RockSolidBody

Fasting is an act of willingly abstaining from some or all food or drink (or both) for a certain period of time. Some religious fasting may also include abstinence from sexual activity.

Fasting means cleansing. To those who practice it, and to those who propagate it to all mankind as the cure to all ills and as the salvation from all sins.

Cleansing of the body. Cleansing of the soul. As a nutritionist, I can only comment on the former.

TYPES OF FASTS

Fasting can be total or partial. It may begin from abstinence from one particular food to total exclusion of all food and even water.

Different fasts may follow one or more of the following restrictions:

·         Abstaining from meat or all non-vegetarian foods

·        Exclusion of cereals such as rice and chapatti, or any other staple foods

·         Reducing total food intake to only one full meal per day

·         Only fruits and milk. Some may include salad and/or certain vegetables.

·        Intake of certain ‘fasting foods’ such as potato, sabudana and suran.

·         No-salt fast. Only bland foods. May include sweet preparations.

·         Only water fast, or Juice fast

·      No food and water from sunrise to sunset

FASTING FOR?

FOR RELIGION…

Fasting has been documented as a human custom since pre-historic times. Many ideals are set in the great books of different religions. It has great religious and spiritual significance as:

·        Symbol of abstinence from selfish desires

·         Period of meditation and prayer

·         Important act of worship: prevents sins and draws you closer to God

·         Abstinence from violence, falsehood, lust

·         Expression of regret for sins, gratitude and mourning for past losses

Fasts are observed during festivals such as Navratri, or during periods such as Ramzan or Lent. They may even be observed all the year round as on certain days of the week as part of worship to a certain God. In many religions, it is traditional for the bride and groom to fast on their wedding day before the ceremony.

FOR A CAUSE…

Fasting is often a tool of protest or to bring awareness to a cause. Through history, social activists have often used fasting to bring attention to a cause and to pressurize the concerned authority or government to act.

For example: a hunger strike is a non-violent means of political protest to provoke guilt against an unjust measure or to achieve a policy change.

FOR HEALTH…???

Imagine your body with its smooth flowing arteries clogged with sticky cholesterol, with its healthy intestine tied down with gooey mucus, with actively breathing lungs suffocated with carbon dioxide… Imagine the deadly toxins spreading through your body…When you sit for your next meal; imagine choking on a plate full of toxic waste and harmful heavy metals…

Imagine this. And you’ll run for your next fast. And probably not get off it for a long time! This vivid scenario is a symbol of the fear in every person who runs from a bad lifestyle of junk food and wrong eating habits, towards fasting for ‘salvation’ and cure.

Fasting is seen as ‘nature’s restorer’ of health – meant to ‘cleanse’ the body, purify it and make you feel light and energetic. It is glorified as an act of regaining control over one’s body.

Fasting may be integral to attaining spiritual salvation but it is not the salvation from nutritional abuse! Only a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle is.

Proponents of fasting claim that fasting can rid you off a variety of diseases: heart disease, diabetes, cancer and can increase lifespan.

However, their conclusions are made from scientific studies that observed short-term effects of lowering of blood sugar or cholesterol. But effects of fasting on body’s basal metabolism and active lean tissues have not been studied. Long-term studies have also not been conducted.

FOR WEIGHT LOSS…???

Fasting can help you lose only one thing: your fitness. Weight loss due to fasting is a major loss of lean tissues such as muscles and water that are denser and heavier. Targeted loss of excess body fat, the main enemy of all health and fitness, is not achieved by fasting.

TO FAST OR NOT TO FAST?

Nutritionally, fasting is deprivation progressing to starvation.

A body deprived of nutrients, robbed of essential building blocks and starving for fuel cannot be healthy or fit. Our body works 24×7. Its clock is constantly ticking. There is no pause button to keep its nutrient supply on hold.

Depending on the extent of nutrient deprivation, fasting can have serious health hazards:

1.      Lean tissue loss:

Science: Our body survives on two big pillars: the macronutrients, protein and carbohydrates. Carbohydrate is meant to be our primary energy source while protein is the sole building block for tissues giving structure and strength to the body.

