Fasting for good health is common practice across many ancient cultures. It helps both the mind and body thereby promoting mental and physical health. All of us are looking for improved health, isn’t it? Fasting is one such very effective means by which we can achieve better health.
Fasting is defined as the willing abstinence or reduction of some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. Let us look at
Human beings have actually been fasting for thousands of years, sometimes out of necessity when the food wasn’t available and sometimes by choice. Fasting is done for religious reasons as well. Various cultures promote some form of fasting including Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism and Buddhism, and more.
Humans and other animals also often instinctively fast when sick. When you are not feeling well, your diet drops significantly. Even tigers refrain from their regular diet and eat grass sometimes to ease their digestion. Clearly, there is nothing “unnatural” about fasting, and our bodies are very well equipped to handle extended periods of not eating.
All of us observe fasting, at least while we are sleeping. All sorts of processes in the body change when we don’t eat for a while. There are scientifically proven benefits to our physiology when we consciously observe fasting by willingly keeping ourselves away from food.
“What kind of food you eat, how much you eat, how you eat, turning it from a compulsive pattern into a conscious process: this is the essence of fasting.”
Inner Engineering by Sadhguru
Fasting for Good Health – Benefits
As long as you stick to mostly nutritious foods, restrict your eating window, and refrain from eating completely at times, you can derive some very impressive health benefits from fasting.
Weight Loss – #1 Fasting Benefit
Glucose and fat are the body’s main sources of energy. On regular days most of our energy needs are met by the food we are consuming which is mostly rich in carbohydrates and sugar and we are in sugar-burning mode. Meaning, that we are deriving our energy directly from the sugar/glycogen produced by the food we are consuming. Hence our body is not getting a chance to utilize its fat reserves.
On the day of the fast, since one is not taking enough glycogen from food, the body starts to break down the fat deposits to generate energy and hence we lose weight. Your body only has around 2,000 Kcal of stored glycogen to use as glucose. But, it has over 100,000 Kcal of stored fat to burn as fuel.
Improved Digestion – #2 Fasting Benefit
Digestion requires effort. 25% of the total calories consumed in a meal go towards aiding the digestive system. Helping in breaking down, assimilating, and absorbing the nutrients from the food and more. When your body is busy digesting food, it shifts its focus and resources away from other physiological processes, like growing and repairing. Your immune system also has to be on alert, to screen what passes through the gastrointestinal tract. Hence when you give your digestive system a rest it gets a chance to focus on the other physiological process of the body like growing and repairing. If you are not fasting at least give your digestive system a rest for 3-4 hours between meals without snacking.
Self-Recycling – #3 Fasting Benefit
The deprivation of nutrients that occurs during fasting activates a process known as Autophagy (derived from a Greek word meaning ‘eating of self’).
Autophagy is the process that cells use to destroy and recycle cellular components. Autophagy also allows the cell to recycle itself and perform optimally once again. The process of Autophagy begins when you fast for 18 hours or more.
Promotes Detoxification – #4 Fasting Benefit
Detoxification is all about resting, cleansing, and nourishing the body. We continue to store toxins in our bodies due to unhealthy lifestyles and eating habits. Our bodies are acquiring toxins from the environment as well. Fasting gives an opportunity to the body to flush out toxins. Detox allows impurities from the blood, liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymphatic system, and skin to be removed from the system.
Improving Metabolic Health – #5 Benefit of Fasting
According to research from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology fasting appeared to enhance the metabolism of purine and pyrimidine, chemical substances which play key roles in gene expression and protein synthesis. When metabolized, purine and pyrimidine also boost the body’s production of antioxidants. Several antioxidants, such as ergothioneine and carnosine, were found to increase significantly.
Hormone Regeneration (Growth Hormone) -#6 Fasting Benefit
Growth hormone is known to increase the availability and utility of fats for fuel. It also helps to preserve muscle mass and bone density. Growth hormone secretion decreases steadily with age. One of the most potent stimuli to growth hormone secretion is fasting. It is precisely this growth hormone surge that completes the cellular renewal cycle.
Life longevity – #7 Fasting Benefit
Research and studies show that fasting helps in
- Heart disease prevention and management (i.e. decreased blood pressure, heart rate, lowering LDL “bad” cholesterol)
- Prevention and management of Type-II diabetes (i.e. improved insulin sensitivity, better blood glucose regulation)
- Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease prevention and management
These diseases are on the rise with today’s lifestyle and eating habits. If we can reduce the risk of these, we are automatically increasing the longevity of life.
Need Lesser Meals – #8 Fasting Benefit
Fasting also makes your life simpler. You need to plan for fewer meals, leading to saving time in procuring, preparing, and cleaning…..In fact, saving a lot of time ….:-)
There are many more benefits like Reduced food cravings, improved mood, increased mental focus and concentration, stable energy levels, etc…The benefits listed are enough to make us ‘PAUSE’ and start thinking if we want to adopt fasting. Fasting makes us feel buoyant and light and not fatigued and restless. We should only practice as much fasting as our body allows.
Fasting for Good Health – Precautions
Coming out of Fasting
Coming out of the fasting mode is equally important. If not taken care of all the good work done during the fasting can be quickly undone. Respect your body, and give it nutritious food when coming out of a fast. Ideally break the fast with fresh produce – fruits, vegetables, juices, or soups. Eat as you would on a regular day without overstuffing yourself.
The longer your fast, reintroduce foods slowly and carefully. Start by introducing soups and juices before re-introducing solids. The longer you fast longer it should take before you eat foods like animal proteins, milk-based products, and cooked cereals. Remember NOT TO OVEREAT.
Who should and shouldn’t fast?
Any adult can derive health benefits from fasting as long as they are not suffering from any medical conditions. People following strenuous exercise regimes or heavy weightlifting also need to time their fasting in such a way that they do not damage their muscles and body.
People with medical conditions or on certain medications should not fast without advice from a medical professional or their doctor. The following kind of people also needs to consult a medical practitioner before taking up fasting.
- Children
- Who are underweight
- Having or who have a prior history of eating disorder
- Are pregnant or breastfeeding
- Are diabetic
- Have heart problems
- Any other medical condition for which taking medication
What happens when we fast?
Dr. Eric Berg DC in his video below explains what really happens when we fast. The various changes that happen and the health benefits that are derived when you fast for 8/12/24/48/72 or more hours.
Fasting for Good Health – Conclusion
Dr. Alan Goldhamer, of the TrueNorth Health Center, says “Fasting is very similar to rebooting the hard drive in a computer. Sometimes, the computer gets corrupted, and you do not know exactly where the problem is. But if you just turn it off and reboot it, a lot of times, that corruption gets cleared out. The same thing happens in the human body. We develop issues, and when you turn the system down with fasting and allow it to reboot, a lot of things—from gut flora and microbiota in the gut to chronic inflammatory conditions—tend to sort themselves out.”
There are numerous benefits of fasting that can improve your health immensely. Though you need to gear up your body slowly toward fasting. If you eat your breakfast at 7.00 am after taking dinner at 9.00 pm the previous day (gap of 10 hours) slowly increase this gap to 12 hours, then 14 – 16 hours before moving on to 24 hours or longer fasts.
In another article, we will look at a variation of fasting. Currently trending these days is Intermittent Fasting. Intermittent Fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. There are numerous variations of Intermittent Fasting. Check out the 3 most popular methods of Intermittent Fasting and choose the one that works best for you.
If you need help customizing the method according to your health goals and lifestyle feel free to write to us.
Awesome. Well written