Nirjala Ekadashi Vrat – meaning and health benefits

Nirjala Ekadashi Vrat finds mention in the epic Mahabharat. King Yudhishthira asks Lord Krishna to explain the significance of ekadashi which falls on Shukla Paksha of Jyeshtha month. Krishna explains that the best person to explain this is Ved Vyas since he is the most knowledgeable about Vedas. Ved Vyas begins by explaining about the two ekadashi which come each month, the mighty Bhima asks him that while everyone around him does not consume food during ekadashi, it is virtually impossible for him to go without a meal even once. So he asks for a solution where he can fast once a year instead. In reply, Ved Vyas asks him to observe a fast on nirjala ekadashi which is the most stringent of all fasts observed without consuming even a drop of water!

The meaning of ekadashi and spiritual reasons for fasting have been covered in detail in many articles and videos online, especially the ones by ISKCON devotees. So let us understand the science behind this ancient Indian practise.

Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance

Let us begin with a slim person, young and energetic. Till the time he or she is active, the body metabolism is perfectly balanced. Human body strives to achieve balance. But now here comes in other people who provide a wrong advise and compel this fit person to eat more. Everyone around you is asking to eat more. “Kha le beta, nahi toh kamjori ayegi” The usual norm. But here is what our ancestors followed.

One meal a day – Yogi
Two meals a day – Bhogi
Three meals a day – Rogi

People today eat sometimes six to seven times a day. Eating or offering food is considered part of a welcome ritual or means to show affection to a friend or loved one. End result is we are eating even when we are not hungry. As if either by compulsion or by habit or routine. What was scarce thousands of years ago is now found everywhere and sometimes free too.

How does body gain weight

Food consists of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Once in stomach, carbs are broken down to glucose which is the primary fuel of the body, proteins into amino acids which are used for muscle and tissue building and fats are broken into fatty acids. This digested mix moves to the small intestine where glucose is transferred directly to the blood stream. This is the reason why in your blood test post fasting shows increase in blood sugar levels.

Our body is made up of lakhs and lakhs of cells, each performing specific function, like skin cells, hair cells, red blood cells, white blood cells and so on. These cells require constant energy for their functioning and that is provided by the glucose in the blood. The cells however cannot absorb glucose directly, the cell walls have to be unlocked by the key called insulin. So whenever we eat something, insulin hormone is released by the pancreas. Insulin unlocks the doors of the cells allowing glucose to enter the cells.

Food metabolism is the most important function of our body. But it is the insulin hormone which plays the key role in keeping the blood sugar levels between 80 to 120.

After the cells have absorbed the glucose required by them, rest of it is recalled by the liver. Glucose is converted to a type of fat called glycogen and stored in the liver. Our liver is also the refrigerator of the body because it stores fat reserves. When the blood glucose or blood sugar levels drop, the liver reconverts this fat to another form of glucose called ketones and releases it into the blood. These are then used as energy source by the cells.

Every time we eat carbs or sugars or a combination of both like a pastry, it is digested immediately and converted to glucose and released in the blood. Processed and refined carb like maida or white bread are best examples. Continuous consumption of such foods releases massive amount of glucose in the blood. All that extra glucose is converted to fat by the liver. After the liver is full, it still continues to convert glucose to fat but this time it stores this fat near the belly area. This fat which first begins accumulating at the belly area is called visceral fat. Our slim young person has just began the journey towards gaining weight gain, all because he/she has eaten more food than what was required by the body.

Insulin imbalance causes all lifestyle ailments

From the days when we lived in caves and hunted or foraged for food, we have come a long way eating frequently. Every time we eat, insulin is released in the blood. Too much of insulin in the blood decreases its sensitivity. Insulin hormone is no longer able to unlock the cell wall. The cells are starved for energy and they are signalling the pancreas to release more insulin. Blood is already full of glucose but it cannot enter into the cells. All those places where visceral fat can be stored in the body is full. This condition can go on for many years till finally a tipping point comes when either your pancreases give up production of insulin or the insulin hormone in the body completely loses its ability to open the cell walls. This is the onset of Type II Diabetes. Our thin and slim young person has already put on weight, but now all bio markers of metabolic syndrome like Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, Cholesterol, Uric Acid and weight go up high.

Understanding the ways we are eating

When Pandavas along with Draupadi began their journey to Himalayas, each one started getting exhausted and fell. The last one to fall was Bhima. He asked Yudhishthira that why is he not able to complete his journey to heaven. To that Yudhishthira replied that he has committed the sin of gluttony.

• Food Binging – Eating large amount of food in a short time, with a few variations.
• Grazing – Eating continuously or sometimes all day long.
• Nibbling – Eating tiny portions of food either once or twice or many times in the day.
• Starving – Depriving body of food for short or long durations of time.

Understanding ekadashi fasting

Grains are to be avoided while observing ekadashi fast. Some people totally avoid food and water. Other opt for a water and fruit fast. But today fasting has become an opportunity for feasting. There is this endless list of fasting permissible foods like peanuts, sabudana or sago, khichdi and so on, just assuming the pretext that fasting will make you weak and hence you need to eat more. That defeats the very purpose of fasting. Isn’t it intriguing that sago or sabudana arrived in India in 1940, and yet it is the most popular fasting food in India.

