Have you ever wondered what breakfast actually meant?
Well it's pretty self explanatory! It is the “break” to your overnight fast!
For most people that fast ends early in the morning just after waking, but for others the fast lasts longer.
Despite the historical use of fasting for medical healing by ancient civilizations for centuries, it is only recently that fasting has become mainstream as a popular dietary approach. And, even though an internet search for the terms “fasting” and “intermittent fasting” brings up almost one million and over 34 million results respectively, many people remain confused over the two along with their associated health benefits. GLIM is excited to share these many health benefits plus provide you with a general “sciencey” overview of what happens when we eat and fast.
Quick Intro to Fasting / Intermittent Fasting (IF):
Voluntary abstinence from food during a specific time window
Medically speaking a “fast” is generally defined as 12 consecutive hours refraining from calorie-counting foods or beverages
Water and medications are allowed with fasting
Minimum daily water intake should be ½ your body weight in ounces (ex. 180lb = 90ounce water)
Flexible and easily malleable to a changing schedule
Multiple IF Options:
Alternate Day Fasting or ADF
- Alternating days of consuming food & beverages without restriction with days of water only
Modified ADF
- Alternating days of consuming food & beverages without restriction with days of 20-25%
reduction in normal calorie intake
5:2
-Two non-consecutive days per week reduce normal intake by 20-25%
Cycling or 6:1 Fasting
-Abstain from calorie-containing food or beverages one day per week
Time Restricted Fasting
-Reduce your daily feeding window to 6-8 hours. For example, if you eat dinner at 7PM, your
first meal of the day will be between 11AM- 1PM
Food is ingested that can be immediately used
Some of the energy is stored for later use
Insulin is produced by pancreas and responsible for storage of excess food energy
First excess food is stored in chains of glycogen in liver or muscle, but once all that space is used up the excess glucose is turned into fat by a process called De novo lipogenesis.
What Happens When We Don’t Eat:
Insulin falls, and the food storage process goes in reverse
Body breaks down glycogen (sugar) into individual glucose units and releases it into the bloodstream
Once that is finished the body burns fat for energy
Fasting Benefits:
Neuroprotection
Cancer prevention and control
Reduced cardiovascular disease risk
Diabetes Management
Weight Loss
Better Sleep
Improved gut health
Reduced medication dependency
Improved Blood Pressure
Increase Energy
Decreased Inflammation
Increased Longevity
Fasting is free and simple so try it today and start reaping the many health benefits!
For more information optimizing your health, book a free intro call with GLIM to learn more!