I have used fasting to lose weight and not only to lose it but to keep it off! One of the biggest problems with weight loss is regaining it back and daily fasting can help manage that. It’s also proven that besides weight loss there are health benefits too such as lower blood sugar, reduced inflammation, improved metabolism, weight loss and many more.
So how many different fasts are there?
There are many different types of fasting, let’s take a dive. For starters you have Dry Fasting, this type of fasting is simply no water or liquid during the fast.
Next, is intermittent Fasting, this fast is eating within a certain window time frame. Water Fasting, is simply just drinking water during the fast.
Juice Fasts are also great, using vegetables and fruits by simply juicing them. Alternate Day Fasting is fasting for 24 hours and eating the next day.
The Fasting Mimicking Diet is where you order a five-day food supply and that’s what you eat for the week.
Not so FAST! You see what I did there, let’s look into how these
Let’s look at how to do these Fasts!
- Dry Fasting- Dry fasting is simply not eating or drinking at all. Not even water! You will do this type of fast in shorter periods because of how strong they can be. One day of dry fasting is equal to three days of water fasting. The detoxing effects of dry fasting are powerful and difficult to start in the beginning.
- Intermittent Fasting-This is one of the most common types of fasting. Intermittent fasting is eating in a window time frame. The standard is eating in an 8-hour window and fasting for the other 16 hours. One easy way of doing this is eating from noon to 8 pm. It will take time, but in about 2-3 week you will adjust. I rarely am hungry at breakfast time now.
- Water Fasting-This is another popular form of fasting. The name states it all, drink up! You will just drink water anywhere from one day to several days. When doing any form of fasting you are giving the digestive system time to rest and let your body focus on its other functions. Some have fasted for weeks with water fasting, but one of the pitfalls with prolonged water fasting is you can flush out all of your electrolytes through your urine. Adding sea salt to your water to get your electrolytes in.
- Juice Fasts-You can get a juicer and some organic vegetables and fruit. I HIGHLY recommend getting a juicer but if you are on a budget, you can use a blender and strain the pulp out. I like juice fasting, I can notice the high energy and
buzzing for hours after. It’s another way of getting nutrients to your body without putting strain your digestive system. - Alternate day fasting-This is simply what the name says, you will rotate every other day of fasting. You can have any calorie-free drink you want with most types of fasting. Reason being is any calorie will break your fast. By modifying it allows you to try different versions of this fast There are different versions of this type of fast and can also be modified. On your fasting days, you would stay at 500 calories a day.
- The fasting mimicking diet-Dr. Valter Longo is a director at the Longevity Institute of California. The ProLon fasting mimicking diet is the first to go through clinical trials to be shown for its anti-aging effects. It works like this, you will order the food and it will be enough for five days. There are enough macro and micronutrients that when you eat it your body does not recognize it as food and will keep you in a fasting state!
Are there any health benefits with Fasting?
Blood sugar levels can be lowered and have been proven by intermittent fasting. One study showed that 10 people were able to lower their blood sugar levels.
It’s also been proven that intermittent fasting and alternate day fasting worked as well as limiting your calories by improving insulin resistance. Fasting can help improve insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar levels. Results may vary from women to men.
Fasting may improve Heart Health
With heart disease leading the way with the main cause for disease around the world at a rate of 31.5% deaths around the world. Improving your diet and lifestyle plays a major role in these factors.
Some research has shown that by fasting you could improve your overall heart health. In one study showed that 110 obese adults fasting under medical supervision were able to lower their triglycerides by 32%, and reduced levels of LDL(bad) by 25%.
Fasting will lower your chances of developing coronaryheart disease, and improve overall heart health. This helps by reducing your triglyceride, LDL(BAD), and cholesterol levels.
Improve Health by lowering Inflammation
Acute inflammation is a normal process in which your body uses to keep diseases at bay. Chronic inflammation can severely affect your overall health and well being.
Researchers have shown that chronic inflammation could be the major cause of heart, rheumatoid arthritis, and others. By
Another study where fasting was incorporated shows that just by fasting for one month made a big difference in inflammation markers in the body. In other studies have also shown that just by fasting for 12 hours a day can have the same effect. Overall, fasting reduces inflammation markers and certain diseases.
