Fasting - Friend or Foe?

One of the biggest health fads I hear buzzing around is the use of “fasting” or “cleansing” as a means to jump start weight loss, as a form of dieting, and as a way to “rid the body of toxins.” With high profile celebrities engaging in such trends, it is easy to get confused and misinformed on how to approach healthy weight loss and diet. And while the decision of your health is ultimately up to you, I would like to share how the concepts of “fasting” and “cleansing” may do more harm than good to your waistline and your health.

• While fasting/cleansing may help you lose weight initially- as your body is forced to use stored energy (body fat) to get the fuel it needs for you to live and function – in the long term, you are really setting yourself up for only temporary weight loss and failure.
• When we drastically restrict the amount of food we take in, by either fasting or engaging in a very low calorie diet like a “juice cleanse,” we actually slow our own metabolism down as the body fights to conserve and hold onto energy (body fat and calories) in order to help fuel us. Since our metabolism is what helps us burn energy (calories), we definitely don’t want to slow it down!!!
• So, after you fast or cleanse you are more likely to gain back the weight you lost and possibly even put on more weight when eating the same calories you did before the fast because you will have slowed your metabolism down during this highly restrictive process.
• Additionally, you are really setting yourself up to binge after you’ve stopped fasting or cleansing as such intense caloric restriction often leaves you and your appetite feeling extremely deprived. The sight and cravings for all those off limits foods may be too hard to resist after such restraint.
• As if the above reasons are not enough to caution you from avoiding this type of diet trap, the notion that fasting can detoxify the body is nothing more than a myth!!! While some fasting diets claim they can cleanse the body of “toxins and impurities,” there is no evidence that fasting detoxifies your body, or that your body even needs to be detoxified. Our bodies are naturally designed to remove toxins through the skin (sweating), liver, colon, and kidneys sans cleanse/fast.
• Lastly, this type of diet is just not realistic and it flat out fails to teach you the key to long term weight loss success and maintenance, which is learning how to make and implement permanent lifestyle changes.

Therefore, I believe that you have so much more to lose than weight by engaging in a diet fast or cleanse. So, before you jump onto the next cleanse or fasting fad, please keep in mind the only thing that you will lose for sure is - a variety of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients from food you need to stay healthy, along with some power and speed that your metabolism really needs for healthy weight loss.
And, after all of this information, if you still decide to go on any type of new diet, particularly one that involves fasting or cleansing, please talk to your physician to find out whether it's safe and appropriate for you.