Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Why You Should Not Be Fasting-6 Reasons

By Katherine Crawford M.S.

The fitness industry is constantly looking for the next best thing for you to digest. In an effort to keep things fresh, an endless amount of fad diets have hit the market. One specific diet that has gained popularity is the fast.

Well, the main issue here is that fasting has some serious consequences for those wishing to lose weight. What type of consequences? Check out the following list:

1. Liver glycogen depletion. This happens in less than a DAY. Liver glycogen depletion is not fun by any stretch of the imagination. Why? Because liver glycogen (stored carbohydrate) is responsible for maintaining your blood sugar. Once it's depleted, expect some rock bottom energy levels.

2. The conversion of protein to glucose. Your nervous system needs glucose (sugar) to survive. Unfortunately, fat can't be converted to glucose so your body attacks the next best thing: protein. It essentially eats away at your lean tissue and converts it into sugar.

3. Vital tissues get burned as fuel. Lean tissue isn't the only thing your body will go after to survive. Proteins in your blood, digestive linings, heart mass and lung mass ALL get burned as fuel. And burning up such vital tissues is probably not the healthiest thing to do.

4. Ketosis. If you fast for an extended period of time, your body will produce ketone bodies to prevent death. Ketone bodies are modified fat fragments that your nervous system can survive on, although not optimal. Thus, you begin to function on inefficient energy sources.

5. No proven benefits. Many people undertake a fast under the impression that there's some type of health benefit. Yet there hasn't been any solid scientific evidence proving this. On the contrary, fasts tend to be extremely unhealthy.

6. Acidic conditions. If you fast, expect a more acidic body. On top of this, you're likely to lose a lot of vitamins and minerals through urine. Even worse, exercise will hurt a lot.

Now probably one of the biggest drawbacks of fasting is the weight gain rebound. This happens because your body's metabolism slows down when you're fasting. Once you stop, not only do you overeat but your body is more likely to store the excess calories as fat. - 29161

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