- WHAT IS A 24-HOUR FAST?
- TIPS FOR STARTING YOUR FIRST 24-HOUR FAST SAFELY
- 24-HOUR FASTING BENEFITS
- ADDITIONAL BENEFITS OF 24-HOUR FASTING
- Safe Ways Of Breaking A Fast
- Who Should Not Fast? – Is Fasting Safe
- Fasting Tips – Step by Step guide
- How Often to Do a 24-Hour Fast
- How Much Weight Can You Lose With a 24-Hour Fast?
- 24 hour fasting weight loss results
- Addition Thoughts on Fasting
- Bottom Line
WHAT IS A 24-HOUR FAST?
As the name suggests, it is a fast that lasts for at least 24 hours. There are some people who do not shy away from drinking zero-calorie drinks during fasting while some people do not even drink water. The latter is quite harmful as a person runs the risk of becoming dehydrated. Remember that you don’t want to cause any health complications when you’re trying to improve your well-being. The main reason for fasting for 24 hours is to lose weight. However, this does not mean that this is the only benefit associated with full-day fasting.
TIPS FOR STARTING YOUR FIRST 24-HOUR FAST SAFELY
When you start planning your first 24-hour fast, there are a few important things to keep in mind. To see the benefits of 24-hour fasting, you need to make sure you’re eating the right foods before you fast. First, make sure that the last meal before your fast is filled with healthy fats. This can include foods such as fish, nuts, avocados and olive oil.
Foods high in healthy fats will help you feel full for longer and reduce tempting cravings. Second, plan on drinking plenty of water during your fast to suppress feelings of hunger. Sometimes feeling hungry is actually a sign of thirst.
24-HOUR FASTING BENEFITS
Once you finish eating and your body begins to digest the food, your stomach breaks down carbohydrates into sugar that cells use for energy. If your cells don’t use all the glucose, your body stores it as fat. Therefore, when you fast, your cells use fat for fuel instead of stored glucose, which helps with fat loss.
During fasting, your body releases ketones into your bloodstream, and this plays a role in weight loss and brain function.
Ketones then trigger brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps with memory and learning and the growth of new nerve cells. In addition, additional benefits of fasting include:
- Burns stored fat and sugar
- Increases human growth hormone (HGH) levels, aids in fat loss and resistance to chronic disease
- changes in gene expression and are related to protecting the body from disease
- Insulin levels are too low
- Cells initiate waste removal, destroying damaged cells
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS OF 24-HOUR FASTING
24-hour fasting is referred to by many as intermittent fasting (IF). In addition to the list above, proponents of intermittent fasting, including 24-hour fasting, say that it promotes the following changes in the body:
- aging resistance
- reduces inflammation markers
- Promotes a strong immune system
- aids in weight loss
- improve sleep
- improves digestion
- normalizes hunger hormones
- improves cognitive function
- Promotes new brain cell growth
- boosts your mood
- Lowers the risk of heart disease
- lowers cholesterol
- lowers blood pressure
- Lowers Triglyceride Levels
- lowers bad cholesterol
- Increases HDL (good cholesterol)
- better heart variability
Safe Ways Of Breaking A Fast
After your fast is over, most people usually go to the refrigerator and try to eat as much as they can. It’s not the smartest move. Here are some really safe ways to break the fast:
Eat a small meal
Eating too much food right after fasting can damage your digestive system. Remember that your digestive system is resting, so giving it a large amount of food to digest after a period of rest can put pressure on it. After breaking your fast, the first thing you can do is snack before having a big meal.
Drinking A Lot Of Water
Even if you drank water during your fast, a good portion of your normal water intake comes from the foods you normally eat, so you were probably still taking in less water than usual. The first thing you should do after breaking the fast is to drink water with your first meal.
Chew Your Food Well
This is done to prevent stress on your digestive system. We know you’re hungry and want to eat as quickly and quickly as possible, but try to chew your food properly to make the adaptation process a little easier for your digestive system.
Eat Cooked Food
This is not the time for raw foods. Cooked foods are easier to digest than raw foods.
Do Not Experiment With New Foods
This is not the time to be adventurous and risky with new foods. After a period of fasting, new foods can disturb the digestive process and in some cases can even make a person ill. After fasting, eat what you are used to eating.
Who Should Not Fast? – Is Fasting Safe
Fasting is not for everyone. There are certain groups of people who should not fast, or if they do fast, they should first consult a specialist. These groups of people include
- People with any type of diabetes.
- People who are currently taking medicines that require them to eat before they can be taken.
