Extreme Diet ‘Water Fasting’ Popular on SNS… Is it Really Healthy?

These days, diet methods such as⁣ ‘water fasting’ and ’00-hour fasting’ are popular on various social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube. It ⁤is an extreme diet that literally ‍only consumes water for a certain period of​ time⁤ and does not consume any other nutrients.

Water Fasting is ⁢Effective for Weight Loss

People who do water⁢ fasting generally ⁣do not eat anything other than water and a small amount of salt for a set period of time. It is a method mainly used when the goal is to remove ⁤toxins from the body and lose weight quickly. ‍The length of time set⁢ by people who decide to do water ‍fasting varies, but⁢ most prefer 3 days or 72 hours.

CEO​ Lee⁤ Young-jae explained, “If you ⁢only drink water for 72 hours, you will naturally lose weight because you will be consuming almost no calories,” and “Carbohydrates (glycogen) stored in the⁤ body are consumed, and water is ⁤discharged along with it,⁣ which leads to weight loss.” He continued, “Fasting for 72 hours can‍ put your body into a state of​ ketosis,” ⁣and “In a state of ⁢ketosis, stored fat is ​used as an energy source, which can help reduce body fat.”

According to the lead author, fasting may help ⁤control blood sugar by improving insulin sensitivity, which may have particularly positive effects for people with insulin resistance.

Temporarily‌ Effective, Long-term Major Negative Effects

However, the starvation diet,‌ which is the easiest choice when you want to lose weight, may have a temporary effect, but ⁢the negative effects are much greater.

The representative director points out that, “It may be okay to fast for three days ‌once in a while, but if⁣ you do this repeatedly ‍or fast for a long period of time, such as seven or ten days, it is difficult to continue and can have a⁣ significant negative impact on your health.”

The more we force ourselves to hold back on food, the more easily our bodies become fattened. If we do not supply enough nutrients, our internal organs⁤ will also ‍become damaged. If we supply only extremely limited calories, our body will try to destroy muscle to obtain energy. Muscle loss causes a decrease in basal metabolic rate, and if we starve ourselves like this and then eat, we will become a body type that gains weight more‍ easily.

If you drastically restrict your calorie intake, it can‌ cause a decrease in thyroid function. Thyroid hormones ‍play ⁢a role in regulating ⁣the body’s metabolic rate. If you secrete a lot of thyroid hormones, the food you eat will be burned quickly and ‍your weight will decrease. Most​ patients with hypothyroidism are at high risk for obesity. In other words, starving can cause obesity.

If you continue⁣ to starve, your appetite will become stronger. If you are always hungry, your ⁣craving for food will only increase, ⁣and you will​ become mentally challenged to diet.

The CEO emphasized, “Diet that ‌involves fasting is ⁢the​ easiest way to ⁢cause the​ yo-yo effect the more you repeat it,” and “If you want to succeed in your diet, it is good to slowly ‌lose about 10% ⁣of your body weight over 6 months with a goal of losing 2-3 kg per month.”

Reporter Kim Jae-beom