Why is refeeding slowly necessary after a long term fast?
In: 152
We discovered this empirically when Holocaust survivors were brought back to Britain. Aside from the expected trouble with handling food and throwing up, many suddenly died around day 3 from what we now call refeeding hypophosphatemia (low blood phosphorus); it may be mostly due to insulin from sudden carb intake or a rise in calcium. It is not like we do controlled experiments to figure it out.
There are a host of other issues as mentioned below, mostly vitamin deficiencies.
There are protocols for doing refeeding, but it is pretty hard to actually need these (refugee camps, anorexia nervosa).
It was a real WTF moment for the Brits, and how sad to survive a concentration camp only to die on free soil.
Latest Answers