EP 17: Tips for Breaking Your Fast with Dr. Minni Malhotra

Published: July 1, 2020, 7 a.m.

Last time Dr. Minni Malhotra discussed the benefits of fasting and guided listeners to approach this practice healthily. In this episode, she advises on breaking your fast without disrupting your bodily systems in a negative way. She talks about the difference between a short and a long fast, how you should eat when first returning to your regular diet, the ways in which a fast alter your digestive enzymes, and how to minimize the possible side-effects of breaking a fast. Listeners will also learn about making the best food choices in the first few hours after recovering from a fast, why consuming alcohol can be problematic, and the risks involved in refeeding syndrome. 


Key Points From This Episode:

  • Learn the difference between a long and short fast. 
  • Why you should be careful about what you consume when breaking a fast.  
  • How fasts of longer than 36 hours affect your digestive enzymes. 
  • Possible side-effects of breaking a long fast and how to minimize their impact. 
  • Suggestions for good food choices to make when ending a longer fast. 
  • The risks of consuming alcohol and binge drinking shortly after a fast. 
  • Hear all about refeeding syndrome and the key clinical markers. 
  • How you can avoid refeeding syndrome or reduce the risk of contracting it. 


Tweetables:

“Although there is no clear consensus or accepted definition about what the cutoff is between a long and a short-term fast, most physicians or clinicians would say anything between 12 to 24 hours is a short-term fast.” — Dr. Minni Malhotra [0:01:42]

“In our own clinical experience, anything longer than 36 hours for most people will reduce the number of digestive enzymes that are produced by the pancreas and the intestines, so resuming eating after a longer fast takes more planning and care.” — Dr. Minni Malhotra [0:02:45]


Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dr. Minni Malhotra on LinkedIn

Dr. Minni Malhotra Email

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