The benefits and pitfalls of fasting

Question

I have been trying to find information or research on the pros and cons of fasting. A few friends and I were talking about participating in a once a week one day fast. What are the health benefits and detriments to this? Thank you so much!

Answer
In human body, from the metabolic standpoint, no dramatic changes can be expected sooner than 72 hours of complete water fast. Most doctors will tell you that fasting for one day a week poses no danger and can result in losing 3 to 5 pounds though this is almost completely 'water weight.'

However, when using carbohydrates for fuel during the rest of the week as actually happen unless you specifically restrict carb intake, one is getting hungry every three to four hours or so.

As soon as there's the feeling of hunger, the body begins to sabotage any physical activity by sending us to the state of sluggishness so we move less and spend less calories. This indeed results in gaining weight -- unless we push ourselves hard enough in gyms.

Lately, an interesting research results been published. After meta-analysis of so called intermittent fasting including observation data on people during the Ramadan daily fast, a conclusion about naturalness and health benefits of such way of eating has been made.

You might want to read more:

The Every Other Day Diet
http://dietandbody.com/diet_reviews/2007/10/every-other-day-diet.html

Am I getting into starvation mode
http://dietandbody.netfirms.com/diet/nfblog/?p=285

Detox Diets: What You Need To Know
http://dietandbody.com/Tips/2007/07/top-tips-for-your-own-detox-plan.html

How to do water fast
http://dietandbody.com/banta/inside/fast.html

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