Is intermittent fasting good?

Is Intermittent fasting good?

Intermittent fasting is creating lot of buzz  these days and revealing lot of new insights into fitness and health fraternity. Any new trend or phenomenon creates lot of questions, doubts and myths also. So thought of addressing those and you might find it interesting and useful by reading further.

 

First lets define intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting isn't about starving yourself like in fad diets or calorie deficit by eating less or skipping meals etc. These tactics are very unhealthy and not at all sustainable. Rather, it's about getting sufficient calories and nutrients every day but still giving your body a period of time where it can fast and not take in food. The concept simply recognize the fact that in evolutionary process our body has evolved to operate differently in eating and fasting mode and both modes are important for healthy functioning. Fasting mode starts when you don’t eat for 12 or more hours at a stretch. Like having early dinner at 6 pm and then breaking your fast at 8 am in morning. So it’s a 14 hour fasting window and 10 hours eating window.

One very important thing to understand in the whole concept is; how differently body operates in fasting and eating mode? Why its so important to be in fasting mode? The answer lies in the Circadian Rhythm of the body. Not only our brain but, you will be surprised to know that, each of our organ has its circadian rhythm; that is to say, each organ switch on and off as per sunlight and food intake. Switching off of organs is very important because during that time body repairs and rejuvenate itself. If we don’t sleep well (minimum 7-8 hours per day) and eat consistently (for more than 12 hours per day), we are not giving sufficient rest to the body and organs.

Time-restricted eating ie intermittent fasting triggers breakdown of toxic materials, detoxification during the fasting time, better uses of fat (burns fat by switching from carbohydrate to fat storage for use of energy), protein, and carbohydrate, improvement in metabolism and reduces reactive oxygen species (anti oxidant). One of the most important thing, it improves ‘Autophagy’. Literal meaning of Autophagy is self eating. Autophagy is the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells, by which the body can remove the dysfunctional cells and recycle parts of them toward cellular repair and cleaning. The purpose of autophagy is to remove debris and self-regulate back to optimal smooth function. It is recycling and cleaning at the same time, just like hitting a reset button to your body. Plus, it promotes survival and adaptation as a response to various stressors and toxins accumulated in our cells. All though all of these things are happening when mice eat within 8 to 10 hours. And some of these have been now translated to human studies and more and more human trials are going on to prove the efficacy of these on humans.

 

Here are some of the changes that occur in your body during fasting:

• Insulin levels. Blood levels of insulin drop significantly, which facilitates fat burning and lowers blood sugar also helpful in protecting you from Type 2 diabetes.

• Human growth hormone (HGH) levels. The blood levels of human growth hormone (HGH) may increase dramatically. Higher levels of this hormone facilitate fat burning and muscle gain and have numerous other benefit. 

• Cellular repair. The body induces important cellular repair processes, such as removing waste material from cells.

• Gene expression. There are beneficial changes in several genes and molecules related to longevity and protection against disease.

Additionally, intermittent fasting enhances hormone function to facilitate weight loss. Lower insulin levels, higher HGH levels, all increase the breakdown of body fat and facilitate its use for energy. For this reason, short-term fasting (but then eating well nutritious food in eating window) actually increases your metabolic rate, helping you burn even more calories.

To conclude, its very important to put your body in fasting at least for 12 hours everyday. It should not be confused with fad diet or eating less rather its time restricted eating. It’s a lifestyle and you can adopt 12 hours fasting everyday.