I go to this other board, it has all kinds of health topics, weight loss and health among them. There has been a lot of talk about fasting. Now I am pretty knowledgable about health and fitness (although I find it hard to apply sometimes, ok most of the time), but I have never heard that fasting is truly beneficial (except in the bible maybe). These people are saying that to "detoxify" your body that you need to fast from one to three weeks, yes WEEKS at least once if not four times per year. To me this sounds crazy, I can't imagine functioning one day, let alone one week without eating one morsel. I mean, headaches, faintness, grouchiness etc. They say, only water, and it is simply miraculous according to them. I think it's a crap, but I am curious. I wanted the opinions of all of you on these boards (because I like these ones a lot more, and everyone here is nice!). So, is fasting a total load, or does it really have benefits?
well sometimes i fast but only like for 2 days then others i fast on fruits and veggies so it that that weird to me i fast on the 1st weekend of the month its natural fro me
I don't think that fasting has any health benefits, but I'm not a physician so who knows. The impression I have always gotten is that fasting for any length of time is primarily a spiritual thing to do. Detoxifying, well, it's not like toxins in your body from a lifetime of breathing polluted air will magically disappear if you don't eat for a week. But I do believe that fasting for some people is kind of a spiritual cleansing.
So, basically I think it is a bunch of crap in terms of dieting. I think historically fasting has been used in religious and spiritual rituals, and I think it's fine for that purpose, but I don't think there are any health benefits at all. And fasting for three WEEKS is probably going to cause some health problems, I'd guess. I have a hard enough time fasting for a single day on Yom Kippur!
I just read a little article about this in Women's Health and it said that a one-day fast was ok and could jump start a diet, but any longer than that and you begin to lose important weight..like muscle mass.
There is no need to "detoxify" your body--our bodies are amazing machines that are already built to flush out the bad stuff (ever look in the toilet? yes, that's the bad stuff). Drinking plenty of water and eating enough fiber is really all you need to do to stay physically cleansed. Fasting will likely only make you lose water weight--it certainly won't help you lose fat.
The ONLY benefit I can think of from fasting is to help reduce the size of your stomach. Your stomach, like anything else, stretches and shrinks as needed. When we continually overeat, our stomachs actually stretch, and this means we have to continue to eat more than normal in order to feel full (vicious little cycle). This is why when we reduce our calories, we sometimes feel hungry even if we are still taking in enough to function--we are trying to fill this big ol' stomach with less food. However, after a few days of eating smaller meals or portions, our stomachs shrink to accomodate that smaller amount, therefore making it easier to feel full on less food than before. This has happened to me in the past--before getting my head screwed on tight, I thought that popping Dexatrim and eating as little as humanly possible would help me lose weight. After starving myself for a few days, I would go out and try to eat a whole Super Sized meal from McD's or whatever only to find that I couldn't eat it all anymore without feeling sick! My stomach had shrunk to accommodate the smaller amounts of food I had been eating, so forcing a lot of food in at once was not as easy as before. I hope that all makes sense
I think it's bad. If you don't eat anything for a long period of time you are setting yourself up to binge at the end of your fast. Also when you start not eating it will send your body into starvation mode which will not help you lose weight, it will hinder it. I don't think it's very healthy. Your body needs certain nutients and vitamins found in food, and you need them everyday.
Personally, I think the whole fasting to detox is more about the water consumption- you drink nothing but water, and this helps you get rid of some stuff. It would be the same though as drinking lots of water on any regular day of eating..
SOme people think fasting is some way of regaining control over themselves and their eating habits. this can be dangerous and lead to other eating disorders that are effects of over self control- anorexia, etc.
Personally, I detoxed a few times- it is a nice feeling!!!-- but I did it with natural herbal supliments and vitamins and just ate veggies and fruits and low fat diary and few lean meats. I did a dual Cleanse byt Enzymatic therapy, which helps clean you out- since most people have lots of "stuff" built up in their intestinse that needs to be cleaned out.. the natural suppliments provide mucho fiber and it makes you feel reenergized and healthy. It is a lot of work though-- lots of pills to take morning and night and mine lasted for 2 weeks, but i did feel better althuogh that could have been due to the veggies and fruits as well...
Thanks for all the helpful info everyone!!! I think I have a better understanding of it all. It can be good maybe or bad I suppose. I know that I won't be doing it anytime soon, but I think that I have a more open mind about it!
Fasting!?! Really!?!
