10 Benefits of Fasting Unrelated to Weight Loss

Fasting is about much more than losing weight.

Illustration by me

Fasting is often associated with weight loss, as it is often treated as either a type of diet, or an alternative to dieting. However, I believe this is a poor way of looking at fasting. While weight loss is a regular part of fasting, discussing it only through this lens gives a limited picture of its effects on the body as a whole.

There are many reasons to fast which are not related to weight loss or weight management. In fact, my reasons for fasting are not tied to weight loss. Here are some of those reasons. Where appropriate, I have referenced medical documents, or quoted medical professionals. I do this because I understand that there is a great deal of misinformation when it comes to fasting, and there are many people who claim to speak about fasting, but instead speak about starvation or other harmful dietary behaviour. I want to separate myself from those people as much as possible.

I have given my personal experiences first, and then backed up each of those claims with clinical journals or quotes from medical professionals.

As a disclaimer, I believe it is unwise for somebody to attempt to fast if they have a history of eating disorders. While fasting is not an eating disorder itself, fasting is a…