Intermittent Fasting | Weight Loss | Lifespan
IF Insider — №10 The Top 11 Questions about Intermittent Fasting
“Q&A” Edition — July 14, 2020
In this week’s IF Insider:
Responses to the top 11 most frequently asked questions during our Fast Factor 10 Day Challenges, plus how to become a member of our exclusive Fast Factor Circle Community.
What is the IF Insider?
This is your briefing on the week’s most compelling developments in intermittent fasting as well as innovation in practices that can be stacked with IF, such as plant-based eating, sleep hacks, natural nootropics, brain training and more, all curated by our team of entrepreneurs and ‘future-think’ scouts.
Our Mission is to introduce the power of Intermittent Fasting to entrepreneurs worldwide so they can exponentially improve their lives and businesses and the lives of the people they impact every day.
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Questions, Questions!
What’s this?
In our last IF Insider (IF Insider №9 ), we focused on plant-based eating in the age of COVID, mushrooms emerge as a source of protein, plus a roster of innovative creative and quirky resources for going plant-based. If you haven’t had a chance to take a look at those, please do so!
This issue’s focus is on answers to the most frequently asked questions we receive from participants in our quarterly 10-Day Fast Factor Intermittent Fasting Challenges. If you are thinking about taking up a fasting practice, have just begun, or even if you are very experienced, you’re likely to find something here that will be of use to you.
Let’s dive in!
The Top 11 Questions
Q — What are the primary reasons people decide to fast?
A — Most people are drawn to fasting because of the promise of weight loss. Another reason intermittent fasting (IF) is so attractive is that it’s not a diet and it’s sustainable. On IF you don’t count calories and you eat until you are satisfied but not stuffed. And IF can be combined with any other sort of plans you like such as keto, low carb or even Weight Watchers. But most people find that once they commit to a daily “clean fast” they really don’t have to eat any certain way.
Of course, we want you to eat as healthily as possible and that means less red meat and more whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and plant-based sources of protein such as beans and legumes.
Most people continue with IF, even after they have lost weight because they just feel so much better. Plus, there is substantial research that intermittent fasting has powerful preventative effects on diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and even cancer.
Q — What is your definition of a clean fast?
A — Some experts say you can have things such as some heavy cream or MCT oil in your coffee and it will not break your fast. But we see best results when your fast is completely clean, meaning that during your fasting time, you don’t eat anything and you drink freely from these liquids: plain water, sparkling water unflavored and unsweetened either naturally or artificially, green or black tea (again unflavored and unsweetened either naturally or artificially) and plain black coffee.
The idea here is that drinking anything else during your fasting time, even if it has zero calories and is flavored, can spike your insulin levels. One of the functions of insulin is to tell your body to store fat. And that is precisely what we don’t want!
Q — What do the times like 17:7 or 16:8 mean?
A — 16:8 = 16 hour fast followed by an 8-hour window for eating. So, for example, if you’re starting off with 16:8 — your eating window might be 10 am to 6 pm. So in this case you would eat NO food after 6 pm. You can pick any 8-hour window for eating, as long as the fast following is 16 hours.
Q — Do fasting and feasting windows have to be at the same time period every day?
A — No they do not. As long as you are getting in the number of hours you want to fast each day, then you can be flexible. You have to find what works for you!
Q — Do you take days off from fasting? Or is it pretty much 7 days a week?
There are several different fasting regimens that people adopt for themselves, including the 5:2 (two days of fasting and five days off), ADF or alternate-day fasting, and others. From our experience, it’s easiest and most sustainable to fast every day for a period of time during a 24-hour cycle.
Most people begin with what is known as 16:8. That’s 16 hours of fasting (and yes, that includes sleep time!) and an eight-hour window in which to eat. Most people will gradually increase that a bit to something like 18:6 and some people go even longer. There are some people who have good results at 16:8 and never change their routine. Each person is different and you learn to listen to your body and what it needs.
Q — What is the best way to break my fast? What should I eat?
A — The short answer is whatever you want! Having said that, it’s probably better to break your fast with something that is a bit higher in fat, such as some nuts, cheese, olives or avocados, as this won’t give you that initial insulin spike. But it’s entirely up to you as some individuals prefer other foods to break their fasts.
