You heard it here first, the next big health fad will be various forms of fasting. I hate to call it a fad because the research on this approach to improving health is the real deal, but because of our cultural mindset of hunger is bad, I would bet that for the majority of the population, this is one that doesn’t stick. Of course my readers and patients are the exception so I expect big things from you.
Fasting is not a new concept. It has been around as long has man has. Every major religion at the very least references it while some actively and regularly practice it.
The research is coming in at a fast and furious pace and in some areas it is simply astounding what they are finding.
There are many different protocols that induce the benefits of fasting. Three, 12-hour fasts per week seem to be the minimum to get some of those benefits. Personally I have been experimenting with three, 18-hour fasts per week which brings results to another level. More aggressive protocols include periodic 24 – 72 hour fasts but these protocols should not be taken lightly and should be done under the supervision of a physician if you have not done it before.
You will also hear different terms for fasting protocols. Intermittent fasting, which, just as it sounds is fasting done on an intermittent basis where the time spent fasting and the time between fasts varies. Time restricted eating is another protocol that has gotten a lot of traction which involves limiting your calorie intake to a certain time frame during the day. Most commonly, this “feeding window,” is 6 – 8 hours. This is the approach that I have taken which basically involves skipping breakfast and not eating until around noon. I typically limit this to 3 days per week due to my exercise routine. I usually exercise in the morning and on my harder days of exercise it is tough for me to get through a morning at the office without some sort of fuel.
I like to sip on water with a pinch or two of himalayan sea salt during the morning, especially if I have done something like hot yoga in the morning as I tend to lose a ton of fluids and electrolytes that need to be replaced.
Our bodies are not designed to be in a constantly fed state. Historically, we have had feast and famine. Since the industrial age however, developed nations only have feasting and with that proverbial fed state comes a set of health problems that are literally killing us. We have been designed to live for days without food and there are specific metabolic changes that happen during fasting that do not happen when you are in a constantly fed state. Those changes are where the magic in fasting occurs.
When you hit 12 hours of fasting, your body realizes it needs building blocks to create new cells and repair damaged ones. Autophagy is the process of breaking down and clearing away old and damaged cells in order to obtain building blocks for new ones. This process is drastically accelerated during the refeeding state following a fast. This type of regeneration does not happen after early childhood so it is literally a way of turning back the clock and renewing yourself. In autoimmune disease in particular, it has been shown in animal models that the new cells that are created during the refeeding stage tend to not have the same autoimmune tendency and in some cases cures those conditions. Other studies have revealed that fasting protects cells from the damaging effects of chemotherapy while making cancer cells more susceptible. Cancer cells require high levels of nutrients to survive including protein, amino acids and especially sugar. When fasting, human cells go in to a protective mode while cancer cells become weaker and are more easily destroyed.
During these fasting states, your body also creates new stem cells, shifts the immune system and drastically reduces inflammation pathways, particularly in the brain and nervous system. This last bit of information may be one of the most important reasons to give fasting a try.
In the integrative medicine world, we are starting to refer to alzheimer’s disease as diabetes of the brain or type 3 diabetes. Alzheimer’s is listed as the sixth leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer but in older adults it is believed it likely the 3rd leading cause. What is much more frightening however is the morbidity of living with Alzheimer’s for decades as the brain slowly degenerates causing loss of memory and cognitive ability.
A constantly fed state means the brain is bathed in sugar and high insulin levels. We know that elevated blood sugar and insulin levels causes an inflammatory state. During a fasting state, the brain shifts to using ketones as fuel instead of sugar, thus reducing inflammation in the brain. Newer technology is now available that shows that the degeneration in the brain can be reversed with the right lifestyle changes. Fasting is one of those lifestyle changes.
Of course there is also the benefit of weight loss with fasting. After about 12 hours of fasting your body starts to run out of sugar stores and must shift into ketosis where fat becomes the main source of fuel.
What I have found in my experimentation with fasting is that I am sharper mentally, I have less aches and pains, and have lost a couple pounds along the way. Like everything else in life, moderation is one of the keys for longevity so fasting is one tool among many that you can incorporate into your lifestyle to improve your health and longevity, and to reduce your risk of some diseases. If you are interested in additional ways to fortify your body against the ravages of aging and disease, we are always accepting new patients and love to see our existing ones come back for the most recent approaches to improve your health.
Until next time, Stay Healthy and Live Well…
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