All About Intermittent Fasting
The idea of intermittent fasting has exponentially exploded in the last ten years, in terms of its popularity. Although not a new practice, intermittent fasting is a new approach in the diet culture, that focuses predominantly on when we eat, instead of what we eat. One of the reasons why fasting has become so popular is because there is versatility in terms of the types of fasts available and people are not daunted by the idea of having to omit a specific food, which makes it that much more likely to implement as a daily lifestyle habit.
Intermittent fasting when done right, in accordance with other aspects of a healthy lifestyle such as adequate nutrition, movement and sleep, can serve as an energizing and revitalizing boost to your daily life, bringing alongside many potential health benefits.
WHAT IS INTERMITTENT FASTING
To begin with, what does intermittent fasting even mean and how do we correctly define it?
Intermittent fasting is primarily a pattern of eating where we mindfully choose to focus on when we eat instead of what we eat. To be more specific, “intermittent” refers to something being irregularly spaced in time and “fasting” is a period where we abstain from eating, so intermittent fasting focuses on eating during a set eating window and then having a period of non-eating after that.
Although some fasts also focus on the number of calories you can consume, most fasts that are based on times of eating and non-eating and do not specify the number of calories you should consume, the number of meals you should have or the frequency of your eating patterns - Those things are all up to you to decide, as long as you stay inside your eating time frame. Even though this eating approach emphasizes the timing of our meals instead of the content of our meals, that does of course not mean that we should abandon all of our knowledge of a healthy and balanced diet. Alongside our fasts, we should still be incorporating a healthy diet full of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, lean protein sources and healthy fats to keep our body and mind at their peak performance.
In terms of the history of the diet, fasting has been around for millennia, in fact even from the times of hunter-gatherers, we presumably implemented fasting on an almost daily basis, as our food was not always available and when it was, we simply ate. Even today, some religions still incorporate fasting as a monthly practice during the year, which goes to show that the idea of fasting is anything but new.
During the time of your fast, generally ingesting anything that is below 50 calories will keep your body in a fasted state and your metabolic activity low, meaning that is it allowed to have water, cooffee, tea or any other drink that does not impact your metabolism to a great extent.
TYPES OF FASTS
There are many different types of fasting styles out there and below I have provided some of the most common ones, to help you identify which one is most in alliance with your current goals and lifestyle
5:2: This is where for five days per week you eat your normal diet but for two days a week, you limit your calorie intake to 500 calories per day
16/8: This is the most common fasting style, where we have an 8-hour eating window and a 16 hour fasting period that follows after it
15/9: This style is similar to the last one, just that in this case we are allowed to eat for 9 hours while fasting for 15 hours
Complete fast: A slightly more extreme version, this is where we choose to fast for 1 or 2 full days during a week and eating our normal diet for the remainder of the week
POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF FASTING
In terms of the scientific research behind fasting, so far most of it is inconclusive in terms of its impacts on human health since the majority of the research was done on rats and not directly on humans. However, from doing fasting tests on rodents, we were able to discover many positive impacts, which could potentially also be replicated in humans. Below are some of the promising health benefits that fasting could bring, with their being more research on the way that connects the science behind fasting and how it impacts our health.
CELLULAR REGENERATION
Extended periods of fasting promote a process called autophagy, which is known as the cellular repair of tissue, organs and blood vessels, which could potentially protect against several diseases like cancer and mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease
Fasting gives cells the time to remove used up or even toxic metabolic waste products that accumulate during the times that our body is digesting food. Apart from this, because during fasting our body is obtaining energy, not from direct glucose stores ingested through food, we have lower levels of oxidative stress which means lower levels of inflammation - something that is good for all aspects of our health
Even though it is a bold statement, due to the compelling research on the potential ability of cellular regeneration and internal detoxification of our organism, long term fasting could perhaps promote longevity, which was also proven by an experiment done on mice, where those mice that were put through phases of fasting, lived dramatically longer than the rest
WEIGHT AND FAT LOSS
Because during fasting we are relying on two secondary sources of energy - firstly glycogen and then fat stores - we are telling our body to use up our current energy stores for its functioning which undoubtedly will make us lose body fat and eventually also body mass in the case that we are overweight. Roughly, scientific research has concluded that on average it takes our body about 12 hours for us to switch from using glycogen to fat as our main source of energy, which is when the process of fat burning can commence
Furthermore, fasting induces changes in the levels of certain hormones circling in our blood. More specifically, our levels of insulin decrease dramatically as there is no direct food ingested, which promotes fat burning and apart from insulin, the level of our growth hormone increases which encourages the build-up of muscle tissue and once again using up fat as a energy source.
