What is the danger of prolonged fasting. Way out of fasting. on the physiological state

The feeling of hunger is given to us by nature in order to give a signal about the need to replenish the body with nutrients.
Many try to solve the problem excess weight by temporary refusal of food. Fasting is not as harmless as it seems at first glance. With prolonged hunger, the body is poisoned by decay products. Hungry fainting may occur, change arterial pressure and heartbeat. The body requires food to maintain all its functions, and you refuse it.
There is an opinion that regular fasting helps to preserve youth and prolong life. If this were the case, then the poorest segments of the population would be entirely long-livers.
Fasting has received much attention in various wellness techniques Oh. So, Porfiry Ivanov in his system of health improvement "Baby" recommended a weekly dry fasting(without drinking water). Gennady Malakhov, offers cascade fasting, consisting of several five-day alternations of dry fasting with regular food. Paul Bragg- a great authority on this issue, the author of the book "The Miracle of Fasting" considers it almost a panacea for all diseases, which sounds unreasonably optimistic.
It is believed that, allegedly with the help of hunger, the body is cleansed of toxins. There is no such term as "slag" in medicine. There is only the concept of metabolic end products that can no longer be used and are excreted from the body with urine, feces, sweat and exhaled air. There are simply no other toxins in the body.
Starving is dangerous even for a healthy person, not to mention not quite healthy people. When fasting, a person gets headaches. Breath and urine take on an unpleasant acetone odor, the complexion becomes earthy. The authors of “improving” methods call all this the process of purification, which in itself is no longer logical. Cause is replaced by effect. If a healthy person did not have these unpleasant manifestations before fasting, then they appeared as a result of abstinence from food. Otherwise, we would have to argue the pain from a bruise by the presence of toxins in the bruised place.
Brain cells can only work on glucose. Therefore, when hunger sets in, all the forces of the body are primarily aimed at maintaining blood sugar. In the absence of food intake, the body's own reserves are used to maintain sugar levels. Initially, the glycogen contained in the liver and muscles is used. The body receives glucose from tissues, due to the breakdown of proteins. Therefore, this process is more correctly called muscle dystrophy. Proteins are not designed to supply the body with glucose. When they are broken down, in addition to glucose, sulfur and nitrogen are also formed, which poison the body. Fats are the last to break down, forming glycerol and fatty acids. A decrease in blood sugar levels during fasting inevitably leads to a decrease in insulin levels. Due to the deficiency of insulin in the blood, the reserve fat in the cells does not burn completely. An excess of ketone (acetone) bodies is formed, which poison the body. It is ketone bodies that give the acetone smell to the breath of a starving person. Fasting is a means of poisoning the body with poisons that are produced precisely as a result of starvation itself.
After leaving the hunger, in place of the departed muscle mass much easier to come adipose tissue, because muscle recovery requires training, and not everyone wants to engage in targeted physical activity. Great harm fasting is the risk of overeating after it.
In animal husbandry, such a method of increasing the weight of animals before slaughter is successfully used, in which the cattle are not fed for some time, and then enhanced nutrition is connected. The live weight of animals increases significantly.
Fasting does not reduce body weight, but increases it. It is impossible to starve and lose weight. The body begins to produce the enzyme lipo-protein kinase, which transforms everything eaten into fats.
Starvation (and not cholesterol, as is commonly believed) contributes to the development of atherosclerosis.
Research carried out in developing countries showed that the more the population starved, the more pronounced atherosclerosis was. And in a particularly severe form.
On the Nuremberg Trials Several thousand autopsy reports of prisoners from the Dachau concentration camp were examined. These were mostly not old people who were starving in the conditions of the concentration camp and, accordingly, did not receive cholesterol with food. Atherosclerosis was found in all of them, the extent and severity of which directly depended on the time spent in the camp.
Bile is secreted only in the presence of food. If food is not supplied, bile stagnates in gallbladder, thickens and crystallizes. Stones are formed.
Starvation is a huge stress for the body.
Food is for us not only a source of energy and nutrients but also a source of pleasure, which is no less important. A person deprived of food experiences strong feeling hunger and great discomfort about it.
Prolonged lack of food weakens the immune system, the body becomes an easy prey for viral infections. Hunger leads to hormonal changes in the body and disruption of metabolic processes. Chronic diseases are on the rise.
Deciding to lose weight by fasting, you can cause irreparable harm to yourself!

