Fasting for Weight Loss - Does it Work?

If you're thinking about fasting for weight loss, there are a few things you should consider before you put a temporary lock on your refrigerator door.

Many spiritual leaders swear by fasting as a way to cleanse the body and the mind, but many medical doctors believe that a few days or weeks without food is dangerous. Ironically, these same doctors might suggest gastric bypass surgery if you are heavy enough to qualify, and the surgery will force you to fast. The problem seems to be a general lack of training among medical practitioners, and a deep-seated pessimism when it comes to suggesting any drastic plans to help their patients lose weight.

Fasting is unlikely to kill you, or even make you sick - although there are exceptions, so be sure to work with a doctor who has training in this particular healing practice. Since fasting is not a normal part of medical training, you may have better luck finding qualified care if you look for a naturopathic physician.

And you will lose weight if you go without food. According to Dr. Joel Fuhrman, author of Fasting and Eating for Health, A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease, you can expect to lose an average of 1 pound a day. The more overweight you are, the faster you lose weight on a water fast.

A small part of this lost weight is water, which will be regained as soon as the fast is over. And some of the weight loss will be muscle mass, not body fat.

Your body normally burns glucose for fuel, but only about one day's worth is stored in your liver in the form of glycogen. After the first day on the fast, most of your energy will come from fatty acids stored in all those fat cells you're trying to get rid of - but you still need some glucose for your brain and red blood cells. Your body can create some glucose out of your fat tissue, but additional glucose will be obtained from your muscle tissue in the second and third day of your fast. Some muscle loss is inevitable.

If you continue beyond the third day, your liver will begin generating large quantities of ketones, which will reduce the loss of muscle and preventing the acidosis that is caused by burning muscle tissue. These ketones are then burned by your nervous system and red blood cells instead of glucose. However, you will still continue to lose a small amount of muscle mass, a little less than half a pound a day, on average.

This muscle loss may not be something you should worry about too much. Dr. Fuhrman states that: "The unique nutritional adjustments that occur during a total fast, including the adaptation to ketone nutrition, apparently have long-term beneficial effects on brain function, improving psychological health as well as physical well-being."

Is fasting completely without risks?

No. You should arrange to have your blood pressure tested daily, and have daily blood tests that will make sure you have the proper electrolyte balance. Your doctor will need to make sure you have not become dehydrated.

Some people have a rare enzyme defect called MCAD. In these patients an essential enzyme used for the oxidation of fatty acids is deficient, and this makes fasting unsafe.

Other people who should not fast are those with liver or kidney disease, people who are extremely weak or underweight because of illness, people with severe anemia, nutritional deficiency states, or porphyria.

Of course, pregnant women should never fast.

And people undergoing chemotherapy or taking any medication that can be affected by the blood sugar levels, such as insulin, will need to be under a doctor's constant care if they decide to go on a fast. For these folks, a residential fasting clinic would be essential.

For almost everyone else, fasting is not only healthy, it's enjoyable. You will stop feeling hungry after the second day or so, and you may even experience one of those spiritual awakenings that are supposed to accompany a fast. And you do lose weight - one to two pounds a day at first. Fasting has been a highly recommended healing practice for centuries, and many well-respected medical doctors and naturopathic physicians encourage fasting, under proper care, and with the right preparation and commitment.
But now for the bad news:

You will probably gain all of that weight back again, unless you have entered into a commitment to completely change your dietary habits once you come out of the fast.

Even people who lose weight through gastric bypass surgery and the ensuing extremely-low-calorie diet can eventually gain much of their weight back again if they don't receive proper counseling and nutritional training. Therefore, it is just common sense to say that any weight you lose will be back on your body within a few months if you haven't changed your eating habits and your lifestyle.

And, unless you have changed your eating habits before you begin your fast, you may encounter some rather startling symptoms as your body begins to throw off the toxins that have accumulated in your fat cells.

And one last warning - anyone who undertakes rapid weight loss, either through fasting, surgery or diet, runs the risk of gall stones, a dangerous condition that requires immediate medical care.

So, the bottom line is this:

Fasting probably won't hurt you if you prepare properly and work with a qualified health care provider;

You will lose weight;

But you are likely to gain it all back again.That sounds a bit negative, and I don't mean it to be. I have a very high regard for the health benefits of fasting, and I encourage you to head to the library to pick up one of the many books on the subject.

If you make a long-term change in your dietary habits, (reduce or eliminate all sugar and white flour, increase the variety and quantity of raw and steamed vegetables, and partake almost exclusively of wholesome, unprocessed foods), and then go on a water fast, it can be an excellent way to speed up the healing of your body by cleansing your cells of toxins and invigorating you gastrointestinal tract.

And the rapid weight loss at the beginning of the fast could give you the extra encouragement you need to keep on your new diet.

Just don't expect the results to be permanent unless you do everything else (like diet and exercise) that you need to do to get back to a healthier lifestyle.