Should you try Intermittent Fasting?
The newest food craze hitting your newsfeed is called Intermittent Fasting. You may have heard about it, had friends that have tried it, or given it a go for yourself. As with many things in the nutrition world, it is throwing what we thought we knew upside-down.
Is breakfast still the most important meal of the day?
Should I still try to eat 5 small meals throughout the day?
The Run Down on Intermittent Fasting (IF)
The idea behind intermittent fasting is that you give your body a break from ingesting calories for a period of time. The traditional fasting time is 16 hours, typically from 8pm, until noon the next day. Then for 8 hours you eat food, ideally keeping about the same number of calories as you would consume if you weren’t fasting. This is critical; intermittent fasting isn’t “skipping breakfast”, it is restricting the hours you are eating to a shorter window.
There are other methods of intermittent fasting, such as choosing 1-2 fasting days per week, or severely restricting carbohydrates on certain days of the week. These are more advanced fasts, and not something I typically recommend, especially for women as it can have a negative effect on reproductive health.
Another thing to note, is that healthy eating ALWAYS trumps unhealthy eating. Intermittent fasting when you are eating processed carbohydrates and fast food does not reap health benefits. But once you have a healthy diet, intermittent fasting can be something that takes your health to the next level.
Why would you do it?
There are many upsides to intermittent fasting. Weight loss, brain health, and anti-aging benefits are the most well documented. Let’s dig into those to see if they might be beneficial for you.
WEIGHT LOSS
Intermittent fasting can help you lose weight, and even that last stubborn few pounds. At a dinner with friends recently, my friend mentioned that he started intermittent fasting and has lost 10 pounds in a month without changing any other behaviours. Another friend chimed in that she experienced a similar result when she started doing it.
In the “fed state” after a meal, your body uses the nutrients and glucose from food to fuel your cells. Your pancreas releases insulin which sends a signal to the body that “we have a lot of sugar here, no need to burn any fat”. Any sugar that is not used immediately is stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen. The glycogen can either be made into fat or converted back into sugar when it’s needed for energy. When we eat high sugar or high carbohydrate foods, our body is constantly releasing insulin and eventually our body will stop listening to it. This is called insulin resistance, and is the critical physiology occurring in diabetes and obesity.
When the body goes into a “fasted state”, it needs to find its fuel from somewhere. The body will start by breaking down glycogen, but when that runs out it will need to start burning fat for fuel. This is where the fat loss comes in. Your body’s peak fat burning comes after about 12-14 hours of fasting.
During sleep, and in the fasting state, we also increase levels of human growth hormone (HGH). HGH is involved in maintaining lean body mass, which means that during the fasted state, we won’t be burning our muscle or bone mass to maintain energy – just our fat!
Intermittent fasting helps us become more sensitive to insulin, the fat storage hormone, and leptin, our satiety hormone. This makes us feel satisfied and takes the breaks off fat burning.
In addition, we will tend to consume fewer calories, which has been deemed one of the most important factors in reducing obesity and our risk of chronic disease.
BRAIN HEALTH
Intermittent fasting has been shown to increase levels of BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor), which is involved in the creation of new neurons. Higher levels of BDNF are associated with higher intelligence, mood, productivity and memory, as well as decreased risks of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. One of the contributing factors to the development of Alzheimer’s disease is inflammation in the brain caused by insulin resistance, in other words diabetes of the brain. Through its actions on BDNF and insulin, intermittent fasting can have some really exciting positive effects for these chronic conditions.
ENERGY AND ANTI-AGING BOOST
Intermittent fasting boosts the quality of our mitochondria, the energy production area of the cell. This helps to improve the way our body functions, decrease cellular aging, and give a boost to your energy levels. Fasting also helps to remove damaged mitochondria from our body; damaged mitochondria release free radicals, which cause further cell damage.
In addition, when we aren’t having a high carb breakfast of cereals, granola, or muffins and croissants, we aren’t setting our day up for a big energy crash. After taking in highly processed carbs, we experience a big energy and mood crash, and increased sugar cravings. With all the patients I see in my clinic, most have a much more balanced lunch than breakfast, so by starting your day with lunch you are avoiding one of the most sugar-laden meals.
DIGESTIVE HEALTH
Digestive health is probably the #1 complaint I see in my clinic. Bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea – it’s all more common than we talk about! There are many different reasons for this from food sensitivities and food processing, to microbial imbalance, parasites, and even stress. Although intermittent fasting doesn’t help with all of these issues, it does give our digestive system a break which can do wonders for our digestion. Certain bacteria that help protect your gut lining and digestive tract also thrive in the fasted state.
How to do it
Most people make the adjustment to intermittent fasting very easily, but some people have a much harder time with it. I always recommend easing into it. Start with a 12-hour fasting window, and then gradually lengthen your fasting window.
Start your day with a tall glass of room temperature water. In the morning you can consume tea, water, coffee or even better, bone broth. The idea is to consume minimal, if any calories, especially from carbohydrates, until lunchtime.
When it’s time for lunch, enjoy! Eat a meal with protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates ideally derived mostly from vegetables. Same applies at dinner. You don’t have to deprive yourself or count calories (huge bonus in my opinion!)
WHO SHOULD AVOID INTERMITTENT FASTING
Pregnant and breastfeeding women should not undertake intermittent fasting, nor should children and in some cases the elderly. Women looking to conceive should also talk to a healthcare provider to see if fasting is appropriate for you. Many of the studies for intermittent fasting have been done with men, and some women do not respond as well to longer periods of fasting, so I will generally recommend adjusting fasting windows for women.
I would recommend caution if you have an eating disorder, or history of an eating disorder as this type of eating schedule can be triggering for some
Work with your healthcare provider if you have any chronic health conditions, including diabetes, thyroid disease or adrenal dysregulation.
If you want help navigating your health, and personalizing your diet, make an appointment with me today!