Fasting and Health

The recent indefinite fast undertaken by 73 year old Anna Hazare to protest against corruption has also triggered discussion on the impact of fasting on health.How the body responds to prolonged denial of food depends on several factors such as the person’s weight, age, duration and whether water is permitted.

Glucose is the body's primary fuel source and is essential for the brain’s functioning. When denied glucose for more than 4–8 hours, the body turns to the liver for glycogen, a storage form of glucose, to be used for fuel. At this point, the body also uses small amounts of protein to supplement this fuel. This fuel will last for up to 12 hours before the body needs to turn to glycogen stored in muscles, lasting for a few more days. If glucose is still denied at this point, muscle wasting is prevented by temporarily switching to fat as the fuel source, meaning fat is converted into ketones. Ketones, while not sugars, can be used by the brain as a fuel source as long as glucose is denied.

The body continues to use fat for as long as there is fat to consume. It will generally indicate to the faster when fat levels are running extremely low (less than 7% and 10% of body weight for males and females, respectively) with an increased urge for food. If the fast is not broken, starvation begins to occur, as the body begins to use protein for fuel. Medical complications associated with fast-induced starvation include electrolyte imbalances, fall in blood pressure, rhythm disturbances of the heart, thinning hair, and emaciation. Death can occur if fasting is pursued beyond a point.

Fasting has often been used as a tool to make a political statement, to protest or to bring awareness to a cause, as we know so well from its use by Mahatma Gandhi to get us independence from British rule. Deaths due to hunger strike are however far from elegant. In pre-Christian Ireland, hunger strikers would lay themselves down to die upon the doorsteps of their offender’s homes, a custom known as Troscadh orCealachan. Bobby Sands and nine other Irish republican paramilitary prisoners died in a hunger strike protesting Britain’s treatment of Northern Irish prisoners, while imprisoned Cuban dissident and poet Pedro Luis Boitel died after a 53 day hunger strike in 1972.

The health effects of periodic fasting are however generally positive and has been promoted by most religions. It helps loose weight by shedding excess body fat, improves diabetes and high BP, and has been shown to reduce cancer risk. Studies have shown that periodic fasters have lower risk of heart disease and tend to live longer.

Someone quite aptly commented that a fast would have done a lot of good to the health of our bulging leaders, had they participated instead of the elderly Anna.

As published in HT City( Hindustan Times) dated 17 April, 2011.