In 2015 I did my longest fast ever. I went 12 days without food -- just water. I felt surprisingly normal for the first 7 days. After that I felt weaker and weaker. The weakness very much reminded me of the experience of having the flu. By the final day it felt as if I really did have the flu, though those symptoms would come and go, and disappeared quickly after I finally had some food.
The conclusion I draw from this is that some of the symptoms that we associate with viruses actually comes from the under-production of our normal enzymes. If you go 12 days without food, then your body starts to run out of the protein needed to make normal, everyday enzymes. And when a virus hijacks the machinery of your cells, and forces those cells to make virus proteins, the cells under produce the normal, everyday enzymes that are needed to live. And the symptoms of both experiences are very similar. So this aspect of a virus needs more study -- what is the result of not producing normal, everyday enzymes?
The conclusion I draw from this is that some of the symptoms that we associate with viruses actually comes from the under-production of our normal enzymes. If you go 12 days without food, then your body starts to run out of the protein needed to make normal, everyday enzymes. And when a virus hijacks the machinery of your cells, and forces those cells to make virus proteins, the cells under produce the normal, everyday enzymes that are needed to live. And the symptoms of both experiences are very similar. So this aspect of a virus needs more study -- what is the result of not producing normal, everyday enzymes?