Many experts in the field traditional medicine argue that fasting for a long time, or one-day benefits the body.

However, nutritionists warn of the dangers of prolonged fasting. A person during fasting must follow the rules and instructions. In no case should you cleanse the body by uncontrolled starvation. Failure to follow the rules can lead to serious damage to the body, as well as exhaustion. This usually happens when a person seeks not only to cleanse the body through fasting, but also to lose weight to the desired shape.

Harm of fasting

For human body zero calorie intake or intake of less than 800 kilocalories is extreme threat for good health. All this can end in muscle breakdown, including the heart muscle.

The human body constantly requires energy in the form of food to maintain various functions. During fasting, the body takes energy from carbohydrate (muscle) stores. This usually happens within 48 hours. Subsequently required energy provided by blood proteins. Then the body begins to break down fat.

There are several types of fasting: dry, on water, fruit and vegetable juice, or the use of protein concentrates enriched with vitamins and minerals.

After a fasting period of more than two weeks, urinary nitrogen excretion decreases from 30 to 50% of its initial value, which suggests a decrease in the body's own protein by 25-38 grams per day. With prolonged fasting, another 20 g of endogenous protein per day (from muscles) is used as an energy source by the human body.

Danger and contraindications of fasting

For healing, as well as cleansing the body, it is better to use intermittent fasting 15 days. More prolonged fasting It is better to do already experienced people. Fasting for more than 100 days is contraindicated and dangerous. In addition, long-term fasting is best done in specialized centers hospitals under medical supervision.

Absolute contraindications are: pregnancy, breast-feeding, mental disorders, diseases of the liver, heart and kidneys. In addition, fasting should be avoided acute infections, electrolyte imbalance, stroke, anemia, poor health and old age.

Prolonged and improper fasting can lead to various complications due to protein deficiency. Very low energy intake can lead to cardiac arrhythmias.

Other complications or side effects: arterial hypotension, circulatory disorders, ketoacidosis, kidney stones and even kidney failure, nausea and vomiting.

Application of free fatty acids to supply energy, leads to the formation of ketone bodies. With the excretion of ketone bodies through the kidneys, excretion uric acid is suppressed, and thus the concentration of uric acid in the blood serum increases. This increase can cause gout.

One day fasting is the best option

To remove toxins from the body, improve health, and strengthen the immune system, you do not need to resort to prolonged debilitating fasting. It is enough to follow a special diet one day a week.

The diet consists in the fact that during the day you should drink only boiled water or other drink (juice). 1 day before one day fast It is better not to overload your stomach with heavy food. Eat during the day light meals, salads (). Exit from starvation is carried out in the same way.

Fasting one day a week

Our ancestors fasted once a week. This allowed digestive system relax, and improve metabolism.

Supporters healthy lifestyle life also observe fasting once a week to cleanse the body and improve metabolism.

Suitable days for one-day fasting are Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

If you want to cleanse yourself with fasting only once or twice a month, then in this case it must be carried out on full moon or new moon.

The best vegetable and fruit juices for fasting: beets, carrots, spinach, cucumbers, celery, watercress (suitable for a full moon); pineapple, peach, lemon, watermelon, grapefruit, grape, pear, apple, strawberry, lime, mango, melon, papaya, orange, currant, blueberry, juniper (suitable during the new moon).

Fruit mixes (sample):

150 ml apple juice and 80 ml grape juice

150 ml pineapple juice and 80 ml mango juice

120 ml grapefruit juice and 80 ml orange juice

120 ml apple juice and 80 ml berry juice

Fruit and vegetable mixes (sample):

110 ml apple juice + 110 ml carrot juice

170 ml apple juice and 50 ml beetroot juice

120 ml carrot juice + 50 ml spinach juice + 50 ml celery juice and beetroot juice

Useful one-day fasting

In the morning after waking up, drink 200 ml of water with lemon (). Instead of breakfast, lunch and dinner, drink diluted fruit or vegetable juice(water for dilution 120 ml). Also during the day you need to drink 1.5 - 2 liters clean water. In addition, you can drink decoctions of herbs: chamomile, nettle, mint.

