Is Intermittent Fasting Good for You?

Protect Your Health Through Intermittent Fasting

If you are among those who think intermittent fasting is a new fad you may be in for a surprise. Do you sleep for several hours per day without snacking? You are probably intermittent fasting.

Fasting is one of the most ancient and widespread practicing traditions in the world. Our ancient ancestors fasted throughout their lives. They would go for hours even days without meals because food was scarce. Despite the shortage of food, they would maintain high physical and cognitive function. Fasting in general is practiced by many cultures, and religions, and is recommended by some health practitioners. The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates recommended fasting for healthy purposes. One of his quotations says, “Everyone has a physician inside him or her; we just have to help it in its work.  The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.  Our food should be our medicine.  Our medicine should be our food.  But to eat when you are sick is to feed your sickness.”

What is interesting is that when animals are sick, their instinct is to refuse food. Do you lose appetite when you are sick? I noticed the same behavior with my children, and it is happening with my grandchildren as well. When the crisis is over, the appetite returns naturally. So, human beings are not very different. We have that instinct, just like that of other animals. Furthermore, our bodies are adaptive to conditions and the environment. They store energy reserves which we can access when food supplies are scarce.

History tells us that ancient Greeks
were great believers in fasting.
Hippocrates promoted it, as we have seen in that quotation above.  Plato said that he fasted for greater
physical and mental efficiency.  Greek
physicians prescribed fasts for their patients. Not only that, fasting is
embraced by many health gurus today. But debates are raging on the scientific
facts of fasting. Though we have numerous studies on mice, we need more research
on humans. But that should not deter you from doing your own homework. There is
enough on the subject to help you.

Since “Protection is Better than Cure”, do not let others
determine the state of and road to your health. Do your homework so that you
may make wise informed choices. You might have heard the saying, ‘health is wealth’.
Yes, health is the most precious asset we have in life. Stay in charge of your
health.

There are several types of fasting with various health benefits but in this article, we are going to focus on intermittent fasting.

Why?

Research indicates that many health benefits can be achieved through intermittent fasting. When done right, intermittent fasting can improve many processes of the immune function. Other benefits commonly reported include weight loss which can be sustained, improved heart health, increased brain function, protection against certain chronic diseases, reduce inflammation, and more.

In this article we will be sharing with you what is, its benefits, and how you may incorporate it into your lifestyle and take control of your health. Our mission is to inspire you to make wise choices that will help you protect your health because protection is better than cure.

Warning

Before you start any new health program especially fasting, check with your doctor as fasting can be detrimental to health if not done properly or if you already have health issues.

Types and Categories of Fasting

Before we dive into intermittent fasting, let us look at the various types of fasting. The two main categories of fasts are health and religious fasts. Religious fasts include, dry or absolute fast, water fast, partial fast. Health fasts include liquid fasts, partial fasts, and hard or dry fasts.

For our purposes, let us focus on the health category of
fasting. Though these different health fasts may offer slightly different
benefits, if done the right way, all will cleanse, detoxify, and reduce
inflammation. Therefore, you have a variety of fasts from which to choose what
is appropriate for your lifestyle, health issues, goals, etc. And, since our
health situations change, what you choose today may be different from what you
need another time. Furthermore, some types of fasting may not be suitable for
your goal.

Liquid fasting. As the name implies, operate on
liquids only. These include water fasting, juice fasting, master cleanse, some
partial fasts.

Water fasting – water fasting is one of the oldest
types of fasting. It involves a period where you consume neither solid foods
nor liquids that contain calories. On this program, only water is allowed.
Water fasting is the simplest and perhaps the oldest form of liquid fasting. It
is believed to deliver the greatest level of therapeutic benefit physically, in
a short period. However, if you are just starting on fasting, a water fast can
be more difficult to devote to. You may find it easier to start with a juice
fast or a partial fast like intermittent fasting.

