Twelve Benefits of Fasting

Fasting as a tool for holistic health and healing that has been practiced and studied for many centuries. There are many different types of fasts, from intermittent, to regular, to prolonged to modified to religious and the list goes on. I have undertaken to compile important data about this practice in its many forms, and its many pros and cons.

This post will provide information for people who practice fasting, recommend fasting, are curious about fasting or needs motivation for fasting. If you want to decide whether (or not) to fast, if its for you, if it can be done safely, and the many benefits it brings, then this post is for you.

1. Costs Nothing

For the person who is planning to fast at home for a short to moderate period of time, the level of planning may not require any more expense than if the individual had not decided to embark upon a fast. For the novice who is going to fast for more than 24-48 hours, there may be the need for research, support and some resources. It all depends on the person’s insight into the process to begin with. In this digital age information is so easily available on gadgets and even at the library as well as from friends, family and your GP and other healthcare professionals. Any expense incurred due to fasting is usually out of choice by the individual who wants to pay for support or a customised experience.

Options for those who want to pay for support and resource include books, journals, retreats, apps and groups (meeting physically and online). Whether you go it alone or with a companion, it will always be worth having some information and a plan.

2. Reduces Wear And Tear On Your Teeth

So, here is the surprising thing, when you fast it reduces acidity in your mouth as long as your mouth is kept moist and clean for the duration of the fast. When a person eats a meal or takes a drink (apart from water) the pH balance of the mouth is changed from alkaline to acidic.

So for the same reason that avoiding snacks between meals, support oral health and reduce the exposure of your teeth to remnants of food and debris that encourage bacterial growth and an acid environment that leads to carries and gum disease…fasting prolongs this state of alkalinity, mineralised saliva (bathing the teeth to regenerate the enamel) absence of or reduction in the food stuff that bacteria needs to thrive and do damage to teeth. That should put a smile on your face and keep you motivated to keep to your fasting schedule, whether for 16 hours, 24 hours or even 21 days.

3. Improves Blood Sugar Levels

In recent times we are bombarded with information about how important it is to keep our blood sugar from spiking or fluctuating too sharply. This is important whether or not a person suffers from diabetes. All the organs involved in digestion work very hard to maintain homeostasis and balance within the body. Even organs that are not directly involved in digestion are impacted by every meal and snack we eat and the fluids we drink.

We know that the liver has to provide bile for the digestion of fat in the intestine and that the pancreas has to provide insulin for the transfer of sugar into body cells to provide energy for metabolism and activities of life. Well a host of other chemical reactions take place around our meals and the process of digestion that occurs after food is ingested. During fasting the liver breaks down and releases stored fat and glycogen (stored form of sugar) for energy production, instead of bile. The beta cells of the pancreas are allowed to rest from the wear and tear of eating and snacking. This require less effort from these delicate organs to achieve balance throughout the body.

4. Reduces Insulin Resistance

The body cells are sensitive to the reduction in calories/energy and respond by being more sensitive to insulin, the hormone that lets energy from sugar enter the cells. People who over eat, snack between meals and take a high carb diet start developing insulin resistance over time as the body cells find the store of energy in the form of fat, a burden, they resist the effort of insulin to let more energy in through the cell walls.

Fasting provides a well deserved break for both the pancreas that produces insulin as well as the body cells that are overwhelmed by excess of macronutrients (protein, fat and carbs) that provide fuel for the body. Along with fasting, additional self support for the problem of insulin resistance includes exercising and optimising mineral and vitamin intake to boost metabolism.

5. Reduces Work Of The Pancreas

The incidence of pancreatic cancer has increased over the last two decades, along side the increased rates of type two diabetes and fatty liver disease. Much of this has been attributed to a high carbohydrate diet and a sedentary lifestyle. People in developing and first world countries are eating more and moving less.

But as health seeker are trying to reduce their overall calorie intake there is more attention in the media on the art and practice of fasting. Research shows that at about 36 hours in to a fast, the level of insulin in the body declines as the lack of food reduces the stimulus for the pancreas to secrete insulin.

6. Reduces Work Of The Liver

It is general knowledge that the liver helps with removing toxins from the blood stream as it flows from the intestines to take nutrients to the body cells. But the liver does much more than breakdown substances for use by the body or to be eliminated by the intestines and the kidney.

The liver plays a vital role in maintaining balance and homeostasis in the body through hundreds of processes that include the production of cholesterol, the storage of excess sugar (the end product of carbs) communicating with the pancreas vial the common bile duct to support digestion and assimilation processes. Apart from digestion and metabolism, the liver also produce chemicals that prevent harmful blood clots while at the same time supports the body’s mechanism for preventing or reducing heavy bleeding from flesh wounds where a blood vessel has not rupture.

