Intermittent Fasting 101

In this article we will provide you with an intermittent fasting 101. You will learn what intermittent fasting is and what it isn’t and other important facts. There appears to be a lot of misinformation about intermittent fasting so we wanted to set the record straight here.

Intermittent fasting has grown in popularity very quickly because it gets results. It is important that you know what to expect so we have covered the most important aspects about it in this article. We want you to get good results with it as well so use this information to your advantage.

Intermittent Fasting explained

A lot of people get nervous when they see the word “fasting”. This conjures up all kinds of negativity in their minds. Maybe they have heard of monks going without food for weeks on end. How can they possibly do that?

Well intermittent fasting is nowhere near as severe as that. You are already fasting when you sleep at night. There are also large chunks of time during your waking hours that you don’t eat or think about eating. When you start with intermittent fasting you will just reorganize these chunks of time when you fast.

You enter into a cyclical pattern of eating and not eating. There is a period of time when you will eat followed by a period of time that you don’t eat. It really is as simple as that. It will take you a while to get used to this new routine but after a short while it should become second nature to you.

You must decide on an Eating Window

Your eating window is the most important part of your intermittent fasting journey. This is the period of time when you can eat. So if you decide to start intermittent fasting using the 8:16 method (a very good choice) it means that each day you will eat for 8 hours and fast for 16 hours (8 of those hours you will be sleeping).

Fasting Window Rules

Your fasting window is the time that you must not eat. With some intermittent fasting methods you are allowed to eat small meals that do not exceed 500 calories. But with most methods you must not consume any calories at all.

It is critical that you abide by the rules of the fasting window and do not consume any calories. You can drink water and consume any other beverage that does not contain any calories such as herbal tea and zero calorie sodas.

Intermittent Fasting triggers Ketosis

The weight loss occurs during intermittent fasting through a body process called “ketosis”. This occurs when the body does not have any food to use as energy. If all the food you have eaten has been digested then with ketosis your body will look to your fat stores as an energy source.

The longer that you fast, the more that ketosis will work to raid your fat stores. In time you will lose weight as your fat stores start to diminish. Other diets use the power of ketosis to burn fat such as low carbohydrate diets and ketogenic diets.

Intermittent Fasting is safe for most people

For the vast majority of people, intermittent fasting is safe. We would always recommend that you consult with your doctor before getting started with intermittent fasting just to be sure. It is not always a good idea for pregnant women to do intermittent fasting for example.

The Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting

Losing weight is the primary benefit of intermittent fasting and the reason for its popularity across the world. But burning fat is not the only benefit that intermittent fasting can provide for you.

It is really important that you know and understand all of the major benefits of intermittent fasting. You are going to have some difficult days when you start out with intermittent fasting and if you keep these benefits in mind then it will help you to persist with it and prevent you from quitting.

So let’s take a look at the major benefits of intermittent fasting:

Burning Fat

If you stick with an intermittent fasting method you will lose weight. Your body will run out of food energy sources while you are fasting and it will turn to your fat stores for energy. This is a process called “ketosis”.

You are very likely to experience a boost in your metabolism when you participate with intermittent fasting. When your metabolism is higher you will lose more weight. Intermittent fasting also helps to reduce your insulin levels. If your insulin levels are too high then this can prevent you from losing weight.

Autophagy (Cell Repair)

By using an intermittent fasting method you will increase the cell repair activities in your body. This process is autophagy which breaks down the cells in your body so that it can eliminate waste cells.

Autophagy will also break down and metabolize dysfunctional and broken proteins in your body as well. With this kind of enhanced cell repair triggered by intermittent fasting you will have added protection against serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer. It will give you more of a chance of a longer and healthier life.

Insulin Reduction

There are far too many people that have type 2 diabetes these days. It is more common with people that are overweight. Diabetes means that your blood sugar levels are elevated and the cause of this is insulin resistance.

Studies have shown that intermittent fasting reduces the amount of insulin in the body. When this happens, blood sugar levels are stabilized. You are much less likely to suffer from type 2 diabetes when you have stable blood sugar levels.

Increased Brain Functionality

You may have heard that when you do something that benefits your body it is very likely to benefit your brain too. Intermittent fasting helps to increase your metabolism which should lead to better brain health.

Some studies show that intermittent fasting can boost nerve cell growth which in turn increases brain functionality. It can also assist with the increased generation of the brain derived neurotrophic factor which helps to prevent depression.

Reducing Inflammation

A common factor in those that suffer from chronic illnesses is that they have oxidative stress. As people age they are more likely to experience oxidative stress as well. The reason that oxidative stress is so bad is that it releases free radicals which can cause inflammation and have an overall negative effect on the body.

A number of studies have proven that intermittent fasting helps to develop the resistance in the body to oxidative stress. Several test show that when someone is intermittent fasting they reduce their inflammation in the body by a significant factor.

