Willing abstinence from, or reduced consumption of, food and/or drink
Fasting
is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely
physiological
context, "fasting" may refer to the
metabolic
status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see "
Breakfast
"), or to the metabolic state achieved after complete
digestion
and
absorption
of a meal.
[1]
Metabolic changes in the fasting state begin after absorption of a meal (typically 3?5 hours after eating).
A
diagnostic fast
refers to prolonged fasting from 1 to 100 hours (depending on age) conducted under observation to facilitate the investigation of a health complication, usually
hypoglycemia
. Many people may also fast as part of a medical procedure or a check-up, such as preceding a
colonoscopy
or
surgery
, or before certain medical tests.
Intermittent fasting
is a technique sometimes used for
weight loss
that incorporates regular fasting into a person's
dietary
schedule. Fasting may also be part of a
religious ritual
, often associated with specific scheduled fast days, as
determined by the religion
, or by applied as a
public demonstration
for a given cause in a practice known as a
hunger strike
.
Health effects
[
edit
]
Alternate-day fasting (alternating between a 24-hour "fast day" when the person eats less than 25% of usual energy needs, followed by a 24-hour non-fasting "feast day" period) has been shown to improve
cardiovascular
and metabolic
biomarkers
similarly to a
calorie restriction diet
in people who are
overweight
, obese or have
metabolic syndrome
.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
A 2021 review found that moderate alternate-day fasting for two to six months was associated with reductions of body weight,
body mass index
, and cardiometabolic
risk factors
in overweight or obese adults.
[6]
When fasting around 24-72 hours it is advised
[
by whom?
]
that you are medically supervised in case you start to feel dizzy and weak.
[
citation needed
]
Health risks can be dangerous and should not be taken lightly.
Medical application
[
edit
]
Fasting is almost always practiced prior to surgery or other procedures that require
general anesthesia
because of the risk of
pulmonary aspiration
of gastric contents after induction of anesthesia (i.e., vomiting and inhaling the vomit, causing life-threatening
aspiration pneumonia
).
[7]
[8]
[9]
Additionally, certain medical tests, such as
cholesterol
testing (
lipid panel
) or certain
blood glucose
measurements require fasting for several hours so that a
baseline
can be established.
Mental health
[
edit
]
In one review, fasting improved
alertness
,
mood
, and subjective feelings of well-being, possibly improving overall symptoms of
depression
, and boosting cognitive performance.
[10]
Weight loss
[
edit
]
There is little evidence to suggest that intermittent fasting for periods shorter than 24 hours is effective for sustained
weight loss
in obese adults.
[11]
[12]
Longevity
[
edit
]
There is no
sound clinical evidence
that fasting can promote
longevity
in humans.
[13]
Adverse effects
[
edit
]
Refeeding syndrome
[
edit
]
Refeeding syndrome
(RFS) is a
metabolic
disturbance which occurs as a result of reinstitution of nutrition in people and animals who are
starved
, severely
malnourished
, or metabolically stressed because of severe illness. When too much food or liquid nutrition supplement is eaten during the initial four to seven days following a
malnutrition
event, the production of
glycogen
,
fat
and
protein
in cells may cause low
serum
concentrations of
potassium
,
magnesium
and
phosphate
.
[14]
[15]
The
electrolyte imbalance
may cause neurologic, pulmonary, cardiac, neuromuscular, and hematologic symptoms?many of which, if severe enough, may result in death.
Refeeding syndrome can occur when someone does not eat for several days at a time usually beginning after 4?5 days with no food.
[16]
Other effects
[
edit
]
It has been argued that fasting makes one more
appreciative
of food,
[11]
[17]
[18]
[19]
and possibly drink.
Political application
[
edit
]
Fasting is often used to make a political statement, to
protest
, or to bring awareness to a cause. A
hunger strike
is a method of
non-violent resistance
in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt, or to achieve a goal such as a policy change. A
spiritual fast
incorporates personal spiritual beliefs with the desire to express personal principles, sometimes in the context of social injustice.
