The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Better Skin, Better Brain Function, Muscle Gain and even Weight Loss

Get to know all the benefits of intermittent fasting.

Between keto, paleo, vegan, plant-based, and whole 30, it can be hard to keep up with the latest happenings in the trendy-diet world. Unfortunately, many of the strict eating plans involve meticulous tracking of every bite you take. If monitoring macros, calories, and ingredients aren’t up your alley, we may have the solution for you: intermittent fasting.

Is Intermittent Fasting Safe?

It’s odd to think that depriving yourself of a necessity for life might be one of the most powerful ways to transform your health. Yet there’s more and more evidence for the idea that fasting could have powerful health benefits for both the body and brain.

For one small study, researchers from the University of Cambridge had overweight participants either cut calories every day or eat normally five days a week and consume only 600 calories on their two fasting days. Surprisingly the participants from the intermittent-fasting group cleared fat from their system more quickly after a meal and experienced a 9% drop in systolic blood pressure (the “regular diet” group had a slight increase in blood pressure).

In another study, where researchers intentionally gave people enough food that they wouldn’t lose weight, doctors found that intermittent fasters who ate all their calories within one window improved their blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
Other studies indicate intermittent fasting could reduce the risk for forms of cancer, but more research is needed.

How to Intermittent Fast?

There are several methods to implement intermittent fasting (All of them effective), however, we recommend you to get medical advice before jumping into any of them.****

-The 16/8 method involves daily fasts of 16 hours for men and 14-15 hours for women. On each day, you restrict your eating to an 8-10 hour “eating window” where you can fit in 2-3 or more meals.

-The 5:2 diet, or the Fast diet, involves eating 500-600 calories for two days of the week, but eating normally the other 5 days.

-Alternate-day fasting means fasting every other day, either by not eating anything or only eating a few hundred calories.

The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

1.- Slows Down Aging: Fasting drastically increases your stem cell production. Stem cells are like biological playdough — your body turns them into any kind of cell it needs and uses them to replace old or damaged cells, keeping you younger on a cellular level. Stem cells are great for your skin, joints, old injuries, chronic pain, and more. For optimal results, you can combine intermittent fasting along with stem cell therapy.

2.- Improves Brain Function: New research has indicated that fasting can significantly reduce the effects of aging on the brain. Researchers at the National Institute of Aging in Baltimore have performed studies to indicate the positive effects of fasting on overall brain health improving learning and memory abilities.

3.- Autophagy: Fasting for more than 6 hours begins the cleansing phase. The cleansing phase is catabolic in nature in that it tears down old damaged cells. This process turns on brain autophagy, or “self-eating,” in where the cells recycle waste material, regulate waste products and repair themselves.

4.- Lowers Inflammation: Intermittent fasting is one of the most powerful ways to reduce inflammation, boost immunity and enhancing tissue healing.

5.- Increases Muscular Tone & Boost Fat Loss:  HGH plays a crucial role in building muscle, lowering levels of body fat, increasing lean body mass and improving bone mass. A single 24-hour fast increased Human Growth Hormone (HGH) by 2000% in men and 1300% in women.  Experts believe the intermittent fasting puts the brain cells under mild stress that is similar to the effects of exercise on muscle cells. The stress causes them to adapt and get more energy causing significant weight loss without counting calories.

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Sources:
www.blog.bulletproof.com/keto-intermittent-fasting-weight-loss-diet
www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-surprising
www.drjockers.com/fasting-improves-brain-function