9 Reasons To Practice Intermittent Fasting
There are many different ways and reasons to practice intermittent fasting - from consuming nothing but water for 24-48 hours, to having set hours during the day when you eat, such as between the hours of 11am and 7pm, allowing for 16 hours of fasting in every 24 hour period. The method I choose to practice is nutritional cleansing. This is where you undertake a period of fasting - anywhere from 24 to 48 hours, but rather than consuming nothing you are supporting your body with teas, herbs, and small snacks that promote balanced blood sugar levels and healthy brain chemistry.
The period of fasting allows for very low calorie intake whilst providing essential nutritional support. Fast days are then followed up with nutrient-dense food.
When I am having a 30-Day detox, I will typically have four Cleanse Days out of the 30, either as single days or as two doubles. At other times I tend to cleanse for one or two days every month.
Some of my friends think I'm crazy, and are full of amazement that I can happily go for long periods without proper meals, but it is easier than you might think, and I have also found that it gets easier with practice. It has more to do with mindset than anything else, and I also find it strangely liberating to not have to worry about food for a while!
It is also very interesting to feel the difference between hunger and cravings. It is possible to stand strong in the face of hunger for a day or two, whereas it is almost impossible to fight against the power of a craving. When fasting you usually find you are hungry but not craving.
So why do I do it? I have found that by including nutritional cleanse days as part of my lifestyle I am able to maintain my weight easily, lose a few extra kilos for a special event or holiday, and keep myself feeling well, energetic and clear-headed.
Aside from my own anecdotal evidence, scientists have identified at least ten evidence-based health benefits of intermittent fasting.
1. Intermittent Fasting Changes The Function of Cells, Genes and Hormones.
When you fast, insulin levels drop, which facilitates fat burning and human growth hormone increases, which facilitates fat burning and muscle gain.
Your cells also initiate important cellular repair processes, such as removing waste materials from cells.
There are also beneficial changes in several genes and molecules related to longevity and protection against disease.
2. Intermittent Fasting Can Help You Lose Weight and Belly Fat.
Many of those who try intermittent fasting are doing it in order to lose weight. Generally speaking, intermittent fasting will make you eat fewer meals.
Unless if you compensate by eating much more during the other meals, you will end up taking in fewer calories.
Additionally, intermittent fasting enhances hormone function to facilitate weight loss. Lower insulin levels, higher growth hormone levels and increased amounts of norepinephrine (noradrenaline) all increase the breakdown of body fat and facilitate its use for energy.
For this reason, short-term fasting actually increases your metabolic rate by 3.6-14%, helping you burn even more calories.
In other words, intermittent fasting works on both sides of the calorie equation. It boosts your metabolic rate (increases calories out) and reduces the amount of food you eat (reduces calories in).
According to a 2014 review of the scientific literature, intermittent fasting can cause weight loss of 3-8% over 3-24 weeks. This is a huge amount.
The people also lost 4-7% of their waist circumference, which indicates that they lost lots of belly fat, the harmful fat in the abdominal cavity that causes disease. One review study also showed that intermittent fasting caused less muscle loss than continuous calorie restriction.
All things considered, intermittent fasting can be an incredibly powerful weight loss tool.
3. Intermittent Fasting Can Reduce Insulin Resistance, Lowering Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes has become incredibly common in recent decades. Its main feature is high blood sugar levels in the context of insulin resistance.
Anything that reduces insulin resistance should help lower blood sugar levels and protect against type 2 diabetes. Interestingly, intermittent fasting has been shown to have major benefits for insulin resistance and lead to an impressive reduction in blood sugar levels.
In human studies on intermittent fasting, fasting blood sugar has been reduced by 3-6%, while fasting insulin has been reduced by 20-31%.
4. Intermittent Fasting Can Reduce Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in The Body.
Oxidative stress is one of the steps towards ageing and many chronic diseases. It involves unstable molecules called free radicals, which react with other important molecules (like protein and DNA) and damage them.
Several studies show that intermittent fasting may enhance the body’s resistance to oxidative stress.
Additionally, studies have shown that intermittent fasting can help fight inflammation, another key driver of all sorts of common diseases.
5. Intermittent Fasting May be Beneficial For Heart Health Heart disease is currently the world’s biggest killer.
It is known that various health markers (so-called “risk factors”) are associated with either an increased or decreased risk of heart disease.
Intermittent fasting has been shown to improve numerous different risk factors, including blood pressure, total and LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides, inflammatory markers and blood sugar levels.
6. Intermittent Fasting Induces Various Cellular Repair Processes
When we fast, the cells in the body initiate a cellular “waste removal” process called autophagy.
This involves the cells breaking down and metabolising broken and dysfunctional proteins that build up inside cells over time. Increased autophagy may provide protection against several diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
7. Intermittent Fasting May Help Prevent Cancer
Cancer is a terrible disease, characterised by uncontrolled growth of cells. Fasting has been shown to have several beneficial effects on metabolism that may lead to reduced risk of cancer.
Although human studies are needed, promising evidence from animal studies indicates that intermittent fasting may help prevent cancer.
There is also some evidence on human cancer patients, showing that fasting reduced various side effects of chemotherapy.
8. Intermittent Fasting is Good For Your Brain.
Intermittent fasting improves various metabolic features known to be important for brain health. This includes reduced oxidative stress, reduced inflammation and a reduction in blood sugar levels and insulin resistance.
Some studies also suggest it may increase growth of new neurons and protect the brain from damage.
9. Intermittent Fasting May Extend Your Lifespan, Helping You Live Longer.
One of the most exciting applications of intermittent fasting may be its ability to extend lifespan.
Studies in rats have shown that intermittent fasting extends lifespan in a similar way as continuous calorie restriction.
In some of these studies, the effects were quite dramatic. In one of them, rats that fasted every other day lived 83% longer than rats who weren’t fasted.
Although this is far from being proven in humans, intermittent fasting has become very popular among the anti-ageing crowd.
Given the known benefits for metabolism and all sorts of health markers, it makes sense that intermittent fasting could help you live a longer and healthier life.