Fasting is a type of dietary habit taking its name from the metabolic state of the body after the absorption of the meal, which is known to help people lose weight. Additionally, this type of diet is followed by people in numerous cultures and regions.
Aside from losing weight, this diet is also employed as a protest or for the purpose of spiritual enlightenment in some cultures.
Fasting Diet: Benefits And Challenges
The term "fasting" is used to imply abstinence from either food and/or beverages (aside from water) for a given period. A few hours after having a meal, usually before three and five, a series of metabolic changes takes place. Depending on the severity of this diet, the metabolic changes can continue for eight to 72 hours.
Fasting implies that there will be no new supplies of carbohydrates, protein, and minerals in the body, and it chemically begins once the body has used all the energy from the food and is starting to consume the carbohydrates existing inside the body under the form of fat tissue.
However, once the carbohydrates are consumed, the next to be consumed as part of the metabolic process are proteins, which can lead to losing muscles. At this point in this diet, the process is medically unhealthy and potentially dangerous.
Among the benefits of intermittent fasting, cellular repair and a reduced risk of chronic disease are the medical reasons that support this lifestyle. However, this type of diet is also widely used for losing weight. Another benefit of this diet is that it reduces the risk of developing diabetes due to insulin sensitivity.
However, fasting diet is not recommended for everyone. The diet is not recommended to pregnant women, as nutrients should be ingested whenever necessary to ensure the proper nutrition of the unborn child. Adopting this diet while pregnant could lead to future metabolic issues in the child's life.
Patients who suffer from adrenal fatigue should also refrain from using this diet. When a person suffers from this condition, the stressors on the body should be minimized to assure a better overall function. As fasting is a powerful stressor, it should be avoided.
Additionally, people whose thyroids have a lower functioning should also be careful with fasting. Because of being a stressor on the body, the diet could in fact lead to weight gain instead of helping weight loss. While patients who suffer from a lower functioning of their thyroids tend to gain weight, their diets should be closely monitored by doctors. Should the fasting diet be followed, any change in the body would have to be checked periodically.
Fasting Mimicking Diet, Helpful In Reducing Age-Related Risk Factors
New research has shown that a diet mimicking the fasting diet has proven to be helpful in reducing risk factors for aging and age-related diseases. According to the research, adopting this mimicking fasting diet resulted in improvements at the levels of different metabolic markers after just three months.
The markers in question were related to aging and age-related diseases, such as blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol. Additionally, the subjects lost, on average, 5.7 pounds throughout the three-month period.
