Abstain from food for sometime and reap health benefits

Fasting means abstaining from food for a certain period of time and then resuming normal eating. Fasting has shown powerful benefits for our body and brain. There are many ways to do fasting, one is a religious way and the second very popular one for reducing weight and wellness is intermittent fasting. In general, most types of fasts are performed over 12- 24 hours. Intermittent fasting, on the other hand, involves cycling between periods of eating and fasting ranging from a few hours to a few days at a time. There are different types of fasting.

One day a week: The usual religious fasting is done as abstaining from food for one day in a week. Consuming 500- 700 Kcal on fasting days, coming mostly from fruit and tea. Other days a person eats regularly.

5: 2 Fasting: In this, a person eats normal meals 5 days a week and on 2 days restrict their calories to 500- 600. This is close to the 16/ 8 fasting: This is a kind of time restricted eating where you eat for 8 hours a day and fast for 16 hours.

5 hours fasting between meals: Intermittent fasting of 5 hours between the meals is an excellent and easily achievable option. In this, a person keeps a five- hour gap between the breakfast and lunch and then 5 hours from lunch to dinner. For example, having breakfast from 8- 9 am lunch from 2- 3 pm and dinner from 8- 9 pm. This concept was given by Dr Wolf Funfack, the founder of the metabolic balance ® programme. There are several benefits of fasting.

Body weight & insulin sensitivity: Blood level of insulin drops significantly with fasting which facilitates fat burning. When your body gets too many simple carbohydrates and sugar, it can become insulin- resistant, which often paves the way for a host of chronic diseases, including cardiac diseases and type- 2 diabetes. A study published in the World Journal of Diabetes found that intermittent fasting in type- 2 diabetics improved their body weight and glucose levels.

Promotes the secretion of human growth hormone ( HGH): Fasting may increase HGH as much as fivefold, a higher level of this hormone facilitates fat burning and muscle gain.

Reduces the oxidative stress and inflammation: Fasting enhances the body’s resistance to oxidative stress and fights inflammation. Oxidative stress causes aging and chronic diseases. It involves free radicals, which react with other important molecules like protein and DNA and damage them. Happy fasting! ◗

The writer is coach & nutritionist, Metabolic Balance ® , AktivHealth