Intermittent fasting (IF), or time restricted eating has now gained the attention from people from all around the globe. It hasn't come as a surprise, as studies show that intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance (how your body reacts to sugars) and even affect longevity, by slowing down the aging process.
What is intermittent fasting?
Simply put, it is consuming meals only within a dedicated time frame eg. 18/6, where 6 is the amount of hours during which you're actually eating, and the remaining 18 hours are the period when you're fasting. It's worth noting that these time frames are adjustable. Some people are doing 16/8, whereas others do 22/2 or even 23/1. The key takeaway here is that the amount of time, when you're not eating should ideally be at least 14 hours. This is because, around that time, your body starts autophagy, or cellular recycling process, that balances the availability of the building blocks (proteins), making sure the cells requirements are met. At the same time you're getting a boost in human growth hormone (HGH) levels. HGH regulates your body composition, muscle and bone growth, and even sugar and fat metabolism. Additionally, by fasting, you're exposing yourself to short, low-dose stress (hormesis), which has a positive benefit on your body (that which does not kill us, makes us stronger). The same, beneficial stress, can be induced with exercising and cold therapy.
If you're willing to give IF a try, it is important, that you gradually teach your body not to rely on frequent meals. Begin with skipping a breakfast and maybe try not to eat 2 to 3 hours before going to bed. For example, you can eat your first meal around 12:00 and the last one you can consume around 20:00. If 8 hour window for eating is too short for you, try with 10, or 12 hours. Take it slow! And make sure you drink enough water! Your body will have time to adapt and you won't be experiencing side effects like cravings or fatigue. Taking too much at once, will do you harm rather than benefit you. And remember, our ancestors didn't have an easy access to foods frequently, so fasting is something that is built into our physiology :) It's a matter of regaining this ability.
My experience
I've been doing intermittent fasting for over 3 months now, started with with 18/6 (two big meals within 6 hours), and after two months slowly transitioned to a 21/3 window (one big meal served in three courses: salad (carbs & vitamins), high protein foods, high fat foods). Prior to IF, I usually skipped a breakfast or had a light one, so perhaps 18/6 window wasn't as difficult to start with as for someone who's eating 5 meals a day. From my experience, I can say I have more energy, I don't experience high drops in sugar levels - before, when my blood sugar got low I would feel weak, my hands would start shaking, I would become annoyed and I couldn't focus on anything other than on getting something to eat. Additionally, because I try to eat the last meal around 5 or 6 hours before going to bed, my sleep has improved (no digestion overnight). Eating less often also helped me to appreciate the food and pay attention to what I'm eating, not to mention, that it's saving me some time & money :)
Surely intermittent fasting is a broad topic, and I barely toughed it. The whole purpose of this post was to bring the awareness, that there is such a thing and it can have a great impact on one's health and well-being.
Let me know what's your opinion on IF :) Have you heard of it? Have you tried it? Have you experienced any benefits?
As a bonus, I'm dropping an interview with David Sinclair, one of the world's top researchers on longevity and aging.
