Why Intermittent Fasting?
Why Intermittent Fasting?
My intermittent fasting cycle goes like this: I wake up between 5-6 am with no alarm. I drink warm lemon water or herbal tea around 7 am. I’m still fasting. I don’t have anything to eat until about 11 am. I quit eating altogether between 6-7 pm. So from 6 pm-11 am is roughly 16 hours of intermittent fasting. It isn’t 7 days a week, but it is approximately 5. I love it and it shows.
The benefits of intermittent fasting
Improved mental clarity and concentration.
Weight and body fat loss.
Lowered blood insulin and sugar levels.
Reversal of type 2 diabetes.
Increased growth hormone.
Lowered blood cholesterol.
I love intermittent fasting which is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. Numerous studies show that it can have powerful benefits for your body and brain.
Here are 8 evidence-based health benefits of intermittent fasting.
1. Intermittent Fasting Changes The Function of Cells, Genes and Hormones
When you don't eat for a while, several things happen in your body.
For example, your body initiates important cellular repair processes and changes hormone levels to make stored body fat more accessible.
Here are some of the changes that occur in your body during fasting:
Insulin levels: Blood levels of insulin drop significantly, which facilitates fat burning.
Human growth hormone: The blood levels of growth hormone may increase as much as 5-fold. Higher levels of this hormone facilitate fat burning and muscle gain, and have numerous other benefits.
Cellular repair: The body induces important cellular repair processes, such as removing waste material from cells.
Gene expression: There are beneficial changes in several genes and molecules related to longevity and protection against disease.
When you fast, insulin levels drop and human growth hormone increases. Your cells also initiate important cellular repair processes and change which genes they express.
2. Intermittent Fasting Can Help You Lose Weight and Belly Fat
Generally speaking, intermittent fasting will make you eat fewer meals.
Additionally, intermittent fasting enhances hormone function to facilitate weight loss. It boosts your metabolic rate (increases calories out) and reduces the amount of food you eat (reduces calories in). All things considered, intermittent fasting can be an incredibly powerful weight loss tool.
3. Intermittent Fasting Can Reduce Insulin Resistance, Lowering Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes has become incredibly common in recent decades. Its main feature is high blood sugar levels in the context of insulin resistance. Anything that reduces insulin resistance should help lower blood sugar levels and protect against type 2 diabetes. Intermittent fasting has been shown to have major benefits for insulin resistance and lead to an impressive reduction in blood sugar levels.
Intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels.
4. Intermittent Fasting Can Reduce Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in The Body
Oxidative stress is one of the steps towards aging and many chronic diseases. It involves unstable molecules called free radicals, which react with other important molecules (like protein and DNA) and damage them. Several studies show that intermittent fasting may enhance the body's resistance to oxidative stress. Studies show that intermittent fasting can help fight inflammation, another key driver of all sorts of common diseases. Intermittent fasting can reduce oxidative damage and inflammation in the body. This should have benefits against aging and development of numerous diseases.
5. Intermittent Fasting May be Beneficial For Heart Health
Heart disease is currently the world's biggest killer. It is known that various health markers (so-called "risk factors") are associated with either an increased or decreased risk of heart disease.
Intermittent fasting has been shown to improve numerous different risk factors, including blood pressure, total and LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides, inflammatory markers and blood sugar levels. Studies show that intermittent fasting can improve numerous risk factors for heart disease such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglycerides and inflammatory markers.
6. Intermittent Fasting Induces Various Cellular Repair Processes
When we fast, the cells in the body initiate a cellular "waste removal" process called autophagy.
This involves the cells breaking down and metabolizing broken and dysfunctional proteins that build up inside cells over time. Increased autophagy may provide protection against several diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Fasting triggers a metabolic pathway called autophagy, which removes waste material from cells.
7. Intermittent Fasting is Good For Your Brain
What is good for the body is often good for the brain as well. Intermittent fasting improves various metabolic features known to be important for brain health. This includes reduced oxidative stress, reduced inflammation and a reduction in blood sugar levels and insulin resistance. Animal studies have also shown that intermittent fasting protects against brain damage due to strokes. Intermittent fasting may have important benefits for brain health. It may increase growth of new neurons and protect the brain from damage.
8. Intermittent Fasting May Extend Your Lifespan, Helping You Live Longer
One of the most exciting applications of intermittent fasting may be its ability to extend lifespan.
Given the known benefits for metabolism and all sorts of health markers, it makes sense that intermittent fasting could help you live a longer and healthier life.
(my not so short, sweet, real and raw version of Why Intermittent Fasting?)
