I hear about the benefits of fasting in every conference and each health coaching program that I am in currently. FASTING has been around for thousands of years but we are learning more about the benefits of hormetic stress- acute stress vs. chronic stress. Intermittent fasting is an acute stress that we are able to rest, repair and reboot the system while improving our ability to be fat burning machines and cell autophagy (longer fasts).
Dr. Mercola shares lots of benefits of nutritional ketosis and fasting for optimizing mitochondrial health – as well as many other benefits in his book “FAT FOR FUEL” and his new book “KETO FASTING”. Fasting is a biological stressor that kick starts metabolic processes to improve our overall health at a cellular level.
By not eating for extended periods of time (12-16 hours to start) then eating in a time restricted eating window (TRE), allows your body time to digest, rest, repair, reset and recalibrate. Just as our ancestors did! They didn’t eat breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and snack as most people do today in our society. Our constant eating leads us to blood sugar dysregulation and shuts off our ability to burn fat as well as asking our body to constantly be breaking down and digesting our food intake! Too much of anything becomes a STRESSORS and anything you do constantly, as eating every few hours, becomes CHRONIC then becomes a negative stress.
An acute stress, as feast and famine, teaches your body how to adapt to the stress. Just as with exercise and lifting weights- your stress the muscle then you rest a day or two for the muscles to heal, recover and repair. Fasting is another type of hormetic stress that we should include in our weekly routine. I personally do 16 hour or longer intermittent fasting Sundays to Thursdays for sure then not be strict on the weekends. Some days I fast longer as it is easier not to eat during my work day and I can’t eat before I workout (lift, run or swim especially!).
Benefits of fasting include:
-
Blood sugar stabilization as the blood glucose levels fall to normal levels
-
Lower insulin levels as body doesn’t need to balance blood sugar levels
-
Improves insulin resistance as insulin doesn’t need to work to get glucose out of bloodstream and into the cells
-
Digestive tract rests and regenerates the mucosal lining
-
The immune system is not under constant stress dealing with food intolerences
-
Short fasts will trigger the activation of stem cells to produce new white blood cells – boost immunity
-
Once the blood sugar is stabilized, the body will depend on fat for fuel and ketones are produced to fuel brain
-
Adrenaline rises to provide energy in the absence of food resulting in improved metabolic rate
-
“Self Eating” cells are triggered…AUTOPHAGY clears out damaged cells- a natural cleaning system our body conducts when fasting. Cell debris, elimination of toxins, recycling of damaged cells. Benefits of autophagy include: helping stem cells retain ability to maintain and repair tissues, dampening inflammation, slowing down the aging process, slowing the growth of cancer and optimizing biological functions.
-
Decrease appetite and hunger levels due to lower levels of insulin and leptin – which improves cell receptor sensitivity
-
Burn excess body fat as your body will burn excess body fat once you tap into fat stores for energy and burn ketones. You won’t need to lose lean body mass as you activate fat metabolism instead of gluconeogensis.
-
By taking breaks from constant eating/feeding – the hormone insulin, leptin and IGF-1 levels are reduced. The hormone IGF-1 acts on the pituitary gland to induce metabolic and endocrine functions- including cell growth and replication. Elevated levels of IGF-1 are related to many cancers- cells have more IGF-1 cell receptors than normal cells thus reducing cancers cells multiplying.
And the list goes on. I would suggest signing up for my 30-day program where we begin with Phase One 21-day sugar detox (and more) then work on Phase Two 5-day Jumpstart to Nutritional Ketosis and Fasting (or the other way around depending on your metabolic flexibility and health). We finish the 30-day program with Phase Three where we work on transitioning to the maintenance plan. You want to be metabolic flexible and efficient fat burner before you start re-introducing more carbs (carb cycling) perhaps one to two days a week (5/2 plan). Hormetic stressors…not too much or too little of anything. Just enough of an acute stressor or “shock” to the body systems then time to recover and adapt- rebound and recalibrate.
Before you start fasting, I would make sure you detoxification system is functioning at optimal level as your fat cells store toxins so as you start to deplete your muscle glycogen stores -your body will begin to metabolize fat for fuel. The oxidization process of fat metabolism will release toxins into your bloodstream so you want to make sure you elimination pathways are functioning at optimal levels: kidneys, colon, lungs, skin and liver! We will improve the function of your detox pathways in The WHOLESTIC Method program.
When you do eat your one meal a day or on non-fasting days (do what works best- and feels best for YOU!), make sure you are not binging on whatever foods. Nourish your cells with organic colorful vegetables, grass-fed protein or wild caught fish, free-range eggs and poultry – with lots of healthy fats as avocados, olive oil, essential fatty acids, macedemia nuts and more. Another area to be aware of when eating for health- to make sure you are digesting your foods correctly by slowing down, focusing and perhaps adding in digestive supplements as betaine HCL, ox bile and digestive enzymes as well as Megasporebiotic supplement to help keep the toxic LPS bacteria in your gut and away from your gut wall lining. Slow down and focus on eating your low-carb, moderate protein and healthy fat meal that keeps your blood sugar balanced and your fat burning metabolism in check!
Other research studies on the benefits of Fasting and IF include:
The cellular and molecular mechanisms by which IF improves health and counteracts disease processes involve activation of adaptive cellular stress response signaling pathways that enhance mitochondrial health, DNA repair and autophagy. PF also promotes stem cell-based regeneration as well as long-lasting metabolic effects. Randomized controlled clinical trials of IF versus PF and isoenergetic continuous energy restriction in human subjects will be required to establish the efficacy of IF in improving general health, and preventing and managing major diseases of aging.-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27810402
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25540982
Certainly not one dietary approach will solve these complex problems. Although there is some long-term success with gastric surgical options for morbid obesity, there is still a requirement for dietary approaches for weight management for the overweight and obese population, particularly as invasive interventions carry post-operative risk of death due to complications. Effective dietary interventions are required that promote long-term adherence and sustained beneficial effects on metabolic and disease markers. In general, such interventions need to be palatable and satiating, meet minimal nutritional requirements, promote loss of fat and preserve lean body mass, ensure long-term safety, be simple to administer and monitor and have widespread public health utility. Intermittent fasting or alternate day fasting may be an option for achieving weight loss and maintenance.–https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25540982
More References and Resources:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fasting-benefits
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5783752/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27304506
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20720008
I could go on as the research keeps coming and so many resources to review! I am going to read Mercola’s new book next after I finish his FAT FOR FUEL book. Then I have another pile of books to read…the problem is that I keep buying new ones!
Let me know if you have questions! Are you looking to become a fat adapted athlete? Contact me for a consultation.
The WHOLESTIC Method Coach,
Debbie Potts