Accused of stealing 350 million tons of oil, he went on an indefinite hunger strike. According to the report, Khodorkovsky announced his decision in a letter to the Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev. The reason for his writing was the extension of the ex-head of Yukos arrest until August 17.

The opinion of most experts suggests that prolonged hunger is always stress for the body. Even with therapeutic fasting, as a rule, periods of more than 21 days are not used, since after this time the risk to the health of the starving person increases dramatically.

The feeling of hunger indicates that glycogen stores (the main source of "fast" energy) have come to an end and an immediate charge is required. If this does not happen, then the so-called hunger crisis will soon set in. At this time, mechanisms are launched to search for and utilize everything that could be “melted” into kilocalories without harm to the main life-supporting centers. General cleaning of the body begins. At this time, excess sodium is excreted, leading to excessive pressure, the level of cholesterol in the blood is normalized, and metabolic processes. A sharp release from internal debris can lead to severe poisoning. The kidneys and liver simply will not have time to remove toxins.

During the first days, the starving person has pale skin, the smell of acetone from the mouth, a white furred tongue, weakness and an unhealthy gleam in the eyes. All this against the backdrop of headaches and a feeling of complete weakness. The next step is a gradual adaptation to hunger and the transition of the body to self-eating, which occurs in 2-4 days. Weakness remains, but the feeling of hunger practically disappears. By the 4th-7th day, the so-called supercompensation occurs, when the body completely switches to using only internal reserves. There comes a strict economy in energy consumption, so metabolic processes slow down significantly. You don’t even want to drink, because a significant amount of water is released during the oxidation of fat.

If a person has a lot of fat deposits, then the hunger strike process is easier, since it is the fat involved in the metabolism that is consumed first of all, and so far body fat eat, they will be consumed and maintain a more or less normal state of the body. But when there is no more fat, they suffer first of all various systems metabolism in the body: the same fat, carbohydrate - all types of metabolism are disturbed and under-oxidized products accumulate in the body, products that normal condition should split. The liver and kidneys do not work well, toxins and salts accumulate, poisons are formed, and this, in turn, affects the central nervous system, the cerebral cortex.

In some, after 10 days, significant damage begins - cells that do not recover die. If the hunger strike lasts three weeks, then this is the most dangerous. If then the person is not paraenterally fed or helped, he can die at any moment.

During the so-called dry hunger strike, irreversible processes begin in the body on the third day. And it is very difficult to save a person after five or seven days of a dry hunger strike. The main danger in the so-called dry fasting is dehydration (dehydration), water loss is lower physiological norm. Dehydration of the body by only a few percent leads to disruption of its vital functions. If the amount of water that a person loses reaches 10% of body weight per day, significant reduction working capacity, and if it increases to 25%, then this usually leads to death. When the body loses 1-5% percent of the fluid, acute thirst, bad feeling, slow movements, drowsiness, redness of the skin, fever, nausea, indigestion. With a loss of 6-10% - shortness of breath, headache, tingling in the legs and arms, lack of salivation, loss of the ability to move and a violation of the logic of speech. With a loss of 11-20% - delirium, muscle spasms, swelling of the tongue, dullness of hearing and vision, cooling of the body.

Nutritionists and naturopaths - Paul Bragg et al. - aggressively promote fasting as medical procedure: "helps us always and from all diseases." It is impossible to completely deny this postulate, but it is not recommended and unconditionally trust it. Let's look at the intricacies of fasting:

1. What happens in the body when it does not enter.
2. What kind internal organs suffer from prolonged fasting.
3. Under what diseases fasting is prohibited.
4. How to prepare the body for therapeutic fasting.
5. What water to drink.
6. Does fasting have a rejuvenating effect.
7. Is it possible to lose weight by fasting from time to time.
8. How long do adherents of therapeutic starvation live.

Hunger - a healing procedure?

