Muslims undertake a month-long fasting journey during the month of Ramadan, and scientists now claim that this practice also helps the body fight diseases such as cancer, the letter authors said. Ta
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It is well known that Muslims undertake a month-long fasting journey during the month of Ramadan. They refrain from eating and drinking from dawn until dusk for a month. Although the purpose of Ramadan is to increase spirituality and intimacy with God, this religious tradition also has immense physical benefits.
Fasting during Ramadan is actually intermittent fasting, which has recently become a popular topic among medical professionals, and many people are discussing its benefits in the media.
In 2018, scientists discovered that fasting for up to 72 hours fully engages the processes of autophagy and cellular homeostasis, allowing the body to remove dysfunctional and dead cells and recycle them to make more cells. We’ve made an amazing discovery that helps generate new, healthier cells faster. This self-preservation system helps the body fight infections caused by viruses and harmful bacteria, and fight cancer.
When your body is starved for even a short period of time, stem cells are activated and begin producing new white blood cells that boost your immune system. “The stem cells are given the OK to start multiplying and rebuilding the entire system,” says Valter Longo, professor of gerontology and biological sciences at the University of California.
Professor Longo added: “And the good news is that during fasting, the body has eliminated parts of the system that can become damaged or outdated, parts that are inefficient.”
Prolonged fasting breaks down stored glucose and fat in the body, along with large amounts of white blood cells. This causes new immune system cells to be rapidly regenerated.
During the study, researchers also found that long-term fasting reduced the enzyme PKA, which is associated with a hormone that increases the risk of aging and cancer and tumor growth. (Research by Valter Longo of the University of Southern California Leonard Davis).
Another study, this time in 2012, found that fasting may improve outcomes for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is a brutal treatment for people suffering from cancer, targeting and destroying cancerous tissue. Unfortunately, healthy tissue is also removed during this process. As a result, researchers have sought finer, more targeted treatments in recent years.
In search of this, researchers have found in animal studies that short-term starvation, or fasting, can help treat cancer. The study found that fasting before chemotherapy in mice with cancer helped shrink tumors more than chemotherapy alone. In some cases, it turns out that such a combination can apparently even eliminate some types of cancer.
Researchers suggested that a combination of fasting and chemotherapy may extend survival for patients with advanced-stage cancer by limiting tumor growth and reducing treatment side effects.
In this study, fasted mice were given water to drink but were not fed for at least two days. When mice with various forms of cancer underwent two 48-hour fasts before chemotherapy, their tumors shrank more than those that did not undergo one fast.
Mice treated with fasting chemotherapy showed a 40 percent reduction in metastases. Fasting also protects healthy cells from the toxicity of chemotherapy, allowing doctors in the future to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy without resorting to increasing the toxicity of the drugs, which can have brutal effects on patients. It may be possible to increase it.
Some professors, such as Mary Helen Barcelos Hoff of New York University Langone Medical Center, even believe that fasting is a potential means of preventing cancer because it makes the human body less susceptible to disease. ing. (Fasting cycles slow tumor growth and sensitize different types of cancer cells to chemotherapy, Science Transitional Medicine, Volume 4, Issue 124, March 2012).
Besides the health benefits mentioned in the various studies mentioned above, there are many more general physical benefits that have been proven by science.
- Within a few days of starting a fast, the level of endorphins in your blood increases, resulting in increased levels of alertness and improved mental health.
- Fasting for this month will dissolve and eliminate toxins stored in your body’s fat, allowing a natural detoxification process to take place.
- When fat is used as an energy source during fasting, you lose weight.
- Fasting has been shown to improve brain function, so make the most of this time.
- Fasting also helps clear your skin and prevent acne. As a result of reduced digestion, the body is able to focus its regenerative energy on other systems.
Muslims do not simply fast for secondary medical benefits, but only gain these benefits while seeking to achieve the true purpose of Ramadan: obedience to God and drawing near to Him.
There are very important lessons taught to Muslims through fasting. This means that the rich eat the best food all year round and are oblivious to the suffering and hunger of their less fortunate brothers.
However, under the commandments of Islam, even wealthy people must fast, after which they realize the pain of hunger and assess the condition of their poor brothers.
This leads to the advancement and protection of the community which is actually for the welfare of all individuals.
Hira Aftab
Outreach and community relations
Rajina Imaira Bradford West Branch, Canada
