Has Benefits For Your Brain
Whats good for the body is often good for the brain as well.
Intermittent fasting improves various metabolic features known to be important for brain health.
Intermittent fasting helps reduce:
34 ).
Animal studies have also shown that intermittent fasting protects against brain damage due to strokes 00503-2″ rel=”nofollow”> 29, 32, 35).
SUMMARY
Intermittent fasting may have important benefits for brain health. It may increase growth of new neurons and protect the brain from damage.
What Is Fasting And How Does It Work
A good rule of thumb for those wanting to fast to improve their metabolic and overall health is to leave at least 12 hours between meals ideally more on a regular basis, according to Dr Adam Collins, Principal Teaching Fellow in Nutrition at the University of Surrey.
Time-restricted eating is often used for weight-loss, and some people increase the daily fasting period to 14 hours or 16 hours. There are other forms of intermittent fasting, including the 5:2 approach, which involves very restricted eating on two days of the week, with normal eating on the other five. The 4:3, or every other day, approach involves similar restrictions on alternate days. Whichever one you choose, make sure youre doing it consistently, Dr Collins advises.
May Help Prevent Cancer
Cancer is characterized by uncontrolled growth of cells.
Fasting has been shown to have several beneficial effects on metabolism that may lead to reduced risk of cancer.
Promising evidence from animal studies indicates that intermittent fasting or diets that mimic fasting may help prevent cancer. Research in humans has led to similar findings, although more studies are needed 00224-7″ rel=”nofollow”> 26, 27, 28 ).
Theres also some evidence showing that fasting reduced various side effects of chemotherapy in humans 00503-2″ rel=”nofollow”> 29, 30).
SUMMARY
Intermittent fasting has been shown to help prevent cancer in animal studies and some human studies. Research in humans showed that it can help reduce side effects caused by chemotherapy.
Don’t Miss: How To Lose Weight Fast Intermittent Fasting
The Truth Behind What Intermittent Fasting Does To Your Body
Three experts review claims of longer life, a healthier brain, and a slimmer body.
Ever feel hangry when you miss a meal? Imagine waiting 16 or 18 hours before eating again. Or an entire day without breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Thatâs what proponents of intermittent fasting do on a regular basis.
At its simplest, intermittent fasting means cycling through periods of voluntary abstinence of food , interspersed with intervals of normal food intake.
Whenever we eat, the body releases insulin to help cells convert sugars from food into energy. If the glucose isnât used immediately, insulin helps makes sure the excess is stored in fat cells. But when we go without food for extended periods, as people do in IF, insulin is not released. The body then turns to breaking down fat cells for energy, leading to weight loss.
“Thatâs why we have fat stores, and if weâre not using them, all kinds of bad things happen.”
Monique Tello, MD, MPH, a Harvard Medical School professor and internal medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, explains to Inverse what happens when people never get hungry enough to use up those fat stores. âA, we get fatter, and B, itâs all the things that go along with that,â she says.
/8you’re Not Drinking Enough Water
When you’re on an intermittent fasting diet, there is no restriction on staying hydrated. Drinking water is the key factor that keeps your energy levels high when you’re fasting. If you do not drink enough water, you may not be able to keep up with the diet plan. It may lead to fatigue, cramps, headache and more.
Don’t Miss: What Should You Eat When Doing Intermittent Fasting
Should I Try Intermittent Fasting
The most effective diet is the one you can stick to while still living your best life. Its hard to know which will work best before trying, but doctors and recent studies offer some guidance. Dr. Peterson said that complete, zero-calorie fasts generally prove to be too difficult to maintain. People stick with them maybe for the short-term, but they get quite hungry in the long-term, she said.
Time-restricted feeding fasting overnight and into the next morning is likely the easiest form of fasting to comply with. A longer than normal fasting period each night allows you to burn through some of your sugar stores, called glycogen. That does a couple things. It gives your body a little bit more time to burn fat. It also may help your body get rid of any extra salt in your diet, which would lower your blood pressure, Dr. Peterson said.
If You Prefer An Early Dinner This Intermittent Fasting Method Is The One For You
By now, you’ve probably heard about the benefits of intermittent fasting some people experience, such as weight loss, more energy, improved digestion, decreased sugar cravings, and better sleep. There are so many ways to fit intermittent fasting into your life, so if you’ve been thinking about it, there’s bound to be one that’s right for you.
Of course, before starting any new diet plan, including intermittent fasting, be sure to check in with your doctor first. Once you get the OK, doing 14:10 fasting is a great place to start, where you fast daily for 14 hours and have a 10-hour eating window. If you’re ready to do longer fasts, the 16:8 protocol is the perfect next step. It extends your fasting window by two hours for example: eating from noon until 8 p.m. If you find that you eat dinner earlier, though, you might be interested in trying 18:6.
