I don’t care who you are you fast daily. “No I don’t you say.” Sure you do. When you go to bed at night, you’re fasting. You fast between meals. So, how does fasting affect the body. What’s the difference between the fasting that we all do and fasting for days on end?

What is fasting?

According to the definition of fasting: Fasting is voluntarily not eating food for varying lengths of time. Fasting is used as a medical therapy formany conditions. It is also a spiritual practice in many religions.

People have fasted for thousands of years. Fasting is one of the oldest therapies in medicine. It restores health. 

Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, taught us that fasting enables the body to heal itself. And Paracelsus, another great healer in the Western tradition, wrote 500 years ago that “fasting is the greatest remedy, the physician within.” Ayurvedic medicine, where my training lies, is the world’s oldest healing system, has long promoted fasting as an essential treatment.

The principle behind fasting is quite simple. Food is temporarily stopped. This gives the systems of the body a break from the task of digestion. Fasting gives the body extra energy and the chance to heal and restore itself. During fasting, stored calories are burned and this rids the body of toxic substances stored in the tissue.

However, we know the liver and immune system are free to detoxify and heal other parts of the body. In other words, American’s have a lousy diet. Fasting helps the body rid itself of the toxins taken in while eating and drinking. 

What happens when we fast?

We already know that fasting helps the body to rid itself of toxins.

Next, the extra calories that we carry around are burned by the body. When you burn off the reserved calories, you may lose weight.

Then, your appetite is resit. We tend to eat by the clock, not by if we are hungry or not.

Thirdly, the affect on the brain is amazing. Often, we feel more alert when we go without food. Studies have shown that fasting twice a week may in fact decrease the risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease that affects memory and causes a loss in thinking and reasoning skills. Think about it this way, you’re clearing out the grim from the brain cells.

The information on fasting and gut health is lacking to an extent. More research needs to be done. Having said this, we do know that change in the human microbiome may produce more healthy bacteria.

Your sensitivity to insulin is changed. With healthy individuals, eating triggers the release of insulin. This is the hormone that moves glucose into the cells to be used for energy or stored for later use. Taking a break from eating causes insulin levels drop. As a result, one has improved insulin sensitivity, which is protective against diabetes.

Do you fast longer periods of time or not?

That’s an individual decision. Give serious consideration to how long you fast. I know people who have fasted for 40 days. However, I’m not sure this long period of fasting is beneficial.

If you have never fasted before, I recommend to start with a one day fast. This will acquaint you with learning how your body responds to going without food. When you learn how your body reacts to being deprived of food, you begin to listen to what your body needs.

Scaling back on food a few days before you begin your fast is recommended. It helps the body to adjust going without as much food. Which in turn, makes the transition easier on the body’s systems.

Taking action in your health is a step in the right direction. Three days is a good start. This is usually done over the weekend.

Be careful not to fast too frequently. Allow your body time to rebuild nutritional reserves. Two days per week is too frequent.

Recommended fasting times for regular or occasionally to rebalance your body are one day per week and/or 3 days per month and/or 10 days yearly.

Dangers of long fast

The ultimate risk of fasting, of course, is death by starvation. This isn’t usually the case for people fasting for medical reasons. But, keep in mind, taking anything to an extreme is dangerous. Your body is depleted of the nutrients needed to function properly when depriving the body of nourishment.

Even fasts for a few weeks or less can have dangerous consequences. Going without food puts two different types of stress on your heart. First, it eats into cardiac muscle for fuel. Our body does everything it can to conserve muscle during a fast, but inevitably some muscle will be sacrificed at the beginning of the fast.

After a few days, the body switches over to using fat, but researchers have discovered that protein (muscle) utilization actually increases again, even though fat stores are still available. This protein includes the muscle in your heart. If weaken too much, heart failure will result.

Strict water restriction is also a risk for heart failure because the body’s intracellular stores of minerals essential for cardiac function, like magnesium and potassium, are depleted.  The results of this cardiac muscle loss and mineral deprivation can be death.

But what about getting rid of toxins?

Another potential downside of long-term fasting is the rate of detox. Fat is your body’s storage organ for everything, this includes toxins that have accumulated over the years. You lose weight and all these toxins have to go somewhere. Toxins are removed through your bloodstream.

This can cause a healing crisis, which can be extremely uncomfortable. These symptoms are even more pronounced when not eating, since the rate of fat burning is rapid. Often people feel nauseous, sick, or otherwise ill. You may feel like you have the flu.

Precautions

Some people simply shouldn’t practice extended fasts, period:

• Young children are still growing rapidly and need adequate nutrition at every stage to make sure their bodies develop properly.
• Very elderly people often don’t have the physical resources to fast safely.
• People who are seriously ill, or people with chronic heart or kidney conditions, shouldn’t fast since their bodies may not be able to withstand the stress of fasting.
• Women who are pregnant, or trying to get pregnant, should eat plenty of nutrient-dense food, because a well-fed state is essential for healthy reproduction.

Above all, research fasting before you undertake going without food. Taking control of your health is recommended. No one knows your body like you do.

In conclusion, talk with your heath care provider before starting a program of fasting.