My Take on Intermittent Fasting
The term “intermittent fasting” is popping up all over the health & nutrition world right now. When I first heard about it awhile back, I originally thought it was just another fad, but what I now know is that it is a very effective and powerful technique for a wide variety of health conditions.
Let me break it down for ya!
What’s the difference between being in the fasted and fed state?
In the fed state, insulin (a fat storing hormone) is high and blood glucose (blood sugar) is also elevated. So, if your not getting chased by a lion, vacuuming your house, catching a wave, conquering a mountain, walking your dog, etc… you are going to store excess glucose as adipose tissue (a.k.a fat).
In the fasted state, the opposite is true. Insulin is low and glucose is low. Thus in this state, you are sitting on the couch watching Game of Thrones and are still burning fat.
This is why intermittent fasting is essentially called the “DO NOTHING” approach to fat burning and weight loss.
With intermittent fasting, you are increasing your sensitivity to insulin and teaching your body to become fat-adapted, thereby more metabolically efficient. By increasing your sensitivity to insulin, you are lowering the amount being produced so that your body can increase fatty acid mobilization (freeing up fatty acids in the blood) and fat burning all the way down to the mitochondrial level.
Some of the benefits of intermittent fasting include:
Enhanced cognitive function
Increased growth hormone
Improved blood lipid profiles
Improved insulin sensitivity
Increased fat loss
The easiest way to do it/ my own personal experience:
In order to start getting the benefits of intermittent fasting you must go over 12 hours without food. It is at the 12 hour mark that growth hormone starts to increase, and your body is starting to make adaptations. For myself personally, I’ve just been doing 13-14 hour fasts, and I feel amazing! All I do is look at the clock when I stop eating dinner (for me, that’s roughly 8pm) and then I make sure not to have breakfast the next day until 9/10am. You are still allowed to have coffee in the morning, but must make sure to have it black.
When I first tried it out, the first few days I felt really off. I felt airy and weird throughout the day, but once I hit around day 4/5 of staying with it consistently I noticed a HUGE shift.
With intermittent fasting, I’m incredibly more productive, my energy is streamlined throughout the day (no more highs & lows from unstable blood sugar), I don’t have as many sugar or caffeine cravings, and I’ve even noticed a decrease in my anxiety levels.
I’m convinced by the research that intermittent fasting is something humans have been doing for thousands of years. It is our modern culture that bombards us with an over abundance of food at our finger tips. We are not meant to be eating ALL the time. Our bodies need a break.
I recommend giving it a try for 5 days and see if you notice any improvement. Start with just 13 hours and over time you can work up to more extended fasts for increased benefit. I hope this post shed some light on the topic and inspires you to give it a test drive!
Please leave a comment with any questions or concerns you may have. xo