Is fasting and starving enough to lose weight? Overeating and drinking may ruin your diet! Nutritionist: Quickly understand the five major risks

There are numerous weight loss methods, and the "fasting method" that has swept the world has become even more popular in China. In order to lose weight quickly in a short period of time, many people think that they can achieve the goal of losing weight by just dieting and starving themselves. However, the fasting method, which seems to be a simple concept, will be less effective if it is not implemented correctly. Nutritionists remind that before starting to practice fasting, it is best to first understand the five major risks of fasting, which can help you lose weight.

The currently popular fasting methods have one thing in common, which is that they all involve fasting for at least 16 hours, or extending the fasting time to one meal a day (24 hours), one meal every two days (48 hours), or even more radically relying only on drinking boiled water for 3 to 5 days, and then eating a 1,500-calorie (or even higher) meal to make up for the calories needed for the day.

Nutritionist Cai Yixuan said that through a long-term fasting process, the body's insulin level can be reduced to a minimum. Insulin is a major driver of the body's energy storage. Therefore, once the body's insulin is reduced, you can happily make use of the long-stored energy in the body, that is, body fat, to achieve the goal of losing weight. After implementing intermittent fasting, don’t eat too much when you start eating, otherwise your weight loss efforts will be ruined!

No matter which fasting method you choose, you must eat properly during the "eating period". It is recommended to have two meals a day and not eat in between. To establish the correct concept of fasting, nutritionist Cai Yixuan reminds you that before starting fasting, you must pay attention to the following 5 major risks in order to lose weight effectively and healthily.

[Five major risks of fasting that you must know]

1. If you can’t bear the hunger, you will fail

Let's start with the most practical perspective. The reason why people get fat is because they cannot control their mouths. They love delicious food but have difficulty controlling the portion. Many people finish their lunch at 1 p.m. and it is difficult for them not to eat before getting off work at 6 p.m. They also have to endure 16 hours of hunger. Even extending the fasting time to 48 hours is simply more difficult than climbing a mountain to heaven.

Fasting will not help you lose weight for a long time. Even if you survive hunger once or twice, if you can’t stick to it, it will be difficult to maintain your weight in the long run. It is recommended to start with a fasting method that is easy for you to implement, such as the 168 fasting method.

2. Impaired intestinal function

If the first victim of fasting is the physical and psychological emptiness caused by hunger, then the second victim is the intestines. The intestine is an organ that cannot bear to be lonely. It needs to constantly receive the physical stimulation brought by the passing of food, and at the same time directly absorb and utilize the necessary nutrients from the food to maintain the health and vitality of the intestine. However, when fasting, the intestinal mucosa will begin to atrophy due to the lack of these stimulations and nutrients, further leading to functional impairment.

If you are an active faster and want to try a more radical long-term fast, you must be especially careful. At this time, the body will begin to burn amino acids and stored fat, which may cause the body's pH to become acidic. You must drink enough water to avoid electrolyte imbalance, which may cause cramps, muscle pain, emotional instability, etc.

3. Gallstone Risk

The small gallbladder under the liver is a major contributor to the emulsification of dietary fats, but if you fast for a long time, have irregular meals, or consume too little fat, it will deprive the gallbladder of its opportunity to work. The bile in it cannot be discharged normally, which can easily cause gallbladder inflammation and gallstones.

When you need to replenish the day's calories after fasting and consume high-calorie, high-fat meals, it will stimulate the gallbladder to contract rapidly, causing the bile sand or stones in the gallbladder to squeeze into the gallbladder duct, causing nausea and unbearable pain. You may not want to try it.

4. Constipation

Besides being afraid of being hungry when losing weight, the second most annoying thing is constipation. Fasting reduces food intake, and the amount of stool naturally decreases. Although occasionally not having a bowel movement for one or two days may not have much impact, if you develop irregular bowel habits for a long time, it will aggravate the constipation!

5. Electrolyte imbalance + arrhythmia

If you are an active faster and want to try a more radical long-term fast, you should be especially careful. At this time, the body will begin to burn amino acids and stored fat to produce ketone bodies to provide energy for the brain and body. However, the production of ketone bodies may make the body's pH value tend to be acidic. If you do not drink enough water, it can easily lead to electrolyte imbalance, causing cramps, muscle pain, emotional instability, and even ketoacidosis or arrhythmia, which are life-threatening.

If you safely survive a long fast, don't take it lightly and binge eat and drink right away, because long-term fasting will put your body's cells into standby mode. If you suddenly eat a lot of food, it will easily cause electrolyte and body fluid abnormalities, leading to complications such as heart, nervous system, and respiratory system dysfunction, and in severe cases, it can even lead to death.

In addition to weight problems, many obese people also have metabolic diseases such as metabolic syndrome and diabetes. If they rashly fast at this time, they may also face risks such as hypoglycemia, ketoacidosis, dehydration, and coma. Nutritionist Cai Yixuan reminds that before using any special weight loss method, you must consult a doctor and nutritionist for evaluation before proceeding. Don't just follow the trend, or you may end up losing weight and your health.