“Fasting”

     Fasting is becoming popular but what is it and should you ‘Fast’?  It appears that fasting is not new; in fact history reveal that our ancestors, just by the very nature of their environment, practiced intermittent fasting due to food scarcity while today we have an overabundance of food.   From a longevity standpoint our human species has existed 99% of the time on earth with ‘food scarcity’ causing our ancestors to go without food for periods of time leading to today’s present question…is it healthy?  Many have fasted for weight loss and; some are now indicating that this ancient survival adaptation may very well be a tool for improving overall health.   Let’s take a look.

     What is Fasting?  Fasting is abstaining from food and/or drink; this can take many forms and directions such as religion, weight loss, or regaining health.  Of course the original fasting was a survival tool that allowed our species to continue it’s existence however, in the past 50 years we have overloaded ourselves with excessive fats, salts and sugars to the point that 2/3rds of the American (United States) population is overweight and the prediction is that we will keep on gaining weight.  Of course, the more weight we gain, the more illnesses we have; there is a direct connection between the two.  This overwhelming weight gain has also stimulated the concept of ‘fasting for weight loss’.

     Types of Fasting.  Religious, Weight Loss, Health, Intermittent, Juice, Water, Cleansing, Detox, and others.   The common denominator is the    abstinent of food however they can be quite different in many ways.  In the medical field the aspects of both the “Weight Loss” and “The Health” approach have similar components; while ‘Religion Fasting’ can take on a totally different basis.

     Weight Loss.  Here we can see that the fewer calories we take in, the more weight we lose.  We know that fasting is by far the way to reduce caloric intake so it is very obvious as to why Fasting and Weight Loss have become buddies.  Reviewing some basic physiology we see that we use sugar as our best source of energy.  Our best source of sugar is from eating whole plants because we metabolize complex carbohydrates into simple carbohydrate sugars that our systems can use efficiently. Raw and man-made sugars are not nutritious having lost their basic transport systems by processing while whole foods are a far superior source of energy than the processed junk we eat today.  Sugar is a ‘Simple Carbohydrate’ and is our primary fuel/energy source.  Of course with today’s abundance of  food sources, sugar has become our primary source of fuel; this allows our bodies to store excessive fats as our ‘energy reserves’.   Because we have so much food available on an everyday basis we are consuming more calories than ever before; we never need to burn up our ‘fat fuel storage’.   

     Our bodies have two main fuel sources, sugar and/or fat; we can use one or the other but we can not use them both at the same time so fasting will use up our immediate energy stores of sugar and will allow the body to tap into the fat cells that are stored away.  Thus fasting can reduce weight by burning up the fat cells.

     Not everyone agrees that fasting should be promoted for weight loss; many in the medical community state that there can be negative issues such as anemia, a weaken immune system, muscle loss, low blood sugars, and  that there are dangers such as liver and kidney problems, irregular heartbeats, loss of vitamin and minerals, fluid imbalance and dehydration.  Most of these issues can be monitored in medical settings however the huge majority of ‘weight loss fasting’ occurs at home without any medical supervision.  These risks can become more complicated with longer and/or repeated fasting.  Here we can see that there could be risks in Fasting.

     Intermittent Fasting.  This type of Fasting is, pardon the expression, fast becoming more popular as our society continues to gain weight.  Christine Maren, D.O.,  a family medicine physician in Colorado who incorporates a holistic nutritional concepts has stated, “Intermittent fasting can be an effective tool for weight loss, blood sugar and blood pressure control, and improving heart health.  It is also a catalyst for autophagy, your body’s process of cell regeneration.”  Intermittent Fasting doesn’t necessarily restrict what a person eats but rather when they eat it. 

      Intermittent Fasting Types.  Here we see that Fasting for intermittent amounts of time can be utilized in different ways.  Here are two examples;  1. Time-restricted which is ‘eating within a designated window of time’.  For example, if you eat dinner at 7 PM and then eat Breakfast at 7 AM you have fasted for 12 hours.  If you fast for 24 hours then this also be Intermittent Fasting,  2. Another type is the 5:2 Fasting which is basically Fasting for 2 consecutive days of the week.

     The Findings.   This is of course, dependent on who you ask.  Many state there are incredible health benefits, including weight loss, controlling insulin resistance as well as protecting against heart disease, cancer, and neuro-generative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.  Yet there are nutritionists that caution against Fasting, stating that Fasting is potentially dangerous and a not particularly effective way to lose weight.

     Guidelines for Fasting.   Stay hydrated.  Fasting does not mean not eating or drinking anything so make sure you are able to drink lots of fluid.  Water, unsweetened coffees or teas are fine.  With long term Fasting you will need to monitor your caloric needs on a daily base and it would be advisable to have any long term Fasting be medically monitored.

     Summary.With our obesity problem growing so dramatically we need to find avenues to reverse this process; Fasting is becoming an option for some while others have reservations.  The Jury is still out on this concept; there have not been enough scientific articles produced at this point for positive proof one way or another, so ‘buyer beware’.   A healthy plant-based, whole foods nutrition is proving to be the most effective approach for health while Fasting may very well have some very positive effects.  Vegan Doc 2/5/19