Fasting is one of the most popular health and fitness trends that is traveling around the world. People are trying to lose weight, improve their health, and change their lifestyle. There are some studies out there that do show fasting can improve some functions of the body.
Fasting does not have a restriction on what people are eating just when people are eating and not eating. When fasting the safe way to do so is not to do it everyday to only do it two or three days out of the week. Humans have fasted since we have been put on this Earth. Our ancestors did not have a Wal-Mart or Publix down the road to run in to and get food. They had to hunt for their food, so they would go days without food. Fasting is used in some religions: Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism to name a few.
There are different methods to fasting these are the popular ones that I have done research on.
16/8 method-skip breakfast and only having eight hours to eat foods, then people would fast for the remaining hours of the day
Eat Stop Eat- fast for 24 hours only once or twice a week
5:2-this is where people take in around 500 calories two non-consecutive days and then eating regular the other days of the week
When people reduce their caloric intake that is what causes us to lose weight, but people have to be careful and not to over eat when they are allowed to eat their meals after they are done fasting for that time period.
Some liquids are allowed during fasting: water, coffee, tea, and non-caloric beverages. If fasting while working out we recommend drinking BCAA products (Branched-chain amino acids).
How does fasting affect our bodies though?
Hormone levels will skyrocket, this increases fat loss and muscle gain. Insulin sensitivity will improve so when the level of insulin is low it makes the fat storage in the body more accessible. These are just two of the things that happen while fasting. There are other benefits of fasting: weight lose, may cause reduction in inflammation, may help with heart health, may prevent cancer, and may help with anti-aging.
When fasting people want to know the ins and outs of it. If people have any type of medical problems and are wanting to fast they need to check with a professional and ask is it safe.