Therapeutic fasting - what it is, how to do it correctly, to whom and when it is useful

Who benefits from fasting? What is therapeutic fasting?

Let’s find out together with the doctor.

Get a charge of vigor, increase the ability to work, lose extra pounds – and all this with the help of therapeutic fasting? Sounds tempting. This is how the effects are often described by adherents of this dietary regimen. But who and when it is actually useful and what do doctors think about it?

Candidate of Medical Sciences, Doctor of Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics SITILAB

A healthy body does not need special “cleansing”, it knows how to do it on its own.

Many adherents of fasting believe that at this moment detoxification occurs, the body removes toxins and slags, which makes the body feel light. In fact, slags (if we are talking about the human body, not waste from chemical production) are a myth. A healthy body does not need special “cleansing”, it knows how to do it on its own. For this purpose we have liver, kidneys, bile and urinary excretion system – they help to remove all waste products of metabolism from the body.

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What happens to the body if you starve?

By depriving the body of food, in particular glucose, we give up the main source of energy. The reserves of this organic compound in the body are enough for 12-16 hours, after which the processes of “energy extraction” from other sources start. One-day fasting can pass without consequences, but longer fasting will harm the body. The first changes come on the third day and are localized in the gastrointestinal tract. Instead of hydrochloric acid in the stomach comes unsaturated fatty acids, it creates an imaginary feeling of satiety. Then there is an activation of amino acid synthesis.

Irina: The intestinal microflora suffers, the beneficial bacteria eventually die. The acid-alkaline balance shifts towards acidification. The body experiences a lack of nutrients, vitamins, minerals. Such deficiencies will not manifest themselves in a day or two without food, because we are able to store vital substances. However, with longer abstinence from food, the body will begin to exhaust itself.

This is observed even with strict diets, not to mention the complete refusal to eat. Starvation is especially dangerous when it involves the denial of water. It is literally life-threatening. Even short-term dehydration can have long-term negative consequences.

Who should not fast?

In these cases, fasting is strictly contraindicated:

cancer;
problems with the digestive tract;
gastritis and ulcer diseases;
any diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system;
body weight deficiency;
tuberculosis and HIV infections;
arrhythmias and other cardiovascular diseases;
autoimmune pathology;
predisposition to the formation of blood clots;
chronic liver and kidney diseases, especially with the development of insufficiency of function of these organs;
diabetes mellitus.

In preparation for surgery or examination as prescribed by a doctor.
In some mental disorders, such as the acute phase of an attack of schizophrenia (conducted under strict medical supervision).

Irina: Lack of food, not to mention water, leads to deterioration of oxygen supply to the heart, which, in turn, can lead to heart failure. Prolonged starvation puts the body into a ketoacidotic coma, which can be fatal. Starvation can also aggravate comorbidities and generally harm the body. Therefore, this method should be used only when prescribed by a specialist.