For the past two weeks, I have been exploring the benefits of Ramadan fasting on both the body and brain, when practiced in an appropriate manner. I must confess that during my research I discovered many unexpected spiritual, mental, physical, health, and even character-forming benefits that showed me the wisdom behind fasting.
Now, I would like to continue with the physiological aspects of fasting, as there is more scientific evidence to support the advantages of fasting.
With fasting, the hormonal system starts calibrating itself and slowing down the degenerative process associated with diabetes, cancer and disease. By optimizing hormone production and enhancing hormonal balance, the body starts producing growth hormone more efficiently, which energizes the memory and brain; enhances intellectual responses; reduces skin aging and improves its texture and condition; maintains muscle tone with training; decreases bone loss; rebuilds bone mass; keeps the body energetic and young and makes it rejuvenate and last longer.
Here are two hormones that get influenced by fasting. Leptin and ghrelin are the two hormones responsible for regulating and curbing the appetite when they are functioning efficiently. Their location is in the hippocampus, which is the site of the memory cells as well. When they operate properly, they also help renew brain cells.
According to Professor Mattson, with obesity, ghrelin production, the hormone that makes you stop eating too much, decreases, slowing down the renewal of memory neurons. The condition is damaging, especially when it happens as early as 40 and 50 years of age and during childhood and adolescence. Obesity becomes an indicator of memory decline and mental disorders. However, with supervised weight loss and fasting two days a week, the damage can be controlled and reversed. Appetite then gets regulated and the regeneration of brain cells resumes.
According to a study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, led by researcher Dr. Michelle Harvie, a dietician at Manchester University, women who fasted intermittently also increased their insulin sensitivity (another hormone) more than their counterparts on calorie- restrictive diets, thus lowering their blood sugar levels. Fasting also helped women who are predisposed to breast cancer through improving insulin and blood sugar levels.
Researcher Mark Mattson of the National Institute of Aging speaking to The Washington Post said that lab animals become more active mentally and physically when fasting and that “Fasting is a mild stressor that motivates the animal to increase activity in the brain.” Fasting is not only responsible for fat and weight loss, but also makes neurons- the brain cells, less susceptible to stress, a damaging condition to the brain.
Mattson’s studies also found that alternate-day fasts (600 calorie on the fasting day) can increase the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor up to 400 percent. The protein is important for the regeneration of neurons to improve memory and intellect and also protect them against changes that lead to Alzheimer and Parkinson’s diseases.
People who suffer asthma can benefit from regular fasts as well. In a 2007 study at the National Institute of Aging on overweight people with asthma, the frequency of attacks were remarkably reduced and improvement was witnessed after a few weeks of alternate day fasts.
The rotating calorie-restrictive fasting cycles helped their condition by decreasing their elevated inflammation markers triggered by obesity, thus improving their breathing and reducing the frequency of attacks. Strange enough when they stopped fasting, their symptoms reappeared and their conditions relapsed. Alternate day fasting can help individuals suffering from obesity and those who experience asthma attacks.
According to the University of Southern California research, a fast of 48 hours slowed down growths of eight different types of cancer in mice, making them regress. The progress continued with more fasts. Fasting delayed the mutation of cancer cells. Lab animals with aggressive brain tumors survived longer than predicted when fasts were applied along with radiation.
Remember, when you burn body fat, it includes fat globules in the blood vessels, which cause blood clots that obstruct blood flow to the heart and brain, resulting in heart attacks and strokes. A scientific paper published in the British Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease suggested that fasting raises the level of a protein called adiponectin, which is connected to the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats in the blood vessels.
Fasts seem to produce similar effects to exercising, with benefits to the vascular system through the burning of fat in all body parts. So imagine the health protection and energy you get from practicing both healthy lifestyles.
Let us take a closer look at what fasting does to the body.
During fasting, the body turns to its fat and carbohydrate deposits for energy. The body can sustain over twelve hours of food and drink abstinence. The liver converts the fat into ketone, the chemical that is released into the bloodstream to be distributed to the brain, organs and systems as free fatty acids. The brain and systems need fat to function efficiently.
Toxins hidden in fat layers are then released into the bloodstream for elimination. The less one eats the more fat burned. When all the fat storage is used up, fasting starts attacking the protein stock (our building block) in muscles to ensure survival, resulting in muscle loss. This becomes a state of starvation; the heart, kidneys and other organs begin to fail. The condition worsens when accompanied by dehydration that results in mineral loss and electrolyte imbalance. The body is then literally starved, leading to complete system failure.
When harsh fasting and diets are practiced, toxic deposits within the fat layers get dumped in the bloodstream and flood the systems, leading to heart failure and death. Strict extended fasts and crash diets are dangerous to the health and life due to mineral and nutrient depletion, sudden toxin release, and rapid tissue and muscle breakdown, which make organs and systems fail to function and shut down.
Just for information, excess sugar, carbohydrates and fat consumed in a daily diet turns into fat layers, which get deposited in different parts of the body. Fat is particularly harmful around the waist, causing obesity. Fat releases inflammatory substances, causing inflammation markers to rise, resulting in metabolic syndrome disorders (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease) and even cancer. For such reasons, fasting is required once in a while, to get rid of excessive fat.
With regular fasts, one can achieve healing as the practice boosts the immune defenses by getting rid of growths, dead tissues and cells as well as toxins; eliminating microorganisms and yeast infections; giving rest to organs and systems; detoxifying and regenerating cells, tissues, organs and systems; re-energizing memory and intellect; and renewing energy. Hypertension can also be reduced through preventing water retention, which puts a load on the heart.
I thought that today’s episode would be the last one on fasting, but there are more interesting information and scientific evidence on fasting that I feel I should share with you next week, inshallah.
N.B.: Individuals with medical conditions or on medication should consult their physicians when they decide to introduce anything new in their diet even if it is natural.
The previous Health Solutions articles are located at www.arabnews.com
References:
Some of the studies are published in the New Scientist in November 2012
How Intermittent Fasting Might Help You Live a Longer, Healthier Life
www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how...fasting-might...
Jan 11, 2013 — In a 2003 mouse study overseen by Mark Mattson, head of the National Institute on Aging’s neuroscience laboratory, mice that fasted regularly ...
Why you should starve yourself a little bit each day — io9
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Jan 1, 2013 — Fasting is good for the soul, so they say, but it may also be good for the body, according to recent research. New studies at the National Institute ...
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