Read Also: Is Intermittent Fasting Good For High Blood Pressure
Fasting And Weight Loss
If you weed through all the controversy, you’ll find that most medical experts agree on one thing: fasting is not a healthy weight loss tool.
“The appeal is that is quick, but it is quick fluid loss, not substantial weight loss,” says Madelyn Fernstrom, PhD, CNS, founder and director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Weight Loss Management Center.
“If it’s easy off, it will come back quickly” — as soon as you start eating normally again, she says.
Even some proponents of fasting for other medical purposes do not support fasting for weight loss. Some say it can actually make weight problems worse.
“Fasting is not a weight loss tool. Fasting slows your metabolic rate down so your diet from before the fast is even more fattening after you fast,” says Joel Fuhrman MD, author of Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Plan for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss and Fasting and Eating for Health.
Fasting for weight loss carries other health risks as well.
While fasting for a day or two is rarely a problem if you are healthy, “it can be quite dangerous if you are not already eating a healthy diet, or if you’ve got liver or kidney problems, any kind of compromised immune system functioning, or are on medication — even Tylenol,” says Fuhrman, a family physician in Flemington, N.J..
Continued
In addition, other practices that are often combined with fasting for weight loss, such as colon cleansing, carry their own risks.
Fasting Improves Your Brain Function
Fasting has shown to improve brain function because it boosts the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor
BDNF activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons, and triggers numerous other chemicals that promote neural health. This protein also protects your brain cells from changes associated with Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease.
Read Also: How To Lose Weight Quickly Fasting
What Is Fasting Is It Safe
Fasting is CHOOSING to abstain from food for a set period of time. It is very different from starvation. In starvation, there is no choice and the period of time is unknown. During fasting, there is a specific time period during which we choose to give our bodies a break from eating. This allows us to undergo housekeeping and help keep our cells, tissues, and organs working at their best. Specific biochemical changes take place and these changes safely and effectively help us improve our health.
Whats Happening With Your Body: Easing Out Of Fasting Mode
How you choose to end your fast is critical. Depending on how long you fast, you may need to ease your way back into eating solid food. Fruit juices, cooked vegetables, and broths can help acclimate your body and digestive system to eating as internal mechanisms come back online.
How Should I Eat on Day 1 of Breaking a Water Fast? ????
Length: 6 minutes
Recommended Reading: How Does Fasting Affect Your Body
What Are The Benefits Of Not Being Full All The Time
Regular breaks between eating give our bodies time to carry out valuable housekeeping, according to Dr Collins. After a meal, you absorb the glucose from carbohydrates in food for energy, and either use it immediately or store it for later. In a fasted state, which typically starts 1012 hours after your last meal, the body is depleted of this form of glucose. Then the liver begins to break down stored fat into fatty acids called ketones to use as fuel. This process is known as metabolic switching and is a reason why fasting can lead to weight loss.
But emerging science suggests fasting activates certain chemicals and processes that confer health benefits beyond losing weight. Its also thought to encourage the growth of beneficial gut bacteria that could be good for us in many different ways.
The problem is, most of us are too full for too much of the time to experience these benefits, says Collins. Eating three meals a day plus snacks, as many of us do, means were in a constantly fed state. As a result, our bodies continuously process new intakes of food instead of dealing with fat reserves.
All the things we associate with poor metabolic health and disease risk cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, diabetes and low energy are essentially a manifestation of fuel mismanagement, he says. Eating in a grazing pattern means youre not able to store, liberate and utilise fuel in the right way.
Fasting Improves Your Eating Patterns
Fasting can be a helpful practice for those who suffer with binge eating disorders, and for those who find it difficult to establish a correct eating pattern due to work and other priorities.
With intermittent fasting going all afternoon without a meal is okay and it can allow you to eat at a set time that fits your lifestyle. Also, for anyone who wants to prevent binge eating, you can establish a set time in where you allow yourself to eat your daily amount of calories in one sitting, and then not eat till the following day.
Recommended Reading: How To Make Intermittent Fasting Easier
Raises Growth Hormone Levels
If you follow sports closely, youve probably heard of a player getting suspended for taking some kind of human growth hormone. Human growth hormones is very useful to an athlete because it speeds up recovery time, burns fat faster, and helps build muscle faster.
Its safe to say that when athletes get caught with an abnormal amount of HGH in their system, its not because they have been fasting.
For those of you that do plan on fasting, be prepared for this rise in HGH. Fasting will cause your body to start burning stored fat instead of muscle. This will allow you to keep what muscle you do have and even help you build on them.
Yes, its important to eat and have enough energy stored during any competition, but when you are training, your body can really benefit from having nothing but the stored fat to use for energy.
Fights High Blood Sugar
Research in the British Journal of Nutritionshows that intermittent fasting produces greater improvements in insulin sensitivity, which helps you prevent high blood-sugar levels and type 2 diabetes. The journal Neurologyhas published findings showing that high blood sugar is associated with a smaller hippocampus, the seahorse-shaped structure in your temporal lobes associated with mood, learning, and memory. Other studies show that anxiety and depression are 2-3 times higher in patients with type 2 diabetes than the general population.
