Fasting has been used as a tool for spiritual enlightenment for centuries, but modern society has debased it to nothing more than a weight loss aid. The original purpose was to clear the body of impurities to allow the spirit to grow, learn and become aware, but modern fasts are meant to flush out your digestive system so you can fit back into your skinny jeans. While it's true that weight loss may occur, it's also true that the weight will come right back. Modern fasts allow juice consumption, but the end result is the same.
Modern Fasts
Juice fasts differ according to the creator, but most allow participants to consume nothing but fresh juice from organic fruits and vegetables for periods up to 10 days. The theory is that this gives your body a rest from processing solid food while providing the vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy, but that's not how the body works. While participating in a juice fast for a day or two is unlikely to do any harm, longer fasts can be dangerous and can hinder your ability to lose weight.
Water Weight
When your body stores carbohydrates for future energy needs, four water molecules bond with each carbohydrate molecule. Although fruit and vegetable juices do provide some carbohydrates, they don't provide nearly enough to meet your energy needs for the day. The result is that your body dips into its stored carbohydrates and converts them to a usable form of energy. The water molecules break off during this process and are excreted in urine and sweat. Water is heavy, and the sudden loss of so much of it makes it appear as if you are losing weight, but you have only lost valuable water.
Muscle Loss
When you use your muscles, you cause tiny amounts of damage that gets repaired by proteins -- that's how you gain strength and muscle. During a juice fast, you don't consume any protein, so that damage doesn't get repaired. The result is that your muscles degrade, and even after the fast, building them back up requires serious work at the gym. This muscle degradation is one of the main reasons you'll gain weight so easily after your fast.
After the Fast
You may indeed weigh less at the end of your juice fast, but the water weight will come back as soon as you start eating regular amounts of carbohydrates. The muscle mass won't come back as easily, and the fact that you now have less of it means your body will burn fewer calories than it did before. A juice fast doesn't teach you how to eat to lose or maintain weight, so you are likely to go back to doing whatever it was that made you overweight in the first place. The difference is that your calorie requirements are fewer now because your metabolism has slowed, so not only will you gain more weight than you lost, you'll have an even harder time losing it again.
Member Comments