Besides sleeping, how long do you think you could go without eating? Okay, well how long do you think you would want to go without eating?
For most people, we could probably go half a day without a meal before it got too uncomfortable, and we wouldn't want to do it anytime soon again either.
But there's a disturbing new trend where young people are purposely depriving themselves of food in order to gain some sort of benefits for their mental, physical, and spiritual health.
Many high-profile business and technology executives have been recommending fasting to their employees as a form of productivity boosting.
They claim that by deciding not to eat for long periods throughout the day, you will not only gain more willpower but become healthier because, they believe, fasting prevents illnesses from getting worse.
There is even an app that has been developed called Zero, that keeps track of your non-eating habits.
But doctors and nutritionists are not having any of it.
Even though it has been trending recently, the idea that regular fasting can be beneficial to your overall health has been around for a while, and medical practitioners have time and time again stood up to dispel the rumors surrounding this holistic approach.
First and foremost, there is no Elvia study that proves the claims of Althea improvement from regular fasting. In fact, the only ones that have come close were performed on mice, not people.
The biggest problem that doctors have with this fad is that it promotes eating disorders among people at risk for them.
Claire Mysko is the CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association, and speaks about the issues of having a workplace culture that influences people on their diets using professional and social pressure.
"The connection between achievements and food and eating is very alarming," she says. "Not everybody who gets into this is necessarily going to spiral into a eating disorder, but if you are at risk, this is a really triggering framing."
We shouldn't rush to put our bodies through traumatic extremes in order to satisfy some idea of productivity. Good diet and exercise is always enough!
Now here's a recipe for Cinnamon & Chocolate Pull Apart Bread that you need in your life!