Risks And Side Effects
Why might intermittent fasting be bad for some people? Its not intended for people with eating disorders, women who are pregnant or those who already have low body weight.
When taken too far, it can potentially cause side effects such as:
- increased hunger
- trouble sleeping
If you suffer from low blood sugar, for example, going without eating all day may lead to dangerous side effects due to a drop in blood sugar causing symptoms like shakiness, heart palpitations and fatigue. If you have diabetes, its best to work with your doctor to determine if intermittent fasting is right for you.
If you have a history of eating disorders, this is also not a good tool for you as it may encourage unhealthy behaviors and trigger symptoms. If you are a child or teenager and still growing, intermittent fasting is not recommended either.
Among those who have gallstone disease, fasting may actually increase the risk of gallbladder problems and should be avoided.
Finally, studies show that fasting may alter levels of your thyroid hormones. If you suffer from any thyroid issues, you may want to reconsider intermittent fasting to avoid alterations in these important hormones.
Those who are sick may also want to reconsider fasting as it can deprive your body of the steady stream of nutrients that it needs to heal and get better.
Will I Lose Muscle Mass With Intermittent Fasting
A common misperception about fasting is that the body quickly starts to break down muscle during periods without food. This would actually be pretty dumb on the part of our bodies to tear down valuable muscles and other proteins when another source of energy, fat, is so plentiful. In reality, we see very little muscle loss during fasts of short duration. In fact, those who lose weight with intermittent fasting lose less muscle mass compared to those who lose weight with continuous calorie restriction.
The Best Supplements To Take On The Intermittent Fasting Diet
Before we get too wrapped up in all the benefits of the IF diet, its important to acknowledge that there are certain noteworthy risks and downsides. Other than people who are already underweight, pregnant women and those with hormonal imbalances are considered the most at-risk.
While anyone with hormonal issues should be very cautious before engaging in the IF diet, there are certain supplements which, alongside the guidance of a healthcare professional, may be able to help keep things in balance. For this cause, supplements like Metagenics Licorice Plus and Ortho Molecular Products DHEA Tablets may be useful.
Looking for a 0 calorie, fast-acting energy boost? Quicksilver Scientific Liposomal B12 may be the supplement for you.
Another issue of intermittent fasting which can be addressed by supplements is energy. This one is especially useful for all you breakfast lovers/needers out there! If you cant imagine powering through to lunchtime without a hearty breakfast, then certain supplements may be able to give you the boost you need without any calories. Our top recommendation for this cause is Quicksilver Scientific Liposomal B12.
However, its important to note that IntraMax contains calories and should only be consumed during your eating windows. Remember, calories, even in the smallest quantity, are a big no-no during your fasting window.
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What About Fish Oil
Fish oil isnt a multivitamin, but it can benefit your health, especially during fasting. This dietary supplement is rich in good fats that can be used as a source of fuel. Your body needs fats to stay warm, absorb some vitamins and get the energy needed to sustain itself, as the American Heart Association points out.
Remember that each gram of fat has 9 calories. The human body can use fat for energy during periods of food restriction, such as fasting. Therefore, fish oil supplements are a welcome addition to low-carb diets and fasting regimens.
There are no set rules on how much fish oil you should take. One teaspoon provides 41 calories and 4.5 grams of fat, while one tablespoon has 123 calories and 13.6 grams of fat. This supplement contains mostly mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which may benefit cardiovascular health. Talk to your doctor about how much fish oil you should take as high doses may increase risk of bleeding and stroke, according to the Mayo Clinic.
According to the experts at Penn Medicine, the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, walnuts, salmon, tuna and other foods may lower blood pressure and triglyceride levels, fight inflammation and protect against stroke.
While its true that most claims require further investigation, these dietary fats seem to be beneficial. One thing is for sure: they are a lot healthier than saturated and trans fats. Plus, they can slightly boost your energy when food is scarce.
Why Is It Better To Exercise In The Morning
We all know that including exercises in your life is good, but we don’t really know why it’s better to do it in the morning.
Exercising on an empty stomach has been shown to have several benefits:
- After a night, you are running out of your glycogen stores, which forces your body to pull energy from stored fat.
- Your body’s fat burning processes are controlled by the sympathetic nervous system which is activated by exercise and by lack of food. This system is also âonâ in the morning to wake you up, which makes the fat burning process even more efficient.
- Being in a fasted state with the sympathetic nervous system âonâ makes you alert, which helps you to be more focused when you are working out, which increases the quality of your training.
- Exercising in a fasted state triggers human growth hormone production, which is in charge of muscle gain, fat loss, speed of recovery and metabolism .
