Through out the years I have been hearing MANY things about how fasting can be very beneficial to your body. It goes any where from resetting your digestive system to balancing your inner spirit detoxification. But also I have read about the harm that comes from fasting; lowering metabolism, low blood sugar, black outs, our body going into starvation mode and stores all fat....
I had a case of low blood sugar from doing intermittent fasting.
I almost passed out. It was a very horrible and scary experience. I was also doing very low carb and I believe both that and the fasting was the cause of low blood sugar. I still do it though but with a higher carb count. But I don't agree with starvation mode and lower metabolism because I have been losing weight with no problem. I really think it's the low carb, not the fasting that is making me lose weight the way I am. I still get stalls like before and it's basically at the same pace as before the fasting.
I find fasting is very beneficial for me. It helps me control my blood sugar levels. Recently I was sick and ended up fasting on chicken broth for two days. The beneficial effects continue almost two weeks later. My doctor was highly in favor of my continuing intermittent fasting to help control my blood sugar and lose weight. I have fasted for ten days before, and had no slow down of metabolism, etc. If you exercise, even if your metabolism slows during the fast, you can rev it back up again. Just my two cents worth...
I think it depends on too many variables to give a "helpful/harmful" determination. I think it depends on the type and duration of the fast, the weight, age, and overall health of the faster and the non-fasting diet as well, and what the person hopes to gain from the fast....
Even a year ago, I would have just said "harmful," because none of my experiences with fasting were positive. However, when experimenting with paleo, I was encouraged to try IF, which generally consists of hours without food (24 hours or less, usually), rather than the week long fasts of under 400 calories per day and month long fasts of under 800 I used in high school and college).
I think short term fasts are less harmful than long-term fasts, but a lot depends on how low-calorie the fasting, whether or not caloric fluids are being consumed, how much overall fluid is consumed, and all those other factors I mentioned earlier, probably a lot more.
I do think that everyone who is going to attempt to fast regularly really should have a checkup first (telling the doctor of the type and frequency of fasting you intend to do), because there are some health issues that can make fasting especially dangerous, and many of them are "silent" conditions. Kidney issues, blood sugar issues, heart problems, blood pressure issues, even conditions like IBS can affect how your body will react to fasting.
It's not especially rare for people to drop dead from an undiagnosed heart or kidney issue during fasting. Just google fasting deaths, or even bride diet-related deaths and you'll find more cases than you'll expect.
Such deaths aren't run-of-the-mill ordinary, but they're not all that rare either.
Recently I was sick and ended up fasting on chicken broth for two days. The beneficial effects continue almost two weeks later. My doctor was highly in favor of my continuing intermittent fasting to help control my blood sugar and lose weight. I have fasted for ten days before, and had no slow down of metabolism, etc. If you exercise, even if your metabolism slows during the fast, you can rev it back up again. Just my two cents worth...
WOW! 10 days! That's some will power. But what were the benefits that you felt over the two weeks after? Was it just the steady blood sugar?
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Originally Posted by kaplods
I do think that everyone who is going to attempt to fast regularly really should have a checkup first (telling the doctor of the type and frequency of fasting you intend to do), because there are some health issues that can make fasting especially dangerous, and many of them are "silent" conditions. Kidney issues, blood sugar issues, heart problems, blood pressure issues, even conditions like IBS can affect how your body will react to fasting.
This is actually really good advice. I have been in and out of doctors offices lately because of an injury I sustained from an accident and I don't know how not eating is going to effect me. God forbid I become a statistic and be one of those diet related deaths just because I didn't check
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Originally Posted by Stars
I had a case of low blood sugar from doing intermittent fasting.
I almost passed out. It was a very horrible and scary experience.
When I was in college I almost blacked out to from fasting. you know, that LONG black tunnel that you have to fight off to keep conscious. Not fun. But thats why i wanted to ask for other peoples experiences.
Fasting: Beneficial or Harmful??
