Author: Victoria Aly
Time for reading: ~1
minutes
Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
In this article, learn more about Is Fasting Good For Our Body?. Prolonged fasting can have dangerous health effects.
Along with the diets of vegans, vegetarians and raw foodists, fasting is also gaining popularity as a diet that brings many health benefits - the so-called. healthy fasting.
Proponents of this regime claim that fasting cleanses their body, makes them feel good, toned and full of energy. Fasting is said to be good for the brain.
Neurologist Dr. Mark Matson has shown that low-calorie mice perform better on memory tests than individuals who had eaten regularly before. Dr. Matson has other research on the subject. According to his research, starvation can protect the brain from the accumulation of amyloid. They are proteins that are thought to accumulate in the brain in Alzheimer's disease .
Prof. Tim Specter of King's College London notes that starvation affects stomach bacteria. After starvation, several types of bacteria that are found in healthy people increase their levels. So, if you want to improve your gastrointestinal flora, it will not be bad to occasionally skip breakfast or dinner.
Today, the so-called periodic fasting - a diet in which we eat normally on certain days, and on others we drastically reduce calories. According to the supporters of this regime, it leads to normalization of insulin production and improvement of pre-diabetic conditions, normalizes the levels of ghrelin - the hunger hormone, lowers triglyceride levels, etc.
In addition to being a healthy regimen, fasting is used as the number one diet for weight loss. But how effective is fasting in the fight against weight gain? When starving, the body begins to burn fat. So initially, fasting can be an effective way to lose weight. However, scientists are debating which type of diet is healthier.
For intermittent fastings, such as the 5: 2 diet, two consecutive days of low-carb foods are recommended, from which to get 500-800 calories a day to lose weight more safely. But in order for the body to go into ketosis and appetite to decrease, you need to spend at least 4-5 days without carbohydrates. Experts recommend not to do such experiments without medical supervision. The long-term consequences of prolonged fasting are not yet known. So be careful.