1. [Benefits of water fasting](#benefits-water-fasting)
1. [Benefits of dry fasting](#benefits-dry-fasting)
1. [Benefits of intermittent fasting](#benefits-intermittent-fasting)
1. [18 hours fasting](#18-hours-fasting)
1. [24 hours fasting](#24-hours-fasting)
1. [36 hours fasting](#36-hours-fasting)
1. [3 day fasting](#3-day-fasting)
1. [What happens with long fasting period](#long-fasting-periods-consequences)
1. [Preparing for fasting](#preparing-for-fasting)
1. [The correct way out of hunger strike](#fasting-finish)
1. [Fasting: possible harms to your body](#fasting-harms)
1. [Contraindications](#contraindications-fasting)

<a class="anchor" name="benefits-water-fasting"></a>
## Benefits of water fasting

When a person is obsessed with the idea of ​​losing weight, he is ready to give up food and only drink water. As you know, the body lives longer without food than without water. Drinking fluids is believed to trick the stomach and suppress hunger.

![Drink water during fasting](https://storage.googleapis.com/yamfit-blog/articles/60c56dfb1540eb00192be190/1623557113885.jpg)

Although it is less harmful than dry fasting, it will not be possible to avoid exhaustion if it is too long. There is no glucose in water, which means there is no source of energy for cells.

Sweetened water is not an option. Losing weight on sugar is a dubious prospect. And this substance is more harmful than meat, fish, vegetables and other healthy foods. The decision to sit on the water for a day can be beneficial from the point of view of alternative medicine, there is no traditional evidence for this.

<a class="anchor" name="benefits-dry-fasting"></a>
## Benefits of dry fasting

Its supporters argue that abstinence from food and liquids is very beneficial for health. It supposedly contributes to:

- rejuvenation;
- increasing intellectual abilities.
- relieving inflammation;
- increased immunity;
- cleansing from toxins;
- fight against neoplasms.

In fact, it will bring health problems, because dehydration will also go along with exhaustion. A 50-kilogram woman needs to drink 2,100 ml per day, an 80-kilogram man - 2,700 ml.

If a person goes hungry for one day, by the end of it he will face the first consequences of dehydration. A week without water can end in death (at summer temperatures it will come in two to three days). It is especially dangerous to experiment in this way for sick people with already weakened health.

<a class="anchor" name="benefits-intermittent-fasting"></a>
## Benefits of intermittent fasting

This is the most gentle mode of fasting. It is practiced by those who want to lose weight, but cannot stand the exhausting rules. The most popular scheme is 16 hours of hunger and 8 hours during which food is allowed.

![Intermittent fasting](https://storage.googleapis.com/yamfit-blog/articles/60c56dfb1540eb00192be190/1623557150043.jpg)

It does have advantages:

- metabolism is not disturbed;
- insulin production is normalized;
- 16 hours is enough for the body to digest food and switch to fat reserves;
- in 8 hours one of the traditional meals drops out.

Intermittent fasting can be most beneficial when combined with intense training. The main thing is to prevent overeating in the allotted 8 hours, otherwise 16-hour abstinence will not make sense. And short-term unloading will not harm metabolic processes.

<a class="anchor" name="18-hours-fasting"></a>
## 18 hours fasting

This type of intermittent fasting increases the period without food. Here you can definitely meet two meals. This scheme is close to people who adhere to strict diets. For example, they refuse breakfast, eat lunch at noon, and do not eat after 6:00 pm. It is not harmful, since the metabolism is not disturbed in 18 hours.

The 18/6 scheme was used by the Japanese scientist Yoshinari Osumi. He proved that short-term fasting triggers the process of autophagy (self-eating) in cells. In this way, damaged cells are destroyed in the first place.

18-hour fasting is included in various diets, although the 16/8 regimen is more popular now. The latter finds more approval from doctors and is easier to tolerate psychologically.

<a class="anchor" name="24-hours-fasting"></a>
## 24 hours fasting

This is a more rigid scheme than interval. The harm of dry fasting is difficult to question. If there is liquid in the diet, it is possible to withstand a day without harmful consequences.

People who have made it a rule to arrange fasting days for themselves once a week note the following beneficial results:

- acceleration of metabolism;
- improved bowel function;
- correction of hormonal balance;
- dropping extra pounds.

Fasting for one day is effective for weight loss. Scientists have proven that usually after a long fasting, weight goes away, but then the body tries to replenish the lost, and the kilograms return. Daily unloading, repeated every week, does not allow this.

This is how eating behavior is corrected. The body gets used to the reduced diet, and the person is no longer plagued by hunger with the same intensity. This helps reduce your calorie intake.

<a class="anchor" name="36-hours-fasting"></a>
## 36 hours fasting

Here you will have to stay without food for more than a day, which can already negatively affect your health. Therefore, it is recommended to arrange such abstinence no more than once a month. Admirers of a variety of spiritual practices (including yoga) insist on more frequent repetitions, which do not find a positive response in medicine.

![Long fasting](https://storage.googleapis.com/yamfit-blog/articles/60c56dfb1540eb00192be190/1623557252867.jpg)

It is best to distribute the time allotted for a one and a half day hunger strike as follows:

- do not have supper on the first day;
- do not eat edibles for the whole second day;
- start eating breakfast on the third day.

