You might be thinking about why a person will refuse anything to eat for a whole week. Let me tell you; it does happen. A person who’s dieting is more likely to do fasting a week rather than a normal human being.
There must be numerous circumstances in which a person will not eat for a week. There’s a myth that a person who’ll not eat properly will die.
If you’re having water properly and refusing food for a whole week, you’ll surely not die. You might face a few health issues due to lack of food, but nothing serious has been noticed regarding fasting for a week.
There are a lot more consequences to realize about weekly fasting. So, without extra fuss, let’s learn more about it. Here we come.
What Are The Side Effects Of Fasting For A Week?
You must be thinking that if there’s nothing serious about fasting for a week, you can do it quickly. But let me clarify that constant hunger can bring many issues in your life regarding mental and physical health.
If you’re still unaware of the side effects of suffering from hunger, spare a few minutes to read this article.
Here are the side effects that might appear if you’re fasting for a whole week.
Anxiety
The most hazardous effect of being hungry is anxiety. Various people are confused about how uncertainty and hunger are correlated. Food is essential for both physical and mental health.
You might ignore your mental health, but it can ruin your life.
If you’re not eating for a whole week, your body will release a hormone called Cortisol. It would be suitable if you assume cortisol is a stress hormone. You must be aware that stress, depression, and anxiety make a man hollow and kill them slowly from the inside. Cortisol, undoubtedly, works for the betterment of the body, but it leads to stress as a byproduct.
Remaining hungry for a long time will bring many behavioral changes to you. Therefore, you should eat properly to avoid stress in your life.
Fall In Blood Sugar Level
Blood sugar is the most fundamental factor in keeping you sound and active. If you’re working out, hiking, running, and hoping correctly, it’s just because of the maintenance of your sugar level, which provides you with a bunch of energy.
If you do not consume anything for a week, your body will not get any carbs or calories for the development of blood sugar. Therefore, the sugar level automatically falls. Glucose is a significant component of making your brain work appropriately.
The lack of sugar level might be the reason that most physicians don’t recommend the keto diet at all.
Sleep Problems
The most basic consequence is improper sleep. A night’s sleep is essential to make your day good and happy. If you’re hungry, you’ll keep recalling the food and be unable to sleep properly.
A hungry stomach will also not let you sleep. In this way, if you’ve not eaten anything for a whole week, you must have had sleepless nights. Doctors also advise that a night meal is best for good sleep.
Hence, if you’re facing any sleep issues, you must redesign your diet. Good food is the best pill for your rest.
Hunger Loss
You might not know, but whenever you do something either good or bad in a routine, you’ll get used to it. Similarly, when you skip food for seven days, your stomach may get accustomed to hunger.
You’ll go through the loss of starvation no matter what’s on the menu.
Let me make another thing clear to you, loss of appetite is not an entity that should be ignored. Loss of hunger will not let you eat anything, and you might get stuck in many health disorders.
Therefore, always try to eat a minimal amount of food with a gap so your stomach will keep making energy and utilizing the nutrition.
Development Of Cravings
Cravings are the most emerging aspect when we talk about diet. For instance, if you’ve not eaten anything to lose weight, it’s not worth it.
Being hungry will bring a lot of cravings for different dishes you must want to relish.
Cravings are good but can be harmful when you’re dieting. If you’re resisting food for seven days and on the 8th day you get cravings for eating some carbs, your dieting has been ruined. You’ll automatically gain the lost weight in no time.
Nutrient Deficiency
The human body needs a significant amount of nutrients to undergo various functions. Every vitamin and nutrient has its purpose in the human body. That’s why you must eat fruits, vegetables, meat, and everything good for your health.
When you skip all the eatables from your diet for a whole week, your body will suffer a massive loss regarding nutrient deficiencies. Nutrient deficiency can lead to many other disorders like night blindness, headache, eyesight weakness, etc.
So, it’s up to you to maintain the nutrients in your body.
Bone Loss
The most dangerous effect of hunger is on bones. Bones are the most crucial yet sensitive part of the body. Bones need a proper amount of calcium to stay strong and work correctly.
The fasting of seven days may bring you bone loss because if you don’t eat anything healthy for a week, your bones will become weaker. Bone weakness can lead to various fractures, bone loss, pain in joints, etc.
Accordingly, if you feel any weakness in your bones, skip fasting at that moment.
Skin Dryness
What you eat will be a glow on your face and body. If you eat healthy food and keep your stomach free of toxicities, your skin will be glowy and transparent like glass.
Nevertheless, when you don’t intake any food, your body will start losing the liquids and let your skin dry. Constant skin dryness can also be dangerous and bring some infections to your body.
Muscle Weakness
Muscles are the framework of the human body. When your body does not feed the essential nutrients and minerals to the muscles, your muscles will commence weakening.
Whether you’re a child, an adult, or an aged person, it would be best if you had to keep your muscles fit to overtake this life. Being hungry may lead to muscle shortcomings that can be overcome by having an appropriate diet.
Constipation
As you’ve not eaten anything for seven days, your stomach has nothing to digest. The stomach will get used to remaining at rest instead of performing its functions. The lubricants may also dry out due to a lack of food.
Therefore, you’re more likely to face constipation while skipping food. Hence, if you want to avoid such dilemmas as constipation, don’t keep yourself hungry.
Do Fasting For A Week Affect Major Body Systems?
Undoubtedly, weekly fasting can bring a lot of health dilemmas to the human body. Being hungry for a long time will also affect the major body systems.
If any of the modes start working inappropriately, you might fall into big health trouble soon.
Here are the four major body systems and the effect of hunger on them.
Cardiovascular System
The cardiovascular system, the most sensitive system of the human body, is highly affected by starvation. When you skip the diet, your heart cannot pump blood accurately. The inconvenience of popping blood from nature to the parts of the body will automatically lower the blood pressure, which may lead to heart failure.
GIT
GIT has a direct connection with less intake of food. Your gastrointestinal system can be badly affected by the lack of food. Here are the following disorders that might occur due to the effects of fasting on GIT.
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Bloating
- Pancreatitis
- Constipation
Endocrine System
Our body undergoes all the functions after the stimulation of hormones. The endocrine system is the basis of hormone production. When the endocrine does not get enough fats and cholesterol, it will lead to the following illnesses.
- Hair loss
- Hyperthermia
- Cessation of menstruation
- Bone weakness
CNS
Mental health always correlates with physical health. If you do not have food properly, you’ll face stress with a lack of sleep. Your mind will not work actively because of remaining hungry for a long time.
Is Remaining Hungry For A Week Beneficial?
With the side effects, fasting also has a few benefits that can be a reason that you skip food. Here are the benefits of being hungry for a whole week.
- It will help you remove all the pollutants and toxins from your body.
- It will help you to lose weight.
- It can help you to reduce your appetite while dieting.
- It will assist you in controlling the level of sugars and cholesterol.
- It will reduce the threat of coronary artery disease.
And many more beneficial aspects that kept on people trying on.
Final Verdict
Now, you have a complete handbook of all the drawbacks and benefits of being hungry for a week. Hopefully, you’ve got your answer about what will happen if you don’t eat for a week.
Presently, it’s up to you whether you want to try this due to its benefits or refuse it to avoid the drawbacks.