Fasting can help you lose weight and is also beneficial for the health of the cardiovascular system, circulatory system and other system and organs of the body. It has been known for its health benefits from the days as early as those of Hippocrates. You do not have to count the calories you eat and there is no cooking required when you fast. Celebrities including Beyonce have undergone fasting sessions in order to lose weight. Intermittent fasting has proven health benefits. A recent study found that the overweight or obese adults lost around 8% of their total body weight by cutting down their calorie consumption rate by 20% on every consecutive day.
Fasting sessions can vary from mild to severe. You can choose any one of them in line with your existing health condition, weight and other aspects. Below are the 20 ways in which fasting can help you have a healthier body.
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Weight loss
Fasting is one of the fastest ways to lose extra weight. Some people also combine it with exercise in order to lose weight even faster. The body uses the stored fat for energy needs and you end up having lesser fat accumulated on your body. While you cannot fast every day, you can still pick one or few days every week when you consume very little of calories or none at all.
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Cellular rejuvenation
Fasting puts the body cells under a mild stress. The cells henceforth develop an ability to resist stress and are able to ward off a number of diseases. Hence fasting is a great way to recycle the cellular and immune system’s potency to fight and defeat diseases.
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Promoting satiety
Satiety or feeling of fullness after a meal depends on a hormone by the name leptin, among other factors. Fasting increases your sensitivity towards leptin while obesity decreases it. Fasting hence will help you feel fuller easily. The body will respond positively to the leptin signals and you will feel fuller by eating less.
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Higher metabolism rate
The hormones secreted by the thyroid gland stimulate a number of activities across almost all tissues and hence increase the BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate of the body. Leptin also has a positive influence on the thyroid hormones and increases their secretion. As the metabolism rate of the body increases, your body is able to burn more fat cells every hour. You feel more energetic and also lose extra weight through the processes.
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Increased sensitivity towards the insulin hormone
As fasting involves no or less consumption of glucose/sugar, the insulin hormone is secreted by a lesser amount. The change increases the body’s sensitivity to the hormone. Certain studies indicate that increased intake of sugar leads to increased resistance towards insulin, which can be a cause of diabetes later on.
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Initiates Ketosis
Ketosis is the burning of fats in the absence of glucose within the body. Fasting makes glucose unavailable and hence the body uses the deposited fat cells as the source of energy. Another way of reaching ketosis is to eat a fat-rich diet. Those who are obese or overweight have excess fat deposited in different body areas including stomach, legs and arms. The underlying organs also have fat deposition and these include kidney and liver among others. You can therefore easily reach the ketosis state within your body when you opt for intermittent fasting.
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Better Cardiovascular health
Fasting improves the cardiovascular health manifold. It decreases the fat layers that accumulate around the blood vessels thereby optimizing blood flow and regulating blood pressure.
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Decreased blood sugar level
Hyperglycemia is a symptom of diabetes and characterizes very (abnormally) high level of glucose in the blood. Fasting can decrease the blood sugar levels by as much as 30% within the very first few days. Those fasting may undergo periods of weakness and fatigue. The blood sugar level stabilizes later on and you achieve weight loss in between.
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Lowering of blood pressure
Salt accompanies multiple food items that we consume. Fasting is a great way to lessen your sodium or salt consumption. Lower salt consumption has been found to benefit those who suffer from high blood pressure. Fasting can hence also help you prevent stroke and other blood pressure related ailments, when done properly.
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Decrease in triglyceride count
Triglycerides are a kind of fat and when you consume more of them (through consuming junk or fatty food), they are deposited within the fat cells. Abnormally higher amount of the fats when accumulated lead to obesity, kidney ailments, heart problems (including heart attack), diabetes, impaired thyroid functioning, stroke and other kinds of chronic and acute diseases. Intermittent fasting relieves you of this excess fat, which is burnt for energy obtaining purposes in the absence of glucose.
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Better heart functionality
Obesity impairs the functionality of the heart to function normally and properly, by damaging the muscles of the heart. The heart fails to relax and contract optimally for those who are abnormally overweight or obese. It has to pump more blood in those who are obese and hence undergoes strain at all the times, which causes impairment of the heart muscle’s structure and functionality. This abnormality of the myocardial function can be overcome to some extent through fasting and weight loss, and can also be prevented when you fast and lose excess weight.
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Provides for longevity
Obesity creates a number of metabolic imbalances (for instance lipidemic and glycemic among others) that can accelerate organ ageing and dysfunction. Obesity affects ageing at the chromosomal level and shortens your lifespan. Fasting removes the excess fat and helps you live longer. It also makes you lean and fit and reverses ageing to a certain extent.
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Decreases tissue inflammation
A diet full of free radicals (like those found in unhealthy junk foods) leads to inflammation of the body. Dairy, meat, alcohol and other foods that are healthy in other respects may also cause inflammation. There are also a number of metabolic processes going on within the body every time and they are a source of free radicals as well. These molecules are highly reactive and can damage the cell membranes and the DNA when they react with them. Fasting lessens the quantity of dangerous free radicals and lowers inflammation, thereby preventing dangerous diseases including cancer.
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Reducing oxidative stress
Oxidative stress (as caused by free radicals) can lead to premature ageing and organ damage/failure. Fasting promotes health and lessens the accumulated oxidative stress. When combined with the intake of antioxidant, it detoxifies the blood and prevents a number of diseases.
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Cellular recycling
Many damaged and rough cells can be found within the body at any time. These cells may be a cause of certain diseases when their numbers reach beyond a given point. Fasting helps the body digest these abnormal or dysfunctional cells through a process known as “autophagy”. The body uses the remains of autophagy towards creating new and healthy cells and removes the toxic materials as well.
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Boost brain health
Fasting can improve brain function. Fasting boost the level of BDNF or Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, a protein that provides for healthy neurons and optimal communication in between the neurons. BDNF levels, when boosted also provide for prevention of brain diseases including Parkinson’s Diseases and Alzheimer.
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Detoxification
The toxins that accumulate within the body deteriorate the health of cells and organs. One of the best ways to fast is to eat after 12 hours on all days. There will be 4 hours towards digestion this way and the remaining 8 hours will be used for detoxification by the liver. You can also drink the herbal teas, water, vinegar or apple cider vinegar (in optimal amount) during the fasting period. These liquids have the antioxidants that will help in blood and system detoxification.
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Lessens the production of the dangerous proteins
Some proteins that are produced within the body (as a result of certain metabolic processes) may cause inflammation, including brain cell inflammation. Fasting increases the production of cytokines as well, which are proteins that offer protection to the cells. Hence fasting improves the immune system of the body and helps the cells stay healthy longer by protecting them at all times.
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Faster recovery
It has been found that fasting increases the body’s capacity to resist diseases and also accelerates recovery from injury, especially within the brain. Those who have suffered from stroke have been found to recover faster when they followed intermittent fasting. Fasting also improves the functionality of the brain and prevents diseases related to the brain, as said earlier.
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Improves skin texture
High amounts of glucose when present within the blood weakens the structural framework of the collagen that forms the skin. It also impairs collagen’s elasticity and resilience. Fasting lowers the sugar content of the blood and helps you have a healthy, glowing and normal skin for longer time periods.
There are many ways of undergoing fasting. There are the ketogenic fasts, the “hard” fasts and other fasts that people choose from. You can take advantage of fasting and can attain the various health benefits that it has to offer. Ensure that you fast under proper medical guidance.
