Intermittent Fasting

Why do intermittent fasting?

a study from 1945 showed that intermittent fasting in mice extended life. This was recently found again in alternate day intermittent fasting.
used in cancer prevention and used before days of chemotherapy to reduce side effects.
to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease
It is easier than following diets and can be an eating program that can be maintained for a lifetime.
weight loss
it gives your digestion and liver a break. Much energy is expended digesting food and eliminating toxins so reducing this for even a short time is a nice break for your body
reduce insulin resistance
decrease inflammation
reduce blood lipids

How does it benefit our body

Think of our body in two states over the day a FED STATE and a FASTING STATE. A FED STATE starts when you start eating and food is being digested and absorbed. This can last for 3-5 hours. It is seldom you burn fat in this time as your insulin is to high.

A FASTING STATE is simply when your body is not processing food. It is much easier for your body to lose fat when it is not processing food and the insulin levels have lowered. For some people they never let their bodies get in this state and it is so hard for them to lose weight. It may be time for you to try intermittent fasting. It is quite exciting to watch how even without changing foods or upping exercise how it starts to help. I do encourage people to exercise and when eating eat nutritious foods that suit their body type and rotate the foods for a full array of nutrients for the micro biome.

WARNINGS

Avoid fasting or skipping meals in cases of:

If in doubt seek medical advice. I personally have epilepsy but that does not mean I cannot have days of less calories. I do not ever meal skip or full fast. Every case can be a little different. If in doubt discuss it with your practitioner.

Make sure when fasting or doing any form of intermittent fasting that you drink plenty of quality water

Types of Intermittent Fasting

5:2 - this was redefined by Michael Mosley. Where two days a week you reduce your calorie count dramatically. You might on these days do veggie juices, salads, soups or fish and veggie meals only.
1-9pm eating or 16/8 eating- this way every second day you only eat from 1pm in the afternoon to 9pm at the latest. some movie stars do this to lose weight for their characters.
Alternate day fasting - several versions of this. A full fast every second day might be a bit extreme and hard to sustain long term. Some people do 500 calories every second day
Spontaneous meal skipping. This is never something that is encouraged as we grow up but interesting to think about. Do we eat to much in a meal and sometimes do we eat when we are not hungry. listening to your body and eat when you are hungry and have breaks too. Skip a maximum of two meals and when you do eat eat healthy food.
Granny Smith Apple Fast - This is really done for people with Gallbladder issues. Some clients have a day purely on Apples and Apple juice for a few days a week. If hard to do 24hours purely on apples some people do morning to afternoon of apples and then a light normal dinner.
The Warrior Diet - this was popularised by fitness expert Ori Hofmekler. This is where you have small amounts of raw fruit and veggies thru out the day and then a main meal at night.