Adequate amount of exercise and taking care of your body’s nutritional needs are vital for being fit and healthy. However, more can be done to improve your health and fitness. Fasting is a specified time period during which an individual avoids all or some specific types of foods and drinks. While it is usually associated with religion, there are a lot of benefits of fasting that can be yielded with its proper use. Research indicates that fasting can be a great way for managing unnecessary weight gain and getting rid of different health conditions.
The Science Behind Fasting
Scientific research claims that fasting helps remove toxins from our bodies and induces a certain state in our cells which otherwise does not happen because of a constant supply of food. The cells in our body are forced to produce energy from other mediums once the supply of glucose is shut during fasting. At this point, the body starts producing its sugar, and this process is called gluconeogenesis.
Non-carbohydrate materials such as amino acids, fats, and lactate are converted into glucose by the liver. Our heart rate and blood pressure are also lowered during fasting because our body moves into a basal metabolic rate during fasting. The body later moves into the ketosis phase during the fast in which the body starts burning the stored fats. This is when you start losing weight and your sugar levels start balancing.
The stress that is induced in our body during fasting makes our cells efficiently cope with the fuel shortage hence becoming stronger. It is similar to how our muscles and cardiovascular system respond to exercise and intense workouts. Similar to working out, the cells in our body only get stronger as they go through the continuous process of stress and relaxation.
Different Types of Fasting to Lose Weight
In a controlled lab environment, following fasting methods demonstrated positive effects in terms of losing weight and providing regenerative health benefits.
1- Periodic Fasting
This fasting spans over three to five days and the goal is to limit caloric intake. The decrease in calories results in the depletion of glycogen deposits and initiates ketosis. It is possible to not eat anything during this fasting but it isn’t considered a safe option. The right thing is to reduce your calorie intake to just 1000 calories a day which mimics the fasting diet without depriving your body of important nutrients. This fasting method is great for cleansing your body from toxic material and starting ketosis.
2- Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is all about reducing your calorie intake for the day. The optimal strategy for this fasting is to reduce your calorie intake to half for two consecutive days of the week. The body undergoes intensive therapy during the fasting period. The high food intake restriction teaches us of controlling our food intake that contains an unnecessarily high amount of calories.
3- Time-Restricted Fasting
The goal of this fasting technique is to align our body with its circadian rhythm by limiting our calorie intake. The circadian rhythm or the body clock tells us when to eat, sleep and wake up. Having your meals during a pre-defined time allows us to align ourselves with our circadian rhythm. It allows our body systems to perform better. Eating snacks in an untimely manner makes our body out of sync with its regenerative systems and calibrating our habits allows it to perform optimally.
Benefits of Fasting
There are many benefits associated with fasting. Fasting is a natural process to reset and optimize different functions of the body. Below are some of the health benefits of fasting backed by scientific evidence.
1- Fasting Reduces Inflammation
The human body responds to different mild infections with acute inflammation but chronic inflammation can be dangerous. Research claims that it can cause different heart conditions, arthritis, and even cancer. Among the many benefits of fasting, it is a great way to fight inflammation and promote health.
50 healthy adults were observed during a study and the results indicated that one month of intermittent fasting can help reduce inflammation. Another study carried out on animals showed that a low caloric diet similar to intermittent fasting helped fight multiple sclerosis which is a type of inflammation.
2- Fasting Improves Brain Performance
Many studies carried out on animals indicate an association of better brain health among many benefits of fasting. Improved brain health and function were recorded in mice who went through intermittent fasting for 11 months. Research has also associated fasting with a higher production of nerve cells and improved cognitive abilities. As fasting can help reduce inflammation, it can also help prevent neurodegenerative disorders along with Parkinson’s disorder and Alzheimer’s disease.
3- Fasting Improves Growth Hormone Secretion
Fasting has been associated with increased secretion of human growth hormone protein (HGH). Research claims that this hormone is associated with overall growth, improved metabolism, muscle strength, and weight loss. Scientists claim that fasting for just two days improved the natural production of the growth hormone by 5 folds.
4- Fasting Help Prevent Cancer
Fasting has been found to help prevent and control cancer in animals. Fasting on alternate days is found to block tumor formation in rats. While most of these studies have been carried out on animals, fasting is as effective as chemotherapy when it comes to preventing tumor growth.
5- Fasting to Lose Weight
It is a great idea to use fasting to lose weight. Avoiding non-healthy foods helps consistently lose weight and when you couple that with a high metabolism rate associated with fasting then you get the recipe to lose weight fast. A study claims that fasting can help reduce up to 9% of the total body weight if continued for a period of 24 weeks. Intermittent fasting over a period of 12 weeks is also as effective and can help lose up to 8% of the total body weight.
6- Fasting Improves Heart Health
Fasting is great for your heart health in the sense that it helps reduce bad cholesterol and triglycerides levels. It also helps avoid high blood pressure. A study carried out on a large group of people indicates that fasting lowers the risk of coronary artery disease as well as diabetes which is also linked to heart problems.
7- Fasting Helps Control Blood Sugar
Many research papers claim that one of the many benefits of fasting is that it helps control the blood sugar level which can be great news for people with diabetes. Intermittent fasting shows promising results when it comes to lowering blood sugar. Both intermittent and alternate-day fasting also work effectively for decreasing insulin resistance. Lower insulin resistance makes the transfer of glucose from the blood to cells more efficient. It means fasting can help you avoid blood sugar spikes and crashes altogether.
Final Word
There are many benefits of fasting in terms of improving your overall health and losing weight if coupled with the right food. Try and stay hydrated during your fasting periods and make sure to consult your physician if you have a health condition that might get affected by fasting.