Historical facts, scientific sources show that fasting is a habitual physiological process Living creatures. The body moves from a state of comfort to extreme conditions: nutrients do not enter the digestive tract. turn on defense mechanisms to overcome discomfort. Food does not enter the stomach - the body is forced to “produce” nutrients from “old reserves”. This process is not endless and not safe. In the process of synthesis, which is unusual for the body - from the inside, and not from the outside - decay products are formed. Adherents of "miraculous fasting" are precisely these by-products, misleadingly, are called "toxins and slags that accumulate in the body when food is received, being deposited in storerooms." In fact, these harmful substances not formed BEFORE fasting, a IN THE PROCESS. Cause, sometimes irreversible damage to the body.

The body's response to fasting

Consider the mechanism of the impact of fasting, one-day and long.

1. "Starving" nerve cells want to get glucose - only on it they can work. Otherwise, they die without regeneration. The “extraction” of sugar during fasting, first of all, occurs during the breakdown of glycogen, the internal supply of which is located in the liver and muscles. As a rule, the amount necessary to maintain the body dries up on the second day.
2. Further, the need for glucose is satisfied by "non-carbohydrate" components. Squirrels are on the move. Proteins are made up of amino acids and break down into sulfur and nitrogen compounds. They leave the body and stain natural secretions"in an unhealthy color." This is where the myth about the notorious "toxins and slags" comes from.
3. Fat cells break down last and poison the body with ketone bodies. In a starving body, there is a deficiency of insulin. If so, fats are oxidized, and not completely processed. "Acidified" fat breakdown products lead to acidosis: the level of ketone cells in the blood rises, the starving person exhales air with a distinct smell of acetone. Ketone bodies violates respiratory function, blood circulation, the work of the central nervous system. Instead of a healing effect, a person starving for two or three days gets intoxication of the body.

The body's response to a prolonged cessation of nutrient supply is negative. Instead of the declared "purification and rejuvenation" comes reverse process- production and absorption harmful products"unnatural" synthesis.

Remember, the human body is not inclined to accumulate metabolic products in the cells, toxins after entering the blood are promptly excreted by the kidneys and liver. They are responsible for cleansing the body, not starvation.

Unloading days: pleasant and useful

Now that you know about the mechanism of "withdrawal" of energy from unsuitable for this "reserve" substances, let's talk about the benefits intermittent fasting- unloading days. The time without food lasts - no more than 24-36 hours. Voluntary refusal of food, according to doctors, is useful for a number of diseases:

1. SARS, influenza. When nutrients are not supplied to the infected organism, its response is the production of interferon, which acts on viruses.
2. Allergic diseases. digestive tract cleared of pathogenic bacteria, the activity of leukocytes increases - the immune system does not respond to external stimuli.
3. Arthrosis, osteochondrosis. Fasting days mobilize the reserve forces of the body, reducing pain.
4. Diseases gastrointestinal tract. The mucous membrane of the intestines and stomach is restored - no food, no problems.
5. Chronic pancreatitis. A short-term lack of food frees the pancreas from work. She does not produce digestive enzymes to digest food in the duodenum.
6. Hyperthyroidism and autoimmune diseases, Related enhanced function thyroid gland. Fasting leads to a balance of hormones produced by the gland, the synthesis of glucose and protein is restored.

How to prepare for a fasting diet

The algorithm does not fit here: “decided - done”. Get ready for fasting days in a week. Only psychological mood not enough, limit the intake of fatty protein foods, replacing them with dairy and vegetable. As a fasting day, choose one when you don't have physical work. It's better if it's a day off.

Observe drinking regimen. Nutritionists are advised to drink 2.5 liters of fluid on a fasting day. Not ordinary water, but alkaline mineral water, for example, Borjomi room temperature. Leave the bottle open so that gas bubbles come out.

When starving, do not spare yourself, falling on the sofa - unhurried walks in the forest, park, near water bodies are necessary. You will get endorphins - "hormones of joy", not by eating food, but by contemplating beauty - there is a "replacement" therapy. In this mood, fasting gives you less discomfort and mobilizes defensive forces organism.

