INTERMITTENT FASTING

Today we’ll see what is fasting and why it is beneficial to our minds and bodies. I do not speak from the point of view of a doctor. I do it from the point of view of a person who experiences intermittent fasting for more than a year now and studied several articles and books about it.

First of all let’s see what intermittent fasting is.

Well, it is mainly an eating pattern having cycles of eating and non-eating. That’s it. In order to do it, you just have to be disciplined and willing enough and not to eat during the non-eating interval. How big that interval it is, it all depends on you.

As you can see, I said nothing about what you’re allowed to eat during your eating interval. That’s because you’re not restricted to anything during your eating hours. Yes, you should not eat garbage, but that’s not a restriction from intermittent fasting. You can still have junk food and then fast. That’s not recommended, but that’s still intermittent fasting and you’ll benefit from it.

Now that we know what it means, let’s see why you should do it and what are the benefits of intermittent fasting.

Weight loss, that’s one of its benefits. It’s one of the most healthy ways of losing weight if you combine it with a proper fuel during your eating period and working out. Yes, you can still practice sports if you’re doing intermittent fasting, you don’t have to sit in your bed the whole day. Novak Djokovic is just one example of a highly performing sportsman who’s doing intermittent fasting. If he can do it, then we can go for a run while fasting.

Let’s see some science behind our bodies.

When you eat, you’re fueling your body. Then the body is digesting the food and breaks the carbohydrates into the sugar necessary for energy. If you keep on eating, the body won’t have time to use all that glucose generated for energy and it’s being stored. Yes, that’s how you’ll get fat. During fasting periods, your body uses that glucose generated by the food intake and then turns into burning fat. And yes, that’s how you lose fat. Just give your body the opportunity and time to use that glucose and then turn to your fat.

Something else that happens in your body while you fast is related to your insulin level. It drops. As you probably guess, your insulin level rises when you eat. There are scientific studies proving that decreasing your insulin level is beneficial to a healthy aging and longevity and it also prevents and reverses diabetes and obesity. (1)(2)

Also an important benefit is the improvements on the blood pressure and your heart rate along with your general health. While you are fasting, your cells are working out. This is when the bad and the dead cells are being eaten by the good ones through a process called autophagy. It’s like cleaning your house, just that it’s about the house that you’re never leaving. This process it’s been proven to be highly beneficial against cancer and dementia. (3)(4)

Let’s sum up the benefits:

• lose weight in a healthy manner
• improve metabolic health and decrease insulin level
• healthy aging and longevity
• prevents and reverses diabetes and obesity
• improves blood pressure and heart rate
• cleaning out the waste cells from your body

Now that we know the benefits, let’s see how you can do it. Simply make a schedule and stick to it. Some examples are:

• Daily eat for 12 hours and fast for 12 (12/12 plan)
• Daily eat for 10 hours and fast for 14 (10/14 plan)
• Daily eat for 8 hours and fast for 16 (8/16 plan) — this is said to be an optimal one for those who want to experience the benefits of intermittent fasting, but not push themselves that hard
• From time to time (weekly/monthly) fast for 24 hours. This could be combined with the plans from above.

These plans are doable and adjustable based on where you are right now with your eating schedule. Do what works for you.

And before you do anything I highly recommend you to start gradually! Don’t go straight away for one week fast. And also if you experienced for some time the intermittent fasting and plan on going for some wider fasting intervals, I highly recommend consulting your physician and get advice specific to your health condition.