Fasting Detoxifying Your Body Mind And Soul

FASTING, DETOXIFYING YOUR BODY MIND AND SOUL

One of the tenets of the great religions has been the practice of fasting. Websters dictionary defines fasting as, “to eat sparingly or abstain from all or certain foods.”  In Islam it refers to abstaining from all food and drink from sunrise to sunset.

Why do all major religions and many cultures have this practice? To my mind its to detoxify the body mind and soul and rejuvenate it for the future.

Fasting does not mean “ starving,” because starving technically begins only when your body begins to use its reserve energy supply of carbohydrates that begins when protein in our body begins to deplete.

Let us look at fasting from a scientific perspective.

When we don't take in food, our body looks into our reserve source of energy, a process called autolysis, the breaking down of fat in our body to produce energy.

This is achieved by the largest organ of our body the liver. In reality, the skin is the largest organ. The liver converts fat into special chemicals and distributes them into our body for its sustenance including the liver itself. The camel uses its fat in its hump when it has to live for days without food including water.

The important benefits of fasting are:

DETOXIFICATION

It is a process carried out in by the liver, kidney, lungs, lymph glands, colon and finally our skin.

When there is no intake of food, the body uses its own energy in the form of accumulated fat in our body. These fats are those that were in excess of natural fat in our body, which were produced when excess glucose and carbohydrate were not used up for energy or not secreted out.

This excess fat releases the chemicals during fasting, from the fatty acid, into the system which are then eliminated by our organs mentioned earlier.

HEALING PROCESS:

A very important aspect of fasting is the healing process that begins in the body when we fast. During fasting energy is diverted away from digestive system (which is taking rest;) due to its lack of use towards the metabolism.

The healing process, praises to mother nature, is the result of our body's search for energy sources. Abnormal growths such as tumor, cyst etc., are deprived of their “food” due to process of autolysis and start to shrink and die.

Another aspect in healing process is the production of proteins for replacement of damaged cells which may have occurred in our body during normal times, when we were not fasting.

During fasting our body temperature is lowered. This happens because of slower metabolism rate and general bodily function. As the blood sugar level drops “the basal metabolism rate” or BMR is reduced to conserve energy within our body. Under these conditions (due to fasting) growth hormones are also released due to better efficiency in hormone production.

When we are fasting a feeling of rejuvenation is felt, because of slower metabolic rate, more efficient protein production, enhanced immune system, and increase in hormone production, such as growth hormone, and also anti aging hormone;

I close this article with hope that one can view fasting when practiced with solemnness and supplemented with meditation as something positive, as its benefits are far superior to feeling of something that is mundane and a chore. Fasting results in a better and healthier body with a rejuvenated mind and soul.