Who is contraindicated fasting

People tolerate short-term voluntary refusal of food individually, but there are risk groups who should not stress themselves. It is forbidden to hold fasting days for diseases:

1. Diabetes mellitus of the first type - patients need a uniform intake of carbohydrates, from which glucose is “extracted”. This is the "correct" synthesis of the necessary energy.
2. Cancer tumors - they deplete the body, so a balanced, wholesome diet is shown to cancer patients.
3. Brain damage - the first blow during fasting receives the central nervous system: nerve cells glucose is needed. With this group of diseases, a person does not have enough strength to respond to a stressful situation.
4. Atherosclerosis, ischemic disease hearts - in conditions of a lack of nutrients, the body increases the production of lipoproteins, which prevent the vessels from transporting enriched blood.

At risk are people over 60, teenagers, pregnant women and those who want to lose weight. Paradoxically, fasting does not lead to permanent weight normalization. Weight loss is due to a decrease in muscle mass, not adipose tissue. A third of the weight lost is the extraction of proteins from the internal supply, the destruction muscle tissue. If you don’t train your muscles after fasting, fat will take their place. Such a "substitution" leads to the disfigurement of the figure.

Starvation and

Athletes successfully use the muscle dystrophy that occurs after the second day of fasting to gain weight. This is important for power all-around. If for a long time it is not possible to build up mass, even using steroids, it is recommended to fast for 2-3 days. Immediately after this, the weight will decrease by 4-5 kilograms, but, after two months, the kilograms will return, taking with them the same amount. Sports doctors refer to this mass-building mechanism as "natural anabolic steroids".

Coaches recommend strength exercises on an empty stomach, using the "zero level" of glucose and glycogen. Physical exercise during short fast force the body to produce somatotropin - natural hormone growth. Hormone effect:

• creates optimal level energy sources;
• gives an increase in body weight;
• provides growth and strength of the skeleton;
• promotes metabolism;
• reduces fat reserves;
• increases the mass of proteins.

Athletes know these qualities of growth hormone - if it is not produced enough, they resort to injections of a synthetic drug.

Conclusion

Fasting does not cure diseases, acts as wellness method by mobilizing the body's defenses. In some cases, it harms a person. Before making a decision to refuse food, analyze the mechanism of the effect of hunger on body functions. Consult with your doctor to benefit from fasting. healthy person you will need the recommendations of a nutritionist to take full advantage of the benefits of fasting days. Armed with knowledge, decide whether you need to fast or adhere to the principles of a reasonable diet.

Stereotype " thin girl- it's beautiful" stuck in the understanding of society for a long time. But how to achieve this "beauty"? Not many choose the painstaking method of regular, exhausting exercise, most simply try to limit themselves to food. However, not everyone knows that it can be dangerous and cause significant harm to the body. And the consequences of starvation can lead to the worst.

Types of fasting and their importance

There are two types of fasting:

1. one-time;
2. systematic.

one-time fasting is fasting days. One day a week, the starving person spends exclusively on water or kefir, without eating any other food. Such unloading will not cause much harm, but it is unlikely that you will be able to lose weight.

Much worse things are with systematic fasting, when a person excludes many foods from the diet for a long period of time.

Why is fasting dangerous?

There is an opinion that fasting stimulates all body systems and can help a person overcome many ailments, but this is nothing but a myth. During the first three days of refusing food, the starving person loses weight, about half a kilo per day. But starting from fourth day, there is a lack of vitality important elements and negative changes in well-being. The body removes substances that are not received from the outside from its own tissues. And this applies not only to fats, but also to proteins, which are the basis of muscle tissue. The loss of your own protein leads to weakening of the muscles, loss of skin elasticity and the appearance of wrinkles. In the most difficult cases, exhaustion may develop.

In addition to depletion against the background of the loss of trace elements and vitamins, there are other negative consequences.

Negative effects of fasting

• Decrease leading to frequent colds and infectious diseases;
• An aggravated feeling of hunger;
• General weakness, abdominal discomfort, nausea;
• Change hormonal background leading to infertility;
• Disorders nervous system and mental decline;
• Violation of the circulatory system, which leads to fainting;
• The condition of the hair worsens, they begin to fall out intensively, the nails exfoliate and break;
• After the end of starvation, all the lost proteins are replaced by fats, which leads to a sharp increase in body weight.

Undoubtedly, food is the main source of nutrients and vitamins for the human body. Any exceptions are perceived by him as