Fasting is an ancient practice followed since ages for religious reasons. However, recently, when people have become more conscious about the weight, fasting has become a practice followed more for weight loss rather than religious reasons. Continue reading to know about 11 Benefits and 7 Dangers of Fasting for Weight Loss
Table of Contents
11 Benefits of Fasting
The key benefits of fasting are:
1. Aids Weight Loss
Weight loss is one of the best benefits obtained by fasting. This is because with fasting, your body is forced to use stored fats and produce energy. Professionally supervised fasts are considered best to control serious obesity since they provide medical as well as psychological support during the fasting process, consequently leading you towards healthy eating habits.
2. Supports Detoxification
Fasting helps to detoxify the body. Processed foods are loaded with additives that turn into toxins inside the body. Fasting during the day makes your body use fat reserves to produce energy, thus burning away the stored toxins contained by fat deposits.
3. Provides rest to the digestive system
Fasting allow the digestive system to rest from normal functioning, like the production of digestive secretions continue at a slower pace. This also helps to maintain the fluid balance in the body. Moreover, food breakdown occurs at a steady pace with the gradual release of energy.
4. Reduces appetite
Fasting is a far better option than various fad diets that make you end up gaining back the reduced weight. This is due to the shrunk stomach resulting from reduced levels of food intake. This further leads you to eat less and get into the habit of healthy eating thus making you indulge less in overeating.
5. Mental and Emotional Benefits
Fasting helps to improve mental clarity and focus. This provides greater flexibility along with great energy for the daily activities of life.
6. Helps to combat addictions
Fasting is also helpful to combat addictions and reduce cravings for alcohol, nicotine, processed foods and caffeine. Rather, it promotes the desire for natural foods, like water ad fruits thus promoting a healthy lifestyle.
7. Boosts Immunity
Taking a balanced diet during the fast helps to boost immunity. Also, it removes toxins and reduces fat storage. Breaking your fast with fruits adds to the body’s store of important vitamins and minerals.
8. Maintains Blood Sugar
Fasting leads to breakdown of glucose to provide energy to the body. This further reduces insulin production and relaxes the pancreas. The breakdown of glucose helps to lower the blood sugar levels.
9. Maintains Cholesterol
Another positive effect of fasting is the reduced cholesterol levels in the blood,. This further improves the cardiovascular health while reducing the risk of heart attack, heart stroke, or heart diseases.
10. Stabilizes Blood Pressure
Fasting helps to control and regulate blood pressure without using medication. Fasting helps the body to use up the glucose and fat stores later to produce energy.
11. Handles Inflammatory Response
It has been roved through research studies that fasting helps to resolve inflammatory diseases and allergies. This includes diseases like arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and skin diseases.
7 Dangers of Fasting
The main risks associated with fasting are:
- Fasting for weight loss can cause various mineral and vitamin deficiencies.
- Long term fasting can lead to anemia, a weakened immune system, irregular heartbeat, and kidney or liver problems.
- Generally, the initial weight lost is the “water weight” or mostly fluid. This implies that no fat is lost.
- Some other ill effects of fasting include muscle aches, headaches, fatigue, dizziness, diarrhea, low blood sugar, and weakness.
- The weight regained after you withdraw fasting is usually felt as slower metabolism makes it easier to regain the lost weight.
- Although fasting reduces the calorie intake and is good for weight loss, it can lead to health problems like muscle loss.
- During fasting, the body enters a conservation mode, thus lowering the pace of calorie burning.