Fasting is a general term for many ways of consuming or not consuming food. There are water fasts that can last for days and intermittent fasting that may last a few hours. Some of these may affect your metabolism negatively, while others may have a positive effect. What is the difference in how the body reacts? It all depends on whether you’ve reached starvation mode and how restrictive it is.
Long water fasts may slow your metabolism.
If you only drink water on your fast and consume no calories for days, you might slow your metabolism. Even a severe calorie-restricted diet for a long time can cause a problem. Your body senses a shortage of food and imminent starvation. It reacts as it was created to avoid death and slows the metabolism. That ensures survival by saving the calories for vital functions like brain, heart, and lung functions. You have to boost your metabolism once the fast ends. Building muscle with exercise helps.
Fasts that won’t harm your metabolism include intermittent fasts.
Intermittent fasting can be achieved in several ways. The most common method is to shorten the window when you eat. It’s often done by eating within an eight-hour window and fasting the other sixteen hours. Your body never senses starvation, so it doesn’t diminish your metabolism. Another way to do intermittent fasting is to eat severely calorie-restricted diets three days a week and eat the normal amount of calories on the other days. Some people include feast days in their fasts, where they eat more than their normal calories.
Intermittent fasting has other benefits.
Studies show intermittent fasting may make you healthier. It may slow aging and potentially improve your metabolism when compared to calorie-restricted diets. It allows your body to flush out damaged cells and may help prevent inflammation that can cause asthma, stroke, arthritis, MS, and Alzheimer’s.
- Some people use a 12-hour window to eat and a 12-hour window to fast. It’s easy to do since seven or eight hours are spent sleeping. You can eat breakfast at seven and stop eating at seven that night.
- One reason intermittent fasting works so well is that your energy level never dips. It helps improve fat burning without burning muscle tissue, increases the creation of stem cells, and helps regulate blood sugar.
- You need to consume healthy food when you eat as part of your fat. It doesn’t matter whether you’re consuming a liquid diet of juices or a calorie-restricted diet. Choosing healthy food is a must.
- You can’t use long-term fasts for extended periods. Your body requires food. Without adequate calories, it starts breaking down muscle tissue. Always check with your healthcare provider before starting any fast.
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