Fasting: Pros and Cons

You have probably heard some people who were talking how good is fasting?! However, you could also hear side effects people reported with this type of dieting. Some people give it up with that kind of dieting, because they was getting severe headaches, so there's a question could it be REALLY helpful for us any way?

The fact is not everyone does well with fasting. Thin people and those who are particularly sensitive to cold, they have time that is more difficult. Beside this, too much physical activity during this time may also be a cause of headache. During a fast, a person purposely abstains from food for a specific time. Fasting was popular throughout the ages for both religious and therapeutic purposes. One-day fast is unlikely to cause any harm to a healthy body. Slightly longer fasts such as two to three days organism will also tolerate well, by most healthy people. It is also important to know that no matter how short the duration, fasting is unwise and potentially dangerous for some people. This group of people is pregnant and lactating women, people with cancer, diabetes, gout, hypoglycemia, stomach ulcers, liver, kidney, or lung disease. It could be potentially dangerous for anyone with a compromised immune system. Some health experts caution against fasts lasting more than two to three days. This worth even for healthy individuals, but if longer fasts are practiced, they should be medically supervised. During the first 24 hours of a fast, the body is able to utilize its stored carbohydrates in the form of glycogen. Purpose is to fuel essential body processes. When glycogen reserves are depleted, fat becomes the preferred energy source, so that proteins found in muscle tissue will be partially spare. However, some muscle tissue is often lost, even during short fasting time. Weakness, nausea, headaches, and depression can also develop during a fast. It happens because ammonia and nitrogen releases into the blood during the breakdown of muscle tissue. Ketones, byproducts of fat metabolism, produce starts once the body switches from burning carbohydrates to burning fat. Elimination of ketones is job of your kidneys. In extreme cases, extended fasts can lead to disturbances of heart rhythm and even death in some cases. Modified fasts, in which people consume fruit or vegetable juices and herbal teas, are probably easier on the body than all-water fasts. However, modified fast should be limited in duration as well. Modified fasts lasting more than a week is something your healthcare professional should supervise.

Proponents claim that environmental toxins build up in our bodies over time. It would be wise to remove these toxins periodically through fasting. The goal of fasting is to maintain optimum health. Cleansing fasts are an important part of a detoxification program and may be part of a weight-loss program as well.

Of all the methods used by the natural physician, no method is as powerful and controversial as the fast. More disorders of the human economy could overcome by the fast. You could achieve many improvements of your health with fasting and its variations, rather than by any other single therapy. Yet the fast is but rarely used by most practitioners. This is because so few received appropriate training in the proper technique and procedures needed to obtain the best results. Advocates believe that fasting periodically gives the body a break from digestion. Fasting also allows it to eliminate the toxins that cause disease, while promoting healing and reversing the aging process. Studies indicate that fasting helps health conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, migraine headache, and some skin diseases as well. Acute illnesses such as colds and flu, colon disorders, allergies, obesity, and respiratory diseases may also respond to fasting diet. Proponents claim a one-day fast creates a clearer mental state and increased energy of the body. They believe a three-day fast rids the body of toxins and purifies the blood. They also believe that a long-term fast promotes healing, alleviates food allergies, sheds pounds, and rebuilds the immune system. In the same time, critics believe that fasting depletes the body of important nutrients, essential minerals and energy. They thing fasting may be unsafe, and is an ineffective weight loss aid. The few pounds that are lost in the beginning of a fast are from water. They believe this weight will return as soon as the fast is over. Few scientific studies wanted to back up health claims and demonstrate that fasting works by releasing toxins stored in fat. Patients vary greatly in their feelings and the symptoms displayed during the fasting diet. Some of patients state happily that they have never felt as well in their lives as during fast. Others may display a variety of unpleasant symptoms they could not avoid. It is usual for a variety of skin eruptions to develop during the healing fast. This happens because this is one of the best ways the body has of casting off toxic substances. Any disagreeable reaction associated with such eruptions your doctor should control by the use of one of the other physical therapeutic methods. High blood pressure usually drops during a fast, whereas low blood pressure often increases to normal levels after a while. The doctor should carefully watch for blood pressures of all patients during fasting. If the level drops too low, the fast is broken immediately. Urine examinations the doctor should make daily, and he should take blood samples whenever the need arises. Most patients tend to show acid bodies in the urine after a few days of fasting. If this is keeping within moderate levels by the vital force and if the patient is in good physical and emotional shape, it does not need to provoke over concern. On the other hand, it could happen that the ketone levels begin to rise above the allowable range, or if the patient begins to feel overly tired or ill. If that happens, it is helpful to add very small amounts of pure cranberry juice to the water. In almost all instances, this slight amount of juice-as little as 1/4 of a cup a day-corrects the ketosis. This is also going to give the patient a feeling of well-being. By following this proven method, it is possible to extend fasts in some patients far beyond what might have otherwise been advisable.

There are three basic types of fasts at fasting centers.

One of the reasons fasting, particularly in chronic diseases, has never found much favor with orthodox physicians is that it depends on intelligence in the body. Problem is that most of them are not prepared to accept this intelligence of the body. This intelligence, which homeopaths and naturopaths call the vital force you must accept as fact for an adequate understanding of fasting. Some naturalists say there is within the body a force at work, constantly striving to preserve and strengthen our being. This force attempts to control the various mechanisms and chemical reactions of the body. It happens in such a way that life perpetuates and the organism functions in the most efficient manner under the circumstances it finds itself. From long investigation, the naturalist believes there are only a few reasons why the vital force may inhibit as it happens sometimes. First, it cannot perform properly if it does not have the necessary nutrients. Second, its action will be sluggish if it heavily encumber with congesting matter clogging its functioning. Third, it cannot fulfill its duties if it is poison by harmful emotional pressures. Last, and particularly germane to this subject, it cannot do its job in some instances unless it gets a free hand and unobstructed opportunity to proceed to a salubrious conclusion. That is why selecting a diet for the patient natural physician will carefully restrict the menus. He will try to restrict the foods that do not congest. Concurrently, the natural physician also uses whatever therapeutic methods he thinks best to aid the body in its decongesting attempts. If we look at the fast in this light, we are in effect saying that vital force will give you back your body. However, in conducting the general fast, one must always have in mind the objectives. The purpose of this fast is not to lose weight, to increase spiritual enlightenment or to feel better immediately. For those who fast often feel worse at various periods during it. The purpose of the healing fast is to balance the body chemistry, and to cleanse the body from abnormal and deleterious congestions. Fasting could also help to cure certain physical infirmities and diseases that may be present in the body. Every thought of the physician during the fast should direct toward these purposes by helping the vital force in every conceivable way. To this end, he must not forget the four fundamental needs of the vital force, because four needs he must meet before and during the fast or his success will be incomplete.