6 Reasons Why Fasting Will Thwart Your Fat Loss

In a never-ending effort to come up with new angles on fat loss, the health industry has created a slew of fad diets over the years. One type of diet that has gained traction is fasting.

The big problem with fasting, however, is that it can cause some very serious issues especially if you do it for a prolonged period of time. Don’t believe me? Here are 6 reasons why you shouldn’t be fasting:

1. An emptied liver. What gets emptied from your liver? Carbohydrates that are stored in the form of glycogen. This liver glycogen is responsible for maintaining normal blood sugar in between meals. Without it, your blood sugar will be at a perpetual low.

2. The conversion of protein to glucose. Your nervous system needs glucose (sugar) to survive. Unfortunately, fat can’t be converted to glucose so your body attacks the next best thing: protein. It essentially eats away at your lean tissue and converts it into sugar.

3. The breakdown of organs. Muscle won’t be the only target here. Your body will also break down vital organs and tissues, to a lesser degree of course. And cannibalizing your own organs is probably not that healthy?

4. Substitute blood sugar. Eventually, your body will need to find a source of blood sugar so that it doesn’t shut down. What does it do? It takes fragments of fat and converts them into ketones. Ketones serve as substitute blood sugar. You can survive on them, but not very efficiently.

5. No proof of cleansing. Many people fast because they believe it cleanses their body. Yet no conclusive scientific studies have proven this. In fact, a recent documentary by the BBC showed that fasting provided NO benefit whatsoever in terms of increased health.

6. Acid/base mayhem. Fasting is most likely going to disrupt the acid-base balance in your body. In addition to loses in minerals and the degradation of your intestinal lining. And the worst part of all of this is that exercise becomes extremely painful.

Now probably one of the biggest drawbacks of fasting is the weight gain rebound. This happens because your body’s metabolism slows down when you’re fasting. Once you stop, not only do you overeat but your body is more likely to store the excess calories as fat.