Any guidance on fasting while flying?

[RobertGary1]

Like many I enjoy fasting on occasion. I've only had water in 24 hours and plan to fly gliders this afternoon. Never thought about this before but has anyone seen any guidance on fasting for pilots? I know its not explicitly prohibited.

 

-Robert

[GeeBee]

Low blood sugar while flying. Hmmmmm.

 

 

[RobertGary1]

Just now, GeeBee said:

Low blood sugar while flying. Hmmmmm.

 

 

I'm not diabetic so that isn't a concern.

-Robert

[AerostarDriver]

I would say it depends on how your feeling and if you meet the guidelines of the IMSAFE checklist. I personally am not effected by "low blood sugar" so I would not see the problem.

[David Lloyd]

Some people, this just wouldn't work, others no problem. A man has got to know HIS limitations.

[201er]

1 hour ago, RobertGary1 said:

Like many I enjoy fasting on occasion. I've only had water in 24 hours and plan to fly gliders this afternoon. Never thought about this before but has anyone seen any guidance on fasting for pilots? I know its not explicitly prohibited.

 

-Robert

Not eating before flying can make me nauseous. Best to fly on a full stomach not to be distracted thinking about wear to land to grab some grub.

[RobertGary1]

13 minutes ago, 201er said:

Not eating before flying can make me nauseous. Best to fly on a full stomach not to be distracted thinking about wear to land to grab some grub.

Maybe that’s the difference between fasting and just skipping a meal. I feel great while fasting. It’s why I like fasting. I dislike flying with a gut bomb after a meal. 

[GeeBee]

45 minutes ago, RobertGary1 said:

I'm not diabetic so that isn't a concern.

-Robert

Low blood sugar is not just caused by diabetes. In this case you are inducing it by not eating. Your endocrine system is used to one schedule, now you have denied it.  Might want to do a 24 hour blood glucose test. If your blood sugar drops below 70 mg/dl I would not be flying.  

 

[FJC]

I personally have done fasting and used to regularly skip lunches at work but dont do it much now that I'm spending so much time at home (cant resist the temptation of others eating around me). I wont typically skip liquids ever and will have things like such as tea or coffee with almond milk but no additional sugar added. If you can get through the hunger portion, its quite easy.

I found the opposite...heightened focus, elevated energy and so forth. One's body will either use the glucose available through meals, or it will synthesize it from fat stores but unless something is truly medically wrong (or unless there is no fat stores left), blood sugar should remain within a certain range. It seems like fasting is one way to stave off diabetes as it appears to sensitize one to insulin per literature. Evolution kicks in by providing energy and better concentration when as hunters we didnt get that meal we were going for. Certainly mirrors the animal world as fasting (although involuntary) happens quite often.

Would love to here an Endo's opinion on this subject.

[KB4]

Many fast. If you are one and have conditioned your body only you can assess if you are good to go.   For the rest of us that never fast, bad idea 

[Seth]

Intermittent fasting once your used to it should be fine as long as you are fine with it. My wife started experimenting with this to help take off baby weight and the results were amazing. Very important to keep your sodium levels appropriate. She often would crack a few turns of the himalayan sea salt shaker into a glass of a water during the day to keep her electrolytes constant while hydrating. If you are used to it, I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to fly. 

I often don't eat breakfast (rarely if ever did I eat big breakfasts so I often go 18/6 most days per week. I don't do the longer 24 hour fasts often.

What is neat though are two items:

After about18-24 hours, mutated cells or not really healthy cells in your body kind of "collapse." In a way, you are flushing out the unhealthy cells during these "24" fasts - which every religion states somewhere helps "cleanse" the body. Again, fascinating. So in a way, you are providing a lighter version of "chemotherapy" to yourself and knocking out pre-cancerous cells from your body. Not bad for simply changing your feeding cycle and working up to a 24 hour fast once in while.

After about 30 hours, your body actually starts producing HGH again. Which literally doesn't happy past your late 20's in most people. I've seen certain skin blemishes get better, other conditions fix themselves, its neat when the body repairs itself. 

Past 36 hours it quickly flips and starts harming the body.

She ate pretty much anything she wanted during the consumption hours and drank water and kept her electrolytes up. She did 18/6 5 days a week and one 24 or one attempt at 36 once a week. I was very proud of her and the end results. It completely reset her hormones.

Of course we then had two miscarriages over the next year (due to strep and flu), causing weight gain, and other changes, including knocking her hormones way off, so she's planning to start the intermittent fasting again soon.

Again, if you do this, and know how you react at certain points of the timeline, you should be fine - stay hydrated and keep your electrolytes up.

