Fasting for 4 Days: My Experiment

Completed 75 hours of Fast (only plain water) and still counting! Since it is night time here, I intend to break my fast in another 10 hours (next morning).

First 24 hours are difficult (rumbling in stomach and hunger feeling and occasional irritability ). Once it is crossed, hunger takes a back seat. You are more at peace with yourself. In fact, after 24 hours, you feel starting better.The body is in in alignment with your thoughts. I have been just taking plain water. I have been working my regular patient care responsibilities in the hospital also and went to the gym on all 3 days (avoid strenuous exercises on 3rd day).

The body has a great flexibility to deal with starvation. In first 8-10 hours of fasting, as the liver’s Glycogen stores have been depleted, fats (lipids) start kicking in to supply the energy. And fats remain the main source of energy for fasting upto a week. If fasting is prolonged beyond 7 days (not advised), proteins (stores) are pushed in to provide energy, hence muscle wasting would happen.

Fasting has its other benefits. Many believers of Naturopathy say that prolonged fasting detoxifies the body and provides a chance to body’s immune system to reset itself. Individuals with Diabetes mellitus, other metabolic disorders should avoid it. It is recommended to consult your doctor before taking on to a prolonged fast.

Will write more in days to come!

PS: I ended my fast after 4 days, ie, 97 hours. I started taking juice a few hours before breaking the fast. Ended the fast with a light supper.

 

Note: This is not a medical advice!

 

 

 

Pakistan: Will Imran Khan be a Rabble Rouser Prime Minister?

As Mr. Atal Behari Vajpeyee once said: “You can change friends, but not  neighbors.”

Even though Pakistan was carved out of India, today Pakistan is a bête noire for India. At the expense of sounding politically incorrect. India will continue to live with this neighbor that is perennially unstable. divisive and emotive.

There was no basis for creation of Pakistan. And if religion (leading to a pure and pious nation) was the core basis for creation of Pakistan, in 70 odd years, this has been proven amply wrong. Islamic Republic of Pakistan is an anomaly that\will continue to keep itself unstable. As long as Pakistan remains a THEOCRACY, it will continue to spell doom for itself  and its neighbors. Let me quickly add that an unstable, economically struggling Pakistan is of no pleasure to India. A peaceful and prosperous neighbor is what India  would naturally like to have. 

Former Cricketer Mr. Imran Khan is predicted to be the next Prime Minister of Pakistan.  His political struggle for last 2 decades seems be paying off. The results of Pakistan’s  national elections held 2 days back have not been yet fully declared, but look at the tone of its Prime Minister-in-waiting. Mr. Khan’s tone and tenor. It is confusing and contradictory.

Mr. Khan stated yesterday:

  • “If India takes one step towards us, we will take two steps toward them…but at least (we) need a start. Right now, it is one-sided where India is constantly just blaming us.”
  • Kashmir is the core issue.
  • We want to improve trade with India.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah started singing the tune of a secular Pakistan. This excerpt is from his first speech to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in 1947.

The irony is that having succeeded in getting India divided on the basis of religion (Islam), Muhammad Ali Jinnah started singing the tune of a secular Pakistan. This excerpt is from his first speech to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in 1947. Wikimedia Commons

 

Let us take a frank look at Mr. Imran Khan;s confused thought process.

If Kashmir is the core issue and Imran Khan continues to focus at its as a core issues, he also knows that relations with India are likely to remain cold.

Trade and Kashmir harping can not go together as Khan must know that Pakistan is the cause of unrest in Kashmir.

Pakistan needs a statesman Prime Minister and it seems that Mr. Imran Khan does not fit into that mould. He is considered close to the Pakistani Army (aptly called a state within a state) and can often go hawkish. His love for Islamic militant organizations is also well known. In fact, some experts have openly labelled him as Imran “Taliban” Khan. Khan is also provocatively anti-American.

An ex-CIA officer has gone to the extent of saying that the upcoming Military-Imran combination will be more problematic for SE Asia.