Juice fasting – no solid food but fresh natural
juices are consumed as well as water for a period. For example, between 1 – 3
day. This type of fast is sometimes referred to as a juice cleanse. Juice
fasting is extremely popular and offers a measure of nutritional support in a
pure and natural form. This is a good way to venture into fasting as any fruit
or vegetable can be juiced to offer antioxidants, phytonutrients and macro
nutrients as well.

Master cleanse – sometimes referred to as the Lemon Detox Diet. Compared with a water fast, this is a fairly new approach which got popular in the 1970s. It includes calories in the form of pure maple syrup, a salt flash and lots water for hydration and cleansing.

Partial fasting. Also sometimes called selective
fasting, partial fasting includes some solid food, and some liquids. It is not
the amount of food, but the exclusion or limitation of certain foods that makes
it a partial fast. Most cleansing diets and mono-diets are partial fasts.

Dry fasting. This is also known as Absolute Fast, Hard
Fast, or Hebrew Fast. Dry fasting is the hardest and most extreme of all the
types of fasting. It is one of the oldest fasts with spiritual roots, dating
back thousands of years. It consists of foregoing food and water for short
periods. During this fast, absolutely nothing is allowed, not even water. What
makes it more difficult is the fact that during the fast you are not supposed
to have any contact with water. Showering, brushing teeth, or any chore or
activity that involves water is not allowed.

Now you that know about these several fasts, what is intermittent fasting and how does it relate to them?

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting, sometimes
referred to as ‘time restricted fasting’ is a lifestyle where you switch
between fasting and eating for a certain period. It could be daily, weekly, by-weekly,
or even monthly, depending on your goal and plan. By fasting and then eating on
purpose, intermittent fasting means that you consume your calories during a
specific smaller window of the day/week and choose not to eat food for a larger
window. Intermittent fasting is not starvation, rather a rest from chewing and
putting food into your mouth for a specific period.

To some people intermittent fasting seems like a new concept, but if you think about it seriously, most of us who sleep 7 plus hours without snacking, are intermittent fasting. The only difference is that we are eating in a larger window than we are fasting. When done right, intermittent fasting improves the processes of the immune function. You feel better, sleep better, and for most people, after the second day they start gaining back their energy.

What are various types of intermittent fasting?

There are different approaches to intermittent fasting with varying schedules. Popular approaches include:

Daily time restricted fasting.

Following healthy guidelines, you eat normally but only within a window. One of the common windows followed is fasting for 16 hours and then eating within an 8-hour window: that could mean eating from 10 am. to 6 pm and fasting from 6 pm to 10 am. Some people only eat in a 6-hour window, or even a 4-hour window. You can skip breakfast, or you can skip dinner each day if you eat quality food, according to the plan. Another example is OMAD: where you eat only one meal a day.

The 16:8-hour window is the most popular. And it is quite
effective as the fasting period is long enough to affect changes. Following are
various ways carrying out a 16/8 hour intermittent fast:

• start eating at: 7am, stop eating and
  start fasting at 3pm.
• You start eating at: 11am, stop eating and start
  fasting at 7pm.
• You start eating at: 6pm, stop eating and start
  fasting at 2am.

You can adjust your schedule according to your lifestyle. But your aim is to eat in the 8-hour window and refrain from food for 16 hours. Although most sites recommend skipping breakfast, some health gurus suggest missing dinner. Either way you should be getting your planned fuel plus all the necessary nutrients.

Alternate day fasting

Alternate day fasting or (ADF) or every other day fasting, is a type of intermittent fasting where you alternate between periods of regular eating and fasting every other day. Depending on your goal, the fasting day may consist of very restricted calories, not more than 500, or a complete fast where you only consume water. Another approach to the alternate day fasting is fast one day and eat whatever you want the next day.

The 5:2 fasting

For the 5:2 fasting,
you follow a normal diet five days a week and fast two days a week. You can
change the days to suit your goal. For example, 4:3 where you eat normally for
4 days and fast for 3 days.

