ArticleGlobal advances in health and medicine2021
Is Water-Only Fasting Safe?
Article in Global advances in health and medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Duration-dependent effects of water-only fasting on blood lipids: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and threshold meta-regression.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Prolonged Water-Only Fasting Followed by a Whole-Plant-Food Diet Is a Potential Long-Term Management Strategy for Hypertension and Obesity.Nutrients · 2024Trial
- RESET-PKD: a pilot trial on short-term ketogenic interventions in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association · 2023Trial
- Effect of 8 days of water-only fasting and exercise on liver, kidney and pancreas functions in middle-aged men.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Review
- Impact of Long-Term Fasting on Skeletal Muscle: Structure, Energy Metabolism and Function UsingJournal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Article
- Clinical research framework proposal for ketogenic metabolic therapy in glioblastoma.BMC medicine · 2024Review
- Efficacy and safety of prolonged water fasting: a narrative review of human trials.Nutrition reviews · 2024Review
- Systemic proteome adaptions to 7-day complete caloric restriction in humans.Nature metabolism · 2024Article
- Prolonged Fasting as a Cause of Deep Vein Thrombosis: A Case Report.TH open : companion journal to thrombosis and haemostasis · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWater-only fasting (WF) is a practice used to improve and maintain health.
objectiveThe aim of the study was to show whether WF performed for 8 days may be a threat to the health and/or life of people undergoing this practice.
methodsTwelve middle-aged men participated in the study. During the 8-day WF, the subjects ate no food except for drinking mineral water. Before and after WF, all subjects had a series of tests performed, beginning with the level of perceived stress and somatic measurements. The concentrations of creatinine, sodium (Na
resultsAfter 8 days of WF, the study showed a significant reduction in the level of perceived stress, weight loss, changes in body composition, dehydration, increased ketogenesis, hyperuricemia, decreased serum glucose concentration, and hyponatremia. These changes were accompanied by Na
conclusionsAfter 8 days of WF, all subjects were found to remain safe and feel the sense of well-being. However, the appearance of the above-mentioned adverse metabolic effects, despite partially effective renal compensations, suggests that the further continuation of fasting intervention by the subjects would be detrimental to their body.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.