“Ten Days of Only Water”: Why Raz Degan’s Extreme Fast Is Not a Good Idea

Ten days without eating anything, drinking only water. A practice that "keeps the intestines clean", that is "the beginning of a new season" and that "makes you feel alive". At least according to Raz Degan : the Israeli actor, director and former model just told the story on his Instagram profile, sparking a hornet's nest of controversy. Motivated, if you look closely, because the practice of such an extreme and prolonged fast, far from being healthy, is actually very dangerous for the body. While on the one hand it is sacrosanct to hydrate properly, especially in the summer months, when you lose more fluids through sweating, on the other hand, stopping eating can lead to a nutrient deficit that is potentially very risky for the body.

It's true that water makes you lose weight

The fact that water helps you lose weight is certainly not news. Science has long since established that, despite being calorie-free, water must be considered a real nutrient, very important for the growth and renewal of our body's structures, and drinking more water has always been one of the recommendations of nutritionists to achieve and maintain a balanced weight. The role of water in weight loss is linked to thermogenesis, or the production of heat by the body.

In essence, introducing water at room temperature (15-20°C) into the human body, whose temperature is about 20 degrees higher, causes the metabolism of the latter to "spend" energy to maintain its temperature constant and "balance" the cooling due to the water: pure physics, in short. Added to all this is the fact that with a belly full of liquids you feel less hungry: together, these considerations lead to the formulation of a rule of thumb according to which drinking at least eight glasses of water a day, doing constant physical activity and maintaining a low-calorie diet actually results in visible and long-lasting weight loss.

But eating is important

“Maintaining a low-calorie diet”, we said before. Because eating (even if less) remains essential, and fasting in an extreme way is dangerous and counterproductive. If with respect to the so-called “intermittent fasting” there is still no univocal consensus on the balance between risks and benefits, extreme and total fasting is to be avoided, because it exposes the body to deficiencies of the nutrients needed to make it function well.

Much healthier and more functional, however, is to maintain a balanced and correct diet, which includes more fruit and vegetables and less processed meats, fats, sugars, ultra-processed foods. For any doubts, the advice is to contact a specialist who will be able to suggest the most suitable diet for each person, without running unnecessary risks.