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Insidetracker Intermittent Fasting Ebook
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. Unlike conventional diets, it does not tell you what specific foods to eat but rather when to eat those foods. It has numerous benefits and positively impacts your brain and body in various ways to help you live a longer, healthier life. Getting started can be intimidating, so InsideTracker guides you through it with a free eBook. The manual will help you discover the differences between types of fasts, determine an appropriate fasting schedule, share the potential benefits of fasting, and help you decides if intermittent fasting is right for you. It also includes a meal plan providing a 2,700-calorie collection of recipes to fuel your shortened eating window. Portion sizes can be adjusted, and snacks can be added or eliminated to meet your unique calorie needs. Also, for a limited time, Inside.com subscribers get 20% off the entire InsideTracker store when they sign up.
Presented by InsideTracker.
Beginners Guide To Intermittent Fasting: Science And Supplementation
Limiting when you eat can help you lose fat, gain muscle, and make it easier to stick to your diet. Heres how it works and what supplements will give you the best results.
The thought of only eating during a few hours of the day, or even every other day, may sound a little crazy, but intermittent fasting has been suggested as an effective weight-loss tool, with research supporting its ability to increase fat oxidation, reduce body weight, and accelerate fat loss.
Lets look at the science behind why this approach works, how to do it, and how supplements could help you get results.
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Types Of Intermittent Fasting
There is no one standard way to practice IF. Intermittent fasting is an umbrella term for three different types of diets, says Krista Varady, PhD, a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois in Chicago and a researcher on intermittent fasting. Heres what youre most likely to see, she says:
Research On Electrolytes While Fasting
In the limited research that exists, we find that sodium, potassium, and body water are energetically peed out during extended fasts. As far as electrolytes go, you see significant sodium excretion that peaks around day four of the fast, with a similar but less pronounced pattern of excretion for potassium.
In one 1970s experiment, a morbidly obese man fasted for 382 days. This intervention more than halved his body weight. According to the authors, there were no complications worth mentioning.
Its interesting to note, however, that his sodium and potassium levels dropped significantly during the first 100 days of the fast. They later stabilized, but one wonders if these stabilizing electrolytes were leached from his bones. When your blood is low on electrolytes, your body goes digging for them.
Another study took a different approach, giving 46 obese individuals a daily electrolyte supplement over the course of a six week fast. The group lost, on average, 56 pounds without producing severe electrolyte disturbances seen with other modalities. In other words, their electrolyte levels remained largely normal.
Recommended Reading: What To Eat And Drink While Intermittent Fasting
Tips For Supplementing And Fasting
Though these three nutrients are important to consider, we all have unique needs . Consult with a doctor before starting to fast and/or taking supplements to make sure youre keeping your individual needs top-of-mind. The only way to be successful with intermittent fasting is by knowing your body and its needs!
Otherwise, its key that you eat a variety of nutritious foods and drink plenty of water when incorporating fasting or time-restricted feeding into your lifestyle.
Read More: The Best Time Of Day To Take 7 Popular Supplements
Should you decide to add supplements for intermittent fasting to your routine, take them during your eating window. First of all, some supplements can cause nausea or discomfort when taken on an empty stomach. Secondly, taking supplements while fasting can both diminish the benefit of the fast and your absorption of their nutrients.
Dr. Amy Shah, M.D., is a double board-certified physician with training from Cornell, Columbia, and Harvard Universities. With extensive training in health and nutrition, she advises on increasing energy levels, fixing gut issues, managing allergies, and boosting the immune system. Dr. Shah was recently named one of MindBodyGreens Top 100 Women in Wellness to Watch and is a member of Genexas Medical Advisory Board.
What Does This Mean For You
If you are fairly inexperienced, with a few hour-long sessions per week for general fitness and your focus isnt on performance, then as long as you eat enough quality protein/carbs at some point in the day, the timing of when you do is unimportant.
Whereas if you are someone whose sole focus is on performance with the aim of competing and you often find yourself training 5/6 times per week for 2 hours at a time, then the timing of your protein/carbs intake becomes a bit more important.
However, it has been shown that consuming a mix of protein and carbohydrates at either 1 hour or 3 hours post-exercise elicits the same response in regard to muscle protein synthesis, completely dispelling the suggestion that there is an anabolic window lasting only 30 minutes.
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Intermittent Fasting And Supplements
Dietary supplements are an important consideration for individuals following an intermittent fasting regimen. Certain supplements, as well as the timing of taking supplements, may positively or negatively impact your fast and the intended metabolic and health effects. Below, well provide tips for taking supplements while fasting and highlight several supplement ingredients that may be used to support the body while intermittent fasting.
Popular Forms Of Intermittent Fasting
There are several popular ways to accomplish intermittent fasting and I will discuss the three most popular varieties next. All of these involve lengthening the overnight fast by skipping breakfast and postponing the first meal of the day. All of these also involve eating no calories at the beginning of the day and the majority of your calories later in the day, a concept called a caloric reverse taper.