Healthy sleep is essential for maintaining strength. It is hard for the body without food, it cannot be deprived of rest. In the afternoon, to facilitate the psychological transfer of this time, it is advisable to occupy yourself with something exciting, which will not allow you to constantly think about food.

<a class="anchor" name="3-day-fasting"></a>
## 3 day fasting 

A one-day fasting can still be beneficial, 36-hour - relatively harmless. But refusal to eat, lasting more than two days, clearly threatens health. During this time, glucose reserves are depleted, and the body goes on to digest what else can be reached.

There is an opinion that a three-day fast is good for obese people. Proponents of this point of view refer to the fact that body fat is a reserve that allows you to hold out for another couple of days.

The danger lies in the fact that muscle tissue will also be split. Some nutritionists believe that it goes away first.

Fat quickly returns after the end of the hunger strike, but this cannot be said about muscles. Several cycles of refusal to eat - and we get sarcopenic obesity (a combination of degeneration of the musculoskeletal system and obesity).

<a class="anchor" name="long-fasting-periods-consequences"></a>
## What happens with long fasting period

The first disastrous changes appear by the third day. They are localized in the gastrointestinal tract. Instead of hydrochloric acid, the stomach receives unsaturated fatty acids. They create an imaginary feeling of fullness. That is why hungry people talk about the disappearance of hunger.

From the fourth to the seventh day, the following occurs:

- internal synthesis of amino acids is activated;
- intestinal microflora dies;
- acid-base balance is disturbed towards acidification;
- the body experiences vitamin deficiency.

After the seventh day, the active accumulation of ketone bodies begins. With a normal metabolism, there are few of them. Their high concentration is observed in diabetics in serious condition, when they are on the verge of coma.

The perceived feeling of lightness and enlightenment that hungry people boast of is caused by ketone euphoria. However, it does not last long. As a result, ketone poisoning leads to coma.

<a class="anchor" name="preparing-for-fasting"></a>
## Preparing for fasting

Fasting might cause serious stress. Therefore, you need to prepare for unloading, gradually switching to a new mode. There is no case you should start a week in advance. On the contrary, you need to do it step by step:

- reduce the amount of calories consumed;
- give up meat, fish and dairy products;
- include more fruits and vegetables in the diet;
- the day before, cleanse the intestines from feces.

![Prepare to fast](https://storage.googleapis.com/yamfit-blog/articles/60c56dfb1540eb00192be190/1623557248224.jpg)

Doctors believe that the preparatory period is much healthier than the hunger strike itself. Reducing calorie intake more actively contributes to weight loss, and the digestive system gets a smooth stress-free unloading.

In order to avoid damage to internal organs, it is worth consulting with an endocrinologist or gastroenterologist. He will determine whether it is possible for a person to starve, if there are any contraindications for this.

<a class="anchor" name="fasting-finish"></a>
## The correct way out of hunger strike

The main rule is not to fall on food as soon as the fasting ends. Overeating after fasting will not only negate the results achieved. It will be a big shock to the digestive system and may have side effects.

It is better to leave in three stages:

- Juice stage. It is healthier to start with a drink, and fruit juices are optimal for this due to their high nutritional value.
- Liquid food stage. Now you can move on to easily digestible food - broths, mashed potatoes, water-based liquid porridges. It is better to build calories gradually and evenly.
-Solid food stage. Hard does not mean hard. It can be tough fruits, thicker cereals. It's time to move from broths to vegetable soups.

For the time being, you will have to refrain from meat, dairy products and legumes. You need to eat fractionally, chewing food thoroughly. This period forms the correct eating behavior for the future.

<a class="anchor" name="fasting-harms"></a>
## Fasting: possible harms to your body

Body receives glucose from food - the main source of energy. When a person is hungry, cells in the body signal a lack of nutrition. Typical food glucose depletes in about 20 hours.

![Fasting can do harm](https://storage.googleapis.com/yamfit-blog/articles/60c56dfb1540eb00192be190/1623557495228.jpg)

We sleep an average of eight hours a day, and during this period, the metabolism slows down. Given this, we can say that glucose is enough for us for a day. Therefore, a one-day without food should pass without consequences. Longer periods are fraught with dangerous consequences for metabolism:

- breakdown of proteins;
- incomplete oxidation of fatty acids;
- liver overload;
- weakening of immunity;
- ketoacidosis;
- violation of intestinal microflora;
- depletion at the cellular level (up to tissue damage).

For a person, this can result in a deterioration in the supply of oxygen to the heart and subsequent heart failure. Complicated ketoacidosis causes coma and death.

<a class="anchor" name="contraindications-fasting"></a>
## Contraindications

If a person already has signs of exhaustion, he cannot starve, because this can kill him. On the other hand, a body mass index below normal indicates that nutrition should be strengthened.

Absolute contraindications have been established for children and adolescents, the elderly, endocrine patients, and patients with liver cirrhosis. It is recommended to refrain from hunger strikes when:

- infectious diseases;
- inflammatory processes;
- parasitic invasions;
- heart rhythm disorders;
- blood clotting disorders;
- the presence of implanted tissues.

Women should not go hungry during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Men should not take risks with gynecomastia (enlargement of the mammary glands) in order to avoid the development of oncological processes.

Although alternative medicine advocates claim that fasting (especially dry fasting) cures cancer, this is a big misconception. On the contrary, such a shock is contraindicated in a weakened body of a cancer patient.

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