What Fasting Does To Your Body? 8 Benefits That Will Surprise You!

Imagine if you could do all of this — kickstart your metabolism, eliminate toxins from the body, improve heart and brain health, and reset your mind and body — all by incorporating a single activity. 

And that activity is neither exercising nor dieting. 

It’s fasting. 

Yes! You can achieve the above said things – if you undergo fasting for a while. All you need is the right knowledge and willingness to implement.

This blog does the work for the knowledge part. We are trusting you for the implementation 🙂

Moving further, let’s understand what is fasting in scientific terms and how it works?

Fasting is restricting food or drink intake intentionally for a while either because of religious or spiritual occasions or to take care of your health.

In India, fasting is mostly correlated with religious and sacred aspects. From Ramazan to Navaratri, people have different ways, rituals, and beliefs for keeping a fast. 

Besides this, fasting has a scientific basis too. Many people think of weight loss as the only benefit of fasting. 

But in reality, fasting provides a wide range of benefits to your mind and body apart from weight loss. 

Ready to discover other delightful and science-based benefits of fasting on your body? 

Alright. Here we go.

Which type of fasting to follow? 

Before diving into the benefits of fasting, it’s better to explore the best method of fasting you can get started with.

Trying out intermittent fasting doesn’t have to be a daunting task either – there are many different methods to choose from, such as:

• The 16/8 method (eating during an 8-hour window and fasting for 16 hours)
• The 5:2 diet (eating normally for 5 days and restricting calorie intake for 2 days)
• Alternate day fasting – you eat 500 calories one day and the next day you have normal diet
• The 24 hour diet – you go fasting for the whole day. It’s done once or twice a week. Seek your doctor’s guidance to follow this diet.

Most people opt for the 16/8 method as it’s easier to try. But you can go for the one you feel comfortable with.

8 lesser-known benefits of fasting that you would love to try

Improved insulin sensitivity

A healthy person undergoes this cycle of storing and using energy: You eat a meal. Blood sugar level spikes to produce energy. Insulin level increases to counter this. 

Excess energy is stored for later use. Blood sugar levels return to normal. Insulin levels drop. Energy stored then is used between meals.

Now what happens when you constantly feed your body without any breaks between meals? Your blood sugar levels would be always on the rise and your body would become resistant to insulin. 

If the situation continues, insulin resistance can cause blood sugar to become unstable and invite many problems.

But the good news is you can get over this easily with fasting. When you fast, you can improve insulin sensitivity by giving the body a ‘break’ from the constant influx of food and allowing insulin levels to return to a normal, healthy level.

Lowers blood pressure and cholesterol

Nearly 47% of American adults ( 116 million people) are under medication for high blood pressure. That’s almost half of the young adults. But you would be surprised to know that fasting can help lower blood pressure. 

A study of 1422 people who participated in a fasting period of 4-21 days reported a reduction in blood pressure levels. This is because, when you fast, the parasympathetic activity gets turned on which is responsible for maintaining the blood pressure levels in balance. 

The exact amount of lowering can vary depending on factors such as the individual’s health status, duration of the fast, and other lifestyle factors. But modest reduction of 4% for systolic blood pressure and 3% for diastolic blood pressure could be expected in general.

Now let’s see how it lowers cholesterol.

In terms of cholesterol, fasting has been shown to reduce levels of both total cholesterol and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. This may be because fasting reduces the amount of saturated and trans fats consumed during the fast, which can contribute to high cholesterol. 

Another reason: As said above, when you eat, you convert carbs into energy. Now, when you fast, after using the stored energy, your body breaks down the fat for energy. 

Boosted immunity

Imagine your phone is often stuck because of an overloaded and unorganized state: inbox flooded with unwanted emails, files not arranged or managed properly and so much trash in your gallery. You set a day to delete those useless files and organize them so that it functions efficiently.

The same happens within your body when you fast. Your body goes into a restart mode when fasting and undergoes a process called autophagy, where it removes damaged cells, regenerates new ones and eliminates wastes & toxins through excretion. 

Also, your body increases the production of white blood cells when you fast. As a result, you’ll be able to fight off infections and diseases easily.

Mental clarity

When it comes to achieving mental clarity, nothing beats meditation. But there’s one thing that can give tough competition to it.

You guessed it right. Fasting not only cleans the gut, but is also highly effective for clearing the clutter of thoughts and stress from your mind.

If you’re finding yourself less concentrated, having difficulty in learning and unclear about things, then you can give fasting a try to improve your mental clarity. 

When you fast, your brain releases a protein called a brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which develops new neurons in the brain. So, what’s the deal? Neurons help to learn better, improve memory and intelligence.

Also, fasting can improve cognitive function and mental clarity by clearing the mind and reducing brain fog. This can help you feel more alert and focused throughout the day.

Increases energy and focus

Have you ever felt slow, slumpy, and sluggish throughout the day that you are tired even to move? Maybe it’s because you’re always full. 

So, get lighter to feel better.

How? Try fasting for some time to improve your energy and focus. 

Fasting stimulates the production of ketones which then improves the mitochondrial function in our neurons, that is, absorbing nutrients and creating energy. Adding to that, fasting can increase the production of the hormone norepinephrine, which can improve focus and alertness. 

As a result, you would become more energetic like an enthusiastic bomb and get more work done with greater focus. Life will be good when you will take yourself away from procrastination and closer to productivity.

Reduced inflammation

You’ve probably heard that inflammation is your body’s natural immune response to fight infections. But what you might not have heard is this fact – chronic inflammation is not good for your heart. 

Many people accumulate excess inflammation in their body due to constant over-fueling of foods. But you can stay ahead of them and incorporate fasting to escape inflammation.

A study confirms that fasting reduces inflammation and improves chronic-inflammatory diseases. This is because fasting reduces the circulation of pro-inflammatory cells known as monocytes in the blood. Furthermore, these cells go into “sleep mode” and are less effective when you fast.

Improved heart health

According to the American Heart Association, leading causes of poor heart health are high blood pressure, unstable blood sugar, high triglycerides, and inflammation. 

But as already discussed above, these factors can be easily pushed down by fasting. 

The result? By eliminating these factors with the help of fasting, you can potentially improve your heart health.

Longer lifespan:

Who wouldn’t love to spend a little more extra days in this temporary tent – life? Ofcourse, everyone would love to. But the question is how you can achieve this longer lifespan.

When it comes to increasing longevity, experts believe that reduced oxidative stress is the key to achieve this state. It’s because increased oxidative stress could damage DNA cells and can make an aging process fast. 

So how to reduce oxidative stress in your body? Luckily, fasting has been found as a way to reduce the markers of oxidative stress. 

If you’re planning to live long, you probably have to eat less. 

The Wrap-up Note

According to experts and science, fasting, whether during festivals or once a week, can have numerous physical benefits for your body, including improved insulin sensitivity, lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, boosting immunity, and mental clarity. 

With EYVA, you can easily observe and track how your inner body is behaving throughout the fasting duration. You can compare your vitals results before and after the fast to know how effectively fasting works for you. The improvement in your vitals readings will encourage you to stay healthy.

In case your blood sugar becomes unstable, heart rate fluctuates or blood pressure gets too low during fasting, you can stay informed about all of it and take instant actions to optimize them, in 60 seconds and with just a touch!

Would love to explore the wellness wonders of EYVA? Check it out here.

But the thing to remember is: fasting is not for everyone. If you are on some medications or having particular health conditions, avoid fasting until and unless you seek proper guidance from health professionals.