WHAT IS INTERMITTENT FASTING?
Updated: May 27, 2020
Is it just a passing fad or is it healthy?
Fasting itself is not new to any community as it has been practiced since the earliest of times by different cultures around the globe. However, these fasting practices have a more spiritual inclination. Having said this, people from yesteryears, know that the only guaranteed way to preserve a healthy lifestyle practice or ritual is to give it a spiritual connection. This way, it gets the recognition it deserves and the practice is preserved over the generations.
The 2016 Nobel Prize for Physiology of Medicine was awarded to Japan’s Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi for his discoveries of the underlying mechanisms of a physiological process called autophagy.
Autophagy comes from two Greek words, auto meaning “self” and phagy meaning “to eat.” It is a natural process by which the body degrades and recycles damaged cells, proteins and toxins, keeping the body in good condition. The other benefit is that when the self-destruction occurs, there is the inducement of the growth hormone which allows for the generation of new cells.
Autophagy or fasting is one method that the body uses to naturally neutralize cancer cells and degrade cells infected by harmful bacteria and viruses.
A fasting body goes through a detoxifying process in the most natural way and as such, limits its energy use and slows down the bodily systems. This gives rise to a healthy body, mind and spirit.
Periods of voluntary abstinence from food and drink is called Intermittent Fasting. This type of fasting is not a diet, but a diet regime or an eating style that is purported to accelerate fat burning and losing weight. Over the years, many theories have been advanced about how much you should eat and the correct time to eat, to achieve optimal health.
This is the body’s way of cleaning house. It happens during starvation, calorie restriction, and fasting. If the body fails to engage in autophagy, damaged cells and structures can accumulate dangerously.
Studies have actually shown that cells live longer and mitochondria make more energy in times of fasting, or calorie restriction, compared to when eating regularly. Other studies suggest that regular fasting or calorie restriction can naturally slow down the aging process in numerous ways. Calorie restriction has been shown to boost levels of nitric oxide, a Nobel prize-winning molecule that is expressed in the vascular system keeping the arteries healthy and blood flowing smoothly. Calorie restriction has been shown to boost antioxidant and detoxification activity by activating Nrf2 pathways, and also induces potent anti-inflammation effects by reducing insulin resistance.
Therefore, with intermittent fasting you narrow the window to about 8 hours a day for eating. During the fasting period which is more than 8 hours, the body will burn the carbohydrates stored in your body as glycogen. After that, your body is stimulated to burn fat as its primary fuel.
Research reveals many affluent communities eat all day long, as frequently as 15 out of the 24 hours. Most also consume a majority of their daily calories late in the evening which is actually deleterious to health. Such eating patterns lead to dysfunctional metabolic processes and have an impact on health and wellbeing.
Different Types of intermittent fasting
The 16/8 Method: Fast for 16 hours each day.
The 16/8 Method involves fasting every day for 14-16 hours, and restricting your daily “eating window” to 8-10 hours. This method is also known as The Leangains Protocol. In this method of fasting, one does not eat anything after dinner, and skips breakfast.
You can drink water, coffee and other non-caloric beverages during the fast, and this can help reduce hunger levels.
The 5:2 Diet: Fast for 2 days per week.
The 5:2 diet involves eating normally 5 days of the week, while restricting calories to 500-600 on two days of the week.
Eat-Stop-Eat: Do a 24-hour fast, once or twice a week.
Eat-Stop-Eat involves a 24-hour fast, either once or twice per week. This can be fasting from dinner one day, to dinner the next, this amounts to a 24-hour fast.
You can also fast from breakfast to breakfast, or lunch to lunch. The choice is yours based on your convenience. Water, coffee and other non-caloric beverages are allowed during the fast, but no solid food.
Alternate-Day Fasting: Fast every other day.
Alternate-Day fasting means fasting every other day. On the fasting days, you are allowed 500-600 but calories /day. Of- course there are some people who take to the extreme of consuming zero calories on fasting days. This is not encouraged.
The Warrior Diet: Fast during the day, eat a huge meal at night.
It involves eating small amounts of raw fruits and vegetables during the day, then eating one huge meal at night. Basically, you “fast” all day and “feast” at night within a 4- hour eating window. This diet also emphasizes a paleo type diet – whole, unprocessed foods that resemble what they looked like in nature.
The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
The research on intermittent fasting is mixed. There are improvements in metabolic markers, like blood sugar, insulin and lipids but however, individual circumstances vary. And those circumstances might change over a given period of time.
A new review evaluated the various approaches to intermittent fasting, particularly the advantages and limitations for its use in fighting obesity and type 2 diabetes.
What the researchers found was that overweight or obese individuals with type 2 diabetes who fast on consecutive or alternate days lost more weight, while also experiencing enhanced heart health and cardioprotective benefits.
Studies included in the review showed a broad range of therapeutic potential even when total calorie intake per day did not change, or was only slightly reduced. This includes evidence that intermittent fasting may:
Limit inflammation
Improve circulating glucose and lipid levels
Improve metabolic efficiency and body composition
Cause significant reductions in body weight in obese individuals
Improve pancreatic function
Improve insulin levels and insulin sensitivity
Researchers noted in the British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease:
"Intermittent fasting can be undertaken in several ways but the basic format alternates days of 'normal' calorie consumption with days when calorie consumption is severely restricted. This can either be done on an alternating day basis, or more recently a 5:2 strategy has been developed, where 2 days each week are classed as 'fasting days' (with <600 calories consumed for men, <500 for women).
Importantly, this type of intermittent fasting has been shown to be similarly effective or more effective than continuous modest calorie restriction with regard to weight loss, improved insulin sensitivity and other health biomarkers... Despite the seemingly strict nature of the fasting days intermittent fasting has a generally good adherence record."
Who Should not practice intermittent fasting?
Individuals who are chronically ill with uncontrolled health issues like chronic diabetes, chronic stress with adrenal and cortisol dysregulation, insulin users, severe peptic ulcer diseases, pregnancy and breast feeding mothers.
Nutritional status
Intermittent fasting does not mean inadequate nutrition. Food that is consumed during the non- fasting periods should be nutritionally dense. One of the best things about intermittent fasting is that you do not have to starve yourself.
In regards to weight loss, we need to make healthier food choices and be careful to minimize carbohydrates and replace them with healthy fats, like coconut oil, olive oil, olives, eggs, avocados, nuts and butter milk . It typically takes several weeks to shift to fat-burning mode, but once you do, your body will actually be able to burn your stored fat and not have to rely on new carbohydrates for fuel.
Studies and published Articles
Ramadan Fasting and Voluntary Fasting - Potential Weight loss and Weight Maintenance Opportunity for Overweight and Obese Muslims
International Journal of Public Health and Clinical Sciences ISSN: 2289-7577. Vol. 1:No. 2 November/December 2014
A Prospective Study of the Physiological and Neurobehavioral Effects of Ramadan Fasting in Preteen and Teenage Boys
Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Volume 115, Issue 6, June 2015,
Fasting: Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Applications
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3946160/
Efficacy of fasting and calorie restriction (FCR) on mood and depression among ageing men.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24097021
Intermittent fasting: a dietary intervention for prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease?
Intermittent fasting, in which individuals fast on consecutive or alternate days, has been reported to facilitate weight loss and improve cardiovascular risk. This review evaluates the various approaches to intermittent fasting and examines the advantages and limitations for use of this approach in the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
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