INTERMITTENT FASTING 101

Intermittent fasting is not a diet, it is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. It’s a way of scheduling your meals so that you get the most out of them. Intermittent fasting doesn’t change what you eat, it changes when you eat.

Fasting has been a practice throughout human evolution. Ancient hunter-gatherers didn’t have food readily available year-round and sometimes went long periods of time without food. As a result, humans evolved to be able to function without food for extended periods of time.

Fasting is also often done for religious or spiritual reasons, including in Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism. In fact, fasting from time to time is more natural than always eating 3-4 (or more) meals per day.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND INTERMITTENT FASTING

When you eat, a lot happens in your body:

1. Depending on what you’ve eaten, your blood glucose (sugar) levels will rise.

2. Your pancreas produces a hormone called insulin.

3. Insulin tells your cells to fuel up on glucose as your gut breaks down your food.

4. Your body releases hormones like cholecystokinin (CCK) and leptin, which signal when you’re full.

However, when you eat a lot of carbs and sugar, ignoring your body’s “I’m full!” signals and eat frequently without burning off all that energy, your body struggles to keep up. Your pancreas has to work overtime, and any extra glucose gets stored as body fat. Over time, those factors can increase your risk of weight gain, insulin resistance and diseases like diabetes and cancer.

Intermittent fasting gives your body time to reset. When you take a break between meals, your glucose levels remain stable, your insulin levels drop and your body has a chance to clean up shop—all of which can support major benefits like weight management and longevity. This is the reason why people who start intermittent fasting will lose fat without changing what they eat, how much they eat, or how often they exercise.

POPULAR WAYS TO DO INTERMITTENT FASTING

The 16/8 Method

This involves fasting every day for 14-16 hours and restricting your daily eating window to 8-10 hours. Within this eating window, you can fit in 2-3 or more meals. Doing this method of fasting can actually be as simple as not eating anything after dinner and skipping breakfast. For example, if you eat your last meal at 7pm and don’t eat until 11am the next day, you’re technically fasting for 16 hours.

This is generally the method I like to use and what I recommend to my clients. This is also the most sustainable out of all the various methods and easiest to stick to. You can build your way up to a 16 hour fast if that seems too extreme or if you are a beginner. Starting with a 10 hour fast and building from there will still provide benefits to the body. The goal is to start positive habits that can be sustained without stress.

The 5:2 Method

Also called the Fast Diet, it involves eating normally 5 days of the week while restricting your calorie intake to 500-600 for 2 days of the week.

Eat Stop Eat

This involves a 24-hour fast once or twice per week. Again, water, coffee and other zero-calorie beverages are allowed during the fast, but no solid foods are permitted. If you are doing this to lose weight you should eat the same amount of food as if you hadn’t been fasting at all. (No binging on eat days)

Alternate-day Fasting

This involves fasting every other day. There are several different versions of this method, some allow 500 calories during the fasting days. This can seem very extreme, fasting so often, so this method is not recommended for beginners and also unsustainable in the long term.

Spontaneous Meal Skipping

This doesn’t involve a structured fasting plan, this involves simply skip meals from time to time, such as when you don’t feel hungry or are too busy to cook and eat. Skipping one or two meals when you feel inclined to do so is basically intermittent fasting; just be sure to eat healthy foods during the other meals.

Generally, you can drink water, coffee, green tea and other zero calorie beverages during the fasts, which can help reduce the feelings of hunger. It is very important to primarily eat healthy foods during the eat window regardless of the method you choose to do.

HOW DOES INTERMITTENT FASTING BENEFIT US

1. Intermittent fasting supports our gut health by allowing our body’s enzyme system to focus on detoxifying and breaking down toxins quickly and efficiently;

2. Intermittent fasting helps you live longer – scientists have long known that restricting calories is a way of lengthening life;

3. Intermittent fasting may reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease;

4. Intermittent fasting helps you lose weight by putting you into a state of temporary ketosis;

5. Intermittent fasting has shown to increase endurance, better motor coordination and improved sleep; and

6. Intermittent fasting slows down the degradation of DNA, which is what happens when we age, and accelerates DNA repair, results in slowing down the aging process. (Who else want to stay youthful, I know I do!)

WHO SHOULD NOT DO INTERMITTED FASTING?

Intermittent fasting can be more complex for people who have issues with blood sugar regulation, suffer from hypoglycemia, have diabetes, etc. If you fit into this category, check with your nutritionist/dietitian or doctor before adjusting your eating schedule. If you are pregnant, have a history of disordered eating or you are chronically stressed I would not recommend attempting intermitted fasting.

HOW TO START INTERMITTED FASTING

Ready to get started? Great! One of the best parts of intermittent fasting is that it’s really easy to adapt to your daily schedule. You can follow the same eating pattern every day, or you can fast just a few times a week.

If you want to get started but would like more guidance, click the contact me button and send me a message or you can email me directly at NicoleNugentWellness@gmail.com.