No food during the fasting period is permitted but drinking water, coffee, and tea without sugar or sweeteners is accepted. Some programs allow stevia though. Using any sweetener if you are on a WATER fast may not be a wise choice because sweeteners, however good, have been linked to insulin spikes.

Natural night fasting

This is the most natural way to fast. It is the intermittent fasting which occurs during our sleep, between 7-12 hours every night. The sooner we stop eating in the evening, the longer this fast becomes, and this means the more the body benefits. As we have seen already, with any type of fasting, the energy which would be needed for other functions is freed up and used towards cleansing, healing and restoration of cells and tissues. Making the night part of your fast is one of the ideal ways to sync intermittent fasting with circadian rhythm and reap maximum benefits from this eating pattern. Our body is naturally more active during day light, and rests in the darkness of the night. So, intermittent fasting can be the easiest way to fast. You can increase your fasting window without fuss by extending the time before you start your first meal or forwarding the time you stop eating your last meal. For example, if you sleep for 8 hours without snacking or eating, drinking fluids with calories, you can add an hour or two to begin with and increase to whatever hours you want.

How does intermittent fasting work?

Our general lifestyle which calls for three meals, plus
snacks throughout the day, causes the body to run on the energy from the food we
have just consumed. This is because every time we eat, we create insulin spikes.

Insulin is a hormone that helps the body control the level
of sugar, or glucose, in the blood. Created by the pancreas, insulin also helps
store glucose in the liver, fat, and muscles, and regulate your body’s
metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The more often we eat the more
insulin spikes we generate.

With fewer meals in a shorter period, intermittent fasting
helps your body reduce insulin spikes and allows it to use body fat as fuel in
the absence of sugar. So, intermittent fasting can help your system learn to burn
the excess body fat reserves. But this will not happen overnight.
Determination, persistence, and discipline are vital for the change.

Since intermittent fasting is likely to cut out an entire meal each day, you will be consuming fewer calories per week. Remember though, not all calories are created equal, so you must make healthy choices. So, let see what happens.

When you eat a meal, your body spends several hours
processing that food, burning what it can from what you just consumed.  Because it has all this easy to burn energy readily
available, your body will choose to use this as energy rather than the fat you
have stored.  This is especially true if
you just consumed carbohydrates or simple sugars. Your body prefers to burn
sugar as energy before any other source of fuel since that is what it is used
to do.

For the period you are fasting, when your body is not consuming or digesting any food, your body will use up stored glycogen and then turn to fat stores in your body since this will be the only energy source readily available.

With limited carbs, physical activity and exercise, the body will be forced to turn to your fat stores. So, intermittent fasting will help your body use the food you consume more efficiently. And eventually, with the restriction of carbs, your body will adapt to using fat as fuel.

Is intermittent fasting a type of starvation?

Whenever I suggest any type of fast, people get worked up because they think fasting equals starvation. Though fasting the wrong way may end in lack of essential nutrients, it is most unlikely that you will fast yourself to starvation, especially when intermittent fasting.

What is the difference between intermittent fasting and starvation?

Fasting is intentionally, going without food or water, or
something for a specific period. This may be for health benefits or for religious
reasons. Fasting should be planned and specific. You have a reason for doing it
and you are not forced to do it.

Starvation on the other hand, is a long-term deprivation of
nutrition, a severe deficiency of caloric energy intake below the level needed
to maintain an organism’s life. It is when your body starts shutting down
because it does not have the fuel requirements to perform the basic functions
of the body. In the starvation mode, you are not getting the right nutrients.
If prolonged, starvation will lead to a state of dying due to lack of
nourishment or food. It can lead to severe health damage or death.

If done right, intermittent fasting can be beneficial to
your health. But intermittent fasting is not a fad. It is an essential practice
especially if you want to lose weight or as we get older. But you do not need
to wait till old age to start a fasting lifestyle. The sooner you start the
better.

Caution: fasting can lead to starvation if extended for too
long without ingesting the right nutrition or doing it without medical supervision.