I suggest reading Dr. Fung if interested in this topic - I'm not a doctor - but i've witnessed the results in my wife, and myself too.

https://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Jason-Fung/e/B01BT8K6FK/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

His books make sense and are an easy read:

The Longevity Solution - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NS6X8NG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i6

The Cancer Code - https://www.amazon.com/Cancer-Code-Revolutionary-Understanding-Wellness/dp/0062894005/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl9GCBhDvARIsAFunhsnBOxKv3vB3a3tFA-6e5avAOr-ZRCrWH0NMrzBxu1YV9GhgYt2luLUaAkRXEALw_wcB&hvadid=477521047615&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9007779&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=5454750137170602101&hvtargid=kwd-1029033998526&hydadcr=15498_10339946&keywords=dr+fung+cancer+code&qid=1616189044&sr=8-2

-Seth

[FJC]

2 minutes ago, Seth said:

Intermittent fasting once your used to it should be fine as long as you are fine with it. My wife started experimenting with this to help take off baby weight and the results were amazing. Very important to keep your sodium levels appropriate. She often would crack a few turns of the himalayan sea salt shaker into a glass of a water during the day to keep her electrolytes constant while hydrating. If you are used to it, I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to fly. 

I often don't eat breakfast (rarely if ever did I eat big breakfasts so I often go 18/6 most days per week. I don't do the longer 24 hour fasts often.

What is neat though are two items:

After about18-24 hours, mutated cells or not really healthy cells in your body kind of "collapse." In a way, you are flushing out the unhealthy cells during these "24" fasts - which every religion states somewhere helps "cleanse" the body. Again, fascinating. So in a way, you are providing a lighter version of "chemotherapy" to yourself and knocking out pre-cancerous cells from your body. Not bad for simply changing your feeding cycle and working up to a 24 hour fast once in while.

After about 30 hours, your body actually starts producing HGH again. Which literally doesn't happy past your late 20's in most people. I've seen certain skin blemishes get better, other conditions fix themselves, its neat when the body repairs itself. 

Past 36 hours it quickly flips and starts harming the body.

She ate pretty much anything she wanted during the consumption hours and drank water and kept her electrolytes up. She did 18/6 5 days a week and one 24 or one attempt at 36 once a week. I was very proud of her and the end results. It completely reset her hormones.

Of course we then had two miscarriages over the next year (due to strep and flu), causing weight gain, and other changes, including knocking her hormones way off, so she's planning to start the intermittent fasting again soon.

Again, if you do this, and know how you react at certain points of the timeline, you should be fine - stay hydrated and keep your electrolytes up.

I suggest reading Dr. Fung if interested in this topic - I'm not a doctor - but i've witnessed the results in my wife, and myself too.

https://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Jason-Fung/e/B01BT8K6FK/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

His books make sense and are an easy read:

The Longevity Solution - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NS6X8NG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i6

The Cancer Code - https://www.amazon.com/Cancer-Code-Revolutionary-Understanding-Wellness/dp/0062894005/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl9GCBhDvARIsAFunhsnBOxKv3vB3a3tFA-6e5avAOr-ZRCrWH0NMrzBxu1YV9GhgYt2luLUaAkRXEALw_wcB&hvadid=477521047615&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9007779&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=5454750137170602101&hvtargid=kwd-1029033998526&hydadcr=15498_10339946&keywords=dr+fung+cancer+code&qid=1616189044&sr=8-2

-Seth

Very good add Seth. I've been through some of the references you called out. Had forgotten the HGH connection with fasting! The way Dr. Fung writes about it, it really makes sense that we probably should not "pulse" our bodies with regular/scheduled carbs.

 

 

[GeeBee]

The airlines and the services have spent a lot of time and research in this subject area. As they removed meals from airline flights, the problem of low pilot performance became a concern. With Covid, airlines struggled with the subject as most airport eateries were shut down due to low customer volume and equally so layover hotels had closed their food operations. Airlines had to begin putting food requirements into their hotel contracts to protect their pilots.  Lack of nutrition is a valid reason for a pilot to refuse a flight as lack of rest. 

 

[Seth]

1 minute ago, FJC said:

Very good add Seth. I've been through some of the references you called out. Had forgotten the HGH connection with fasting! The way Dr. Fung writes about it, it really makes sense that we probably should not "pulse" our bodies with regular/scheduled carbs.

 

 

And I LOVE carbs but have really cut them down! I've never done more than a 26 or so hour fast, but I also really haven't attempted it often.  So I've never seen the HGH effect personally but I've seen it happen to my wife. 

