Welcome to Ouroboros Wellness,
Today I will be talking about the water fasting benefit that you can achieve.
More specifically the top 10 benefits of water fasting that you can experience while doing a water fast. So stay tuned until the end if you want to know what you can achieve with water fasting.
Water fasting benefit number 10: Increased Leptin production
Leptin is a crucial hormone in the body that affects your metabolism. Leptin helps you to feel full. Different studies have found that water fasting could make you more sensitive to leptin.
An increased sensitivity means that this Leptin hormone will act more effectively within our body. So if you’re more leptin sensitive, then your body is better at processing fullness and hunger signals.
Which in turn leads to being able to tell if a meal is sufficient or too much for your body at that time.
When you listen to this feeling after your water fast, it will therefore help you remain your optimal weight.
Water fasting benefit number 9: Improves Insulin Sensitivity
We first have to create a little bit better understanding of insulin before we go in to the related insulin sensitivity to understand this benefit better.
Insulin is a hormone created by the pancreas that regulates your blood glucose levels. In certain periods of the day this will therefore increase, for example after eating.
Especially when you eat something that is high in sugars or carbs. In these moments you glucose levels in your body spike which triggers the release of insulin in the body.
Insulin sensitivity is basically exactly what it is, your sensitivity towards the insulin. As we have seen with the Leptin sensitivity, this higher sensitivity creates an increase in effectiveness of the hormone.
Which in turn means you need less of this to achieve the same goal of reducing glucose levels in the blood. On the other hand, if you have an insulin resistance in your body, your body increases the production on insulin and this would create a downward spiral.
In the end your body will be completely resisting the insulin that you need to function and this could lead to diabetes.
There are quite some improvements that we see in the body when you have a high insulin sensitivity.
First, you will increase the efficiency of your fat loss, this is sometimes reversed in diets that have very low amounts of fat in it.
Second you won’t crash as fast as you would without a resistance to it. This means basically you avoid the ‘hangry’ feeling whereby your body gets agitated in the absence of sugars. Due to this higher sensitivity your body becomes more agile in switching fuel for your body, more on this in the next part of the water fasting serie. This basically means your body is confident, due to available fat, that it won’t send you into a frenzy for food (glucose fuel).
Thirdly it will reduce the chance of diseases that are related to insulin resistance, among others; diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and certain skin diseases.
The final one is basically related to the third positive effect, although not completely determined through research. This is that a higher sensitivity reduces the chance on Alzheimer disease by reducing/removing the underlying triggers.
Water fasting benefit number 8: Boosting Brain function
Water fasting can increase your brain function, improve your brain structure and it increases the generation of nerve cells that help to enhance the cognitive function.
Later on we will also mention the reduction of inflammation in the body which increases the chance on neurodegenerative disorders.
Water fasting benefit number 7: Restore adrenal and kidney gland functions
This is usually not something that we can tell about ourselves. But I will describe the signals which could lead to the conclusion that you are running down on this path and into a full burnout.
So there are typically 2 stages that we can describe whereby it is good to note that it is not a sudden change, but an incremental change overtime.
Common signs and symptoms in this first stage:
· Trouble sleeping or not even feeling tired at all.
· Digestion that is just starting to be less regular, is sporadic and sluggish.
· Staying focused and thinking clearly becomes harder.
· Anxiety, angst, jitters and a constant ‘buzzing’ kind of hangs around your brain, and it is easier to just keep going than to stop and actually feel this high frequency, agitated energy.
Your glands are producing high amounts to keep you going, until you slowly experience that the endless amount of energy is not as endless as you had thought. At this point, those adrenals and kidney are exhausted.
They’ve reached their version of dried up. They can’t do their job anymore, which is to pump and filter the body’s fluids and balance things out (the kidneys), and the adrenals don’t have the energy to pump out adrenaline anymore to keep the body systems going. Cortisol no longer fluctuates and it actually flatlines in its daily responsiveness.
Common signs and symptoms during the second half of the first stage:
· Overwhelming feeling of “I can’t keep going like this”
· General fatigue
· Pain and tightness in the muscles, especially the mid-back and low-back where those kidneys and adrenals are located
· More irritability and trouble focusing on the task at hand
If we fail to address that something is not right, the second stage will come in.
Common signs for the second stage:
· Burnout
· Illness
· Utter exhaustion
· Lifeless energy states.
At this point you just don’t have any energy to do basically anything. Getting of bed becomes almost a morning task, and we are not even speaking of getting down a stairs or going to work. Your whole body basically screams “NO, if you don’t listen I WILL make you listen”
At this point in time, the constant secretion of stress chemicals (such as cortisol) has damaged the body’s cells where it is transported. Which is basically every part of your body…
Signs and symptoms during second stage:
· Memory suffers.