Keep in mind that for the purpose of these discussions we will consider the baseline standard diet to involve 12 hours of fasting plus 12 hours of an eating window during the day consisting of three meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The sad reality however is that most people are actually eating first thing in the morning until late at night, with lots of snacking, so the eating window for the average American is probably even larger than 12 hours.
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How To Take Vitamins While Fasting
Food restriction, whether it’s fasting, juicing or dieting for weight loss, may lead to nutrient deficiencies. Taking vitamins while fasting can help prevent this and keep you energized. Ideally, choose a formula that provides at least 100 percent of the vitamins and minerals listed on the label.
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Tip
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There are no set rules on how to take vitamins while fasting. Choose a formula with no added sugars and fillers. Make sure it provides close to 100 percent of the nutrients listed on the label.
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Look for multivitamin supplements that provide adequate doses of vitamin D, B-complex vitamins, zinc, magnesium and other key nutrients. Consider adding a separate fish oil supplement as well.
When To Take Your Supplements
If you have a health concern, some vitamins and supplements might cause negative health effects. So before you add any vitamins or supplements to your diet, be sure to consult your doctor.
To sum up, vitamins and supplements differ substantially in regard to the possibility of breaking a fast. Some are more likely, some are less likely to impede your weight loss efforts by following this method. Overall, it is crucial to grasp the fact that proper fasting as such does not require consumption of supplements, unless you have been taking those before you started fasting. Always consult your doctor before you start taking supplements, and keep in mind that more is not always better. Combine your diet with active workouts and keep your fluid intake high to achieve the best results. Plain water helps you reduce hunger and appetite, increasing fat burning process and boosting your metabolism. High fluid intake makes you much closer to your weight loss goal. Take the 30-day water challenge to experience all the benefits of plain water on your own.
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It Also Depends On This
What’s your goal with Intermittent Fasting? Are you using fasting for religious purposes or are you on a specific water fasting protocol? If so, then it’s possible that ANY food, supplement or drink consumption will break your fast.
But if you’re looking to tap into fat burning mechanisms, the goal is to reduce the insulin levels. As we’ve discussed, insulin is your storing hormone. So while this is high, your body effectively shuts OFF fat burning. That’s why the main goal with the Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle is to stabilize blood glucose levels, reduce insulin and tap into fat burning. This is why Keto Coffee is a great option for those who are new to Intermittent Fasting to utilize during their fasted period. This is also why most supplements, vitamins and minerals will not break your fast.
Will Supplements Break Your Fast
Are you concerned supplements will break your fast? Some supplements can break your fast, but there are many supplements you should take on an empty stomach. Understanding which supplements could break your fast can help you decide if you should take them with a meal or during your fasting period.
When you stop consuming calories during a fast, your body enters a period of ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic shift that helps burn fat by decreasing your blood glucose and insulin levels. Any food, drink, or supplement containing calories will break your fast and forcibly raise your glucose and insulin levels, which defeats the purpose of your fast.
Recommended Reading: What Is The Most Effective Fasting Method
Do I Even Need To Take Omega
If you stick to the letter of the diet by eating only grass-fed meats and you regularly eat wild fish, you will certainly be getting a much better balance of omega-6 to omega-3. But sometimes thats just not possible. Not only is it incredibly expensive, grass-fed and wild options can sometimes be hard to find if, for example, youre eating out on holiday. A supplement can make sure youre getting all the omega-3 you need.
You might also need a supplement if youre transitioning to a paleo way of eating. Having a lifetime of excess omega-6 consumption behind you might take a few months to correct and you might not have the inclination to eat wild fish every day.
May Extend Your Lifespan Helping You Live Longer
One of the most exciting applications of intermittent fasting may be its ability to extend lifespan.
Studies in rodents have shown that intermittent fasting extends lifespan in a similar way as continuous calorie restriction .
Intermittent fasting has also been shown to increase the lifespans of fruit flies 30443-3.pdf” rel=”nofollow”> 43 ).
In some of these studies, the effects were quite dramatic. In an older study, rats that were fasted every other day lived 83% longer than rats who werent fasted .
In a 2017 study, mice that were fasted every other day saw their lifespans increase by around 13% .
Daily fasting was also shown to improve the overall health of male mice. It helped delay the onset of conditions such as fatty liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma, which are both common in aging mice 30512-6″ rel=”nofollow”> 46 ).
Although this is far from being determined in humans, intermittent fasting has become very popular among the anti-aging crowd.
Given the known benefits for metabolism and all sorts of health markers, it makes sense that intermittent fasting could help you live a longer and healthier life.
SUMMARY
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