Introduction
Fasting is a traditional way in every religion. Of course, Various relations practice Fasting. In Hinduism, Fasting is practised mainly with other faiths. Fasting is not a duty in the Hindu tradition. It is a short term process of not eating. Still, a religious and spiritual act where the purpose is to mental clarity and body starts purifying and receive divine grace.
In Islam, It is predicted that Muslims would bring more work into upholding Islam’s teachings. At sunrise (at Sha’ban last night of the month), the fast starts and ends at dusk (in Ramadan’s last night of the month). During the Ramadan fasting or month, Muslims abstain from sexual intercourse and immoral speech and conduct.
Table of Contents
Stages of Fasting
There are five fasting stages: the fed stage, The post-absorptive stage, the Gluconeogenic stage, the Ketogenic stage, and the Protein conservation stage. You can also ask the doctor or fitness expert before you start fasting.
Stage-1): The Fed Stage.
This stage is of 0 – 6 hours. When you have your last meal, your blood glucose level rises. Insulin secretion would be encouraged by the rise in blood glucose by promoting the synthesis of proteins and stimulus to transport glucose in the cell to use as energy. Glucolyne is the form of glucose which will store in the liver.
Glycogen gets stored in the liver for decreasing blood sugar level. And provide energy when there are periods of low food supply. The liver can hold nearly 100 g of sugar when the limit reaches fat stores in a process known as de novo lipogenesis.
Stage-2) : The Post-absorptive Stage.
Identically, time period for this post-absorptive stage is 6 – 24 hours, resulting in decreased blood glucose levels, after 6 hours. Glucagon will help transfer glycogen stocks and inhibit fatty acid synthesis when there is no glucose consumption. In this stage, your body will start into a fat-burning mode and mental clarity.
Stage-3): The Gluconeogenic Stage.
This stage is of 1 – 2 days (24 – 48 hours). After 24 hours, the body will start to change for energy source using glucose to use fat. However, this transition will take some time because the fats are difficult to reach and distribute where appropriate.
When your body is in the gluconeogenesis process, it breaks down amino acids into glucose for energy. This is so many say that Fasting helps you lose muscle mass.
Stage-4): The Keto-genic Stage.
This stage is of 2 – 3 days. Also known as the keto diet, in this stage, ketosis begins to invade the body. The reduction in insulin acts as an indication of a low supply of energy and facilitates the degradation of energy fats (lipolysis). Fats (triacylglycerols) are break into three fatty acids and glycerol.
The majority of tissues will use fatty acids as storage. On the other side, glycerol is also used to make glucose, so it is also required in specific other tissues, such as the RBCs (red blood cells) and brain. The body has to build ketone bodies because of the large quantities of energy the brain consumes, the small amount of glucose available, and the failure of fatty acids to pass the blood-brain barrier.
The blood-brain boundary can be breached by ketone bodies, which provide the brain with the energy required.
Stage-5) : Protein conservation Stage.
Your body depends more on fatty acids after day four and ketones for nutrition. To retain lean tissues and muscle mass, it also releases elevated levels of human growth hormone. Glycerol glucose metabolism and the extraction of fatty acids from adipose tissue help sustain glucose levels in the blood.
Intermittent Fasting Explained
The fasting period is a short time in which you restrict yourself from eating meals. Length for Fasting is a cycle between 24 – 72 hours. Some people prefer intermittent Fasting for weight loss and health benefits.
Stages of intermittent Fasting:
The 16/8 method: In this, your eating time is 8 hours, and the fast time is 16 hours. You can eat two or three or meals in 8 hours of eating time, and during 16 hours, you can drink coffee, water, or any zero calories beverages.
5:2 diet: In this, your eating time is five weeks, and the fast time is two days. During fast days, you can eat up to 500-600 calories.
Alternate day of Fasting: You should fast every other day. During 24 hours, you can drink coffee, water, or any zero calories beverages.
The warrior diet: In this, your eating time is 1 hour, and a fast time is 23 hours. Fast all day and eat at night with a large meal of 1 hour eating time.
12/12: In this, your eating time is 12 hours, and fast time is 12 hours. Skip one or two meals.
Spontaneous meal skipping: Skip any one meal as you want.
Benefits of Fasting
- While you start fasting, it encourages weight loss and helps to burn fat.
- Fasting also helps in reducing inflammation.
- Fasting also lowers the risk of cancer.
- Intermediate Fasting also fights oxidative stress.
- Fasting helps in improving the immunity system.
Summary
The Fasting can be done for different purposes, like religious meaning or fitness purpose. We have brought you the various fasting stages, or you can also say it as other Fasting types. Some tremendous benefits of Fasting also explained here.
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