· The capacity to think and learn declines
· Immune function declines can even reverse into autoimmune diseases
· Heart function deteriorates because those blood vessels were put under raging pressure via adrenaline pumping 24/7 and the toxic levels of cortisol inflames them and they lose their vitality and resiliency.
· Digestion is deteriorating into possibly stopping in bowel movements and a leaky gut
· Feelings of depletion, illness and even depression become the new normal.
The water fast restores the normal function of these glands, avoiding or reversing the entire scenario(s) described above.
Water fasting benefit number 5: Enhance heart Health
Heart disease is considered the leading cause of death around the world, accounting for an estimated 31.5% of deaths globally, improving your diet and lifestyle is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of heart diseases.
Water fasting has shown that it reduces the bad LDL cholesterol, blood pressure and thereby also reducing the chance for accompanied heart diseases Few of these benefits are stand alone, for example by reducing the chance on diabetes you also reduce the heart health.
Water fasting benefit number 5: Detoxification
Water fasting creates a very unique atmosphere in which your body is able to detoxify with an increased rate. Many of the toxic chemicals that are produced by normal metabolism and environmental exposure are stored in our fat cells, away from normal blood circulation, to protect the cells and organs of the body.
When fat is metabolized for energy during water only fasting, toxins stored in fat cells will also be released and sent to organs of elimination.
This movement of waste, and subsequent removal by your body, is the process of detoxification.
The genius mechanics of your body will also make sure that the excess of energy and blood circulation, which normally would go to your digestion system, are now allocated to the detoxifying organs.
Therefore increasing blood circulation in skin, lungs, kidneys etc.
Water fasting benefit number 4: Autophagy
Autophagy is a process that is always present within your body by which it takes the cells that are not performing well or are dead and turn them into new building structures.
What is unique to water fasting is that, when energy is made available, autophagy is promoted and enhanced.
This increase in autophagy is one of the most profound and significant effects of water only fasting. Your body knows exactly what is supporting the body and what can be made redundant and therefore be recycled.
So in the fasting state, your body will break down tumors, cysts, cancers and stones, taking from these abnormal growths whatever it can, to feed the organs that are vital to life and health.
As a result, water only fasting has been shown to improve cancers like lymphoma, uterine fibroids and breast cancers and ovarian cysts.
Water fasting benefit number 3: Improve immune system
The migration of white blood cells to areas of injury and cell damage is a major part of a healthy functioning immune system.
Like all cells in the body, white blood cells have a limited life span and will age and become less functional over time.
After around 4 days of water fasting your body activates the stem cell and thereby the production of new functional white blood cells which enhances and reboots your immune system.
This rebooting of the immune system can therefore affect all the autoimmune diseases which are basically caused by an immune system that has gone over the top and ‘attacks’ itself.
Water fasting benefit number 2: Reducing Inflammation
When you overeat animal proteins, processed fats and refined sugars, and maintain a lifestyle that fosters chronic stress and sleep deficiency, you can promote chronic inflammation.
Other causes can also be found in situations of excessive smoking or drinking of alcohol. This condition of chronic inflammation is the foundation of many diseases that plague the current time (heart disease, diabetes, cancer and stroke) and are causing the most disability and deaths.
A three to seven days water fast can dramatically reduce inflammation and pain in your body, thereby decreasing the production of C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and other chemical messengers (cytokines) that are released by the liver and immune system when your body is inflamed.
Prolonged inflammation often goes hand in hand with autoimmune diseases. The results of a water fast is a dramatic improvement in chronic inflammation inside your body therefore reducing the chance or severity of many diseases.
Water fasting benefit number 1: Weight Loss
Water fasting benefits are particularly helpful for those who are obese or suffer from a number of health issues related to excess weight and body fat.
The conditions caused by overeating, like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, autoimmune diseases (including lupus rheumatoid arthritis, colitis, asthma and psoriasis) are very responsive to supervised water-only fasting.
“There is nothing that is more effective than fasting when it comes to treating the consequences of dietary excess.”
Dr. Alan Goldhamer
The biological capacity that allows humans to fast is an adaptation we were designed to utilize to help the body overcome disease and a dietary surplus.
The biochemistry of fasting induces metabolic and hormonal changes which help us draw on our supply of fat rather than our vital proteins, thus conserving our nutrient resources.
This is further explained in the next part of this water fasting serie.
These are the top 10 reasons to do a water fast, but before you do you should watch the upcoming videos on what water fasting does with your body and how to water fast to make sure you are having a safe fast yourself.
After the informational parts of this serie I will be doing a water fast myself and you are welcome to join me in this experience if you are able, otherwise you can learn from my experiences and find the required support to do so.
This is what I want to share with you on the top 10 benefits of water fasting, if you have questions leave a comment below.
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Enjoy your day!
Ouroboros Wellness