It’s more important to concentrate on the clean fast, and then try to eat as healthily as possible during your feasting time. Unlike a “diet” no foods are truly off-limits as long as it’s during your window. You will likely find that as you continue to fast daily, your taste for things that you found so satisfying before may not taste so good now!
Q- What is fat adaptation?
A — Fat-adaptation is a process that takes from a couple to 4 to 6 weeks or more, depending on the person. What this means is your body is easily able to switch from using carbs for fuel while eating to burning fat when you fast. When this happens, fasting becomes easy, you don’t feel hungry and have energy, focus, and mental clarity.
Before fat-adaptation, you may get really hungry when you fast, feel irritable, have a low-grade headache, because you are not easily able to switch to fat-burning and your body will try to convince you that you are starving!
The key to this is to keep on fasting eventually you will breakthrough. If you have times when you feel sick, weak, or dizzy then you should stop fasting and eat. Begin again the next day with a shorter fasting time and work your way up. Never attempt dry fasting as hydration is critical.
Q — How do I handle hunger pangs when I’m fasting?
A — Drinking a glass of ice water or having some black coffee (hot coffee or cold brew) or tea often helps. Also, most people who do IF keep pink salt (available at most supermarkets) on hand. A few grains of pink salt dissolved on your tongue followed by a glass of water will help immensely if you get hunger pangs.
Q — I have read that it’s best to exercise during your fasting window. Do you have any words of wisdom on that?
A — Yes, for most people, once you are used to fasting and have depleted your stored glycogen (see the question about fat adaptation for an explanation), which takes different amounts of time for each individual, fasting while exercising is not only great for fat burning but studies suggest greater endurance. Personally, we would wait until you are fat-adapted before you do strenuous exercise.
Q — Can I chew gum during the fasting period?
A — No gum, even artificially sweetened. The flavor and the sweetening (whether natural or artificial) spikes your insulin. And the very act of chewing also stimulates digestion.
Q — Can medications be taken with water during my fasting time?
A — You should consult with your medical provider before making any changes and continue to take them as prescribed. If they are nonprescription like vitamins we would recommend taking them in your eating window.
If it is a medication you must take with food and you can’t wait until your eating window opens, you can try taking them with a small amount of fat, such as good grass-fed butter, as that won’t spike your insulin.
If you see a question that’s not answered here and you are not yet part of our free Facebook Group, then please join and ask your question there. We would love to have you!
Why It Matters — Getting your questions answered is an important part of the intermittent fasting journey. When you have information you can trust, you have confidence to move ahead with your fasting program. If you have not yet joined our free Facebook group for entrepreneurs interested in intermittent fasting, you can do so here, as it’s a great resource for ongoing information.
“Knowledge is having the right answer. Intelligence is asking the right question.”
~ Anonymous
Each issue, we bring you a short blurb on what we are currently reading, listening to, or watching, including books, articles, videos, movies, and research papers of value. This week:
What We Are Reading
Ellen — The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. This 2017 book by Toronto based nephrologist Dr. Jason Fung, was one of the first publications to advance the idea that it’s not calories per se that cause weight gain, but it’s insulin that is the culprit.
His medical background and impeccable scientific credentials, plus his success with his own patients, really convinced me that intermittent fasting was the key to my health. Highly recommended.
Denise — The book I learned the most from in my early intermittent fasting days was AC: The Power of Appetite Correction by Bert Herring, MD. I’m not a scientist and need layman’s language to understand the biology of why and how IF works with your body.
Dr. Herring’s easy to read and understand book is practical and takes real life into consideration. He says, “The way you eat has to be compatible with a life of spontaneity, fun and variety. Losing fat is almost impossible if you’re working against your body, rather than with it.”
For more books and resources we use and recommend related to intermittent fasting, check out our list.
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Our Mission: We bring together entrepreneurs to learn how to combine the extraordinary power of intermittent fasting with research-based practices both ancient and modern so that as we support, encourage and inspire one another, we can each expand our focus, confidence and productivity as well as exponentially increase our well being, and through us, the well being of our families, friends, colleagues, and communities.
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Published by Dr. Ellen Britt & Denise Wakeman, Fast Factor Community.
Click here to get your free Fast Factor Primer: The Entrepreneur’s Quick Start Guide to Intermittent Fasting.
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