LOWER CHANCE OF CHRONIC ILLNESSES
Some research has stated that due to significantly lower insulin levels in our blood, we are less likely to become insulin resistance meaning that we are less prone to becoming type II diabetic
Additionally, fasting has been proposed as a way to treat heart disease because it decreases the concentration of triglycerides and LDL cholesterol in our blood, alongside lowering our blood pressure, blood sugar and inflammation levels all of which compound to protect our heart health
BRAIN HEALTH
A couple of research reports done on rodents have pointed out that longterm fasting may protect against brain degenerative illnesses such as various brain targeting cancers and Alzheimer’s disease
Furthermore, fasting has been shown to increase our level of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor which is a hormone that has been linked with playing a large role in preventing depression and various other mental conditions
MY PERSONAL BENEFITS
Personally I predominantly use the 15/9 or 16/8 fasting method on a daily basis and having done fasting regularly for about a month now, I have noticed some other benefits, most of which are centred on a change in my mentality and relationship with food.
Firstly I have found that fasting has enabled me to listen to my bodies food cues, where most of the time now, I eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full
Because I choose to have breakfast at 9 am and wake up somewhere between 6 or 7 in the morning, I have developed an enjoyable habit of exercising or going outside for a walk or run in the morning which is then rewarded by a nutritious and filling breakfast afterwards
Since my hunger cues have improved, I spend less time thinking about food, since I know roughly when and what I will eat, which allows me to have more focus and greater levels of energy for making more important decisions in my day
WHO IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR
Even though intermittent fasting comes with potentially some very positive and impactful changes to your overall health and well being, it is not advised to do for everyone. Here is a list of people who are advised to speak to their doctor first if wanting to start intermittent fasting, in order to avoid any greater health setbacks.
Consult with your doctor before fasting, if you:
Have a past in disordered eating or any other mental related food disorder
Are currently underweight and have a lower than a healthy fat percentage
Are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive
Have a past in or currently have heart disease, type II diabetes or persistent low blood pressure
Are younger than 15 years old
Are older than 70 years (elderly people)
DOWNSIDES OF THE DIET
Everything has upsides and downsides, and intermittent fasting comes with a few setbacks of its own, which come in different sizes and effect based on the individual’s previous lifestyle tendencies and personal experiences with the diet. It is not to say that ever will experience these downsides, however, they are most common to newcomers and for people for who intermittent fasting is a large lifestyle shift. Experiencing some of these in the initial stages is normal for a shift in lifestyles such as this one, simply because your body is adjusting to a new routine and lifestyle.
Here are some things you may experience during your first month of starting intermittent fasting:
Experiencing feelings of hunger, slight irritation, frequent mood changes and occasionally lacking focus
May negatively impact your social eating times and get-togethers
Being more prone to overeating during your eating period from increased hunger signals
Not eating an adequate amount of calories during your eating window, so make sure you are eating nutritionally and calorically dense meals in smaller but more frequent portions, especially if your eating window is small and you are an active individual
FAST TIPS FOR INTERMITTENT FASTING
Identify why you want to start fasting: There are plenty of reasons why you would want to try it out, but defining this is crucial since you have to remember that you are doing this for yourself, so if you don’t know what you want to get out from fasting, then why would you even start?
Starting small: it is easy to be ambiguous and say that you will start with a 16/8 fasting style, but that may be a bit of an ambiguous start, especially if you have never done serious fasting in the past. Choosing a shorter fasting period will make it more realistic for you and will make it easier for your body to adjust, meaning that you are much more likely to stick with it
Using an app: health-specific apps nowadays are more versatile than ever and there are plenty of fast-tracking apps out there that can help you keep on track with your progress and provide you with more information about the science behind intermittent fasting. Furthermore, it can connect you to a community of other people that are also on their fasting journey, which can motivate and inspire you to keep up your progress. I personally am I big fan of the app Zero and have been using it on a daily basis, because it is very simple to use and provides me with everything that I would need in a fasting app
Keeping hydrated: It is crucial that you drink enough water during your fasts, otherwise being in a dehydrated state can make you lose concentration and increase feelings of dizziness and tiredness
Adjusting you fasting style: Not every fasting style will work for everyone so it is important to adjust your fasting style to your current lifestyle, meaning that if have serious occupations like a full-time job, a family and long commuting times, you will have to adjust your fasting style to accommodate for those factors
Considering exercise: Exercising is not an issue during fasting, however, some people might prefer to opt for slower-paced exercises instead of a hard strenuous workout, simply because they prefer to have some fuel in the tank before exercising. It is important to consider and plan out your exercise roughly in advance since after exercise you soon become hungry and your muscles need nutrients and energy to replenish, so make sure you keep those things in mind while fasting
Meal planning: This point is linked slightly to the previous one, wherewith fasting we now have a new eating schedule to follow, which means that it will be really helpful for us to roughly know ahead of time what we will be eating and when, so this is where meal planning and food preparation come in handy because it saves us time with deciding what to eat and the length of the cooking process itself.
