Fasting has been popular among a lot of people in the world. Though the methods of fasting may vary according to religious belief or region, it is still a popular thing that many consider being healthy for the human body. Muslim and Jewish people often fast for their religious purposes during certain months or weeks of a year. Muslims fast during Ramadan and Jews during Yom Kippur. Other than that, intermediate fasting is another one of the popular fasting methods in the fitness trends these days.
If you are thinking of trying fasting either for your religious purpose or as a part of your fitness regime, this post will be helpful for you. Because we are going to take a good look at what exactly happens to the human body during the fasting process.
You may also like: 6 Most Impressive Benefits of Intermittent Fasting You Should Know
What happens to the human body during the fasting process?
Let’s start with the basics. The human body mostly relies on the sugar called glucose to get the energy needed to function properly. Your body can get enough glucose from foods that contain carbohydrates. Almost all of the foods you eat have carbohydrates in them including fruits, dairy, vegetables, rice, and sometimes even snacks and sweets.
Now that you know that your body primarily relies on the glucose that comes from the foods you eat, take a guess. What will happen when you don’t eat anything except some water for at least 8 hours? No, your body won’t stop functioning. Here is what happens:
Your body will consume the last remaining part of the glucose and go into a state called gluconeogenesis. During this state, your body will start to burn more calories than usual and it will start creating its glucose from the body fat. That is the reason why most fitness lovers seem to be taking this intermittent fasting seriously.
But does fasting help with weight loss without any other side effects? No need to worry, We have covered that below too.
Fasting and weight loss: What to expect?
Many people jump into the latest and popular fitness regime called Intermittent fasting without research. As much as it has been confirmed to be one of the best ways to lose weight, it isn’t for everyone. Not everyone gets the same effect from fasting as others.
Experts have repeatedly said that intermittent fasting’s result depends upon various things including a person’s physical state, body health, and any other medical conditions.
Certain people shouldn’t start any kind of fasting process without professional opinion or advice. We have listed them below.
You shouldn’t fast if you:
● Have diabetes
● Have a bad history of eating disorders and similar problems with food intake
● Are pregnant or breastfeeding a child
● Have to take medications after food without fail
It is also recommended that children below 9 or 8 do not go without eating anything for more than 4 to 5 hours. Fasting is not suitable for children or adolescents with any medical problems.
To conclude, fasting for a day should not cause any health problems and it does promote a good lifestyle for many people. But everything has a limit and you just need to know it. Hope you found this post about what happens to the human body during the fasting process useful.
If you have any more information that you would like to add, let us know below!
Comments are closed.