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Are you conscious of your calorie intake? Do you want to learn about the best practices to maintain a healthy and fit lifestyle? Then probably, you might be interested in gathering some information about monk fasting.
We all have learned about the universal truth that health is wealth. A healthy mind and a healthy body can provide the best opportunities to enjoy and sustain a healthy lifestyle. The concept of fasting is no novel to the world. However, the fasting practices and customs vary across the religions.
From Jews to Buddhists and Hindus to Muslims, every religion implicates the practice of fasting. Therefore, to incorporate an added health advantage into their lives. The most significant lead that fasting presents is that it can be carried out and implemented without difficulty. The concept of fasting differs across the communities, so are the beliefs and concepts that fast are either carried out or broken.
Some people might consider fast as a key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, while others might prefer it to maintain their weight and calorie intake. This article covers the necessary information that you need to know all about monk fasting.
Monk fasting
It involves a fasting period of 36 hours, indicating that you are required to withhold from eating for a brief time length of 36 hours. It consists of ingesting plenty of water along with the consumption of beverages that are less in calories. For instance, you can practice drinking lots of water with a regulated intake of tea or coffee. The idea of drinking plenty of water adapted because a stomach full of water will help you sustain your fast.
Now the question arises how many days of the week should fast?
The timeline one chooses to fast alter from individual to individual
Since the fast days vary depending on the respective work life and other activities, the key is to keep it for 36 hours to obtain the desired results and benefits. If you want to achieve long-term benefits, it is advisable to practice it once every week. Just as one needs to regulate the diet pattern fast, breaking the fast must also be conducted with advisable practices.
Remember, you fasted to maintain a healthy life. Yes, that is the crucial consideration before breaking the fast as in you need not consume the copious amount of the food item you have craved for during your fast. When one fast, the stomach is empty, and it does not have much tricky job to perform, i.e., digest food. So, when you break your fast, bear in mind that you need to start your normal eating by taking in a small amount of quick and easy food to digest. That is how your stomach will get used to the regular eating pattern. Moreover, you need to avoid the potential side effect of fasting on your body.
The practice to stop eating must not be abrupt or sudden. One should practice it by starting from skipping a meal when one does not feel hungry. Likewise, it would be beneficial to shift on to longer durations of fasting before going for a brief period of 36 hours fast.
Detoxification
Although the immense and extensive research on monk fasting is limited in human models, animal studies have shown the practical implications and potential benefits of fasting on the body. Among the many benefits of monk fasting, one is related to detoxification. Monk Fasting works by detoxifying the body from harmful chemicals and contributing to the individual’s physical well-being.
Calorie intake during fast
One of the critical considerations that must be kept in mind before opting for a fit body is regulating calorie intake. Regulated calorie intake accounts for the consumption of controlled calorie ingestion. Calorie intake varies in males and females. The recommended standards for the desired levels of calories in the body must be considered and regulated to promote an appropriate lifestyle. Disrupted or unregulated calories can deteriorate the health of the body and its organs which might contribute to the development of disease and infections.
Weight loss
Some people have a fast metabolism that helps them maintain their weight within limits, while others face obesity and overweight due to uncontrolled and poor eating habits. These poor eating habits might be the result of eating disorders like bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa. These disorders stance dangerous and harmful effects on the body.
Studies have shown that eating habits differ depending upon the individual. Some individuals have a better developed a taste for sweet, some for salty items, while others might have a well-developed and enhanced taste for junk food. A monk fast helps the individual control weight by avoiding too much intake of a particular food item. For instance, if someone is more inclined toward junk food, they can start their weight loss journey by cutting down on the number of things they consume in a day or a week.
Immunity Boost
Another surprising benefit of monk fast is the improvement body’s immune system to fight against foreign agents. Studies on humans and animals concerning certain biomarkers have revealed that intermittent fasting can positively affect immunity. Furthermore, monk fast also helps in fighting for many diseases like cancers.
Health and longevity
Did you know that you can foster a longer and better life span when you regulate and maintain healthy eating?
When you consume any food item, it is being digested and metabolized following the needs of our body. Similarly, this regulation of metabolism also leads to the generation of free radicals in our bodies. Free radicals are the agents that are associated with aging as well as other health issues. To compensate and avoid the generation and longevity of free radicals affect the body, antioxidants are required. Antioxidants work by eliminating t6he free radicals, thereby ensuring health and longevity.
When the body fasts and is deprived of food, it gets a chance to repair and remove the damaged cells and stuff out of the body. Similarly, fasting also presents the organs with the opportunity to stay healthy. When you fast at regular intervals, the quantity of lousy cholesterol reduces in your body that aids in promoting the health status of specific organs. Likewise, fasting has also been shown to promote the regulation of blood pressure along with heart health. In fasting, certain hormones that are beneficial for the health of internal organs are produced, contributing to overall health, thereby eliminating the risk factors out of the body.
Blood sugar
Controlled and regulated blood sugar levels in the body promote the uptake of insulin more effectively. The excess blood sugar is converted to glycogen which then breaks into glucose when the body needs it. A non-regulated and disrupted uptake of insulin results in diabetes, type I, or type II. In either case, it is not healthy for the body.
Numerous researches and studies have indicated the potential beneficial effects of fasting on the regulation of blood sugar. Fasting for a brief period of 12-24 weeks can contribute to an average level of blood sugar.
Should we try intermittent fasting or monk fasting?
As far, we have learned about monk fasting. Now we need to get clear on the fact that what is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting, like monk fasting, cuts down the eating cycle and regulates it for a brief period. But as opposed to monk fasting, intermittent fasting is done by choosing the method that suits an individual. It is a universal fact that not every type of fasting is meant for every individual. Some individuals might be better at having a monk fast, while others might be more inclined toward adopting any intermittent fasting practices following their health.
Usually, individuals can choose from the best practice intermittent fasting methods, including the 5:2 method, the 16:8 method, skipping a meal, or fasting on alternate days. As for the monk, fast intermittent fasting methods have proven beneficial and contribute to weight loss and metabolism.
You might be considering which method of intermittent fasting we should adopt?
This depends on how long one can abstain from eating and which method is best suited. Keep in mind that whichever approach you adopt, the goal is to live a healthy and balanced life. If you go skipping a meal, then you must practice the regulated and healthy intake of food. If you cannot avoid junk food or are more inclined to consume an unhealthy food item upon breaking the fast, intermittent fasting or any other type of fasting might not work for you.
Conclusion
To conclude, remember the key is self-control to live a fit and balanced life. Some might consider monk fasting as just a way to lose weight, but the fact is that it is more than a method to reduce weight, as the overall health benefits of fasting are way more than mere weight loss. Therefore, you can enjoy a healthy life if you have a healthy body.
