Have you ever thought about fasting? While many may think of fasting as an unhealthy practice, a controlled and intermittent fasting can actually extend your life. Food has a sizable impact on the body as it affects our metabolism and influences hormonal and chemical balance. If you fast the correct way, you could see some real results in your body and weight. Processing of the food, resulting in absorption and use of the macronutrients and micronutrients, is the energy-consuming process. In fact, consuming sugary or highly-caloric foods increases oxidative stress, and results in premature aging. Continuous consumption of such foods is consistently linked to heart and vascular disease, dementia and cancer.
Some of the favorite food preparation methods are also linked to aging. For example, grilling a hamburger, or browning a steak may sound delicious but in fact results in the formation of AGE-advanced glycation end-products-that are harmful to the body as they produce an exuberant inflammatory response, and consume vasodilatory and protective substance reserves. You can lessen the impact of this by including green, leafy vegetables and potent antioxidants into your meal: broccoli, kale, or a dollop of avocado, and skipping the bun to limit the carbohydrate intake.
We need food to survive but we age every time we eat…what can we do about it? A scientifically-sound and practical approach includes eating a phytonutrient-rich diet (10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day), and practicing intermittent fasting.
Fasting has been practiced since ancient times as a cleansing ritual, and incorporated into prominent spiritual observances across diverse cultural and religious groups. Fasting has several powerful benefits:
- Energy restoration.
- Weight loss.
- Hormonal stabilization.
- Detoxification.
- Cell recovery and repair through enhanced clean-up of aged structures (autophagy).
If you fast the correct way, you will see real results impacting your body composition, weight, mood, and overall sense of wellbeing.
Intermittent fasting (usually 12-14 hours daily), or for the entire 24 hours once a week, promotes mitochondrial health and teaches the body to efficiently burn fat for fuel instead of glucose, increase the human growth hormone (HGH) production, and normalizes your insulin levels and leptin sensitivity, sensitivity, leading to long-lasting impact on weight loss and energy utilization. These processes result in higher energy production, enhanced clean-up of oxidized material, repair and recovery, as well as immune system boost.
When you are going to fast, it is important not just what you eat, but how often and when to eat. Being on a healthy fat diet with moderate protein and low complex carbohydrates will help when fasting as it will force the body to burn the fat for energy when there are no more carbs left to fuel it. Not eating at least 3 hours before bed is vital when fasting as well; the body doesn’t need to eat that soon before sleeping, as it just adds fuel that is not being used when the body is sleeping. This can cause free radicals, or cells that have leaked electrons and mixed with the oxygen, which are known to damage cells and tissue, cause disease, and increase the aging process. Notice that fasting is not about calorie restriction: it is about NOT eating over an extended period of time to recharge your body reserves. You can potentially accomplish a similar effect by reducing your calorie intake consistently at every meal. In real-life, this second strategy is leel sustainable, and riskier as it may result in inadequate nutrition.
Fasting can be a taxing process, but the body and your health will be rewarded in the end, so try fasting in a schedule you can manage. For example, you may want to start by not eating anything after dinner until the morning of the next day. Maintain your water intake, and reduce activity during the fasting period to give your body a break. Gradually increase the dinner-to-breakfast fasting interval from 12 to 18 hours. If choosing to fast for the entire 24 hours period once a week, pick a quiet day, relax, and stay hydrated. If fasting daily, it is not recommended to fast for longer than 18 hours because it will cause your muscle to be burned for fuel if you let it go on that long. It is important to practice fasting safely and gradually.
Personally, I usually stick to 12 hour fasting interval daily. In our weight loss program, patients go through a 12 to 14 hours food-free periods during our fat-burning phase, with good compliance and beneficial results. Of course, we take time to prepare them for this phase by optimizing their anti-inflammatory food intake, and addressing stress reduction strategies.