Short-Term Fasting Can Work

by Lisa P | More from this Blogger

28 Oct 2007 07:59 PM

It has been touted in Brad Pilon's new book, Eat Stop Eat. Its benefits have been discussed at length in the Families.com Forums and in other blogs. It has been condemned by modern medicine, nutritionists and dieticians.

But hey, they're the ones who told me to eat eleven servings of starch a day and lay off the meat. That got me to gain weight instead of losing it!

Now there is new scientific evidence that supports the theory that short term fasting can indeed help you to lose weight, and not just muscle but real bodyfat!

In Pilon's book, Eat Stop Eat, the author suggests that using brief periods of fasting (a couple days a week) is an easy and effective method of helping people to lose weight. He hasn't exactly become popular with the medical community over this particular stance.

The good news is that the results of a recently published research paper back him up.

The November issue of Acta Physiologica Scandinavia (The journal of the Scandinavian Physiological Society) contained a paper on short-term fasting research and the results were well worth considering. Ten male volunteers fasted for three days. When tested at the end of their fast, it was found that they were burning more fat, their metabolisms had not slowed, and they had not lost any extra muscle during the three days of fasting. It was also found that they had increased levels of fat burning hormones Norepinephrine and naturally occurring human growth hormone!

What does this mean?

It means that short periods of fasting can increase fat burning without slowing your metabolic rate or causing your body to lose muscle tone.

So, whether you choose Pilon's approach and do short 24-hour fasts, do what some bodybuilders have been doing and try a 16-hour fast or try something as major as the Master Cleanse, it looks like science is finally coming around to backing up the theory that short term fasting can have a positive effect on one's overall health.

Learn more about Lisa P

Lisa used to be a freelance writer and Community Manager for Families.com, but she has finally made the jump to novelist.

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