Lon a diet after the holidays is a great classic, which should remedy the revelry of Christmas. But the risk of doing it yourself is very high and can be not useful and even harmful. A conscious fasting day can be used to kickstart the metabolism. “Practiced for millennia in many cultures of the world, fasting is a food choice which, if carried out with awareness, is capable of bringing great benefits to our body, already in itself structured by nature to overcome the absence of food ”, explains the Professor Pier Luigi Rossi, Specialist in Food Science and in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine and professor (ac) at theUniversity of Siena – Arezzo.
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The body during fasting
«The brain draws energy from the introduction of molecules contained in food. Above all from carbohydrates, contained in cereals, potatoes, fruit, vegetables, legumes and more, which the liver transforms and stores in the form of glycogen and then glucose, a substance that the organ is greedy for. When no food is introduced and fasted, the brain receives glucose from the liver. But if the liver does not have glycogen in storage and cannot supply glucose to the brain, it can run into a deficiency and find itself lacking in energy, a condition incompatible with life. In this condition of cerebral energy emergency, the liver responds with the production of ketone bodies which temporarily replace glucose as an energetic substrate of the brain. These ketone bodies are obtained from fatty acids released from adipose deposits. That is why you lose weight during fasting», Underlines the expert.
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Diet after the holidays: the benefits of fasting
“Practiced regularly, from time to time, or after days in which larger meals have been consumed, there are several advantages that can be obtained through temporary fasting. First of all, one change in the hormonal profile with a clear reduction in insulin, hormone responsible for the accumulation of fat and the feeling of continuous hunger. This reduction also allows the activation of the fasting hormone: glucagon, which releases the glucose reserve stored in the hepatocytes. In other words, glucagon performs a primary action for weight loss: it “unloads” the liver from excess carbohydrates to ensure an adequate and continuous supply of glucose to the brain, but without falling into ketosis, famine. Glucagon it also releases the fatty acids from the inside of the adipocytes, cells of the fat mass, emptying them. So you lose weight», Emphasizes Professor Rossi.
Manage water retention
During the holidays there is a tendency to introduce a greater dose of sodium, which favors water retention in some anatomical areas, with weight gain due to water. The reduction of insulin cancels the effect of sodium on water retention. Therefore, diuresis increases, which contributes to the removal of extracellular water retention. Not to mention that fasting has a positive effect on intestinal enterochromaffin cells, with one better production of serotonin, capable of recovering a good mood», Adds the expert.
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