Health benefits associated with fasting

The wonders which fasting can do have already been demonstrated by Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement built around it.

While fasting can amount to pushing your body to an extreme, it does bring some health benefits along with it. During the course of human history people have practiced fasting both for its health benefits as well as for spiritual and religious reasons.

While religious events (like Navratri, Ramzan etc.) give us ample opportunities to observe fasts, one can also do that for health reasons and offsetting the over-eating we often indulge in. It is not recommended to push beyond the limits while fasting. Similarly, discipline also needs to be maintained while fasting. Many people transform their fast to a feast during Navratris and end up overeating. So the key lies in observing a disciplined and realistic fast:

Here are some health benefits attached to fasting:

Fasting counters allergic reactions, including asthma and hay fever.

Fasting promotes detoxification. As the body breaks down its fat reserves, it mobilizes and eliminates stored toxins.

Fasting initiates rapid weight loss with little or no hunger. Most people are surprised at how little desire for food they have while fasting.

Fasting restores taste appreciation for wholesome natural foods. People say that their taste buds come alive after fasting and that food never tasted so good.

Fasting makes it easy to overcome bad habits and addictions. Many people have overcome tobacco and alcohol addictions by fasting, and even drug addictions.

Fasting corrects high blood pressure without drugs. Fasting will normalize blood pressure in the vast majority of cases, the blood pressure will remain low after the fast, if the person follows a health-supporting diet and lifestyle.

Fasting gives the digestive system a much-needed rest. After fasting, both digestion and elimination are invigorated.

While these health benefits can be considered, you must also keep in mind that fasting may also lead to muscle loss and lowering down of blood sugar levels. Also, some experts say that fasting may work against weight loss in a way. Fasting can cause the metabolic rate of the body to slow down and since weight loss is usually better achieved with a fast metabolism, it (fasting) may hamper the entire process.