Re: Q. for Chrisb1
Hi Mighty,
a mineral or electrolyte deficiency is highly unlikely to occur within just a few days of the commencement of a fast that would not otherwise have revealed itself immediately prior to this.
Even on a poor diet the body has ways and means of storing nutrients for future use in cases of emergency such as a famine/crop failure or food shortages.
If you recall Dr Fuhrmans experience on his 46 day fast which he broke because of "electrolyte-deficiencies" revealed thru "tests", rather than the return of genuine hunger, but where these "tests" are of an unreliable & dubious character is well known: what may be a deficiency (or perceived as a deficiency) is idiosyncratic and of an esoteric nature for each individual.
All nutrient testing of the body is questionable except in the cases of deficiencies in Iron, Vitamin C (Scurvy), D3 & B12 whether eating or fasting.
I have never witnessed anyone who has suffered from scurvy either while eating or even on the most prolonged fast.
A deficiency on a fast of any one nutrient wouldn't manifest itself immediately, but where a host of deficiencies (determined by the body) would signal themselves by various signs and symptoms only an experienced & competent fasting supervisor would recognize.
These "deficiencies" or reasons for the breaking of a fast have mostly been observed clinically, and where these would include: extreme and prolonged weakness accompanied by a severe drop in Blood Pressure/heart rate.
In other words, the supervisor/practitioner would rely on the "vital-signs" of organ function rather than any other means.
If the fast were to continue beyond this point then the body will invariably instigate the return of genuine hunger (in all savable cases) and the prevention of actual starvation.
The body after all is a self-preserving organism and would not allow the onset of genuine starvation without genuine hunger being made manifest in all of its sheer intensity.
Regards
Chrisb1.