TEMPO.CO, Bandung - Ramadan fasting dates back to the 14th century. Before Islam, people also engaged in fasting in a different way. Ramadan fasting is an annual ritual highly anticipated by Muslims.
Despite causing people to starve and get thirsty, fasting offers real health benefits. Contrary to the indication that fasting causes people to be weak and prone to illness, fasting actually makes people healthier.
An American doctor Josh Axe revealed that there are at least seven benefits of fasting. The first benefit is losing weight. In one study, non-obese patients lost in average 4 percent of their total fat when they fasted alternately in 22 days.
Furthermore, the insulin level of people who fast decreases. Promoting the secretion of growth hormones is the second benefit. Fasting boosts the secretion of growth hormones important to burn fat.
It can actually transform the human body into an effective fat-burning machine. Fasting is proven to be good for athletes because it has good effects on body mass and other health markers. This is the third benefit.
The fourth benefit of fasting is normalizing insulin sensitivity. The next benefit is it normalizes ghrelin levels. Ghrelin hormone or hunger hormone serves to inform our body when we are hungry.
By fasting, the ghrelin levels normalize in which it makes the hormone more accurate in telling you whether you should eat or not.
The sixth benefit is lowering bad cholesterol levels. Fasting decreases triglyceride levels in your blood, thus lowering bad cholesterol levels.
The last benefit is slowing down the aging process since fasting promotes the secretion of growth hormones.
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