FASINATING SIMULATION THAT SHOWS WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR BODY WHILE FASTING FOR 36 HOURS TO ACHIEVE 'FULL RESET'
A startling simulation illustrates how fasting for 36 hours could alter your body. Although the thought of skipping three meals a day is likely to make you shudder or feel queasy, it turns out that humans have not always eaten. In the past, individuals were compelled to fast for extended periods when food was unavailable, according to Dr. Valter Longo, a longevity researcher at the University of Southern California, who spoke to NIH about this.
In a modern world, however, food is pretty much available everywhere, depending on where you live. “This has shifted our eating patterns,” noted Dr Vicki Catenacci, a nutrition researcher at the University of Colorado. “People now eat, on average, throughout a 14-hour period each day.”
What happens if you fast for 36 hours?
Insulin levels fall, and the body starts burning stored sugar after just four hours of fasting. After eight hours, blood sugar levels drop, and energy is obtained from glycogen. At 12 hours, insulin levels drop and fat burning begins, resulting in ketosis. After 16 hours, the body's own tissue is consumed by autophagy, which breaks down poisons and damaged cells.
Additionally, significant cellular repair, a decrease in inflammation, and an improvement in insulin sensitivity take place within 24 hours. Growth hormone, which helps to maintain muscle and encourages fat loss, starts to show results about 30 hours later. Maximum autophagy is reached at 36 hours, clearing dead cells, regenerating tissues, and boosting metabolism, providing a full body reset.
What do the experts say about fasting?
Adam Collins, an associate professor of nutrition at the University of Surrey, told The Guardian that the findings of his own human fasting study indicated that a more rigorous fast speeds up the combustion of fat rather than carbohydrates. Collins cautioned that a large portion of general research has been conducted on species that tend to fast for prolonged periods, including rats. He stated, "I'm not sure if you can obtain such effects with just a 36-hour fast once a week."
James Betts, professor of metabolic physiology at the University of Bath, agreed: “There [are] a lot of proposed benefits to [running on fats]. But a lot of the research hasn’t really [been borne out in] human beings. So we don’t see dramatic health benefits, certainly in the short term.
“And you can tend to be a little physically inactive during the fast as well because you just don’t have the energy levels for that.”
Johns Hopkins Medicine also suggests fasting longer than 24 hours may not be better for you necessarily, or could even be dangerous, as 'going too long without eating might actually encourage your body to start storing more fat in response to starvation'.
