What is Intermittent Fasting? What are the benefits?

Fasting could be defined as anything from a total abstinence of food to restricting spacific foods for several hours or days. In ancient times there were various religious reasons for fasting and it was regularly practiced. But many people in modern times also fast to improve their health or to lose weight.

Most people are used to a schedule of three meals a day, plus some snacks. This is the common eating pattern in our modern society, but have humans always consumed food on this type of eating schedule? Or is it more likely that our ancestors would eat more irregularly, like whenever they could find food, going long periods waiting to catch or find another meal.

Why would you want to go for long periods without eating?

Much of the research I have done suggests that intermittent fasting could have benefits. "Fasting alone is more powerful in preventing and reversing some diseases than drugs," a quote from Satchidananda Panda, associate professor of regulatory biology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, California.

Consider this, if hunter gatherers often only ate intermittently. This would suggest that the human body may have adapted the ability to function at a high level both physically and mentally during extended periods without food.

In a 2014 study in mice , scientists found that prolonged fasting (48 hours) promoted stem-cell-based regeneration of the hematopoietic system after damage from chemotherapy by downregulating IGF-1 and PKA activity. The authors suggested that their findings might have significance for human aging and disease. They also cautioned that fasting might not be safe for patients who were underweight or had risk factors like diabetes.

What does Dr Mercola think?

Dr. Mercola is a well known, and respected online doctor. In his article What the science says about intermittent fasting here are the highlights:

-It's long been known that calorie restriction can increase the lifespan of certain animals. More recent research suggests that intermittent fasting can provide the same health benefits as constant calorie restriction, which may be helpful for those who cannot successfully reduce their everyday calorie intake.

-“Undernutrition without malnutrition” is the only experimental approach that consistently improves survival in animals with cancer, and extends overall lifespan by about 30 percent.

-Both intermittent fasting and continuous calorie restriction have been shown to produce weight loss and improve metabolic disease risk markers. However, intermittent fasting tends to be slightly more effective for reducing insulin resistance.

-Besides turning you into an efficient fat burner, intermittent fasting can also boost your level of human growth hormone (aka the “fitness hormone”) production by as much as 1,200 percent for women and 2,000 percent for men.

-Intermittent fasting can improve brain function by boosting production of the protein BDNF, which activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons and triggers other chemicals that promote neural health. This protein also protects your brain cells from changes associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and helps protect your neuro-muscular system from degradation.

So he thinks (1) it could increase your lifespan (2) protects against cancer (3) helps with weight loss (4) increases your human growth hormone and (5) improves brain function/protects against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Wow, I would think everyone would want those benefits.

How can you start Intermittent Fasting?

I read the book The Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmekler. He explains that his method is to eat once a day. One big meal hours before you go to bed so that digestion is mainly finished before you rest. But also without having to digest anything in the mornings, you have your full power for your days activities.
With a quick search you will find plenty of Youtube videos with results from people trying out this "once a day" method. I myself have tried eating this way for a month or so, and I found that I was more alert, and more even. (no sugar ups and downs, or mood swings)

Another popular method is to skip a day of eating every few days. I personally would have a hard time skipping an entire day of eating.

Finally there is one method of just increasing your fasting window. You already fast for 8 hours a day while you sleep. That's why they call your morning meal: your Break-Fast. But could you skip breakfast and maybe increase your usual 8 hour fast to 12 or 14 hours or more. This is what I do, and is my prefered method of intermittent fasting.

Well I hope this post has given everyone some "food for thought". There is much much more information out there on this subject. This diet is meant as a lifestyle change and not a regular one or two month diet plan. So please do your own research, any attention you give towards gaining better health will surely be a great use of your time.

Cheers,

Luc