What Happens If You Don't Eat for 72 Hours? | Fasting Guide | Dr. Josh Axe

The Dr. Josh Axe Show

Dr. Josh Axe

Religion & Spirituality, Health & Fitness, Christianity

4.9 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Fasting is one of the most powerful healing practices in human history—it’s free, requires zero equipment, and your body is literally designed for it. But while it sounds simple, there is a wrong way to do it, especially when it comes to the hormonal "engine switch" that happens in the first 24 hours. In this episode, I walk you through exactly what happens in your body during a 3-day fast, from clearing out "zombie cells" to the 60% drop in aging markers. Sponsors: Sunlighten Sauna: https://get.sunlighten.com/axepodcast Manukora Manuka Honey: https://manukora.com/axe Caraway Home: carawayhome.com/drjoshaxe (Use code DRJOSHAXE) for an exclusive discount Watch The Dr. Josh Axe Show every Monday & Thursday on YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@drjoshaxe?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠ 🎧 Early Access! Our podcast listeners get every episode early, and you can tune in and be a part of our exclusive listeners below → ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Apple Podcast⁠⁠ Order my NEW BOOK, The Biblio Diet → ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/4oPEP3t⁠⁠ Watch my free training on how to naturally balance your blood sugar and reverse your symptoms → ⁠⁠DrAxeDiabetesClass.com⁠⁠ Discover practical steps you can take today to start healing your thyroid naturally → ⁠⁠DrAxeThyroidClass.com⁠⁠ If you’re ready to start feeling like yourself again and balance your hormones, take my free class → ⁠⁠DrAxeHormoneClass.com⁠⁠ Uncover what’s really going on in your body with advanced biomarker testing for hormones, thyroid, and metabolism— plus a 1-hour consultation with a Senior Health Advisor! → ⁠⁠MyBloodWork.com⁠⁠ CONNECT WITH DR. JOSH AXE ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠X⁠⁠ ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Website⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Sign up for my newsletter⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Ask me a question⁠ Links: Insulin drop during fasting: Molecular Metabolism — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7471620/ Glycogen storage: Cleveland Clinic — https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/23509-glycogen Ghrelin and meal timing: Diabetes Journal — https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article-abstract/50/8/1714/ Growth hormone 14x study: Frontiers in Endocrinology — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11842881/ Ketones and brain energy: Annals of Medicine — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7877980/ Nobel Prize — Autophagy (Ohsumi): https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2016/press-release/ Insulin resistance prevalence: StatPearls / NCBI — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507839/ Immune stem cell reset: USC Valter Longo Lab — https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-old-immune-system/ Muscle loss during fasting: Nutrients — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9503095/ Food addiction data: Michigan Medicine — https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/1-8-americans-over-50-show-signs-food-addiction The Didache (c. 100 AD): Chapter 8 DISCLAIMER This content is strictly the opinion of Dr. Josh Axe and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Neither Dr. Axe nor the publisher of this content takes responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement or lifestyle program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:00.2	So I am consciously getting questions about this. And by the way, this is also something that I started practicing after first reading the Bible.
1:08.3	And it's a health practice that might be one of the most powerful things
1:11.2	you could ever do to heal your body. It's also free, requires no equipment, and your body is
1:18.3	literally designed for it. It's fasting. And today I'm going to talk about what happens in your
1:23.8	body in the first 24, 48, and 72 hours of fasting. I'll walk you through how you should
1:29.9	approach a three-day fast. And while it sounds really simple, there is absolutely a wrong way to fast,
1:35.5	especially coming in and out of a fast in what you're eating, what to take during it. I'll also walk
1:40.9	you through maybe one of the most important things, who should not fast, which is actually a pretty large group of people,
1:46.9	and the fasting benefits that even the early church fathers knew about,
1:51.5	welcome to the Dr. Josh Jack Show.
	...

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