Everyone is talking about intermittent fasting.
Nowadays, you can’t even invite your brother over for a late-night dinner because he MUST quit eating at 7 p.m. What? Is this the same guy who used to eat PB & J sandwiches until 2 a.m.? And now he’s doing something called intermittent fasting, so he can’t accept your dinner invitation at 7?
If you’re one of the few who hasn’t heard about intermittent fasting yet, or you’re not sure how it works, it typically means not eating for at least 14 consecutive hours a day. However, eating in a six- to eight-hour period each day — maybe 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. — and not eating for 16 to 18 hours is likely closer to the metabolic ideal.
![clock]()
Some believe the practice improves heart health and may even lower the risk of cancer, while others use intermittent fasting as a weight-loss tool, according to Men’s Health.
The cycling of “feast or famine” falls in line with the same habits of our ancestors. Fasting restores your body to a more natural state that allows a whole host of biochemical benefits to occur — good biochemical benefits.
Here’s how it works: If you never skip a meal and eat or snack throughout the day, your body adapts to burning sugar as its primary fuel, which downregulates enzymes that utilize and burn stored fat. So, you become more insulin resistant and start gaining weight, and any efforts to lose weight prove unsuccessful.
The obesity rates across the nation have figuratively declared that the human body cannot run optimally when there’s a nonstop supply of calories coming into that body.
Not only does fasting upregulate autophagy and mitophagy — natural cleansing processes necessary for optimal cellular renewal and function — but it also triggers the generation of stem cells. By lowering insulin, it increases important hormones, including growth hormone, aka “the fitness hormone,” which is important for muscle development and general vitality. Last, but far from least, there’s evidence that suggests fasting can help prevent or even reverse dementia, since it literally sweeps the toxins from your body.
Surprisingly, most of these rejuvenating and regenerating benefits occur during the feeding phase, not the fasting phase.
Fasting is as old as mankind. It has been and is today an act that is prominently interwoven and featured in many religions and cultures. In addition, modern science confirms that coupled with a ketogenic diet, fasting can offer many benefits on your health, and can be a powerful tool for combating obesity, insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes and even cancer.
Please note fasting is safe and is not the same as starvation — one is voluntary and the other is forced. Having said that, there are certain groups who should not fast including children, pregnant or breast-feeding women and people who are underweight or malnourished.