Is there any science in fasting? Could the ritual, prevalent since the vedic times, of Hindus practising Ekadasi, have evolved after a careful understanding of body metabolism? Could an evolving civilisation have enforced the regimen through religion after recognising the benefits as the anthropologist always vouch that religion is a better tool to enforce discipline in a society? The answer is perhaps, yes, if one carefully study the evolution.

Evolutionary Lag: The early caveman was a forager who was hunting for food before he learnt farming. Since, as a hunter, he may have to sustain for days without food, a mechanism of storing the fat which can be expended at the time of starvation must have triggered in the genetic evolution. This uncertain irregular fat rich food metabolism that evolved over thousands of years might have faced evolutionary lag when farming societies became the norm of living colonies. With stability of food resources, the society went an ever hungry spree with food intakes exceeding moderation. The result is sugary starch became the body’s primary fuel source while fat took the secondary role with body not capable of coping up. The excess sugar got accumulated as fats to be burnt when the body needs energy. But such occasions became rare with society becoming Increasingly affluent.

Whether evolution could cope up with this change? Perhaps not, if one study the extent of affliction of modern illnesses. Frequent eating, along with an overemphasis on carb-rich and sugary foods, causes a reduced ability to burn fat. The reliance on sugar creates massive blood sugar spikes, inflammation, hormone imbalance, and ultimately many of the chronic diseases that plague our society today.

Science of Fasting: If one carefully studies the body metabolism, the solution to of conundrum for restoring health, appears to be apparent. It is like this: Liver converts carbs to sugar for body’s energy needs. While there is lack of carbohydrates, liver enables metabolism of fat to be converted unto ketones. This secondary metabolism, called Ketosis, sets in whenever sugar is not readily available. In the cellular energy metabolism, ketones are able to create much greater amounts of energy per molecule than glucose. At the same time, burning fat does not create the same insulin and blood sugar response that burning sugar does. Many people even feel more energized and focused when the brain gets to run on ketones, made from fat. People report a feeling of feeling of less hungry, gaining control over cravings, and often experiencing a much more stable emotional state, when they go into ketosis. Other benefits include improved hormone balance, lowered inflammation and improved brain health.

According to a recent study conducted by scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology and Kyoto University in Japan, occasional fasting can boost people’s metabolism. In the four subjects that they investigated, they found that while fasting, in 58hrs, there is in an increase in the metabolites that are responsible for increasing longevity and reversing the signs of ageing. The study also suggests that fasting increased the metabolism of purine and pyrimidine – chemical substances which play pivotal roles on gene expression and protein synthesis. This change can also promote homeostasis in cells, which serve to alter their gene expression according to environmental influences.

How do you get into ketosis, one needs a low level of the fat-storing hormone insulin: for this choose a ketogenic diet under prescription or adopt a choose a low-carb diet or have a brief period of periodical fasting. The low intake of carbohydrates also directly reduces glucose oxidation, called “glycolysis”, that neurons activate stress proteins to lower oxidant levels and stabilize mitochondria. The energy requirement is met through ketones that are derived from the liver primarily from fatty acids in the diet or body fat. These ketones – hydroxybutyrate (BHB), acetoacetate and acetone – are released into the bloodstream, taken up by the brain and other organs, shuttled into the “energy factory” mitochondria and used up as fuel.

A recent study found enhanced expression of genes encoding for mitochondrial enzymes and energy metabolism in the hippocampus, a part of the brain important for learning and memory. Hippocampal cells often degenerate in age-related brain diseases, leading to cognitive dysfunction and memory loss. With increased energy reserve, neurons may be able to ward off disease stressors that would usually exhaust and kill the cell.

Excess BHB and acetoacetate are excreted from urine, while acetone, due to its volatile nature, is breathed out. Meanwhile, blood glucose remains physiologically normal due to the glucose derived from certain amino acids and the breakdown of fatty acids, thus low blood sugar is avoided!

Thus, Ketones directly inhibit the production of violent molecules and enhance their breakdown through increasing the activity of glutathione peroxidase, a part of our innate anti-oxidant system.

Therapeutic Benefits of Ketosis: To a layman, Paleolithic and ketogenic food are nearly the same, with keto diet being a subset of paleo. Generally keto diets are targeted for fighting a certain body condition while paleo may be for general wellness regimen.

Both the diets prohibit cereals, grains and processed food. While a ketogenic diet, typically restricts carb to 50 g per day, with fat over 75%, proteins around 20%, there is no such limits in paleo.

Various ketogenic diet have been used to successfully to treat drug-resistant epilepsy in children since the biblical ages. Emerging evidence from animal models and clinical trials suggest keto may be therapeutically used in many other neurological disorders, including head ache, neurodegenerative diseases, sleep disorders, bipolar disorder, autism and brain cancer.

A word of caution: When an individual is unable to produce insulin, sugar cannot get into the cells. As a response, the body drastically upregulates ketone production. In this state, there is both an extremely elevated blood sugar and blood ketone level simultaneously. This state, called Ketoacidosis, is a severe malfunction of the body, with excessive and unregulated production of ketones. This leads to symptoms like nausea, vomiting and stomach pain followed by confusion and finally coma. It requires urgent medical treatment, as it can potentially be fatal.

A piece of advice: As these carb rich food habits damage our bodies, we may be progressively losing the ability to produce ketones. By adopting a more ketogenic style of eating, we may reverse this damage and revert back to the efficient fat-burning machines we were meant to be!

Instead of regular ketogenic diet, periodic fasting would produce ketones, to tone up your system. Ramzan for Muslims is Ekadasi for Hindus and is ketogenic food for dietitians!

Don’t underestimate your ancestors for their lack of scientific knowledge: experience teaches better lessons; modern man is yet to decipher many more rituals…..!