Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting.

There are many different types of fasts you can choose from, and they differ in their results and difficulty. I prefer the 16/8 fast where you fast for a 16 hour time period leaving you with an 8 hour time period to eat. Much of the research included here comes from studies on caloric restriction and intermittent fasting. One conclusion is steadfast, fasting remains one of the most effective means of naturally detoxifying your body and resetting your system for better overall health.

1) Supports Fat Loss and Ketosis

Ketosis is the fat-burning state which is reached by fasting. This helps you burn through your fat reserves. Excessive central fat stored around organs, like your liver, and kidneys, interferes with organ function. Intermittent fasting helps you reach ketosis faster than traditional caloric restriction.

2) Boosts Your Metabolism

Leptin, known as the "satiety" hormone, also increases thyroid hormone production which leads to increasing the rate of your metabolism.

3) Intermittent Fasting is Good For Your Brain

Intermittent fasting improves various metabolic features known to be important for brain health. This includes reduced inflammation and a reduction in blood sugar levels and insulin resistance.

4) Intermittent Fasting Can Prolong Your Life

Intermittent fasting can increase a persons lifespan by up to 30% according to some researchers. It boosts the body's stress resistance, which increases longevity in humans.

5) It Can Heal Your Gut

Motilin and Ghrelin, which regulate the digestive tract, are released during fasting. Ghrelin readies the body for the incoming nutrients by stimulating gastrointestinal motility and gastric acid secretions.

6) Boosts Mood and Motivation

Studies show that fasting and calorie restriction improves anger, tension, confusion, and overall mood in aging males. High levels of Ghrelin are associated with anti-depressant effects.

7) You Feel More Full

Your fatty tissue acts as a kind of endocrine organ, producing several different hormones. One of these hormones, leptin, affects how full you feel. Fasting and weight loss significantly affect your hunger level and post-meal satisfaction through this hormone. With fasting, leptin levels drop initially, but as you lose weight, you decrease leptin resistance. Becoming more responsive to leptin signals increases how full you feel.

8) Improves Body Composition and Fitness

People fast for all kinds of reasons, and many are particularly interested in the effects fasting has on the body’s fat tissues and overall weight loss. Others fast or intermittently fast for better exercise results. Fasting contributes to a better body composition in several ways, primarily through its actions on hormones and fat metabolism.

9) Promotes Heart Health

An animal study found that fasting leads to improves heart health with improving heart muscle performance, reduced free radical damage, and increased the growth of blood vessels within the heart.

10) Improves Blood Triglycerides

Blood triglycerides decrease during the fasting state. Having fatty blood increases. your risk of developing narrowed arteries

11) Decreases Blood Sugar

In just the first few days of fasting, blood sugar drops over 30%, a significant perk to anyone with hyperglycemia. This drop usually makes people feel low energy, but your blood sugar levels should stabilize as you continue to fast.

12) Lowers Blood Pressure

While fasting, many people develop lower blood pressure, primarily during the first week of a fast. It might not be fasting itself that decreases blood pressure, but rather a significantly lower salt intake and increased loss of salt through the urine.

13) Slows Down The Aging Process

Fasting decreases the accumulation of oxidative free radicals in the cell, and thereby prevents oxidative damage to cellular proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids associated with aging and disease.

14) Decreases Inflammation

Inflammation has many causes, but an unhealthy diet is a consistent source of free radicals and the foods that cause inflammation. Refined sugar, refined carbs, alcohol, meat, dairy, and fried or charred foods provoke inflammation. But food isn’t the only source—metabolic reactions also generate free radicals like superoxides and hydrogen peroxide. Foregoing a few meals prevents food-related inflammation before it even starts. Another way that fasting decreases inflammation is through better hormone balance. Several studies have found lower insulin levels and improved insulin sensitivity decrease oxidative stress caused by free radicals.

15) Promotes a Health Stress Response

Mild, infrequent stress is good for you. It challenges your body, and you come out stronger after going through it. Fasting exerts a small amount of stress on the brain.

16) Helps You Recover From Injury

You would think that fasting after injury, especially one to the glucose-hungry brain, would make recovery even more difficult. But the opposite seems to be true. In animal studies, intermittent fasting after injury improved brain function from stroke and diseases that affect the brain.

17) Keeps Lean Muscle Mass

Intermittent Fasting results in increased fat burning and fast weightless by forcing your body to use up fat stored as fuel. A study focused on the 16/8 method of intermittent fasting showed that it significantly reduced fat mass while retaining both muscle mass & strength.

18) Easy To Follow

If a person can’t implement their nutrition strategy into their day-to-day life, then chances are they won’t stick to it. Surprisingly, intermittent fasting seems to simplify things for people as studies show greater compliance with intermittent fasting compared to traditional calorie-reduced diets.

19) Reduces Harmful Protein Production

There are many proteins and metabolic products that provoke inflammation, particularly in the brain. Fasting and calorie restriction inhibit the production of free radicals and irritating proteins like inflammatory cytokines. Evidence indicates that these contribute to premature brain aging and that fasting can decrease their production, protecting you from their impact.

20) Supports Healthier Collagen in Skin

Your diet is important to your skins appearance, but fasting can also improve your skin. High blood sugar changes the structure of collagen, weakening its strength and resilience. Since fasting substantially lowers blood sugar, you can think of it as just a normal part of your skincare routine to ensure graceful aging.

Unfortunately, people think that intermittent fasting is a magic pill that will solve all their problems. Yes, it is an incredibly effective tool to take control of your health, but it won't cancel out eating a diet full of processed foods and sugars. When you are intermittent fasting, it is important to nourish you body with nutrient dense, whole foods instead of empty calories.

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