In the last 5 years, fasting for weight loss has become very popular and its been promoted as "quick way" to lose weight
. Although a fast can help you lose weight quickly, the real benefit is in the fact that it helps you cleanse your body and your mind. Today there are numerous products that is supposed to help you "flush" your system and detoxing is probably one of the most abused concepts in the weight loss world.
Fasting is an age old spiritual practice and the underlying concept is to cleanse your body in order to cleanse your mind and you spirit. If you want to fast for weight loss, then there are a couple of very important things you need to keep in mind.
Doing a fast can be very dangerous and detrimental to your health. Doing it for long periods of time is never a good idea. Short periods of fasting is okay and you should never attempt a fast for more than a week. Going without food for that long means your blood sugar can drop too low and it can be bad for your heart.
The next thing you need to be careful of is fluid intake. During a fast you need to drink plenty of water and dehydration is a very real and present danger. Most fasting programs actually encourage liquid supplements to help maintain your blood sugar levels.
Coming off a fast is probably the biggest problem. Not eating for a week means that your digestive system is probably not too keen on suddenly dealing with a lot of food. Starting and stopping a fast should be very slow and gradual and if your fast was quite long, then you need to get back on solid food very slowly as it can leave your stomach and your digestion in complete disarray.