[20]
The political leader
Gandhi
undertook several long fasts as political and social protests. Gandhi's fasts had a significant impact on the
British Raj
and the
Indian
population generally.
[21]
In Northern Ireland in 1981, a prisoner,
Bobby Sands
, was part of the
1981 Irish hunger strike
, protesting for better rights in prison.
[22]
Sands had just been elected to the British Parliament and died after 66 days of not eating. 100,000 people attended his funeral, and the strike ended only after nine other men died. In all, ten men survived without food for 46 to 73 days.
Cesar Chavez
undertook several spiritual fasts, including a 25-day fast in 1968 promoting the principle of nonviolence and a fast of 'thanksgiving and hope' to prepare for pre-arranged civil disobedience by farm workers.
[20]
[23]
Chavez regarded a spiritual fast as "a personal spiritual transformation".
[24]
Other progressive campaigns have adopted the tactic.
[25]
Religious views
[
edit
]
Fasting is practiced in various religions, and details of fasting practices differ.
Yom Kippur
,
Tisha B'av
,
Fast of Esther
,
Tzom Gedalia
, the
Seventeenth of Tamuz
, the
Tenth of Tevet
, and
Fast of the Firstborn
are examples of fasting in
Judaism
.
[26]
Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av are 25 hour fasts in which observers abstain from consuming any food or liquid from sunset until nightfall the next day and include other restrictions. The fasts of Esther, Gedalia, Tamuz, and Tevet all last from dawn until nightfall and therefore length varies depending on the time of the year. The Fast of the Firstborn is not biblically mandated and can therefore be ended early in the case of a
seudat mitzvah
.
Muslims
fast during the month of
Ramadan
each year. The fast includes refraining from consuming any food or liquid from dawn until sunset. It is a religious obligation for all Muslims unless they are children or are physically unable to fast.
Lent
is a common period of fasting in
Christianity
.
Eastern Orthodox Christians
fast during specified fasting seasons of the year, which include not only the better-known
Great Lent
, but also fasts on every Wednesday and Friday (except on special holidays), together with extended fasting periods before Christmas (the
Nativity Fast
), after Easter (the
Apostles Fast
) and in early August (the
Dormition Fast
).
Members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(
Mormons
) generally abstain from food and drink for two consecutive meals in a 24-hour period on the first Sunday of each month and use the money they save for charity.
[27]
Fasting is a feature of
ascetic
traditions in religions such as
Hinduism
and
Buddhism
.
Mahayana
traditions that follow the
Brahma's Net Sutra
may recommend that the laity fast "during the six days of fasting each month and the three months of fasting each year".
[28]
Members of the
Baha?i Faith
observe a
Nineteen Day Fast
from sunrise to sunset during March each year.
In alternative medicine
[
edit
]
Although practitioners of
alternative medicine
promote "
cleansing the body
" through fasting,
[17]
the concept of "detoxification“ is marketing myth with few scientific basis for its rationale or efficacy.
[29]
[30]
During the early 20th century, fasting was promoted by alternative health writers such as
Hereward Carrington
,
Edward H. Dewey
,
Bernarr Macfadden
,
Frank McCoy
,
Edward Earle Purinton
,
Upton Sinclair
and
Wallace Wattles
.
[31]
All of these writers were either involved in the
natural hygiene
or
new thought
movement.
[31]
Arnold Ehret
's pseudoscientific Mucusless Diet Healing System espoused fasting.
[32]
Linda Hazzard
, a notable quack doctor, put her patients on such strict fasts that some of them died of
starvation
. She was responsible for the death of more than 40 patients under her care.
[33]
[34]
In 1911,
Upton Sinclair
authored
The Fasting Cure
, which made sensational claims of fasting curing practically all diseases, including
cancer
,
syphilis
, and
tuberculosis
.
[35]
[36]
Sinclair has been described as "the most credulous of faddists" and his book is considered an example of quackery.
[36]
[37]
In 1932, physician
Morris Fishbein
listed fasting as a
fad diet
and commented that "prolonged fasting is never necessary and invariably does harm".
[38]
Types of Fasting
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"fasting | Definition, Description, Types, Benefits, & Facts"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved
28 October
2021
.
