Intermittent fasting
Are you sure if fasting is right for your body?
The goal to following any diet and nutrition routine is to ultimately find what suits you best. As important as a good, balanced diet is, you may be able to benefit from the deficit introduced through intermittent fasting just yet. Here is what you are missing out on when you don't fast.
Things that happen when you fast
1. Potential weight loss
2. Positive health effects
3. Energy boost
4. Stronger immune system
5. Better self-control
6. Brain protection
7. Longer life
Benefits of Intermittent Fasting — Feel Healthier, More Energetic and Live Longer by Adopting This Healthy Habit
What is fasting?
Fasting means that you can choose not to eat for eight, twelve or twenty-four hours, once or twice per week; meaning that you can adjust your intermittent fasting (IF) schedule to your needs completely.
1. Lose a few inches off your waist
Majority of people decide to start fasting because they have trouble losing weight. Fasting and weight lost are in close connection because periods in which your body approaches a negative energy balance, whenever you choose them to be cause your body to metabolize fats instead of carbohydrates, so you don't feel the need to eat and your fat is metabolized. That's what makes fasting such a useful yet simple method for weight loss. Fasting is also proven to speed up metabolism which is also enables you to lose weight. Although skipping a meal can lead to eating more during the next meal, you never make up all the calories you lost.
Intermittent fasting is a full body experiment
Sometimes all that's necessary to shed a few pounds is to give your body a good shock. A break from its normal routine and a taste of something new. With intermittent fasting you are telling your body that you are unpredictable and won't give in to all its desires. If you keep your body on its toes instead of spoiling it, it will react in a positive way. Experiment to see what routine works best and stick with it for the best results. Everyone's body reacts differently to intermittent fasting. Most report positive experiences with weight loss, though.
2. Be healthier
It is proven that fasting can decrease bad cholesterol and triglyceride. It can prevent card-vascular diseases, it balances insulin levels and insulin sensitivity thus decreasing risk for diabetes. It also stimulates healing of brain cells and helps them to eliminate waste material. These health benefits of intermittent fasting are what make it a favorite diet choice.
Intermittent fasting studies
There are scientific studies ongoing that are showing that intermittent fasting is a natural and perhaps evolutionary dietary lifestyle that makes more sense for an adult human. Children need food to grow, but adults need food to maintain energy levels only. This can be accomplished through an intermittent fasting plan. Living within your means only consuming what's necessary for your survival. Anything more is just excess irresponsible behavior. The Earth has the ability to house and provide for many more humans. But because of wealth inequality, some humans are less fortunate and can't even eat the bare minimum needed to survive. It's the unfortunate truth of the world, yet we humans know it and still eat more than we need. Instead if we all fasted, which is healthier we would also be helping others in a way better than just giving money to a random charity.
3. Feel more energized
When your body stays out of food for some time, it also takes a break from digestion, which after a meal consumes almost all your energy, not leaving much of it for your other needs. When you don't eat for some time, your energy isn't wasted on digestion, but on healing and repairing your body. When you are sick, for example, you never feel the need to eat, and that's because your body has to concentrate on getting better rather than using energy to digest. Digestion consumes a lot of energy, and by fasting you save this energy so your body can concentrate on healing as well as getting rid of the toxins which also makes fasting an excellent way to cleanse and detoxify your body.
4. Strengthen your immune system
When you don't eat your body repairs and recycles damaged cells, whereas eating after a fasting period causes increase in white blood cells which are responsible for fighting infections. Thus, with intermittent fasting you may keep you from getting sick often.
Eating and moderation
Have you heard the saying, "everything in moderation?" — Well the same holds true for eating. People seems to have an eating problem at the moment. Most would say they have an obesity problem, but I say an eating problem. Because almost every person eats more than they need to, and it is unsustainable. And just because a lot of food is eaten, doesn't mean a lot of food is also wasted there. There is a lot of consumption and wastage of food going on. If more people were to practice more hygienic eating habits like fasting, not only would obesity decrease but they would also be on a more sustainable path for the future. Because food is very important. So much so that they are finding ways to genetically modify and engineer artificial foods, which is also unhealthy. The way we were meant to eat is natural foods from the Earth, and only enough for us to survive. Any more is just gluttonous.
5. Improve self-control
By setting out some ground rules regarding when and when not to eat, you practice the power of self-control, and that's an important trait not only when it comes to food, but also in life generally. Restraining yourself from eating when you are feeling hungry is easier said than done. Fasting easily becomes a kind of habit and it's more easier to employ regimen of eating at definite time than counting calories and over-thinking about what you should or shouldn't eat. This of course doesn't mean that you should indulge in unhealthy food, your diet has to remain healthy especially because the meals you don't skip have to provide you with all the necessary substances.
Nurture self-control
Not only is this diet necessary and healthy, but it also nurtures important traits for us to have such as control over self. An intermittent fasting diet plans restrains you from making impulse decisions and that is a healthy lifestyle choice compared to just eating everything you see. Self-restraint is important because it's what separates the civilized creatures from the primitive ones. You do not need a steady influx of food to survive. Just by eating what is necessary, you are helping the environment and yourself at the same time. The world needs more people with self-control.
6. Protect your brain from degenerative disorders
Intermittent fasting is also your brain's friend. It is said to improve memory and learning abilities in addition to decreasing the risk of degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. That's because it puts the region of your brain responsible for learning, memory, and mood, your hippocampus to work; i.e. it stimulates hippocampal stem cell activity enabling connection between neurons to be made more quickly.
7. You may live past a hundred by fasting
Regular fasting has been shown to help people live longer lives. Reductions in brain insulin caused by self-restraint can add years to your life due to resisting calories.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting is a way of dieting that people have been using for ages. In the past it was an inevitable part of people's lifestyle because of periods of shortages of food, world epidemics and other natural conditions, but in modern times people opt for intermittent diet for many other reasons, mainly because of benefits it has on our health and because it's an easy way to lose weight without constant calorie counting and thinking about what to eat.
How to prepare yourself for a fast
What you should do if you decide to try intermittent fasting is to follow the method that suits you. Also, you should always have fruits that you can snack on with you, so you don't feel hungry between meals, and drink a lot of water. It's good to feel hungry from time to time, and quickly you will get used to the new eating schedule you chose so it shouldn't be difficult at all to adopt this peculiar lifestyle.
Why intermediate fast
If you are considering to include fasting as a part of your eating regimen, first you have to know that it is a lifestyle that does not suit everyone, but you can always try and see for yourself. Many people choose intermittent fasting for weight loss but the advantages of the fasting diet are beyond that. The benefit of intermittent fasting is not to be overlooked and very important for regular functioning of our bodies. Not only is fasting beneficial, it is the closest form to the eating behavior our ancestors had, which is why people also on the Paleo Diet have no problem including IF into their routine.
What intermediate fasting schedule works best
The benefits of intermittent fasting are far from a few. It is considered to be good way to preserve your health for a long time and to stimulate your brain and promote cellular healing. In contrast to the popular belief that we need three meals a day and snacks between them, fasting means that you spend some time without food. You can always decide for yourself which intermittent fasting schedule works the best for you. Some people like to extend their period not eating to include time they sleep to skip breakfast in the morning; while others choose to eat only one large meal a day with fruit and non-caloric beverages while fasting.
