In years past, the practice of fasting was usually associated with religious or spiritual customs and traditions. But now, a growing number of fitness enthusiasts are beginning to include intermittent fasts in their lives, depending on goals and circumstances, as a way to lose fat and improve overall health and longevity.
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Intermittent fasting (IF) makes perfect sense from an evolutionary point of view. Our paleolithic ancestors went through regular cycles where food was either readily abundant or extremely scarce. So we evolved with episodes of caloric deprivation.
During times of scarcity, the body turns on "repair and maintenance" genes. These genes increase the production of key chemicals, such as glutathione, which promote the repair of tissues that would not otherwise be repaired during times of surplus. It is this adaptation that allows cells to live longer.
Intermittent fasting involves a period of fasting alternated with a period of eating and may be done in a number of ways. An alternate-day fast generally involves a feast day where you eat all you want one day and then fast the next. A single twenty-four hour fast can be done once a week, once a month or whenever you decide, on a less planned schedule. You can also skip a meal on a planned or unplanned basis.
The condensed eating window is the method I prefer. It involves compressing your daily intake into a set number of hours. For example, I'll eat from seven in the morning until about three in the afternoon. Then fast until seven the next morning. This gives my body a sixteen hour break from digesting. And it happens quite naturally, on occasion, with no great effort.
A recent article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition summarized the IF research on animals and humans. In the animal studies, researchers found that IF increases fat loss, reduces blood pressure, improves insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance and improves cognitive function. They also found a reduction in the incidence of cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
There have been far fewer studies done on humans and the findings are much less conclusive. More research is needed to determine whether the benefits found in animals also apply to humans and if they will translate into long-term health gains.
The benefits of intermittent fasting are vast. Fasting gets a bad rap, but there is real science behind the technique of fasting, in particular, intermittent fasting. Many people think that someone who is fasting has an eating disorder, but nothing could be farther from the truth.
The truth is that in today's society, we eat far too much and too often. Our bodies are very precise mechanisms that, allowed to run properly, will take care of us far beyond our imagination. The problem lies with the fact 14/10 intermittent fasting that historically, for thousands and thousands of years, we were a species with little food resources and we worked long and hard each and every day for the morsels we did get. Today, we have a plethora of food, most of it very fattening, and sedentary lifestyles. This both contributes to obesity and disease.
Fasting intermittently can eliminate many problems caused from overeating and sitting around all day instead of out hunting and gathering. The fact is that we have not evolved enough to be able to handle all the calories that we ingest on a daily basis, our bodies still operate as if we were hunter and gatherers. Not until the 20th century did most people have food at the ready, so 100 years is not even close to enough time to change how our body operates.
High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity are all problems that can be helped with intermittent fasting. A particularly effective fasting plan is called the Fast 5. This plan requires you to fast for 19 hours everyday and eat for 5 consecutive hours. It is important to not that you DO eat when fasting intermittently. Eating is essential to your health, but eating once or twice a day during a short period is more natural to our bodies than stuffing them 12 out of 24 hours in a day. Again, up until the 20th century, most people only managed to eat once a day for thousands of years.