Health Benefits of Fasting

Detox!! The main reason why fasting provides a health benefit is because the action of fasting puts the body into a state of detoxification. Fasting offers a time period of physiological rest, for your digestive system in particular, and it makes your body revert its focus to self-healing, strengthening or repairing internal organs. During a fast, your body will cleanse itself of various waste products and toxins which have accumulated in your cells.

Watch it happen... the Urine Signal: During a water fast, it is interesting to notice that within the first day or so, your urine will go from clear at first, to more yellow later, which will seem backwards - if you are only giving your body water, you might expect it to go totally clear. This is one of the indicators that tells you the fast is helping to cleanse your body of unnecessary toxins.

Push the "reset button" and reduce sugar cravings: Another benefit which makes fasting popular among those trying to lose weight is that it resets your system, and can reduce your subsequent craving for sugar. During a fast, you are giving your pancreas a nice rest from having to produce insulin, which it normally does while food is being processed in your digestive system.

After this period of low insulin production, you will notice a much lower desire to eat sugar, which will be very helpful in curbing a sweet tooth in helping you shift towards a more healthy selection of foods, helping you to lose weight and burn fat.

According to many health experts, fasting can provide the following ongoing benefits:

-- Better quality sleep
-- Greater energy
-- Improved mental abilities
-- Stronger digestive system
-- Lower anxiety
-- Elimination of toxins
-- Better-looking and healthier skin
-- Lower blood pressure
-- Loss of weight
-- Relief from chronic headaches
-- Relief from pain in joints
-- Improvements in the health of teeth and gums
-- Improved cardiovascular health
-- Boost to the immune system, preventing any number of diseases down the line

Some also believe that fasting can actually help to break down cancerous tumors, so even some cancer patients practice fasting as a therapy for their disease.

Weight Loss is Mitigated: Fasting has risks, obviously, because you deprive your body of nourishment and break from your regular routine. The first step the body takes during a fast is to utilize all of the sugars it has retained. Once these are gone, your body will determine that it is in a state of relative emergency because it will realize it is not receiving any new fuel. This forces it to go into a sort of survival mode, and this causes your metabolic rate to slow down as your cells "hunker down" for a long haul.

This is expected, but is one factor which works against fasting for weight loss, since weight loss is usually better achieved with a fast metabolism.

Muslce Loss Risk: A more serious negative effect of a longer term fast is that your body will eventually begin breaking down muscle tissue, which it does to prevent actual starvation. Those looking to lose weight through fasting should be careful, as you are not gaining any benefit by breaking down muscle tissue.

Low Blood Sugar Risk: Another risk relates to low blood sugar levels. Fasting will lower your blood sugar, which can be dangerous if the level gets too low. People have been known to lose their lives by fasting for too long and suffering complications from low blood sugar.

If you have never fasted before, it is recommended that you start with a one day, or 24-hour fast, and to do a juice fast instead of a water fast. Juice fasting is safer, and will still allow your body to cleanse itself of nasty toxins while improving your health. In a juice fast, you'll keep a higher energy level than you would with a water fast because the juice provides a level of nutrients which make it easier to get through the day.

Still, avoiding solid food removes a significant burden from your digestive system and will allow increased healing to take place. Also, the juice from fruits and vegetables have their own healing and cleansing properties which will assist in the detoxification of your system.

If you feel that fasting is safe for you, try a 24-hour juice fast, allowing yourself nothing except either vegetable or fruit juice during this period. Use a variety of high-quality natural juice with no added sugar (tomato, grapefruit, orange, pomegranate, pineapple, etc). Get plenty of rest, which your body will want as it eases into your desired "semi-emergency" state.

The next level of fasting is to drink only water. Since water has no nutritional value at all, a water fast is the digestive system, especially the pancreas, a complete rest and optimizes the degree of healing and repairing.

Again, start only with a 24-hour water fast to see what effect it has on your body, and end the fast anytime you are having pain, excessive fatigue, or digestive problems.

After the 24-hour period, allow yourself a small meal, and work up to a larger meal later in the day. You are less likely to experience digestive problems this way than if you eat a huge meal at the end of the fast.

Fasting is not for everyone, and if you are seeking essentially greater health, or weight loss, there are much less extreme ways to achieve this by a better selection of what you eat.

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