4 Best Fasting Diets

Scientists are still arguing about pros and cons of fasting. However, most of them agree that one-day fasting from time to time is very beneficial for your body. "Fasting" in this sense doesn't mean having no food at all, but rather having only one type of food during the day.

One-day fasting diet is usually used either after several days of eating too much, when you feel to "heavy" from eating, or as a final step of a long diet or detox program. It can also be used as a regular practice, once a month or so, to prevent weight gain.

The popularity of cucumber diet and of cucumber fasting day is based on two unique qualities of this vegetable: first, it contains very few calories. But what is most valuable for weight conscious is the tartronic acid in cucumbers, a substance that slows down the process of converting carbohydrates into fat. Given that cucumber fasting can help you lose up to 7.5 pounds, this type of detox can be called the most effective fasting diet.

Peculiarities. Cucumber fasting diet is the lowest in calories. Daily amount of calories this day would barely reach 300. Therefore it would be better to spend the day at home, without any physical and mental stress.

Pros and cons. The most obvious and desirable advantage of cucumber fasting day is its high efficiency, in some cases, you can lose up to 7.5 pounds in a single day. However, as we mentioned before, since the diet is very low in calories, you shouldn't have any serious mental or physical activity that day.

The menu for the day. 3 pounds of fresh cucumbers distributed on 5-6 meals. They should be eaten without salt, sauces and spices, but you can add 1-2 tablespoons of bran and 2 eggs for a day.

European microbiologists have proved that frequent consumption of apples increases special kind of intestinal bacteria that prevents the process of decay and promotes better digestion. Accordingly, there is no formation of so-called "food waste". American fellow scientists came to the conclusion that women who eat 3 apples a day (in addition to diet regime) lose weight faster than those who ignore this fruit in their daily diet.

Peculiarities. Many professional nutritionists recommend to eat not only fresh apples, but also baked ones, as a part of this fasting day.

Pros and cons. Apples not only enrich body with iron and vitamins, but also contribute to lowering levels of "bad" cholesterol. In addition, flavonoids and naringin kvartsetin which are found in apples help protect lung cells from the development of malignant tumors. However, be careful when on an apple diet, as apples are known to stimulate the appetite.

The menu for the day. For the apple fasting day stock with 3 pounds of sour or neutral (but not sweet!) apples. During the day, be sure to use the formula: if you're hungry, eat an apple, and if you don't want an apple, then you are not hungry. Besides apples, you also have to drink 1.5 liters of water without gas.

This is probably the most popular and well-known detox/fasting day. Kefir day allows to lose 4.5 pounds on average and normalizes bowel.

Peculiarities. Because kefir by itself is a liquid, you don't have to drink 8 glasses of water (which are "musts" in almost every diet), you can substitute it for 0.5 liters of mineral water without gas.

Pros and cons. Kefir is a very useful product, and not only in terms of weight loss, but also in terms of health in general. It normalizes blood pressure, improves intestinal microflora, is a good prevention of tooth decay, and is often recommended by doctors as the prevention of breast cancer. However, since kefir has a laxative property, it is best not to plan for your fasting day any business meetings or long-distance travel.

The menu for the day. 1-1.5 liters of nonfat kefir (no more than 1%), drink it in 5-6 servings during the day. It comes to about every 2-3 hours.

Each buckwheat grain contains a lot of useful vitamins and minerals. So buckwheat fasting day is a pleasant exception to the rule that every mono-diet, even one-day is always a terrible imbalance of essential body nutrients. In case of buckwheat, the imbalance is not that bad.

Peculiarities. The main feature of buckwheat diet is in the process of preparing this product. Do not boil the buckwheat! Just fill the buckwheat with boiling water (1 cup of buckwheat to 2 cups of water proportion), and leave it to swell until the morning. For buckwheat fasting diet use only whole grains buckwheat.

Advantages. The main advantage of buckwheat fasting day is the buckwheat which is very useful by itself. Besides, buckwheat being "slow carb" perfectly nourishes, but it does not raise blood sugar levels - that is, you will feel full for a long time. This, by the way, is one of the reasons for the high popularity of buckwheat diet. However, using buckwheat fasting diet for a day, you'll lose no more than 3 pounds.

The menu for the day. Theoretically, you can have as much buckwheat as you want. But since it should be without salt, butter, milk, sauces or any other seasonings, don't worry, you won't want too much. Eat 1 cup of buckwheat every 2-3 hours. In addition, drink about 2 liters of clean water without gas during the day.

Now you know four best fasting diets, and it's up to you to choose the one that works better in your case. My advice would be to choose the one that is best in terms of your food preferences - if you don't like kefir, try buckwheat; if you can't spend a day without an apple, choose an apple diet.