Another important part is to understand the difference between fasting and starving. Fasting is a prolonged but definite period of not eating any food. Breaking the fast also forms part of the fasting ritual. When your fasting period is over, you are supposed to eat stomach full and nutritious foods. Fasting has to be followed by feasting.

Most people follow ekadashi fast from sunrise to next day sunrise. Quite a few do the traditional 36 hours fast. Then there are some people who go for a 48 hours or beyond fast too. This type of fasting is called prolonged fasting.

If you are consuming water during fasting period, it is called a water fast. A 36 hour water less fast might sound impossible at first, but for those people who observe it, remember, they are the ones who have conquered hunger and thirst.

Benefits of Nirjala Ekadashi fasting or prolonged fasting

For 14 days assuming dinner by 8pm and breakfast next morning at 8am you have an eating window of 12 hours and fasting window of 12 hours. Your liver stores 12 hours worth of glucose. So by the time you have the next meal in the morning with an empty liver, your body gets the next dosage of energy from food. Ekadashi fasting aims to break this cycle on the 15th day.

Lose weight by fasting

Your liver stores enough fat reserves for 12 hours. Considering the fasting period begins at 5 am at sunrise, by 5 pm you are left with an empty stomach, blood sugar levels are down and the liver is almost empty of fat. Between 12 to 18 hours period, your body is ready to transition to ketosis. That is 11 pm at night. By this time you are fast asleep.

The key factor at work here is the insulin hormone. Since you haven’t eaten anything for the past 18 hours, there is no secretion of insulin. Low insulin levels unlocks fat storage, trigger the body to pull out energy from fat reserves, that is the visceral fat or body fat.

Between 12 to 18 hours, the body starts transitioning from glucose burning to fat burning. By 24 hours around 10-15% of your energy source will be ketones. Beyond 36 hours there is a dramatic increase in the production of ketones. There is a debate on the merits & demerits of using ketones as a source of energy. But the greatest benefit of nirjala ekadashi fasting is for those people who want to lose weight. Fat burning begins post 11pm and goes on right upto 5am morning. Six hours of fat burning during the sleeping period.

BDNF molecule

Socrates was once asked why he was fasting. He replied that fasting made him think clearly. Lord Buddha did prolonged fasting on his way to attain nirvana. What is the relation between meditation and fasting. Can’t we meditate with a full stomach. The difference is what happens after 24 hours of fasting. Nervous system starts producing Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor, a kind of protein which actives and repairs the neurons and their connections. This improves cognitive functions and memory. In certain cases BDNF kicks in at 22 hours of fasting too.

Growth hormone

Growth hormone is responsible for keeping your body young. All the regeneration of cells and tissues is managed and controlled by the growth hormone released in our brain by the tiny pituitary gland. As we grow older, the secretion of growth hormone slows down so that it is just enough to maintain the cells and tissues in our body in a healthy state all throughout our life. Fasting beyond 24 hours, there is a 2000% increase in growth hormone. The only other way to get a growth hormone is by injections.

Stem Cells

Stem cells are the basic undefined cells which can be converted to other specific type of cells as the body requires. Stem cells are regularly produced by the bone marrow. Once the fast is over, the bone marrow starts making enormous amounts of stem cells using the food we have eaten after a fast. This is linked to a process called Autoghagy.

Autophagy

Autophagy is a combination of two greek words which means self devouring or self eating. Under certain conditions like lack of food, cells start eating themselves from inside to stay alive. Each cell has a recycling plant within called Lysosome. During regular time, it works like a processing factory for dead proteins and any foreign matter that enters the cell.

A cell has components like cell wall, nucleus and different compartments called organelles each with their own function. Like for example the mitochondria which is the battery which energises the cell. When no food is available, the cells begins to send dead or junk protein and other cells parts like mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum to the lysosome for recycling. This way the cell stays alive for a longer time by eating itself. This does sound bad. But prolonged fasting is the only way to activate autophagy and get rid of dead protein staying within the cell and keep the cell young and fresh.

The 2016 Nobel prize in medicine was awarded to a Japanese cell biologist who studied autophagy in detail. There is a lot of medical research going on, but people like Socrates and Lord Buddha already knew about autophagy or some part of it.

Autophagy begins at 22 hours of fasting, but in this case too like BDNF and growth hormone, the real spike is beyond 24 hours.

After prolong fast is over and when the body goes through autophagy, the rebuilding process kicks in at the cellular level. The first batch of stem cells produced by the bone marrow are reserved for this purpose. That is why it is very important to break your fast with nutrition rich food. The re-feeding reward of a prolonged Nirjala Ekadashi fast is that your body is flooded with stem cells.

Conclusion about Nirjala Ekadashi

There is an intense research and debate going around prolonged fasting and Nirjala Ekadashi is right here followed by Indians for centuries. People are embracing prolonged fasting and perform a Nirjala Ekadashi type fasting more than once a year. The guiding principle here goes that don’t eat unless you are hungry. Most of the body induced benefits take a leap post 24 hours of fasting which is why the 36 hours of prolonged fasting is recommended. A waterless fast or dry fast accelerates all benefits.

However a word of caution. The transition from eating five to six meals a day to a 24 hour fast is a massive shift. It wont be easy. First timers have problems like headache, nausea, intense hunger, acidity and dehydration. Do sufficient research on your own and always consult your family doctor before embarking upon such a fast.