Fasting is not a new generation as they all aware of the benefits of fasting. For centuries, the practice has played a central role in several religions and cultures. Hindus observe a fast during the new moon and during festivals such as Puja, Saraswati and Shivarati. The Mormons observe a fast on the first Sunday of each month. The month of Ramadan is known all over the world as a month of fasting for Muslims. Catholics fast on Good Friday and Ash Wednesday. Jews observe six days of fasting, the most known of which is Yom Kippur.
Several other religions, including Buddhism, Taoism and Jainism have their own fasting practices. Many of these religions practice fasting because they believe that there is a connection between the physical and the spiritual state. In the last few decades, there has been an upsurge in the popularity of fasting. However, many of those who are adopting this age-old practice today are not doing so for religious reasons.
What is fasting
Fasting is voluntarily not eating food for varying lengths of time. Fasting is used as a medical therapy for many conditions. It is also a spiritual practice in many religions.
Benefits of Fasting
There are plenty of benefits of fasting and it’s hard to discuss all but we will try to cover some of the most important below :-
FASTING HELPS YOU LOSE WEIGHT
For those looking to lose some weight, fasting is one of the quickest and safest ways to get you there. Normally, when you eat, your body burns the food you ate to provide fuel for your body. Any extra food that does not get used up as fuel is converted into fats and stored within the body for future use.
This is what leads to weight gain.
When you start fasting, there is less food to convert into energy, therefore your body is forced to start converting the stored fats into energy.This occurs through a process known as lipolysis. One of the greatest advantages of fasting as a means of losing weight is that it is more effective in burning through fat cells compared to regular dieting. Fasting also burns through fat cells without affecting your muscle tissue, which is why many athletes use fasting as a means of achieving low body fat percentages prior to competitions.
In addition, fasting is incorporated as a lifestyle change, which makes it more sustainable and more effective compared to many ‘crash diet weight loss solutions. Actually, several studies have found fasting to be one of the most effective and most reliable long term solutions for weight loss and weight maintenance.
IMPROVES YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
Ever noticed that when animals fall sick, they stop eating? Have you ever wondered why this happens?
That’s a natural instinct through which the animals try to reduce the stress on their internal systems and focus their energy on battling the infection. Therefore, next time you fall sick, resist the temptation to look for food and focus on fasting instead.
Fasting does a number of things to your immune system. Remember, we mentioned that fasting triggers the regeneration of old cells within the body. This includes cells that are part of your immune system. This rejuvenation of the cells leads to improved immune function. According to one study, a three day fast can lead to the regeneration of the entire
PROMOTES DETOXIFICATION
Another impressive benefit of fasting is that it promotes detoxification of the body.
Many of the processed foods we eat today contain lots of additives, some of which are toxic to our bodies. As the food is digested and absorbed into the body, these toxins are also absorbed into the body and stored in fat deposits around the body. During fasting, your brain treats the nutritional deprivation as a threat and reacts by activating adaptive stress responses to help it deal with the threat. The brain also starts contemplating how it will provide the body with energy in the absence of food.
To ensure that metabolism keeps running, the brain triggers the conversion of glycogen stored within the liver into energy. However, glycogen is not a very great source of energy, and after about 12 hours, the glycogen deposits gets depleted. At this point, the body must find an alternative source of energy, and it therefore turns to the fat stored within various parts of the body.
As the fat deposits are burnt to provide energy, the toxins stored within the fats are released. These toxins are then removed from the body with the help of the liver, kidneys and other organs, leaving your body free of accumulated toxins.
Benefits of water fasting
Water fasting is a special kind of fasting which i like to discuss. There are lots of benefits of water fasting and we all must aware of it.
Endless benefits of water fasting;
- Improves Body Composition and Fitness
- Promotes Greater Satiety
- Boosts Your Metabolism
- Supports Fat Loss and Ketosis
- Improves Cardiovascular Health
- Lowers Blood Pressure Decreases Blood Sugar
- Improves Blood Triglycerides
- Promotes Heart Health
- May Slow Aging and Enhance Longevity
- Decreases Inflammation
- Increases Resistance to Oxidative Stress
- Improves Cell Recycling
- Increases Growth Regulation
- Protects Your Brain
- Reduces Harmful Protein Production
- Promotes a Healthy Stress Response
- Supports Healthier Collagen in Skin
Benefits of fasting spiritually
Fasting and prayer will deepen our relationship with God and when we willingly give up food to spend time with Him, we will develop a deeper intimacy with Him.
Fasting food for any length of time is humbling. We need food to survive. So when believers voluntarily “afflict their soul” with the fasting of food, they are humbling themselves. When the attitude of your heart is one of truly seeking God, He will see your motive and respond to your heart’s cry.
WRAPPING UP
Whether you are a religious person or not, incorporating fasting into your daily routine can be a great way for you to give your health a boost.
As you have seen above, the benefits of fasting for your health are numerous. Like any other major lifestyle change, getting started with fasting might be a bit hard as you get started, but it will become easier on your body with time.
If you want to reap all the benefits discussed above, you should consider getting started with fasting today. The earlier you get started, the earlier you can start reaping the benefits.