing this.

[Pepekins]

I am not sure if there are many!! Short fasts seem to be beneficial, not sure about long ones tho'.

[Joyia]

Without the good support of a specialist I would not recommend fasting for more than a day, you really need to understand what may happen when going through the process.

[Chancery]

I consider fasting to be a very bad idea. If you have thyroid problems you almost certainly have stomach acid problems so your body is already struggling to make ends meet, nutritionally. From personal experience, however, I can tell you that I fasted, unwillingly, for a year and a half, on average two to three days a week. While I lost a LOT of weight, I proceeded, a scant year later, to be diagnosed with hypothyroidism, which I think may be Hashimoto's (waiting for confirmation). I also now have Sjogren's syndrome and IgA deficiency - all autoimmune problems.

During my year and a half of constant fasting I continued to suffer from urticaria, also an autoimmune problem, and not one whit changed by the fasting.

It's likely that I developed a B12 deficiency during my protracted fasting and that led to my current incurable neurological damage, specifically brain demyelination. So is fasting a good idea and will it cure autoimmune issues? No, but it just might give you them.