If you are looking to lose weight or to remain healthy, you may have at some time or the other contemplated the benefits of fasting? Is it good or bad to fast? What would happen if you don’t eat for one day? There have been many studies that have researched both the risks and benefits of not eating for a day and how it could impact weight loss. To this effect, the concept of fasting has also brought about the fasting diet called intermittent fasting as a popular way of losing weight but the main question is what really happens to the body when fasting and how can it be made a safe option as a good tool for weight loss.
Regardless of whether you fast or not, energy is always required for the body. The body’s main energy source is from carbohydrates that provide glucose. We also get glucose from grains, dairy, some vegetables, beans, fruits and also sweets.
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Glucose is stored in the liver and the muscles. It releases glucose into the bloodstream when it is required by the body. But this is during the normal process of the body but when in fasting mode, an entirely different situation occurs in the body.
If you have been fasting for 8 hours, the last reserves of glucose will be used up by the liver. This signals the body to enter into the state of gluconeogenesis. This is a kind of transition point where the body goes into fasting mode.
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Research studies have shown that during gluconeogenesis, the body burns more calories. In the absence of no carbohydrate from food, the body starts using up fat for energy. But this where one should learn to recognize when fasting turns from food to bad because once energy sources are depleted, fasting mode changes to starvation mode.
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Once the body starts going into starvation mode, the body’s metabolism slows down. It is then when starvation can be detrimental for the body because it starts acquiring energy from the muscle tissues. However, true starvation mode takes place after several days or weeks of being without food. This means that if you fast for 24 hours, and eat after that, it is a perfectly safe thing to d. It may also be beneficial for you where weight loss is concerned unless one suffers from a health condition like gastric problems in which case fasting is never a good idea.
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Yes! Fasting can improve and speed up weight loss but according to studies, it may not work for everyone. There are popular diet routines of intermittent fasting based on 12 hours and 16 hours periods of fasting. While some diets instruct only water to be drunk during the fast, others may allow a zero calorie beverage.
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One should realize that there are other methods of weight loss just as good and fasting isn’t necessarily better than others. Weight loss can also be achieved by reducing daily calorie intake along with some exercise.
In support of fasting, however, one study found that those who were obese and observed routines of intermittent fasting for a year lost a little more weight than those observing traditional diets. The results then proved of little statistical significance.
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Another study found that it could be harder to maintain a fasting diet over time for weight loss because those who observed such a routine were more likely to stop their weight loss efforts in comparison to those on a traditional diet that included counting calories. The limits of fasting depend more on lifestyle than its physical effects. Some nutritionists feel that the biggest concern was binging after the fasting diet where it was easy for people to start overeating after the fasting period.
Experts also found that fasting could induce a false sense of security in people to do away with healthier and positive eating habits on the days they didn’t fast.
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But!! All said and done, as there are pros and cons to everything, and since you read about the negative side of fasting, the positive side is that fasting for one day can bring you immense health benefits.
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Besides weight loss, research has found that fasting for a day (24 hours) can improve cardiovascular health. Fasting with water only fast improved metabolism, and reduced the risk of diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD). Fasting decreased the levels of TMO or Trimethylamine N-oxide that is produced by intestinal bacteria which increased the risk of CAD.
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Research on animals found that fasting improves memory and also combats certain cancers. Short-term fasting had the ability to sensitize cancer cells to chemo while ensuring that normal cells were not affected. However, since cancer patients can’t be expected to fast, experts formulated an FMD or fasting mimic diet to observe the same effects. Short-term starvation or STS was also observed to improve stem cell renewal.
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Regardless of whether you fast or not, water is extremely important and health experts state that water is absolutely essential for health. The recommended intake of water is 6-8 glasses of water per day. When you are fasting, water can help curb your hunger pangs.
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While it is considered safe, 24 hours fasting might be a problem for some people including those with diabetes, eating disorders, people on medications to be taken with food, children and teenagers, pregnancy and breastfeeding.
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According to nutritionists, the best was to break a fast is to drink water. After that you should eat a small meal because a large one can put extra strain on the digestive system. Chew your food well and each bite should be chewed 30 times. Break a fast with only cooked foods that can be digested easily where cooked vegetables are preferable. Never experiment with new foods after a fast as this may make it hard to digest foods resulting in illness.
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To conclude one can safely say that fasting for a day is relatively safe and beneficial in many ways although it should not be done by those with medical conditions and on medication. Fasting does not give you any significant gains over traditional diets based on calorie reduction combined with exercise. Long-term fasting isn’t advisable as it can starve your body of vital nutrients. However, fasting for a day along with fluids can also detoxify your body as observed by studies. If you are fasting, do it wisely and never for more than a day at a time. Intermittent fasting is much better where you eat foods within a time frame and fast for a certain time each day.
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