Simultaneous deprivation of both leads to accelerated catabolism of the whole body i.e. loss of lean tissues. It’s like pressing the fast-forward button to old age and sickness.

Pseudo-science? Some proponents of fasting claim:

·        Breakdown is of ‘only diseased and dying cells’ while healthy cells are left unharmed

Even with all advances in technology and the great power of nature, our body is incapable of such ‘self-cleansing’ and ‘selected breakdown’ like we would throw or recycle old and unwanted items. Law of nature is universal. It sees no good or bad. Natural defense mechanisms during starvation spur the body to breakdown all tissues – both healthy and diseased.

·         There is no tissue loss, only a ‘recycling’ of broken down protein.

If protein ‘recycling’ was a possibility to meet body’s requirements, we would never have needed to set an RDA (recommended dietary allowance) for protein. This RDA is the minimum intake required to prevent physiological deficiencies. It is set at 0.8-1gm per kg of body weight after extensive studies conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition.

2.      Slowing of natural metabolism:

Science: Lean tissue loss leads to drop in efficiency and speed of all physiological systems. There is a drop in metabolic capacities and a slowing down of the metabolic rate you are born with.

Pseudo-science? Proponents of fasting claim metabolic efficiency is increased due to ‘cleansing’. However, any advantage gained with cutting out of junk from the diet and body is overshadowed by the tremendous loss of metabolically active lean tissues.

3.      Weight gain after fasting:

There are no two ways about this. The metabolically slow body is now burning less calories in all activities. Any foods added, even if low in calorie, to the extremely restrictive fast is still ‘high caloric intake’ and leads to weight gain.

There are many theories circulated of ‘how to maintain’ after a fast. But they are only experiments which can all finally lead to the same end: weight gain.

Repeated fasting or starvation after weight gain can lead to the ‘yo-yo syndrome’ a vicious cycle of weight loss and gain that only end in frustration.

4.      Weakening of natural defenses:

Science: Loss of lean tissues includes breakdown of epithelial cells of the skin and digestive tract which are our first barrier to infections. Hair fall, skin problems and digestive weakness is often seen in cases of prolonged fasting and starvation.

Pseudo-science? Proponents of fasting claim it ‘rests’ the body and makes our intestine and immune system more healthy and efficient. They forget that our intestine and immune system depend on an adequate supply of protein, especially the amino acid glutamine that serves as a fuel in times of need such as a breach of the defense barriers.

5.      Vitamin and mineral deficiencies:

Science: Excluding vegetables, salads and fruits such as in water fasting deprives the body of nature’s goldmine of fibre, vitamins and minerals. These are key nutrients required for all physiological functioning and for body’s defenses against infections and toxins.

Pseudo-science? Many medical and nutritional professionals recommending fasting are responsible enough to advise that ‘the fast should be supervised by a physician to ensure that any nutrient deficiency does not take place’. But how can that be achieved when the very basis of most fasts is deprivation and deficiency.

Can there be a scientific supervised ‘balanced’ fast?

A 21ST CENTURY ‘FAST’

In the 21st century, we pride ourselves on science and technology. So let’s make our fasts more scientific. Here are the guidelines of such a ‘21st century fast’:

INCLUDE

What our body ALWAYS needs:

·         Generous amount of Fibrous vegetables and salads (along with fruits). For healthy digestive system, and vital vitamins and minerals.

·         Abundant amount of Water and antioxidants. For cleansing, detoxification and anti-aging.

·         Adequate amount of First-class protein sources. For tissue repair and anti-aging.

·         Limited amount of Whole cereals. For sustained energy release.

·        Good amount of essential fatty acids such as omega-3 fats. For efficient metabolism.

EXCLUDE

What our body NEVER needs:

·         Fried foods, saturated fats and all junk food

·         Refined cereals and sugars

·         Empty calories from aerated drinks

If you’re fooling yourself that the nutritional basis of your fast does not matter, think again! It’s a simple math: if you’re fasting twice a week and you’re 30 years old, you’ve fasted almost one-third of your life. If your fast is nutritionally deficient, you’ve starved for 10 whole years of your life.

Don’t fast-forward. Rewind to a nutritionally strong, fit and youthful body.