Perils of fasting

So:  I’ll share my first unpleasant fasting experience.

Last week, on my third day fasting, I went to the movies with my sister and a friend.  We saw Lion, by the way, and it was excellent.

Prior to the movie, we stopped at the theatre lounge to have a bite.  At this lounge you could order your food/drinks to take into the movie with you.  How fun, right?

In any case, no bites for me, because as you will remember I was fasting.  I thought  I would have a nice glass of wine, but nothing in the wine selection appealed to me.  Wine, or an unsweetened cocktail, is fine while on a fast.  It metabolizes like fat.  We’re talking dry or semi-dry wine, not sweet. I had enjoyed a glass on a fasting night on more than one previous occasion.  But alas, since I didn’t care for any of the wines offered, I decided to have a martini.

Bad decision! That martini was like the equivalent of three or four glasses of wine! And I had had only a single glass of water.  And, needless to say, nothing at all to eat. My sister and our friend were passing this plate of food back and forth throughout the movie, covered in a mound of fresh potato chips.  I kept looking at it and nobly resisting the urge to have some.  In retrospect, I should have.

By the end of the movie, I felt uncharacteristically woozy.  Not exactly drunk, but very ill and unbalanced.  By this time, even small sips of water would make me nauseous.  I did not drive home, but stayed at my friend’s.   I slept fitfully, getting out of bed for a mouthful of water at a time but not daring to drink more.  I did make it through the night without heaving. It was not a fun time.

Alcohol is somewhat dehydrating, and chances are I had already been a little low on water when I started sipping that martini.  Alcohol also irritates the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract, which is one of the reasons your mother always told you never to drink on an empty stomach.  My suspicion is that my liver was busy breaking down glycogen for my fasting body, and that further challenging it with a huge dose of alcohol was not a good idea.  All in all, a very unhappy belly.

Amazingly, by  early afternoon I was just about back to normal.  Tired but not even hung over.  My sister, who is not yet convinced that fasting is a wise thing to do, brought me a hamburger from our excellent local lunch purveyor (Big and Little’s, check it out).  I still was not hungry but that burger was outstanding!  I ate the whole thing!  And then I was just fine.

So my advice to fasters, intermittent or otherwise:  only small amounts of alcohol, accompanied by plenty of water.  Save any serious drinking for your eating days.