Johnny! Johnny!
Yes, Papa?
Eating sugar?
No Papa,
Telling lies?
No Papa,
Open your mouth,
Ha! Ha! Ha!
(Image: TripAdvisor)
Both humans and animals, eat to
live and live to eat. But the privileged women and men carry a large amount of
guilt for eating the stuff they liked the most. There is always a dilemma what
to eat. (See my earlier article, “Tell me what to eat?” and click the links
given there to know the dangers attributed to every kind of food!).
Following article is not about feasting,
but about fasting!
Fasting was integral to many
religious denominations. Most religions prescribe fasting as an important form
of worship. Jains fast many days and sometimes months. Most Muslims fast during the days in the month of Ramadan.
Fasting on specific days in a week is very common among many Hindus. Several
Christians observe lent before Easter and Christmas, which is not fasting as
such, but avoiding non vegetarian diet. But they do fast on specific days.
Mr Prashant Jain, a middle aged
young professional told me that he does not eat any food after sun set. He also
fast for many days continuously without even drinking water. Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi fasts
continuously for 9 days during the festival of Navratri. There are many who
fast occasionally especially after heavy indulgences during festivals.
Dr Jason Fung (the author of the
book ‘The Obesity Code’) in his recent book “The Diabetes Code” talks about the
health benefits of intermittent fasting. He suggests three things to prevent or
reverse diabetes: 1) Get rid of sugar, 2) Burn-off the sugar in the body
through exercise, and 3) Intermittent fasting. First two are well known
strategies and third one worth exploring and experimenting.
According to him, as long as
feeding is balanced with fasting, no overall fat is gained. He promises that,
with intensive dietary management program, which includes at least three times
of 24 hours each of fasting in a week, the diabetes status can be reversed.
However, he cautions the patients to consult their doctor before entering into a
fasting regime. He says that hundreds of patients could reverse their diabetic
status to normal levels after they started intermittent fasting. Fasting works
because it augments the metabolism. During fasting, when the food intake is
stopped, the body opens up its internal storage and gets sufficient supply from
its stored fat. Dr Jason Fung suggests low carb high fat diet on other days.
The moral of the story is that
fasting can work wonders in life. I have not been a sincere practitioner of the
above diet style, though I am fully convinced of its efficacy because whenever
I tried this, I could see the difference. I continue to try intermittent
fasting once in a while. Researches show
that intermittent fasting even for a shorter duration has several health
benefits such as weight loss, lowering the BP and reducing the blood sugar
levels.
One easiest way is to skip breakfast (though it is said that one should eat break fast like a king!), have
early lunch and early dinner so that one can fast for about 16 hours. If one
prefers intermittent fasting of about 24 hours, then ideal thing would be to
fast from 6 pm to next day 6 pm. This can be tried once a week and then
increase it to twice or thrice depending upon how you enjoy it based on your
own analysis of benefits to you.
All the best, if you are trying
this after the weekend binge!
© Sibichen K Mathew Views
are personal.
Following are some of my other
posts related to this topic.
If you want to know whether 10000
steps possible on a day, read this: 10000 Steps: Is it possible?
To read an interview with someone
who says ‘How to lose weight by eating food’, Click here: Eat well to lose weight: Tips from an enlightened foodie
To hear from a Heart Specialist
on how to save your heart, read this: Save your heart: Answers for the Frequently Asked Questions
Read my dilemma here: Tell me, what should I eat?
Connect with me in Facebook
(Sibichen K Mathew) or email (sibi5555 {gmail}). Comments welcome. To see all
my posts: Click here. To access my website: www.sibichen.in
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