So keep these benefits of intermittent fasting in mind so that you can get through the tough times and experience them yourself.

Is Intermittent Fasting Safe?

Everybody is different so it is impossible to say that intermittent fasting will be totally safe for you. The good news is that it is safe for the vast majority of people that participate with it. However, you need to be sure that it will be safe for you.

There are a few cases where intermittent fasting is either not a good idea at all or that caution will be required. It is important that you understand this and make the right decisions. Although intermittent fasting has a lot of health benefits you do not want to put yourself or your loved ones at risk.

Children

If you have a child that is overweight then intermittent fasting could help. But you need to understand that children need calories for their growth and development. It is also essential that they get the right amount of vitamins, minerals and proteins.

You need to be cautious about getting children involved with intermittent fasting. We are not saying that it cannot be beneficial but you need to do it carefully. If a child does not receive the right levels of proteins it can lead to a whole host of health problems.

Diabetics

If you are suffering from diabetes then intermittent fasting can help you but again you need to be cautious. Intermittent fasting can help you by stabilizing your blood sugar levels through the reduction of insulin in your body.

What you need to avoid is your blood sugar levels falling dangerously low during your fasting window. If you are currently taking medication to regulate your blood sugar levels then this is more likely to happen.

It is very important that you consult with your doctor if you are suffering with diabetes and want to do intermittent fasting. Your doctor should be able to recommend and intermittent fasting method that is safe for you. If not then you need to avoid it.

Pregnant Women

Most doctors will recommend that you do not participate with intermittent fasting if you are pregnant. A pregnant woman needs to feed herself and her baby. She needs to consume the right amount of calories here. Nutrients are also vital during pregnancy.

Some pregnant women have used intermittent fasting methods successfully. Usually they achieve this under strict medical supervision. So a discussion with your doctor is essential if you are pregnant and are thinking about intermittent fasting. You may have to wait until your pregnancy is over.

Eating Disorder Tendencies

If you have a tendency towards developing eating disorders then intermittent fasting may not be right for you. Fasting could trigger an eating disorder and if you develop an anxiety about eating then you need to stop fasting.

The trouble with intermittent fasting is that the focus is on not eating. To someone that is disposed to eating disorders this can mean that they start to ignore signals of hunger and it can be very dangerous.

Sometimes, intermittent fasting can lead to binge eating. You have fasted for several hours and now in your eating window you over indulge in food. A lot of eating disorders have this characteristic so intermittent fasting is not a good idea.

You must speak to your doctor before starting with intermittent fasting. They will know you well and any conditions that you have that can make this dangerous for you.

5 Reasons Why Intermittent Fasting Works

Intermittent fasting is now more popular than it ever was. Many people across the world see the power that it has to help with losing weight and the other health benefits that it brings. There have been many studies that support the various benefits of intermittent fasting.

If you are considering intermittent fasting then we believe that it is important that you should know why it is so effective for weight loss and better health. So in this article you will see 5 reasons why this is the case.

1. It helps to reduce Inflammation

You want to keep the amount of inflammation in your body down to a minimum as this is bad for your health. It is one of the major contributing factors to heart problems and other health issues as well.

Diabetes is a common worldwide problem. Too much inflammation in the body can cause this. There have been several studies that show intermittent fasting can really help reduce the amount of inflammation in the body.

By reducing the period of time that you are consuming foods you will help the amount of inflammation in your body to reduce. You are not going to burn fat effectively if your body has a lot of inflammation as cell communication will be impaired.

2. Intermittent Fasting triggers Ketosis to burn fat

Ketosis is the process where your body looks to your stores of fat for a source of energy rather than the food that you consume. A number of diets will trigger ketosis and intermittent fasting will certainly do this.

If you eat continuously through the day when you are awake then your body will have an ample supply of glucose to get its energy from. Most people consume a lot of carbohydrates in their diet which will produce a large glucose source for energy.

This means that your body will never go into a state of ketosis and look to your fat stores for energy. It doesn’t matter if you exercise regularly every day you will not lose the weight that you want because you are constantly providing your body with glucose.

During your fasting window with intermittent fasting your body will use up all of the available glucose sources and go into ketosis. This is what you want as it will then look to your fat stores for energy. Fat burning takes place and you will lose weight.

3. Blood Sugar Stabilization

When you eat food your body releases insulin. If you have too much insulin then this will play havoc with your blood sugar levels. If there is too much insulin in your body then this will prohibit ketosis and the burning of unwanted fat. Intermittent fasting has been proven to stabilize blood sugar levels by increasing insulin resistance.

4. Appetite reduction

Once you get used to intermittent fasting you will notice that you experience a reduction in your appetite. Your body gets accustomed to receiving less food than it normally does and will adjust accordingly.

5. It will increase your Energy

Many studies have shown that intermittent fasting increases energy levels. This is really good as you will have more energy to be more active during the day which will help you to lose more weight by burning calories.