Fasting is great for weight loss
Many studies have shown that fasting is one of the best ways to lose weight and to keep it off. In a 2015 study, it was discovered that alternate day fasting melted body weight up to 7% and lost up to 12 pounds! There is also more information out there that people have lost 100 lbs. or more by fasting.
Fasting has been shown to be the most powerful tool to lose weight and more importantly to keep it off. Fasting is not starving yourself, it’s time restricted eating. One pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories, that’s a few slices of pizza!
We live off of two sources of energy, sugar, and fat. Your body can only burn one source at a time, usually sugar. Most of the foods we eat especially the American diet (SAD) (Standard American Diet), ironic that it’s named that.
If you are eating the SAD diet you are a sugar burner, fasting helps to use up those stores and tap into using fat as an energy source. We rarely burn off the sugar from the previous meal before it hs being converted into sugar. Your body will always choose to burn sugar before it burns fat, it’s the path to least resistence.
Overtime this way of eating can lead to weight gain, imbalanced hormones, water retention, insulin sensitivity just to name a few. Lastly, one frustrated person, sound familiar?
Improves insulin sensitivity
AS type 2 diabetes is rampant, this can be a way of fighting off the disease. Over 50% of americans are prediabetic or are diabetic. I’ve heard of too much insulin best described this way.
Think of a balloon as your liver that can be filled with fat and sugar, the two main stores for energy. Usually when we eat insulin goes up storing the food for energy.
When we stop eating for a period of time, insulin levels will start to decrease. When your insulin levels are elevated for extended amount of time, the liver fills up with sugar and fat like a balloon that has been over inflated.
The pressure inside the liver will keep increasing to where it’s are for the excess sugar to move into the already overfilled liver. This is how you can become insulin resistant.
If you want to know more about fasting and diabetes, follow or look up Dr. Jason Fung. He is one of the leading researchers in the field of fasting and diabetes. He treats his patients with fasting protocols to battle diabetes.
Is Fasting Bad for your Metabolism?
In the past, we’ve heard that you have to eat frequently and often to keep your metabolism going and so you don’t lose muscle. This just isn’t the case, while long periods of fasting can cause a slight drop in fasting, short periods of fasting will improve your metabolism and will not decrease it.
One study used 11 healthy men and they found out that a 3 day fast raised their metabolism by a staggering 14%! The outcome is the thought that the elevated hormone norepinephrine, which stimulates the fat loss.
If you want to improve your metabolism, short fasts of 12-72 hours can improve it. While fasting longer then that can actually have the opposite effect and can decrease metabolism.
Should I work out in a fasted state?
I’ve researched and tried to come up with a yes or no answer for this question. Unfortunately, it’s not a black or white issue but instead varies from person to person.
While some claim that exercising in a fasted state increased their energy other did not. Working out while fasted causes low levels of glycogen in which their bodies turned to burn their fat storage for energy.
While some claim that they have the most energy and lose more weight while working out and are more focused. While others say that they feel like a slug and have bad workouts if they don’t eat, I’m with the slugs on this one.
I have much better workouts eating something a few hours before. On the contrary, eating too much makes me feel bogged down, so I eat light beforehand.
In summary, there seems to be a conflict on whether you should or shouldn’t work out in a fasted state. I encourage everyone to try for themselves to see what works best for you because every-body is different!
Who shouldn’t try Fasting?
- People who have eating disorders
- Women who are or are trying to become pregnant
- Type 1 diabetics
- If you’ve had an organ removed or any transplant
- Fasting can act as a stressor to those who are chronically stresser to those who are
chronically stressed
How long into the Fast until the Magic happens?
While it is good to take breaks from eating because every time you eat your blood sugar goes up and when you don’t eat it goes down. If you are a foodie like most, it’s been thought that 16 hours into the fast is the magic number to start reaping the rewards. The
Fasting is challenging for everyone in the beginning. The reason being that most of us are sugar burners and eat high carbohydrate meals. By lowering carbohydrate intake you can prevent blood sugar swings and won’t be as hungry throughout the day.
Bottom Line
Studies on fasting
Disclaimer:
Reliance on Information Posted