7. Reduces Wear and Tear of The Stomach And Alimentary Canal

The tubular tract from the mouth to the stomach to the small intestines, the colon, rectum and anus allows us to ingest, digest and assimilate food to nourish our bodies and eliminate waste. But did you know that there are dozens of enzymes that are secreted during the process of digestion starting from inside the mouth. And depending on your lifestyle and eating habits it may take more than 24 hours for your food to be processed and the waste expelled from your body.

So although the digestion process, up to the point where the stomach is emptied may take around three to six hours depending on the type of meal, your gut is still working many hours later on processing food to be absorbed into the blood stream to nourish your body. Most of us really enjoy eating but don’t acknowledge that it is a very complex process that takes a lot of effort that can tax your health if it is over done or abused. So fasting allows time for repair and regeneration of the organs of digestion.

8. Improves Will Power

The repetition of an action overtime becomes habitual. This happens because the brain remembers the action and is even changed by the action. Repeated exposure to situation and experiences or actions leave tracts in the brain of the person. These deepen with repetition. So eating your favourite food on a regular basis as well as giving into cravings (repeatedly) deepens the impression on your brain and the memory of the pleasure sensation linked to this strengthens the habit over time.

Like wise the practice of fasting on a regular basis can reduce the exposure to the habit the you are trying to overcome. So abstaining from food for increasing duration each time gradually reduces the pleasure reward activation and helps with breaking the bad habit and forming new ones. Introduction of a new eating habit after a period of fasting helps ensure that success is more likely.

9. Decreases Or Slows The Aging Process

So the many processes involved in digestion of food also impacts the body cells that are exposed to the calorific macronutrients that we eat and the hormones that ensure their absorption into the body cells. Scientific evidence indicate that as we age the process of digestion and assimilation of fats, cabs and proteins seems to accelerate the aging process on a cellular level and vice versa.

Studies have shown that a calorie restricted diet helps to reduce the impact of this process on our body cells. The studies show that restricting calorie intake reduces oxidative damage to cells and DNA. Well the process of fasting is probably the ultra-calorie restriction practice when compared with choosing low calorie foods/diet. It has been proven to support cell recycling and renewal through the process of autophagy that increases during a fast.

10. May Result In A Reduction Of Expenses For Utilities

The majority of people cook more than 50 percent of the foods they eat or buys it cooked and ready to eat from the restaurant, supermarket etc. Fuel and utility cost has been the focus of news headlines, media and people in general. Apart from going raw, a regular fast (whether weekly or monthly) will definitely reduce the use of fuel for cooking compared with the regular eating habit of someone who does not fast.

Buying cooked/prepared and ready to eat meals are far more expensive than buying grocery for obvious reasons. As the ready meals include the cost of the fuel, plus the overheads, disposable containers (branded or unbranded) delivery or collection/shopping cost and the profit margin for the store, its easy to see that cooked meals and ready meals (ranging from supermarket ready meals to fine dining restaurant) are an expensive outlay compared with making your own. So leaving it out all together has to be a steal. It would be interesting to see if anyone has tried to calculate the savings made from fasting regularly… not opening the fridge to remove food, not using the cooker, oven, microwave, kettle or toaster all adds up.

11. Provides Free Time That Would Normally Be Used For Planning & Cooking Meals

Well we just focused on the cost of fuel for cooking. But did you know that there are meal planning tools and templates for sale to make meal planning and preparation less time consuming and more cost effective. Time management is a very big topic these days together with the stress of living in today’s world. The topic of effective time management is not well covered if meal preparation is not included, especially for a family.

When do you take thought about taking your packed lunch to work. Or when do you plan your meals for the weekend home with the family? Well when you compare that time used for planning, shopping, prepping and cooking, with a day or weekend spent fasting – that involves no cooking. This freedom is a great benefit that adds to the list of positive results of fasting.

12. Saves Time To Shop For And Plan Meals

Now consider the time spent on food shopping whether online or in the supermarket. Even after the big monthly shop there is the few items you forgot to put on the list or that was not in stock on the day, on top of the weekly top-up of fresh fruits and vegetable.

Using a generic shopping list may help save on the time used to make a fresh list each time but if it is not an interactive software you will definitely be checking stock levels and tweaking the list just prior to the date you go shopping. So regular fasting that is planned can throw up a lot of hidden benefits that you may start savouring as you look for the positives that come with the freedom that fasting brings.

Summary

So fasting has many health benefits and others that you may not have realised before reading this article. When I practice fasting I feel that sense of freedom and real rest. My stomach feels better afterwards and although I love cooking, sometimes it does feel like a chore. So please let me know your thoughts and experience of fasting. Or post any comments or questions you may have.