In my practice, I see a wide range of long-term health issues that stem from chronic inflammation. Intermittent fasting (IF) is one of many ways to help drive down inflammation naturally.
My personal approach to health is to find what works for me! I am always looking for dietary interventions, supplements and healing modalities which help increase my energy levels and improve my performance. I have noticed significant reduction in my energy levels when I snack, so I stopped snaking a very long time ago. I have balanced healthy meals three times daily instead of having small three meals and two snacks. My energy levels and daily performance is far greater when I stick to having three meals daily. Unfortunately, one of my downfalls is eating late as I usually don’t get home until 9 pm. I thought implementing IF is a good idea to help prevent me from eating late.
How do you do IF?
IF involves fasting for a period of a time. They are various ways to do this.
Fast for 12 hours a day – a person could choose to fast between 7 pm and 7 am, so they need to finish their dinner before 7 pm and wait until 7 am to eat breakfast.
Fasting for 16 hours a day – this is the 16:8 fasting method. People usually finish dinner by 8 p.m. and then have the first meal at 12 pm.
Fasting for 2 days a week. – this is the 5:2 fasting method. People eat healthy balanced meal for 5 days and reduce calorie intake on the other 2 days.
Alternate day fasting – this involves fasting every other day.
A weekly 24-hour fast – this involves no food for 24 hours but drinking water, herbal teas and bone broth.
Benefits of Intermittent Fasting (IF)
Encourages weight loss – The study has shown that average weight loss from IF was 0.2-0.8 per week. IF has been shown to reduce leptin resistance, which allows your body to store fats rather than using it. if you are interested in leptin resistance, this site will explain the mechanisms and how to improve other than IF.
Improves blood sugar and insulin resistance – many studies suggest that IF has shown to improve blood glucose and insulin resistance. 1,2,3
Improves autoimmune conditions – reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokines and modulate T-cell activations have been shown in people with autoimmune conditions. 4
Improves cognitive function. IF has been shown to protect neurons from free radical activities and cellular stress responses, which occurs during the aging process. 5
Improves digestive symptoms – studies have shown that IF can help reduce the symptoms of IBS such as abdominal pain-discomfort, abdominal distention, diarrhoea and nausea. 6
Improves heart health – IF has shown to reduce a risk of heart disease and reduce triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. 7
IF is not for everyone! If you have medical conditions and take medications, please consult your GP if you want to do IF
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