Health Benefits of Fasting

If you played your sound system at 120 decibels constantly, then you would eventually go deaf.  If you eat too much too often, then your cells become “deaf” or resistant to the effects of insulin.  Syndrome X was a condition described by a Stanford professor of medicine.  We now have 40% of Americans medically obese, 30 million diabetes and another 60 million pre-diabetics.  The above could be simply reversed by embracing the health benefits of fasting.

Fasting for Health Benefits

Fasting has many scientifically proven benefits. Here is a short summary of the benefits of intermittent fasting.

Fasting for Improved Insulin Resistance

Intermittent fasting lowers blood glucose, reduce insulin resistance, and Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels [2] which are considered cancer risk factors.

Another study in 2015 [3] found out, reducing total caloric consumption, and fasting longer hours during night, decreased insulin resistance and inflammation associated with breast cancer risk.

Fasting and Inflammation

Inflammation is part of the immune response of the body. When the body recognizes damaged cells, pathogens, infections, wounds. this triggers inflammation. It is an attempt to remove harmful stimuli and start healing.

If you suffer acute injury, say you fall and hurt your knee, inflammation is beneficial and helps the healing process. Symptoms might be uncomfortable (redness, swelling, pain, heat, immobility in joints etc), but they are signs that your body is repairing the damage done.

However, inflammation that is sustained long term, can cause a lot of serious diseases. Rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, some cancers are examples of serious diseases that are caused by chronic inflammation.

Intermittent fasting reduces inflammation [3] and reduces the effect of proinflammatory cytokines [4].

Autoimmune Diseases and Health Benefits of Fasting

Autoimmune diseases are conditions caused by your own immune system mistakes your own cells as dangerous pathogens and attacks your own body. Exact cause of why this happens is unknown.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune condition where myelin sheath surrounding nerve cells become damaged. Myelin is both a protective cover over nerve cells, and also carries the signals from one nerve cell to the next. When myelin is damaged, it causes symptoms like numbness, weakness, difficulties with walking and balance.

Fasting once every 3 days, helped with regeneration, reduced autoimmunity, and is a potentially effective method to treat multiple sclerosis [5]

Lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) is another autoimmune disease which causes rashes on the skin, and it also affects many other organs, including joints, kidneys, brain, and heart.

This study [6] found out fasting helped both preventing and reducing the symptoms of lupus.

Fasting to Boost Brain Function

Improves brain function at old age, prevents neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.

Most people associate aging with loss of mental functions. Intermittent fasting has been shown to enhance cognitive function for all ages and may be a key therapy toward slowing the Alzheimer’s epidemic affecting Americans.

Slow the Physical and Mental Aging Process

Fasting for Weight Loss

A review of literature [1] found out that those who went through intermittent fasting for 3-24 weeks lost 3-8% of their starting body weight. This is a huge amount of weight in a relatively short amount of time. Plus, the same study also found out they lost 4-7% of their waist circumference. This mean a lot of that weight loss came from losing belly fat surrounding internal organs.

Fasting and Cancer

Cancer is a terrible disease which is causing a lot of suffering and death. But most cancers can be preventable by good lifestyle habits. Intermittent fasting maybe one of those habits that help reduce cancer risk.
Intermittent fasting lowers blood glucose and Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels [2] which are both considered cancer risk factors.

Another study in 2015 [3] found out, reducing total caloric consumption, and fasting longer hours during night, decreased insulin resistance and inflammation associated with breast cancer risk.

Avoid Inflammation in Your Body