The difference between intermittent fasting and starvation

Intermittent Fasting is a Good Tool for Weight Loss.

When you eat a meal, your digestive system breaks down the
food into nutrients which are absorbed into the blood. Carbohydrates are broken
down into sugars, which lead to an increase in blood sugar. The rise in blood
sugar triggers the release of insulin, the blood sugar lowering hormone. This
process known as insulin response is crucial because the body is supposed to
keep the sugar in the blood at a certain level. An imbalance in the blood sugar
can be detrimental to your health. Whenever you eat, you stimulate an insulin
response. When you eat, carbohydrates are the first ones to be converted to
glucose but what you may not know is that proteins contribute to insulin spikes
though with less impact. If you want to lose weight, you can reduce insulin
response by limiting the number of meals you eat and the length of the window
for eating, while reducing carbs and increasing good fats and healthy fatty foods.

It is important to note that what we have discussed above does not mean that insulin is not essential for your health. On the contrary, insulin is vital for optimal health and proper body function. Let us look at this scenario.

• When you eat food, your body reacts to energy consumption, ingesting food, with insulin production. The more sensitive your body is to insulin, the more likely you will be able to use your food efficiently. This indicates that insulin is essential for efficient utilization of food. Your body is most sensitive to insulin following a period of fasting. So fasting affects insulin production and insulin sensitivity. That is why fasting helps lead to weight loss and muscle creation.
• During the fast, glycogen, a form of sugar that is stored by our muscles and liver, is depleted. It is also depleted during sleep and during physical activities which leads to increased insulin sensitivity.
• The food eaten during the fast will therefore be used more efficiently used than the food eaten during insulin spikes when not fasting. In this instance, minimal amounts of fat will be stored.

If your insulin sensitivity is at normal levels, without intermittent
fasting, the food you consume in excess especially the carbohydrates, will end up
as glycogen stores, with enough glucose in the bloodstream, and whatever
remains will be stored as fat in your body.

While intermittent fasting, the growth hormone (HGH) is increased
during fasted states (both during sleep and after a period of fasting). The increased
growth hormone secretion, together with the decrease in insulin production,
will increase insulin sensitivity and promote muscle growth and fat loss.

Insulin sensitivity refers to how sensitive the body’s cells are in response to insulin. High insulin sensitivity allows the cells of the body to use blood glucose more effectively, reducing blood sugar. Some lifestyle and dietary changes may help improve this sensitivity. Fasting is one of the ways you may incorporate in your lifestyle to promote insulin sensitivity, control your weight, and improve your overall health.

Difference between intermittent fasting and traditional feeding of three main meals plus snacks

Insulin resistance develops when the cells in your muscles, fat, and liver, do not respond well to insulin. Excess glucose in the blood decreases the ability of the cells to absorb and use blood sugar for energy. Unfortunately, this causes your pancreas to make more insulin which over time results in increased blood sugar levels. This increases the risk of developing prediabetes, and eventually, type 2 diabetes. It may lead to other problems like inflammation, weight gain, heart diseases, obesity, and more.

Intermittent fasting done properly can help you fight these disorders and restore your body back to optimum health.

Is intermittent fasting safe for you?

Though intermittent fasting is safe for many people, it may
not be safe for you, especially if you fall into any of these groups: pregnant,
breast-feeding, have eating disorder, you are underweight, have kidney stones, suffer
from gastroesophageal reflux, you are on diabetes medications or have other
medical issues.

Even if fasting is safe for you, it is important to remember
that you may experience certain unpleasant side effects, but they usually go
away within a few days or weeks. They may include hunger, headaches, fatigue, insomnia,
nausea, dizziness, etc.

If you are considering fasting, talk to your doctor about its pros and cons. Remember, PIBC. As Hippocrates said, “Let food be your medicine.” You can protect your health with regular fasting, a healthy diet and exercise.

How to do intermittent fasting

Identify why you want to do it

Prepare for the fast

Choose your window. Start easy and work your way to your
goal