Benefits of Fasting Proved by Science

Fasting a popular method taken by many as a way to lose fat. Normally known as a state of having no food or drink for a definite amount of time.

In reality, there are different types of fasting depending on the amount of time one spends having no food or drink. The time frame ranges from 6 hours to as long as 72 hours. And among all of them, the most popular is the intermittent fasting which is followed by many Muslims as a religious matter.

Intermittent fasting consists of a cycle of eating within a certain time period than fasting for some time which is about 6 – 8 hours in general.

Researches have shown that such kind of fasting can actually be quite helpful for our body. So, here is 8 benefits you can reap of fasting.

1Reducing Weight-

According to many researchers, fasting can be a way to reduce our body weight. But it is specifically effective for those suffering from Diabetes.

               

When we fast our blood sugar level falls as a result of which the insulin secretion is dramatically reduced for which our body starts to burn the stored fat which in turn leads to a reduction of body weight.

Fasting trials of 3 to 12 weeks proved successful in reducing weight (≈3%-7%), fat content (≈3-5.5 kg), total cholesterol level (≈10%-21%), and triglycerides level (≈14%-42%) in normal-weight, overweight, and obese person. (Source)

Fasting is a good practice but it has to be kept in mind fasting for too long can actually be very harmful and instead of losing weight, it might lead to severe bodily disorders. Because to reduce the weight that is to burn fat from our body we actually need carbohydrate and fasting for too long can lead to decreased glucose level and as a result problems like ketonuria may develop.

2 May help in fighting off Cancer cells-

Century long ago Moreschi and Rous said that fasting and caloric restrictions have a beneficial effect on Tumor. Since then many a scientist have conducted research onto the topic to find the suppressing effect of fasting.

Research shows that fasting reduces the occurrence of tumors in normal aging and suppresses its growth while increasing their sensitivity to chemotherapy. Similarly. Fasting is thought to impair energy metabolism in cancer and make them susceptible to clinical treatments like Chemotherapy. (Source)

Another research states that Fasting leads to alterations in growth factors and in metabolite levels, which reduces the ability of cancer cells to adapt and survive and thus improving the effects of cancer therapies. Also, fasting makes the healthy cells more vigorous as a result they are less damaged by therapies and are regenerated quickly. (Source)

But most of the research regarding this are limited to animals and so the actual effect of fasting on cancer is still not fully know by us. Yet, the findings do show us that fasting can be a way to fight cancer.

3 A Cure for Depression and Mood Disorders-

According to clinicians, fasting was frequently accompanied by an increased level of vigilance and mood improvement, a subjective feeling of well-being, and sometimes of euphoria.

According to research, fasting is said to have an effect on neurotransmitters, quality of sleep and synthesis of neurotrophic factors which at long run helps to remove our mental state.

Many clinical observations have reported that an early effect of fasting on depression are the improvement of mood, alertness, and a sense of tranquility. (Source)

4 Delaying Aging and Extending Lifespan-

In case of animal model fasting has shown that reduced food intake robustly extends the life expectancy and slows down the process of aging.

In one of the studies on intermittent fasting performed by Goodrick and colleagues reported that the average life span of rats can increase up to 80% when they are kept on a feeding plan of alternate-day feeding, starting from adulthood.

In another research in the National Institute of Aging showed no significant reduction in mortality through the overall health was improved. (Source)

However, the actual effect of fasting on age and lifespan is not certain as many factors like age, sex, dietary composition, etc. play a role in the outcome. And further research is needed to establish a solid foundation in the topic.

5 Improved Physical Health and Body Development-

Recent Studies showed that fasting has a beneficial effect on enhances cognition in multiple domains, including spatial memory, associative memory, and working memory. Even in older people, the same effect has been seen which is believed to be due to the reversing of the adverse effect of obesity and DM effect by fasting. (Source)

Another study showed that fast led to parallel increases in free and total GH levels whilst there was no discernable change in the GHBP level. (Source)

Since GH affects our growth development and many other aspects of health so fasting is believed to strengthen muscle and enhance growth.

6 Improving Heart Health-

Every year a considerable number of lives are lost due to heart disease and many are premature deaths to say. With that being said fasting has been found to have a beneficial effect on heart

Studies conducted on both humans and animals showed that fasting improved blood pressure, resting heart rate, levels of lipoprotein (HDL and LDL) triglycerides, cholesterol, glucose, insulin and it's resistance. (Source)

Even the effects of fasting on the heart can be enjoyed within just 2- 4 weeks of fasting in both obese and non-obese individual and said to persist for a period of several weeks.

7 Protection From Neurodegenerative Disorders-

Scientific reports suggest that excessive calorie intake is associated with increased risk of stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease especially in mid-age persons.

And so, there is strong pre-clinical evidence that shows that fasting is capable of delaying the onset and progression of such disease.

Intermittent Fasting is said to increase neural stress resistance through multiple mechanisms like DNA repair, antioxidant defenses. Fasting also prevents seizures and excitotoxicity. (Source)

 But since data on the effects of fasting on such patients are still not available such cannot be said regarding them.

8 Fights Stress and Inflammation-

Studies showed that fasting can help us improve stress resistance by causing down-regulation of inflammation, autophagy, protein control etc.

We become stressed when we face something unordinary. And fasting makes us face it willingly and improves the capability of the body to make adaptive changes to relief from the stress.

Also, any Kind of inflammation be it acute or chronic can lead to health problems. Like inflammation of sinus leads to sinusitis which is a very painful and displeasing problem.

Apart from infections type diseases and problems inflammation can lead to heart disease and Cancer.

Studies tell that fasting can help us from these problems by reducing inflammations and such. By soothing the nerve cells and reducing secretion inflammatory substances.

In the past, our ancestors had a little life span due to many diseases but very few actually died due to the causes we face death today. And the sole reason for that is our ancestors didn’t have three square meals with high calorie-containing snacks. And they had to work very hard every day be it in the fields or some other place.

But it is not feasible for us to follow their way of life and so we can look up to things like fasting to improve our physical and mental health. Even, though fasting shows a wide range of beneficial possibilities. It has to be kept in mind all individuals will not produce the same result.

                Thus fasting SHOULD be done moderately and scientifically.

Apart from all the medical benefits fasting gives us one thing for sure fasting can help us understand and that is the pain of HUNGER. Everyday many people around the world suffer from starvation. But, yet every single day tons of food is wasted by us. So maybe this fasting can lead us to feel the pain of the poor people and help us reduce food waste.