IS FASTING APPROPRIATE FOR YOU?

Fruit juices

When people hear about fasting, what quickly runs through their minds is; staying away from foods, drinks, and snacking. These they find difficult to adjust to and mostly find challenging to follow sincerely. 

We are going to take a look at the appropriateness of fasting and how it affects overall health so that you can effectively incorporate fasting into your healthy affairs not only during Ramadan or religious things.

WHAT IS FASTING?

Fasting is the abstinence from food or drink or both for health, ritualistic, religious, or ethical purposes. The abstention may be complete or partial, lengthy, of short duration, or intermittent. Fasting is promoted and practiced worldwide.

In Islam, Sawm is referred to as a religious fast, the fast of the holy month of Ramadan during which Muslims abstain from food or drink each day from sunrise (fajr) until sunset (maghrib). The purpose of the fast is to practice self-restraint, piety, and generosity. Ṣawm is one of the five Pillars of Islam.

Although fasting is sometimes viewed as inappropriate, unhealthy, depriving and reserved for only religious reasons, as research proceeds on the thesis, it was revealed that short-term fasting can offer great benefits to human health. As fasting is becoming more widely known and accepted, it plays a fundamental role in weight control and preventing diseases. At this point, it is essential fasting is done in a proper and healthy ways.

How does fasting work in the human body?

Whenever we fast, it does the cleansing of toxins in the body and forces the cells to processes and act efficiently that are not usually stimulated when there is a steady presence of food. During this period, the body has no access to glucose to facilitate energy, thus, resort into other means to produce energy for the body. In this process, the body begins gluconeogenesis, a natural way to produce its sugar from non-carbohydrate sources. 

The liver does the conversion of non-carbohydrates foods like lactate, lipids, and amino acids into glucose energy. This is because our body saves energy during fasting and the basal metabolic rate ( amount of energy depleted while at rest) is put to function, thereby lowering our heart rate and blood pressure. Fasting has been linked to reducing the level of bad cholesterol in the body, thereby enabling good cholesterol to promote fitness.

Another process that occurs during the fast cycle is the breakdown of fats as an alternative source of energy in the body. This activity known as ketosis is an excellent way of weight loss and balancing the blood glucose levels.

Fasting puts the body in the less stress state, which makes the cells to relax, adapt, and cope with the processes. It makes the cells strong as this process is similar to when we stress our muscle and cardiovascular system during exercise which we recover after taking a rest. 

Benefits of Fasting 

Many diets focus on what to eat, but fasting is about when to eat. After fasting for long hours, it is important to open the fast at the right time with the right diet.

Research shows that fasting does more than just burn fat. In a study conducted by Mattson, he explains that the body and brain are affected during the metabolic switching.

One of his publication in New England journal of medicine revealed a range of benefits of fasting, including longer life, sharper mind and leaner body. This practice protects the organs from chronic diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, age-related neurodegenerative disorders, inflammatory diseases, and many cancers.

Here are the benefits of fasting you should be aware of:

1. It boosts cognitive performance (thinking and memory)
2. It helps decrease the risk of metabolic diseases like diabetes.
3. It supports weight loss 
4. It prevents obesity and associated chronic diseases 
5. It prevents inflammation 
6. It benefits cancer patients by helping them recover fully.
7. In young men, fasting contributes to physical performance by resulting in fat loss and maintaining a healthy muscle mass.
8. Fasting reduces tissue damage in surgery and improves results.

Is Fasting for you?

Some people fast due to one health reason or the other. It is crucial to notify your health care professional if it is safe for you to fast, especially when you are managing a health condition. These set of people should steer away from fasting:

1. Although, children less than 18 years of age are exempted from fasting does not mean they cannot be encouraged to take part in the obligatory fast if it won't result in physical weakness or sickness. From the religious perspective, it was noted that a young child should not be forced to fast until he has reached the age of adolescence, but he may be told to fast if he can do it so that he may get used to it and it will be easier for him after he reaches puberty.
2. Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers 
3. Those with a history of eating disorder 
4. Type 1 diabetes patient receiving insulin. This is because fasting can interrupt the insulin intake process and can lead to hypoglycemia when fasting is initiated.

Ultimately, fasting during the month of Ramadan is a practice that has many benefits, both physical and spiritual. It can help to detoxify the body, improve mental clarity, and boost overall well-being. However, it is important to approach fasting with care and to consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional if you have any health concerns. Fasting is not recommended for everyone, including those who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have certain medical conditions. For those who can fast, it can be a deeply meaningful and transformative experience.

Your choice, your wellness.

Share with others if you found this beneficial and drop a message using the email box for a personalized consultation. 

Reference

https://www.britannica.com/science/dietary-supplement 

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. What is the Ketogenic Diet? (https://www.eatright.org/health/wellness/fad-diets/what-is-the-ketogenic-diet) Accessed 8/15/2022.

https://www.bouldermedicalcenter.com/intermittent-fasting-and-health/

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/intermittent-fasting-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/islamqa.info/amp/

SUBMIT A COMMENT BELOW