-Seth

[Seth]

2 minutes ago, GeeBee said:

The airlines and the services have spent a lot of time and research in this subject area. As they removed meals from airline flights, the problem of low pilot performance became a concern. With Covid, airlines struggled with the subject as most airport eateries were shut down due to low customer volume and equally so layover hotels had closed their food operations. Airlines had to begin putting food requirements into their hotel contracts to protect their pilots.  Lack of nutrition is a valid reason for a pilot to refuse a flight as lack of rest. 

 

Fully agreed, but remember, with proper intermittent fasting, there is no lack of nutrition. You still eat all your calories, food, whatever you should during your eating periods. You should not eat less than you normally would or the body adapts to lower food intake and that has other side effects. Proper nutrition is a must!

And trust me, I'm not really an intermittent faster - I just realized that's kind of what I have always done naturally except for when I'm forced to eat breakfast or when I'm hungry in the morning (rare).

-Seth

Edited March 19, 2021 by Seth

[A64Pilot]

In Army flight school we had a acronym we memorized for self imposed stresses.’

It was DEATH

Drugs

Exhaustion

Alcohol

Tobacco

Hypoglycemia

All were to be avoided as they reduce performance and lead to accidents

guess what Hypoglycemia is?

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoglycemia

I can assure you that we had no diabetics in flight school

Edited March 19, 2021 by A64Pilot

[RobertGary1]

It’s always made sense to me that our bodies are not designed for 3 meals 7 days a week. Some zoos have non feeding days because it better simulates the environment animals evolved with. I’m no dr but I’ve read of a number of studies that fasting improves pancreatic performance and helps avoid diabetes. Personally I just find that it feels good. But you wouldn’t make your first fast a 24 hour one. You have to work up to it.  I can imagine those with blood sugar issues would quickly find them out. 

[RobertGary1]

I’ll also say that when done correctly I don’t feel hungry in a fast. If you feel like you are starving you probably need to work jnto it. 

[GeeBee]

If you are set upon this, why are you asking for advice?

 

[V1VRV2]

Your pancreas dumps glucagon into your bloodstream when blood sugar gets low to transform glycogen in the liver into glucose. Problem solved. Your body regulates its own blood sugar. Normal healthy people don’t get low blood sugar unless the endocrine system isn’t working properly.

[jaylw314]

3 hours ago, GeeBee said:

Low blood sugar is not just caused by diabetes. In this case you are inducing it by not eating. Your endocrine system is used to one schedule, now you have denied it.  Might want to do a 24 hour blood glucose test. If your blood sugar drops below 70 mg/dl I would not be flying.  

 

Symptomatic hypoglycemia does not happen without some other pathology present, despite the belief of many self-proclaimed dietary gurus.

Your liver typically maintains enough to supply blood glucose for normal metabolism for 24 hours.  Even when that runs out, your body will break down protein for sugar and fats for ketones, so it's not as if there's a point where you suddenly fall apart due to fasting.

Obviously, extended fasting is not consistent with good quality-of-life, but I've been eating one meal a day for 20 years.  I don't do it strictly, because it's not a thing for me, it's just my daily routine

[FJC]

For many if not most people, there is an endless supply energy that can be derived from fats. I would suspect that since our bodies know how to break down fat, it would not really be possible to "force" glucose down below normal levels unless there is something abnormal going on. Our bodies process carbs easily and store them in the form of fat if there is excess. Ketogenisis takes place when carbs arent there or are insufficient to support normal glucose levels.

Dr. Fung goes on to say in many many words that many people with insulin resistance (type II) can increase their insulin resistance through intermittent fasting and possibly go off medication. Its an interesting body of research for sure! I for one do not take medications unless absolutely required so this would be welcome if I were cruising toward upward trending of glucose levels.

[N201MKTurbo]

I can go forever without eating and it doesn’t really bother me. My wife on the other hand gets hangry if you don’t feed her on time. I think we are all different on how it affects us. 
 

Another factor is what you are doing. There is a big difference between flying in a sail plane where you are always within gliding distance of an airport (don’t flame me, I’ve been 50 miles from the airport in a sailplane) and taking off on a long night cross country. If you are out gliding and start to feel like crap, you are not far from home, just go land, get a burger and a beer and you will be fine.

[N201MKTurbo]

If you are worried about fasting, take some food with you, if you start to feel bad, break the fast and have something to eat. Those GUE packs I used to down while doing marathons will boost your blood sugar in no time flat.

[RobertGary1]

1 hour ago, GeeBee said:

If you are set upon this, why are you asking for advice?

 

Fair point. But I was really looking to see if the FAA has provided any guidance on fasting and flying since a lot of people do it.