The paper highlighted today claims to be the first formal medical assessment of the ‘Bigu’ fasting regime.
Bigu fasting (more here if you care Bigu Fasting) has been practiced in China in one form or another for over 2,000 years. Today it’s promoted as a Taoist ritual and is usually carried out at retreats under the supervision of Taoist Masters and lasts for 21-days. Over the period calorific intake is severely reduced with most participants allowed only sugared water; but does it work i.e. does it provide tangible health benefits?
Chao Wang of the Tsinghua University and his associates studied 144-participants and usefully discovered one important outcome, none of the participants (who ranged in age from 21 to 79-years) including some with existing health issues, suffered any bad effects from the regimen.
Yet more usefully ALL participants experienced a range of manifestly positive effects. Unsurprisingly participants lost weight. Much of this weight stayed off when the fasts were over and almost certainly was linked to improvements in blood pressure experienced by all participants. The other benefit experienced was a reduction of fatty liver where the condition had been previously identified and again the benefit appeared to persist after the fast.
Evidence has been mounting for years that fasting provides health benefits and this study would seem to usefully contribute to the literature. Moreover it provides legitimacy specifically to the Bigu system and removes a practice sometimes described as ‘mystical’ from the shadows of quackery and superstition.
It must be pointed out this this is preliminary research that has not been peer-reviewed but if you care for more detail the paper is available in full via the following link Fasting Benefits.
Happy Sunday