- Pregnant or lactating mothers.
- People who have a history of eating disorders.
- Children, teens and older adults.
- People who have been advised by doctors not to fast. Anyone interested in fasting should first speak with their doctor to determine if it is safe for them.
Fasting Tips – Step by Step guide
Start Slow
Like most diets, when it comes to fasting, start slow and keep increasing. You can start off by not eating for 6 hours, then 8 hours, then 12 hours and so on. You can start by fasting only once a week as you increase the number of times you fast during the week. It is also possible to start with a fast that allows you to have various zero-calorie drinks.
Choose Your Type Of Fast
There are many forms of fasting and they all have different rules. Choose the type of fast that is best for you. You can consult a dietitian so that they can help you make that decision.
Choose Your Time Wisely
Choose a time when your fast does not affect your daily activities. If you are new to fasting, you may choose to fast at a time when you are not going to work before.
READ HERE:
Weight Loss Diet for Vegetarians
How Often to Do a 24-Hour Fast
Fasting once or twice a week is a good way to reap some of the benefits of 24-hour fasting.
Start fasting on Monday night after meals. Eat dinner one hour later on Tuesday night to get your full 24-hour fast. Repeat on Thursday night. Sounds very doable doesn’t it?
When I began experimenting with intermittent fasting after doing my first modified fast in the fall of 2019, I started with one 24-hour fast a week. The results encouraged me to fast more often. However, when I started fasting every day, I reduced the duration of my fasts to 20 hours. Do what works for you.
How Much Weight Can You Lose With a 24-Hour Fast?
If you fast for 24 hours only twice a week, you can lose about 1-2 pounds a week. A calorie deficit of about 3,500 calories is typically needed to lose 1 pound a week. Most people consume about 2,000 calories a day. Skipping meals for two full days will offer a calorie deficit of 4,000 calories. Plus, as we talked about, it will help you feel satisfied sooner on days of eating and possibly help your body store less fat.
24 hour fasting weight loss results
Weight loss story: “I lost 21 kilos without going to gym and by simply following Intermittent Fasting!” (By – TIMESOFINDIA.COM*)
When 31-year-old Aishwarya Pandian realized that she was heading towards the overweight category, she was really disappointed. Her weight loss journey is living proof that a lifestyle coupled with determination can contribute to tremendous health benefits.
Turning Point: Even though I had slowly gained a lot of weight after my marriage, the day I realized none of my dresses fit me anymore, it was a huge shock! I weighed 71 kg and the fat percentage parameter put me in the obese category. Even my clothing size jumped from ‘M’ to ‘XL’! Once I realized I needed to lose weight, I tried several diets to get back in shape which really hit my immune system. So, I decided to have intermittent fasting and that’s when the magic happened!
Read here: Secret behind Bharti Singh Weight loss journey
My diet: I started intermittent fasting with a relatively short fasting window like 14:10 (14 hour fasting window and 10 hour eating window) and gradually scaled myself up over the past year and increased the fasting times like 18:6, 19:5, 20:4 and weekly 24-hour fasting. So far, I’ve moved to 16:8 (16 hour fasting window and 4 hour eating window) for the last 4 months to maintain my goal weight. I will change the time limit as per the requirements of my body but I make sure to have my last meal before 6 pm no matter what. Also, I don’t drink any tea or coffee during my fasting period and just stick to water.
Addition Thoughts on Fasting
My 24-hour fast really wasn’t that hard. I have done intermittent fasting from time to time. Therefore, I am no stranger to fasting.
The trick is to keep your mind off the food. If you are bored and have nothing to keep you busy then fasting is torture.
Be busy. That’s part of the point of fasting anyway. Your productivity should increase while fasting.
Bottom Line
As you saw above, there are countless benefits of fasting for 24 hours. Whole day fasting is a long fast which can be quite challenging at first but once you do it it can be very easy and quite effective.
Remember to share this article on 24-hour fasting with your friends.
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As long as proper hydration is maintained with the right foods before and after fasting, there is no harm
Diabetics and pregnant women need to be more careful and should avoid fasting for more than 15-16 hours.
Yes
Yes
Yes, however, the foods you choose to eat and before you break the fast are all very important to reap the benefits.
The duration of the fast depends on the type of training you are doing, whether you are consuming protein to preserve lean tissue
Yes. Fasting refers to the absence of energy intake, not the total intake of nutrients, minerals and hydration sources.
Yes, it’s okay to work out while fasting because the key to losing weight and gaining muscle isn’t just calories and exercise, but hormone adaptation.