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.
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16
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doi
:
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.
PMC
6304782
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30583725
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. Retrieved
23 October
2019
.
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39
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5411330
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Papamichou D, Panagiotakos DB, Itsiopoulos C (June 2019). "Dietary patterns and management of type 2 diabetes: A systematic review of randomised clinical trials".
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(Systematic review).
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Archived
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. Retrieved
18 October
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- ^
Norman, Dr (17 April 2003).
"Fasting before surgery ? Health & Wellbeing"
. Abc.net.au.
Archived
from the original on 29 May 2010
. Retrieved
18 October
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- ^
"Anesthesia Information (full edition) | From Yes They're Fake!"
. Yestheyrefake.net. 1 January 1994. Archived from
the original
on 12 November 2010
. Retrieved
18 October
2010
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- ^
Fond, G; MacGregor, A; Leboyer, M; Michalsen, A (2013).
"Fasting in mood disorders: Neurobiology and effectiveness. A review of the literature"
.
Psychiatry Research
.
209
(3): 253?258.
doi
:
10.1016/j.psychres.2012.12.018
.
PMID
23332541
.
S2CID
39700065
.
Archived
from the original on 17 June 2018
. Retrieved
4 November
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Whitney, Eleanor Noss; Rolfes, Sharon Rady (2012).
Understanding Nutrition
. Cengage Learning.
ISBN
978-1133587521
.
Archived
from the original on 2 February 2017
. Retrieved
22 January
2017
.
- ^
Anton, Stephen D; Moehl, Keelin; Donahoo, William T; et al. (2017).
"Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Understanding and Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting"
.
Obesity
.
26
(2): 254?268.
doi
:
10.1002/oby.22065
.
PMC
5783752
.
PMID
29086496
.
- ^
Lee MB, Hill CM, Bitto A, Kaeberlein M (November 2021).
"Antiaging diets: Separating fact from fiction"
.
Science
.
374
(6570): eabe7365.
doi
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10.1126/science.abe7365
.
PMC
8841109
.
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34793210
.
- ^
Mehanna HM, Moledina J, Travis J (June 2008).
"Refeeding syndrome: what it is, and how to prevent and treat it"
.
BMJ
.
336
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.
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- ^
Doig, GS; Simpson, F; Heighes; Bellomo, R; Chesher, D; Caterson, ID; Reade, MC; Harrigan, PWJ (1 December 2015). "Restricted versus continued standard caloric intake during the management of refeeding syndrome in critically ill adults: a randomised, parallel-group, multicentre, single-blind controlled trial".
The Lancet Respiratory Medicine
.
3
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doi
:
10.1016/S2213-2600(15)00418-X
.
ISSN
2213-2619
.
PMID
26597128
.
- ^
Webb GJ, Smith K, Thursby-Pelham F, Smith T, Stroud MA, Da Silva AN (2011).
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.
Acute Medicine
.
10
(2): 69?76.
doi
:
10.52964/AMJA.0470
.
PMID
22041604
.
- ^
a
b
Russell, Sharman Apt; Russell, Sharman (1 August 2008).
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. Basic Books.
ISBN
978-0786722396
.
Archived
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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. DoctorZed Publishing.
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.
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.
- ^
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. Retrieved
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.
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a
b
Garcia, M. (2007)
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Sheed & Ward Publishing p. 103
- ^
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.
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.
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.
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- ^
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Archived
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,
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- ^
Shaw, R. (2008)
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- ^
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- ^
Shaw, R. (2008)
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- ^
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- ^
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.
- ^
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- ^
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.
The whole idea of detox is nonsense. The body is a well-developed system that has its own built-in mechanisms to detoxify and remove waste and toxins. Our body constantly filters out, breaks down and excretes toxins and waste products like alcohol, medications, products of digestion, dead cells, chemicals from pollution and bacteria
- ^
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. Oxford University Press. p. 201.
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- ^
Fishbein, Morris. (1932).
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. New York: Covici Friede. p. 253
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Fasting
.
Wikiquote has quotations related to
Fasting
.
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