Fasting is the voluntarily abstaining from food or drinks. It is done for a variety of reasons. Fasting is usually associated with religious practices. For Muslims, fasting is an integral part of the celebration of Ramadan. For Roman Catholics, the Fridays of Lent are days for fasting. At present, yogist and other health enthusiasts believe that fasting maybe good for over-all health and well-being. Doctors and other members of the health professions do not necessarily agree.
A 20-something MBA student said that she subscribe to fasting for health, “ I have a very slow metabolism. I tend to gain weight even if I eat relatively small amount of food.”
When asked how often she goes into her fasting diets, she replied, “I usually do it during the weekends when I don’t plan to do anything too strenuous during the day. I can’t fast too often because my doctor advised me that its bad for my health to lose weight too fast. I only fast to maintain my weight.”
She admitted that her doctor does not agree that she should fast at all, but recommended a low calorie diet instead. “I try to stick with the diet as much as possible, but its really hard when you’re very busy and have to eat out a lot of the time. And there are times when I feel like my body need the calorie. Sometimes I lack the discipline to follow the diet so I just fast during the weekends,” she added.
She said that she does feel less energetic after fasting and her reflexes are not as good, “that why I stay at home during the weekends, but it does make feel less bloated.”
For this student fasting is way to cope with the need to maintain her body weight as well as cope with the demands of her daily life. She admits that a “healthier” approach was suggested by her doctor, but she has a hard time following it due to her lifestyle. She admits to less energy and slower reflexes after fasting, but believed that this are only short-term side effects. She believed that scale is tipped heavily towards the advantages, a feeling of “lightness” and a healthy figure.
Littman explored the pros and cons of fasting in her article for lifetimetv.com. She provided several accounts of people who had tried fasting for one reason and another, and the successful results of their efforts. One of her subjects submitted herself to an elimination diet that prohibits certain foods, cigarettes and alcohol, and encourages energy teas, juices, wheat grass and vitamins and claimed softer hair, clearer skin and higher energy as a result (Littman, n.d., para 5). Still another claimed that her use of strict elimination got rid of her severe food allergies Littman, n.d., para 6).
Her article also included the opinions of some experts. A registered dietitian is doubtful about fasting that entails absence of any food or drink or only allows water or other liquids but does not see anything wrong with an “occasional macrobiotic fasting day” (Littman, n.d., para. 8). This expert also thinks that extreme fast are not effective for those who want to lose weight. “If you [eat nothing] for longer than a few days, the human body, sensing deprivation, alters and slows its metabolism to conserve calories and energy, which defeats [weight loss,]” (qtd. in Littman, n.d., para. 8).
Littman also pointed out the lack of clinical research on fasting because of the lack of funding. She concluded that fasting can have health benefits and be “a tool for women to feel better about their bodies” (Littman, n.d. conclusion). However, she cautioned that fasting should take the place of a balance meal (Littman, n.d. conclusion).
Littman’s conclusion was accurate, considering the experiences of her subjects as well as the opinion of a registered dietitian. The opinion of the dietitian did not categorically say that fasting can improve health and prolong life. It was a conclusion drawn from the experiences of two women who went through fasting for different reasons. What the registered dietitian did was to caution those who wanted to fast to consult a doctor if fasting for more than three days and to treat our stomach well.
A forty-something housewife who had a bad experience with dieting said, “I tried dieting and fasting to loss my weight really fast. I did lose weight for awhile but I gain the weight again and doubled [it].” When she was in her thirties, she was always on an on and off diet regimen and exercise routine, “I can’t seems to keep the weight off. And I needed it off badly. Because of my weight, I tire too easily chasing after the kids and I have moments when I have trouble catching my breathe.” The dieting did not work for her.
When she became frustrated with the lack of results, she decided to go into an extreme fast. “I lost 5 pounds that fast,” she snapped her fingers, “then the next week I gained half of it back. The week after next I gained back other half and then some.” She despairs over having to lose not only the weight she originally planned to lose but the added ten pounds she had gained since then. “I think it made my metabolism slower. Now, I have an even harder time losing weight.
The experience of this housewife is consistent with the opinion of the registered dietitian interviewed by Littman in her article. Extreme fast gives dieters fast result but is not beneficial in the long run. In extreme fast, the body tends to slow down metabolism to conserve calories which defeats the whole purpose of dieting. Dieters may regain the weight later because of the slower metabolism, and in some cases may gain additional weight because of extreme fast.
A 2003 article in USA Today, focused on the results of several clinical research done on mice to look into the benefits of fasting. At present, scientists are trying to see if what worked for mice can work on people too.
The result of the study showed that periodic fasting can give the same beneficial effect as restrictive eating (Fasting, 2003, para. 2 & 4). Initial studies showed that when mice’s diet is cut by forty percent, the mice live longer, and have higher insulin sensitivity and stress resistance. The article said that now scientists reported that “mice that were fed only every other day — but could gorge on the days they did eat — saw similar health benefits to ones that had their diet reduced by 40%…” (Fasting, 2003, para. 4).
There are plans to make a similar studies on people. Mark P. Mattson, a scientists from the National Institute for Aging and part of the group that conducted the research said, “Overeating is a big problem now in this country, it’s particularly troublesome that a lot of children are overweight. It’s still unclear the best way to somehow get people to eat less …. One possibility is skipping a meal a day. Our study suggests that skipping meals is not bad for you.” (qtd. Fasting, 2003, para. 8).
To explain the result of the experiment, Mattson made an analogy between the effect of fasting to cells and exercise to muscles, “We think what happens is going without food imposes a mild stress on cells and cells respond by increasing their ability to cope with more severe stress…” (qtd. Fasting, 2003, para. 11).
Whether or not fasting is good for a person’s mental and physical health fasting is still open to debate. Clinical research on the topic is rare as mentioned by Littman. The clinical research done by the National Institute for Aging on mice is still inconclusive on the question. There is still a possibility that experience of mice may not translate to humans. Subjecting our cells to the stress of fasting may have adverse effects, contrary to the longer and healthier life of mice. What we have now are the experiences of the many people who had tried fasting, and from that we see, that the answer is still out there.
References
“Fasting.” Wikipedia. 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting.
Hendricks, B. “Doctors Frown on Fasting For Health.”Retrieved December 3, 2006, from http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared/health/weightloss/fasting0508.html.
Littman, M. “Fasting for Health: Are detox and elimination diets legit?” Retrieved December 3, 2006, from http://www.lifetimetv.com/reallife/health/features/fasting3.html.
“Study: Fasting…” USA Today. April 28, 2003. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/.