Fasting, as a way of losing weight, has been practiced for generations. But how legit is this, really? Can you lose weight by fasting or starving yourself? Logically speaking, starving should work, right? If you aren’t taking in calories (or even food for that matter), you should start to lose weight rapidly.
Even Beyonce did it, when she starved herself to get the perfect figure for her film Dreamgirls. But then again, Beyonce had an entire team working behind her. How many of us have that? Well, no one. That is precisely why you shouldn’t really follow the celebs when it comes to losing weight. We’re mere mortals, with very different lifestyles, and it’s important to remember that every step of the way.
So is fasting really effective?
Madelyn Fernstorm of University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre is of the opinion that, “The appeal is that [fasting] is quick, but it is quick fluid loss, not substantial weight loss.”
So you see, fasting may be called the short cut to weight loss, but it doesn’t really work in the long run. Of course, if you starve yourself, you lose fat caused by water retention. Since the excess fluids that had accumulated in your body are lost, you start feeling and even looking slim. But the truth is, starving yourself will slow down your body’s metabolic rate. That means, the rate at which food is broken down and processed in your body decreases. So when you actually eat, fat instantly accumulates in your problem areas.
The Dangerous Side-effects
Moreover, fasting isn’t healthy, generally speaking. If you have a strong immunity system and are healthy, fasting and starving yourself for a day or even two wouldn’t do much harm. But if you have liver and heart ailments which include fatty liver or even gastro intestinal diseases, fasting could worsen things for you. In some cases, fasting is practiced alongside other treatments like colon or intestinal cleansing. Now while these may sound lucrative, these are potentially dangerous. In the quest to shed a few extra kilos, you would be doing yourself more harm than good.
A Slight Silver Lining
But here’s the twist. Although there is no such scientific evidence to support the fact that fasting could help in detoxification of your body, some doctors claim that the body is designed to do so. Basically, when you starve yourself for a couple of days, the body enters into a phase named ketosis. During this phase, the body (now unable to break down carbohydrates) turns to the fat stored and breaks it down. That cleanses your body of toxins and even helps you lose weight to a certain extent.
However, we would still recommend that you pay a visit to a dietician and follow a clinically approved, balanced, healthy diet if you really want to lose weight and refrain from fasting.
