Could fasting be an unexplored method to heal the body? According to author Dr. Mindy Pelz and many researchers from around the world, fasting may unlock a number of health benefits that have widespread healing benefits to the body. Pelz highlights in her book “Fast Like A Girl” that fasting for different lengths of time has shown to specifically trigger certain pathways that the body can use to improve your health and heal the body.

For thousands of years fasting was a normal part of human existence. Going for many hours and even days without food was common in communities that were hunters and gatherers and even in some agricultural driven societies. While fasting for these people groups was more of a product of their environment than by choice, the benefits of fasting were still present, nonetheless. For those of us that believe that we were designed by a God who does not make mistakes, you can see how the healing benefits of fasting play an integral role in human health. However, with the changing of society where food is found in abundance anytime of the day, fasting has become a rare occurrence that is only practiced when one intentionally decides to do so. Likewise, the lack of fasting as a regular practice may be having detrimental effects on our health as a society.

While intermittent fasting has been associated with weight loss for several years, many have not been familiarized with other variations of fasting lengths and their results. We want to use this article to explain the benefits of different types of fasts and how you can unlock the power of fasting to heal the body.

Intermittent Fasting (12-16 hours)

The most popular style of fasting has to be intermittent fasting. This style of fasting is when one goes for 12 to 16 hours without food. Most commonly, people stop eating after dinner, skip breakfast, and wait until lunch or later to eat their first bite of food or intake any caloric beverage. Sometime after the 12-hour mark of fasting your body starts to burn body fat by using your liver to convert fat into energy and ketones. Ketones go to the brain and stop the hunger signals while increasing mental and physical energy.

The benefits of intermittent fasting are widespread. Weight loss is often associated with being the most common benefit as your body continues to dip into fat stored on the body when you are in these fasted states. Others find that ketones improve their mental focus as they describe a lifting of the brain fog that they are accustomed to. Most people report that intermittent fasting improves their energy as opposed to the common high carbohydrate meal that will give an immediate energy boost but can create a crash soon after. Intermittent fasting is a great way to burn body fat and find more energy.

Autophagy Fasting (17-72 hours)

Fasting beyond the first 16 hours begins to open up new pathways of healing the body including a phenomenon known as “Autophagy.” Autophagy became more widely known in 2016 when Dr. Ohsumi won the Nobel prize for his work studying this bodily process. Autophagy is a process that helps your body remove old and damaged cells and replaces them with newer, healthier cells. This cellular detoxification is an anti-aging and healing process that can be triggered by fasting, HIIT training, red light therapy, sleep, and powerful antioxidants.

The process of Autophagy appears to begin when fasting goes beyond 16 hours and becomes more active the longer the fast continues up to about 72 hours. Think of it as a backup healing system in this scenario. If you have an illness and have not felt like eating anything for a day, the body will begin to increase the cellular immune function that surveys the body looking for viruses, bacteria, and damaged human cells.  This helps to end the illness, allowing you to get back to your life and eating once again.

This method of fasting can also be used to repair muscle and damaged soft-tissues, to detox after a long vacation, and perhaps can assist cancer patients in their on-going battle against mutated cancerous cells. In short, Autophagy fasting makes cells stronger.

Heal The Gut (24 hours)

Healing the gut from inflammatory bowel conditions can be a difficult multi-step process.  This can include a 24 hour fast that helps to repair the intestinal lining of the intestines. Studies have shown that fasting for 24 hours can help to stimulate stem cell growth in the gut repairing past damage to the gut lumen, otherwise known as “Leaky Gut Syndrome”. If you have been on antibiotics, birth control, just got over the stomach bug, or have just been eating the typical American diet, a 24 hour fast could be perfect for you. Many people who have chronic gut issues find that doing a 24 hour fast on a regular basis can be very helpful in managing their condition.

Fat Burning (36 hours)

For those that find that they find themselves to be weight loss resistant, this fast can really move the needle. This a great tool for those who have changed their eating habits, have instituted regular exercise, and are not prone to sudden crashes of blood sugar. The 36 hour fast helps the body to dig deep into the fat cells and pull out needed energy to produce glucose. This fast can be difficult for sure but for those who are spending lots of mental and physical energy dieting and exercising with less productive results, this fast can be very effective.

Mental Reset (48 hours)

After 48 hours of fasting, your body begins to produce new dopamine receptor sites and repair damaged sites. This helps to reset the dopamine system to help find your joy in life again. Dopamine is one of the neurotransmitters that we use to help us feel pleasure, satisfaction, and motivation. It affects memory, mood, learning, concentration, and sleep. Dopamine receptors can become damaged when we are in a constant state of stimulation. If you have ever wondered how social media and phone addiction causes problems with a teenager, look at how dopamine receptors become saturated and damaged by this overindulgence. Similarly, overeating can also cause this problem. Damaged dopamine receptors simultaneously cause us to feel tired, have low motivation, become moody, and have anxiety. These symptoms occur all while needing more and more stimulation to feel happy and satisfied again. Luckily, dopamine receptors can be repaired when we remove the stimuli, which is why fasting can be a powerful tool to rebuild these receptors. Find your joy in life again by rebuilding your dopamine receptors.

Immune Boost (72 hours)

The original study of how fasting improves the immune cells in cancer patients going through chemotherapy treatment was published in 2014 in Cell Metabolism by Valter Longo. This groundbreaking study showed that old immune cells would die off during a 72 hour fast but that new ones would be produced, increasing the body’s overall immune response. This study, and many that have followed it, showed that fasting could be a helpful tool for those going through cancer and anyone trying to prevent cancer. The massive influx of stem cells produced by this fast can also be used by anyone needing to recover from an injury. The immune boost fast can aid those who need to recover from injury, illness, and other debilitating conditions.

Conclusion:

Fasting is one powerful tool to increase your body’s healing ability. Similarly, chiropractic was founded upon the premise that the body can heal itself if we only remove the interference that prevents healing from happening. We are fortunate to witness how the body can heal itself everyday in our office. We are dedicated to equip and support you with the tools and education needed for your body to heal itself on your journey to see you become healthier than you have ever been.


Daryl C. Rich, D.C., C.S.C.S.