What is Intermittent Fasting?

Time restricted feeding, whether you’re narrowing your eating window to 6, 8 or 12 hours, resets the hands of time and activates the genetics that are hardwired to save you.

Who is IF for?

Figuring out why you want to fast is an essential piece to this process. Usually the main reason people do IF is to lose weight and reset their body back to homeostasis. With certain health issues, fasting can have its benefits, as we’ll discuss.

You don’t want to do this if you’re not in good health or if you have a lot of stress in your life. We also highly recommend that if you do have any health issues that you speak to your practitioner (particularly someone who is specialized in nutritional genomics) prior to starting a fast.

The process

The body essentially switches from burning sugar to burning fat when IF ensues.

Our insulin levels rise every time we eat, and any extra fat that hasn’t been burned off is directed into fat storages. Normally, your body burns through the sugar (carbohydrates) that is already stored in the body and uses it for fuel in between meals. When you fast, insulin levels drop and your body has to access these fat storages to burn them for energy.

Unlike caloric restriction where you can lose lean muscle mass, IF does the opposite. Refraining from eating for about 16 hours a day and eating in an 8-hour window burns the fat storages instead. And the fat storages are what provide the energy, not the protein in muscle.

Types of Time Restricted Feeding

Fasting Mimicking Diet

Created by fasting researcher, Valter Longo, this 5 day-per-month low calorie diet claims to enable the body to rejuvenate its cells and optimize its performance. The meal plan is low in carbohydrates and proteins and contains good fatty acids. After the 5-day period is completed, the consumer can resume a normal lifestyle/diet for the remaining 25 days of the month.

Water Fasting

A water fast is just as it sounds. No food, just 2-3 liters of water daily for 24-72 hours. According to a recent small study, water fasting followed by a regeneration diet, reduced blood pressure, weight and oxidative stress.  If you have certain health conditions however, we don’t advise you do this without medical supervision. Not that this is our first choice, yet staying hydrated during this type of fast would be essential. Taking small sips of water will allow your cells to obtain more water. Taking gulps just lets the water go right through you!

5:2

Created by Dr. Michael Mosley, this method is designed to cut calories to one-quarter, two days/week.   So you would eat in between 500-600 calories, 2 days per week and eat normally the other 5 days, in no order.

16/8

One of the more common methods, 16/8 involves not eating after dinner, skipping breakfast and restricting your daily eating period to 8 hours. Then you fast for 16 hours in between.

Eat-Stop-Eat

This involves fasting for 24 hours, once or twice a week, for example, by not eating from dinner one day until dinner the next day.

Alternate Day Fasting

With the modified version of alternate day fasting, you eat normally one day and restrict your calories to 500 total the next day.   And the following day, you go back to eating normal.   The idea however is to not overeat on the days that you eat normally.

The Warrior Diet

According to this plan, you eat one meal at night, which is a feast. During the day, you can eat raw fruit and vegetables that are low in calories.

Protein Sparing Modified Fast (PSMF)

Normally used by those who are either obese or have a lot of weight to lose, the PSMF is a temporary diet designed to rapidly lose weight. This is a high protein, low calorie diet that eliminates carbohydrates and added fats, inducing ketosis. Unlike the keto diet that doesn’t focus so much on restricting calories, PSMF adopters eat 800 calories per day. This is not a diet to stay on long term since it will not provide adequate nutrition for the body.

Benefits

There are many studies that actually show numerous benefits to these fasting methods to include the following:

Anti-Aging Effects

Fasting can reduce oxidative damage and inflammation, which are usually indicators that can lead to premature aging. In one study, fasting reduced the body’s production of the insulin like IGF-1 hormone, which has been associated with aging and disease.⁶

Decreased Inflammation

A decrease in C-reactive protein, which is a notable marker for inflammation, was reduced in the subjects of one recent study.⁶ Inflammation is linked with certain diseases, including heart disease and cancer.

Help Treat Diabetes and Heart Disease

Fasting may give the heart similar benefits resulting from exercise, such as improving blood pressure and lowering cholesterol.⁷ It can also help limit inflammation and improve sugar and fat levels in circulation.

Cellular Cleansing (Autophagy):

Also known as the cellular cleansing process, autophagy increases during a fast, which allows the body to essentially get rid of old cells and protein that the body no longer needs and new ones are created to replace them. It’s important to note that this process is something unique to fasting, and not caloric reduction. Diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer can benefit from autophagy.^8,9

Weight Loss

Unlike diets that restrict the calories you take in, fasting actually increases metabolic rate, so the body is able to burn more calories.¹⁰ For some, an IF eating pattern can be easier to follow than a reduced calorie diet.¹¹ When done correctly, if one doesn’t overcompensate on the non-fasting days, fasting for weight loss can work.

Promote Gene Expression to Support Longevity

Fasting can prolong longevity by protecting against genetic and environmental factors that otherwise contribute to the aging process and disease too.¹²

What to Eat on Fasting Days

This isn’t an excuse to constantly eat chocolate bars every few days!   That won’t help your body in the least. In Part 1 of our protein series, I talked about how to get the most out of your protein digestion. I also discussed how pea protein can regulate blood sugar to support healthy weight loss in Part 2, with the potential to encourage fat loss and muscle growth in Part 3. You’ll also learn how pea protein can have a drastic effect on the success of intermittent fasting in Part 4.