Also Check: How Does Intermittent Fasting Affect Your Body
Safety And Side Effects
Despite the long list of possible health benefits associated with fasting, it may not be right for everyone.
If you suffer from diabetes or low blood sugar, fasting can lead to spikes and crashes in your blood sugar levels, which could be dangerous.
Its best to talk to your doctor first if you have any underlying health conditions or are planning to fast for more than 24 hours.
Additionally, fasting is not generally recommended without medical supervision for older adults, adolescents or people who are underweight.
If you decide to try fasting, be sure to stay well-hydrated and fill your diet with nutrient-dense foods during your eating periods to maximize the potential health benefits.
Additionally, if fasting for longer periods, try to minimize intense physical activity and get plenty of rest.
Summary When fasting, be sure to stay hydrated, eat nutrient-dense foods and get plenty of rest. Its best to consult with your doctor before fasting if you have any underlying health conditions or are planning to fast for more than 24 hours.
Your Body Will Adapt Give Your Body Time To Acclimate
When are you first starting out, you may experience some hunger pains. This is because you taught your body that you are going to feed it first thing in the morning. If you extend intermittent fasting by 20-30 minutes a day, within a few weeks you can extend your fasting period from 8-9 hours to the 12 hour fasting window.
Same things happens in the evening. Perhaps you have taught your body that when you sit down to relax after dinner, you like to have something sweet to eat. By reducing this back by 20-30 minutes a day, you can optimize your 12 hour intermittent fasting window.
Recommended Reading: Can I Have Coffee With Intermittent Fasting
How To Begin 16 8 Fasting
For people that get hungry first thing in the morning, this 16 8 Fasting schedule may be a bit tough to embrace. My suggestion is to push back the morning window by 30 minutes every day or two until youre comfortable waiting until 12pm to begin your 8 hour eating window.
You can also consider drinking water, coffee and other drinks that have no calories. This does help reduce the feelings of hunger and make it a little easier to transition.
Can Reduce Insulin Resistance Lowering Your Risk For Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes has become a very common diagnosis in recent decades.
Its main feature is high blood sugar levels in the context of insulin resistance.
Anything that reduces insulin resistance should help lower blood sugar levels and protect against type 2 diabetes.
Interestingly, intermittent fasting has been shown to have major benefits for insulin resistance and to lead to an impressive reduction in blood sugar levels .
In human studies on intermittent fasting, fasting blood sugar has been reduced by 36% over the course of 812 weeks in people with prediabetes. Fasting insulin has been reduced by 2031% .
One study in mice with diabetes also showed that intermittent fasting improved survival rates and protected against diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is a complication that can lead to blindness .
What this implies is that intermittent fasting may be highly protective for people who are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
However, there may be some differences between the sexes. One 2005 study in women showed that blood sugar management actually worsened after a 22-day long intermittent fasting protocol (
Intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels, at least in men.
Don’t Miss: How To Do Intermittent Fasting
Benefits To Metabolic Health
Good metabolic health means having optimum levels of blood sugar , fat , good cholesterol , blood pressure and other markers that indicate your risk of heart disease, stroke and other chronic conditions.
Certainly, from a metabolic point of view we definitely see benefits in intermittent fasting, says Dr Collins. Youre better at clearing, storing and utilising carbohydrate and fat when youre on an intermittent fasting regime, so there are improvements in insulin sensitivity, blood lipids and other cardiovascular risk factors.
Such improvements are evident in lean people as well as those who are overweight, he says. This is possibly because healthy-weight people can still carry harmful deposits of fat in their internal organs, including the liver.
But the effects of weight-loss are difficult to untangle from other processes at play during fasting. Dr Collins is conducting more research to find out whether metabolic health can be improved in people on intermittent fasting programmes without reducing their overall calorie intake.
Fasting Helps Clear The Skin And Prevent Acne
Fasting can help clear the skin because with the body temporarily freed from digestion, its able to focus its regenerative energies on other systems.
Not eating anything for just one day has shown to help the body clean up the toxins and regulate the functioning of other organs of the body like liver, kidneys and other parts.
Featured photo credit: Unsplash via unsplash.com
If you make your own coffee in the morning, chances are youre only making the same boring kind everyday. Now its time to put an end to the cynical habit and turn you into an instant coffee connoisseur.
For those who dont know, there are officially 38 different ways to make coffee. All, except decaffeinated versions will give you the same buzz that can either make you extremely productive or give you anxiety.
The only difference here is taste. And when it comes to coffee, taste matters. A lot.
Most of the methods and ingredients from the chart above dates back hundreds of years and have been traditionally passed down from generation to generation. Hence, its actually possible to tell where a person came from based on the type of coffee he or she drinks!
Read Also: What Is Fasting And Prayer
