The health benefits of fasting

Now, here are some surprising health benefits of fasting. You may not know a lot of them;
1. Fasting makes you live longer
Sounds funny right? One would wonder — how could deprivation of foods and drinks help someone live longer? Well, it is hard to believe but the lesser you eat, the longer you live. Some studies have been able to prove that diet of some people in some cultures helped them live longer. Their diet plan simply involved eating less, embracing some intermittent fasting and this we can do too.

When we age, the rate of metabolism in our body reduces and digestive system slows down in its activities too. The lesser we eat, the lesser load we put on the weak digestive system. Embracing some fasting will help give some rest to the digestive system.


2. Improves insulin sensitivity and sugar use in the body
A study has shown that, after periods of fasting, insulin becomes more effective in communicating the cells in the body to take up glucose from the blood. This allows people that have fasted to tolerate sugars better than people who did not fast.
When our cells because more sensitive to insulin like this, we are less likely to have excess sugars in our blood and hence less likely to develop diabetes.

3. Fasting helps to regulate the hormones in your body
Fasting can help improve hunger by regulating and resetting patterns of release of hormones in your body. Many people that become obese due to excessive eating of foods mostly do so because they no longer receive the signal of being full on time — the hormone just doesn’t do its work well anymore.
We can make use of fasting a means of resetting this. Fasting makes us feel real hunger and therefore makes the body recalls what real hunger is. This will reduce the amount of food we eat after we have stopped fasting because the body has gotten back what true hunger and fullness are.
To experience the true nature of hunger, this would mean staying away from food for like 12 to even 24 hours.

4. Fasting help get rid of pimples and acne
Yes, fasting has been able to help people clear pimples and acne; and help get a better and fresher skin. I mentioned above that when we fast, we reduce the load we put on our digestive system.
While the body is been relieved of that function of digestion, it’s able to focus its regenerative energies on other systems. Part of these regenerations will take place on the skin. In fact, not eating anything for just one day has shown to help the body clean up the toxins and regulate the functioning of other organs of the body like liver, kidneys and other parts.

5. Improvement of Brain and Cognitive Functions
Fasting helps to improve brain functions. Fasting helps to boost the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This protein activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons, and triggers numerous other chemicals that promote neural health.
It has also been reported that fasting protects brain cells from undergoing changes that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. So why wouldn’t you fast? Intermittent fasting boosts our brain function.
Finally, fasting also improves our immune system by reducing free radical damage and regulating inflammatory conditions in the body.


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