How to Start Intermittent Fasting
Most of us have been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that we should not go more than a couple of hours without having something to eat… but is this really true? You might be surprised to hear that not eating for periods of time, aka fasting, actually has a lot of benefits.
Intermittent Fasting
As mentioned before, fasting is any period of time that you refrain from eating.
Intermittent fasting means you follow a fasting schedule. The most popular variation of intermittent fasting is 16:8. You refrain from eating for sixteen hours a day, and then eat all your meals within an eight-hour window. For example, if you eat your last meal at 6pm, your first meal the next day will not be until 10am.
There is also alternate day fasting, 5:2 fasting and eat-stop-eat. For today’s purposes, we will not go deep into the variations but rather talking about fasting as a whole.
Benefits of Fasting
If you have never heard of or practised fasting before, you might be thinking to yourself “why in the world would I want to do go for hours or even days without eating?!” I will tell you why…
Benefit #1: Blood Sugar Regulation & Insulin Sensitivity
If you are diabetic then you probably already know how important regulating your blood sugar is, but this is something that should matter to everyone.
Insulin resistance is when your cells start resisting or ignoring the signal that the hormone insulin is trying to send out. The way its supposed to work is that as our blood sugar rises, our body produces insulin to transport the sugar to our cells. When working correctly, this allows our blood sugar to maintain homeostasis. The reason this mechanism stops working is because it is overused.
The good news is that type high blood sugar and insulin resistance can be reversed by fasting. By not eating for periods of time, you are giving your body a break from the blood sugar/insulin cycle. This will make you more insulin sensitive.
In one study, all three patients type 2 diabetic patients eliminated their need for insulin by initiating a therapeutic fasting regimen. All three patients succeeded within a month and one in as little as 5 days!
Benefit #2: Increased Human Growth Hormone
Human growth hormone is (as the name says) a hormone that stimulates growth as well as cell reproduction and cell regeneration. It is naturally produced by the body, but remains active in the bloodstream for just a few minutes.
HGH helps to maintain, build and repair healthy tissue in the brain and other organs and also helps speed up repair of injuries and muscle tissue after exercise. It also aids with fat loss, it also helps with weight loss as it accelerates lipolysis, the breakdown of fat.
Benefit #3: Fat Loss
Human growth hormone assists with fat loss, but there are other aspects of fasting that play a role as well.
Well it is debated exactly why fasting is so successful for weight loss (is it simply because we eat less calories overall?) there is no denying that it is. Fasting has not only been shown to help you lose weight, but all well maintaining lean muscle mass.
Benefit #4: Increased Autophagy Leading to Decreased Disease Risk and Increased Lifespan
Autophagy is the body’s way of cleaning up damaged cells, in order to regenerate new healthy cells. It removes toxic proteins from the cells that are attributed to diseases especially alzheimers, parkinsons and cancer.
The best way to increase autophagy is by fasting, although other things such as exercise and coffee have been shown to boost this mechanism as well.
Benefit #5: Improved Digestion
This one is pretty straight-forward - if you aren’t eating anything, there isn’t anything for you to digest. It’s kind of the same as with insulin, fasting gives your body a break.
The Cons of Fasting
Fasting diehards might argue that there are no downsides to fasting, but that is not entirely true…
Con #1: Stresses Your Body
Fasting is a stress on the body, there is no denying that. But stress is not always a bad thing! Exercise is a stressor and short bursts of stress like this are beneficial.
However, if you are already stressed before fasting, if your cortisol is already high, then fasting might be adding too much to a glass that is already full. The key here is to not force it, let periods of fasting fall into place naturally .
Con #2: Can Lead to Nutrient Deficiencies
Now I really believe that you should only eat until satiety, but there are some variations of fasting that make it difficult to do this and also get enough nutrition.
If you are doing lets say, OMAD (one mead a day fasting), it can be hard to get everything in one meal. Short-term, this is not so much of a concern, but if you stick to a fasting schedule for months or years, this will add up.
Getting enough protein is especially important. One symptom some people experience when fasting is hair loss. This really comes down to not getting enough protein.
And this is one of the reasons why you want to make sure the foods you are eating are during your feeding window are nutrient dense. You do not want to be wasting your time with empty calories.
Con #3: Can Be Used For Self-Punishment
This one really comes down to the individual and their history with food. For someone who has a background of binging, restricting, or other eating disorders, sticking to a strict fasting schedule might cause harm to your mental health.
And those are the pros and cons of fasting! Do you practice intermittent fasting? What is your fasting routine?
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN TRYING THE KETO DIET BUT NOT SURE WHERE TO START?
This website is for general informational purposes only. It must never be considered a substitute for advice provided by a doctor or other qualified healthcare professional. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare professional with questions you may have regarding your medical condition.
