What Happens To Your Body After?

In many religions, fasting is imperative during certain occasions, and the idea of fasting is highly associated with living a healthy lifestyle. While good nutrition and adequate exercise are the pillars of a healthy body, should we consider fasting? Well, why not? In this article, we will tell you the health benefits fasting has in store for you.

Fasting is mindful self-restraint from a particular food, drink, or both for a specific time. Although many people view fasting as an unhealthy and depriving religious reason, short-term fasting has some lucrative benefits for our bodies. More and more researches are taking place in this area of fasting as it is becoming a legitimate method of weight management and preventing diseases, and to get the most of fasting, it’s needed to be done in proper and healthy ways.

What Is The Science Of Fasting?

If we talk about science-backed weight-loss regimes, fasting is highly appreciated. Fasting cleanses our body and stimulates the cells into processes. When we fast, our body lacks the supply of glucose and forces the cells to use other means and materials to produce energy. As a result, our body starts making its own sugar, and we call this phase gluconeogenesis.
During gluconeogenesis, the liver converts non-carbohydrate materials into glucose energy. And as the body conserves energy during fasting, our BMR (basal metabolic rate) becomes more efficient. Fasting is also associated with a balanced blood sugar level and weight loss.

What Happens To Your Body When You Fast?

Fasting has potent effects on our bodies. From cellular cleanup, digestion support to weight management and mental clarity, there are numerous health benefits that fasting can bring. But what happens to your body every hour when you fast?
We will take you through the various stages of your body during fasting to get an idea of all the impacts that you will experience at different points throughout your fast.

0 To 4 Hours

This phase is known as the anabolic growth phase, and in this, your body will use up the energy from what you eat last to power your current activity. Your pancreas will produce insulin hormone allowing your body to use the glucose released into your bloodstream after your last meal. The cells of your body will store any excess energy for future use.

4 To 16 Hours

OK, you have reached the second phase of your fasting, and it’s been almost 16 hours since you had your last meal. We call this the catabolic phase, and in this state, your body starts releasing the extra nutrients stored for energy. Once the stored energy is drained, your body starts relying on the stored fat. And this is the phase when your body fat starts burning for energy releases. The rate at which you will reach this stage highly depends upon what you eat in your last few meals before the fasting.

16 To 24 Hours

So, when you have passed the 16-hour mark, the glucose in the cells and the muscles start dwindling. And your body burns fat to meet the energy requirement. At this stage, the energy demand in your body does not change much, and you can still wake up, work, or maybe exercise.

24 To 72 Hours

OK, so here is a quick note for you. If you want to fast more than 24 hours, we suggest you talk to a physician. After 24 hours of fasting, your body enters a state called ketosis. And in this phase, your body entirely depends upon burning the stored fat for energy. The ketone bodies fuel the brain to function, and you get a sense of mental clarity.

More Than 72 Hours

When you fast for more than three days, your body enters a deep state of ketosis. And the benefits such as fat loss and mental clarity increase. Research suggests the more you fast, the more resilient your body becomes.

We always suggest having medical supervision for prolonged fasting. Fasting is indeed a powerful tool to have a transformative impact on your overall health. If you want to try weight loss fasting, it is essential to work with your medical practitioner and choose the right type of fasting and the correct duration according to your goals.