Dry fasting as a practice has been followed for a very long time. As fasting practice, there are a number of benefits of dry fasting. Despite fasting being practiced for a really long time, the discussion on the benefits seem to be recent. There are a number of ways to practice fasting. Intermittent fasting, water fasting, wet fasting, juice fasting, detox fast are some of the ways to practice fasting.
Dry fasting
- In this type of fasting, one completely foregoes water and food
- This can be for an extended period of time, that is from 24 – 36 hours
Benefits of dry fasting in fat loss
- When the body realises that is not receiving any nutrients externally, your cells begin eating the toxins present inside in order to survive
- Fasting is linked to lipolysis which is basically fat burning (stage of fat burning)
- By lowering insulin and increasing growth hormone levels, it also increases the release of fat burning hormone called norepinephrine
- Due to these hormonal changes, fasting increases your metabolic rate
- Dry fasting helps in autophagy
- Autophagy is a cell renewal process when damaged cells or cell parts are removed and replaced
- It creates a healthier and more functional cells
- Autophagy thus diverts energy towards healing, repair, recovery, growth, detoxification and building the immune system and stem cell regeneration
Other benefits of dry fasting
- Short periods of dry fasting helps in balancing cholesterol levels
- Fasting resets the immune system by removing damaged cells, allowing the body to reset and regenerate new ones
- Dry fasting helps reduce inflammation
- Dry fasting also has a number of benefits for skin
- Dry fasting slows down aging and helps lower blood pressure
- It improves brain and cognitive health
- Spiritual benefits of dry fasting
- Increased gratitude
- Depper faith
- Improved awareness
- Supports overall health
How to do dry fasting ?
- There are two types of dry fasting
- Soft dry fasting
- Hard fasting
- Who can / can’t do dry fasting ?
- Dry fasting is not recommended for pre existing conditions and eating disorders
- Healthy individuals should seek proper advice from health experts before dry fasting
- How to prepare for dry fasting ?
- First try a detox diet, juice fasting, water fasting before proceeding for dry fasting
- Do not attempt more than 10-12 hours of fasting in the first attempt
- The body, just like in most of the other cases, requires training and preparation for 24 or more hours of fast
- If during the fast at any point you feel discomfort, you should immediately break the fast
- How to break the fast ?
- You should ideally break the fast with some water
- Have simple clean food which can release even more toxins without placing too much strain on the stomach
- Don’t consume rice grain when you open the fast
- Avoid exercise during dry fasting
- Best way to prepare for dry fast is to hydrate properly in days leading to the dry fast
Side effects of dry fasting
- Avoiding water can make you even hungrier
- You’re likely to feel tired, weak and dizzy during dry fasting
- As the hunger builds up, you may feel irritated
- Restricting nutrients like carbs can lead to headaches
- It’s difficult to focus and concentrate when you’re hungry
- You may also experience decreased / dark / smelly urination
Avoid dry fasting if
- You’re pregnant / breast feeding
- Suffering from UTI
- You’re doing any kind of fasting for the first time
- You’re doing it for prolonged periods (24 hours and beyond)
- You’re on any medication
- Avoid getting exposed to excessive heat during dry fasting
- You have any underlying health conditions