The benefits of fasting

Based on my own personal experience with fasting which I feel has enriched me so much, I feel the need to share it with other people to inspire them to learn the same valuable lesson about their bodies and minds on the miss of food. This article is mainly supposed to give some motivation to try it out. I will therefore present all the benefits that come along with fasting.

So, the first thing you may be asking yourself, is why would you just not eat although you are hungry and the food is placed right next to you in the fridge? Don't you just feel damn hungry? And isn't it threatening your health?

In fact, we should question the other way round: Why are we constantly eating three or even more times a day? Why are we sometimes even eating without appetite like when we are sick?

In times of hunters and gatherers, people didn't use to eat for days when there was no deer in front of them in the right (or respectively wrong) place and time. We are just following patterns that we've been taught by society. Instead of taking a break for our digestive system when feeling sick, some parents might concernedly tell their child to eat, even if he or she doesn't feel like doing so, only to become „stronger“. The point is that our body sometimes simply needs a rest. By overeating, eating the wrong foods or at the wrong time, we are collecting toxins in our body. Those can be cleaned out by just giving our belly the time to do so, just like we take breaks from work or clean out our rooms.

Here, we have already arrived at the first reason to undergo the experiment: the detoxification. As the digestive system now has nothing „new“ to work on, it can now tidy up and help remove all the gathered waste. This is why many people have headaches, a sore throat or a bad taste on the tongue. Those are the first signs that the fast is working.

It also helps to increase the so-called autophagy, which is the body's natural process to clean us from harmful cell matter. The modern mainstream diet often leaves us in a lazy, static state, which can be refered to the non-function of this regulation. This can also lead to faster cell ageing. However, fasting helps rebuilding this natural healing process and therefore prevents cancer and anything related to inflammation like allergies, rheumatic diseases, asthma, high blood pressure or chronic pains.

It also improves our insulin sensitivity, which means that sugar-containing foods can more easily be processed instead of being transformed to fat. And this is not the only beauty aspect: On top of that, it'll support your lean muscles, which will make you appear more „toned“ and make your skin look clearer.

And not only on the outside, but also inside you will experience a state of mental clarity that can in one way, for example, result in the sudden need to deal with stored emotions. It is therefore useful to have someone around who you can talk to and to be in a situation that allows your emotions to be turned out and processed. Consider it as a possibility to learn more about yourself. Others describe a peaceful meditative state that can be explained by new brain cells being built up or more energy, usually used for digestion, being available for the mind. Hence, combined with redundant time commly soaked by cooking, eating and cleaning, can be used for intellectual activities like reading or studying, creative stuff like Gaudí when he was working on the plans for the Sagrada Familia, mental challenges, whether it be mathematical timetables or reading about philosophical theories, or spiritual practice like meditation.

Finally, the motivation which I consider to be most important, is to do it just for the sake of the experience. Our minds are fixed on the strict pattern of eating three times a day, even at clearly defined times that vary from culture to culture. Some might even (consciously or unconciously) live with the fear that if they don't eat for one day, they would immediately catch a cold or have to be brought to hospital. In taking away that habit and these limitations we are giving our mind, we will figure out that, in fact, this is not even the case and we will rethink our (eating) habits and open up to new ways.

And along with that, it is an unpayable challenge that doesn't coast a thing. If you made it through one day as a start, you will have strengthened your determination and willpower.

In case you are now interested to give it a shot, I recommend you to do your own detailed research and consult your doctor in case of doubts. There is a lot of wrong and contradictory information, especially on the Internet. But then, in the end, it will be YOU who is responsible to listen to YOUR own body and watch what is happening and how far you can go to still feel comfortable. As Albert Einstein has already said: „Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.“