You have probably heard about fasting and it's many benefits from a friend or on the internet. While fasting can indeed have benefits, that doesn't mean there aren't side effects that come with this type of dieting too. If you are thinking about fasting to lose some weight, it's important you know everything about it, not just what others tell you. We will tell you exactly everything you will need to know about fasting before you think about starting.
Some people give it up because of their severe headaches that come with it, so there is a valid question to be asked — is it really that helpful for us in any way?
More about fasting
While fasting may seem beneficial from what you've seen, there's a simple fact you need to know.
Not everyone responds well to fasting.
Thin people, and those who are particularly sensitive to cold, can have a particularly hard time. Also, too much physical activity while fasting may also be a cause of headaches. 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. A one-day fast is unlikely to cause any harm to a healthy body. Slightly longer fasts, such as two to three days, will also be tolerated well by a healthy organism. 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 includes 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 applies even to 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. The purpose of a fast 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 spared. However, some muscle tissue is often lost, even during a short fasting time. Weakness, nausea, headaches, and depression can also develop during a fast, because ammonia and nitrogen are released into the blood during the breakdown of muscle tissue. Ketones, byproducts of fat metabolism, are produced once the body switches from burning carbohydrates to burning fat. Elimination of ketones is the job of your kidneys.
In extreme cases, extended fasts can lead to disturbances of heart rhythm, or even death. 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 fasts should be limited in duration as well. Modified fasts lasting more than a week are something your healthcare professional should supervise.
Why do people follow fasting diets?
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.
Fasting Pros and Cons
Of all the methods used by the natural physician, no method is as powerful and controversial as the fast. You could achieve more improvements of your health with fasting and its variations, 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 of fasting believe that it periodically gives the body a break from digestion, and 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 a fasting diet. Proponents claim a one-day fast creates a clearer mental state and increased energy of the body, that a three-day fast rids the body of toxins and purifies the blood, and that a long-term fast promotes healing, alleviates food allergies, sheds pounds, and rebuilds the immune system.
On the other hand, critics believe that fasting depletes the body of important nutrients, essential minerals and energy. They think fasting may be unsafe, and is an ineffective weight loss aid. The few pounds that are lost near the beginning of a fast are from water. They believe this weight will return as soon as the fast is over.
Certain scientific studies wanted to back up health claims and demonstrate that fasting works by releasing toxins stored in fat. Patients varied greatly in their response and the symptoms displayed during the fasting diet. Some of them state happily that they have never felt as well in their lives as during fast. Others displayed a variety of unpleasant symptoms that could not be avoided.
Effects on body
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 using one of many 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 monitor the blood pressures of all patients during fasting. If the level drops too low, the fast is broken immediately. Urine examinations should be made daily, and blood samples should be taken whenever the need arises.
Most patients tend to show acid bodies in the urine after a few days of fasting. If this is keept within moderate levels by the vital force and if the patient is in good physical and emotional shape, it need not provoke concern. On the other hand, it could happen that the ketone levels begin to rise above the allowable range or that 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 a quarter-cup a day – corrects the ketosis. This should also 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.
Types of fasting diets
There are three basic types of fasts at fasting centers.
- The first is the relatively short fast, recommended during most acute conditions. This type of fasting is used by people with influenza, childhood diseases, colds, and other acute conditions. This is the best choice when body temperature is elevated. In these acute disorders, a modified fast is the best choice. During this fast, the doctor will prescribe fruit juices diluted one to one with un-fluoridated and un-chlorinated water.
- The second and most common fasting type is the short complete fast. This type is helpful to overcome a large variety of chronic disorders. This type of fast usually lasts five days to two weeks. You should repeat it every few months until you obtain the results desired in a specific disease.
- The third and last is the extended fast, lasting three weeks to three months. This fasting type is the most powerful of all types available. However, it is most difficult to undergo and must be handled with great care, even by the most accomplished physician.
The rationale behind fasting
One of the reasons for fasting, particularly in chronic diseases, that has never found much favor with orthodox physicians, is that it the effects depend on body intelligence. The problem is that most of them are not prepared to accept this intelligence of the body, which homeopaths and naturopaths call the vital force. It must be accepted as fact for an adequate understanding of fasting.
Some naturalists say there is a force at work within the body, constantly striving to preserve and strengthen our being. This force attempts to control the various mechanisms and chemical reactions of the body. Life perpetuates and the organism functions in the most efficient manner under the circumstances it finds itself in. After long investigation, the naturalist believes there are only a few reasons why the vital force may be inhibited as it sometimes is. First, it cannot perform properly if it does not have the necessary nutrients. Second, its action will be sluggish if it is heavily encumbered with congesting matter clogging its functioning. Third, it cannot fulfill its duties if it is poisoned 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 when selecting a diet for a patient, the natural physician will carefully restrict the menus. He will try to restrict the food that does 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 the vital force will give you your body back. 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 body chemistry, and to cleanse the body from abnormal and deleterious congestions. Fasting could also help cure certain physical infirmities and diseases that may be present in the body. Every thought of the physician during the fast should be directed 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 stated above, because those four needs must be met before and during the fast, or its success will be incomplete.