Apart from the fact that the fasting in the holy month of Ramadan is a religious obligation for the Muslims, it has countless health benefits as well. From improved metabolism and effective weight management to healthier blood cell regeneration and improved cardiovascular function, fasting has become quite the most efficient method of keeping ourself younger, healthier and a proactive person.
What does Fasting do our body?
Fasting for the whole day, from dawn to dusk, greatly helps you in cleansing our body from toxins which eventually improves the functions of all organs, betters the digestive system and gives a fresh start to improved blood circulation throughout the body.
While fasting, many people feel hungry and thirsty which is of course, quite natural. But when breaking their fast, they aren’t able to consume in much quantity – reason being is the fact that our stomach shrinks, making you feel satisfied from hunger and experience the fullness even after intaking the food in smaller quantity.
30 days of fasting eventually decreases our appetite for a longer run – it is deemed as a process that increases the production of thyroid hormone in the body which helps in boosting our metabolism and improves our overall health & well-being.
Major Health Benefits of Fasting
Weight Loss
When we refrain from eating and drinking for twelve to eighteen hours a day, our body goes through the starvation process and consume fats heavily in order to utilize and store it as an energy. If the whole process goes smoothly with balanced & healthy food-intake throughout the month, then the fasting acts as a perfect way to reduce our weight, promoting the loss of fatty tissues in particular, that eventually leads to improved physical shape. Last but not the least, if such habits are adopted in routine months, then such resistance will produce greater results in weight loss.
Immunity
Fasting is responsible to give us a fresh new start to the blood cell regeneration by promoting the healing process in the human body. The core focus of such changes remains specifically on immune system & metabolism, as the immune system is largely comprised of white blood cells and fasting recycles the old white blood cells resulting in a healthier, improved and robust immunity. Once we intake food again while breaking fast, our body regenerates stem cells consisting of red and white blood cells along with our platelets.
Blood Pressure
When we refrain from eating and drinking while fasting and it goes by for days and weeks, our salt intake and loss of salt in urine significantly decrease which results in controlled blood pressure of the body.
Blood Sugar Levels
During the fasting process, our glucose levels usually remain stabilized which can certainly help us in preventing diabetes, specially the type-2 diabetes.
Improved Cardiovascular Function
Since we abstain from eating in greater quantity during Ramadan, it lowers our cholesterol levels which leads to a healthier heart function. Not only that, but our lowered cholesterol levels also promote improved muscle performance along with enhanced blood vessel growth.
Mental Health & Cognitive Function
The findings of medical researches suggests that due to reduced and limited intake of calories, sugar & salt while fasting, our cognitive skills and functioning improves with sharpened focus and enhanced mental clarity. It has also been found that the overall effects of fasting have a similar impact on the brain as physical exercise would. Fasting also helps us relieve stress and promotes our mental health and well-being to a considerable extent.
Conclusion
Where fasting has great health benefits one could ever possibly imagine, it is pertinent to mention here that we need to make sure that we are going in right direction to reap the benefits of fasting mentally & physically. Besides adopting healthy eating habits, we need to ensure an adequate amount of sleep, engage ourselves in recreational activities and ensure that we refrain ourselves from mental stress.
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