What Is Intermittent Fasting (IF)? Does It Work?
All I hear in the health & fitness space is “Do intermittent fasting. It works! Don’t do intermittent fasting. I was starving the whole time and I was miserable. It doesn’t work!” So here I was just as confused as everyone else until I read this fantastic book Fast Like a Girl by Dr. Mindy Pelz. Gee-golly there is a lot of information packed into this go-to fasting book for women.
Just as Alice once did, I found myself deep in the rabbit hole of intermittent fasting discovery. Allow me to break down how powerful intermittent fasting can be and why it works.
Intermittent fasting (IF) is a part of many cultures worldwide and is a part of many spiritual practices. IF is a go-to tool used in the medical field. According to a study from the New England Journal of Medicine, IF is suggested to be the first line of defense in treating disease. IF heals your body of inflammation, and disease while regenerating cells and healing microbiome in your gut. Yes, IF is that powerful!
What Is IF?
IF is a cycle that focuses on a window of time when you eat and when you don’t.
“It’s a health tool everyone can use and everyone can afford.” - Dr. Mindy Pelz.
There are two systems our body uses when it comes to blood sugar. When blood sugar goes up our bodies are using the sugar-burning system. When our blood sugar goes down our bodies are using the fat-burning system. Our bodies create energy through the food we consume or the fat we are storing. Our bodies are meant to switch in and out of these two systems all day long. Individuals who have poor metabolic health do not switch between these two systems and are prone to staying in the sugar-burning state.
There are six different types of IF that provide six different ways of healing your body and healing your metabolic health.
12-16 hour window without food. This type of fast calms down inflammation in the body.
17-hour window without food. This type of fast is when autophagy kicks into drive and cells begin to regenerate in the body.
The term, autophagy, was discovered by Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi in 1992. Autophagy “is a natural, self-preservation mechanism whereby the body removes damaged or dysfunctional parts of a cell and recycles other parts toward the cellular repair.”
In a nutshell, autophagy means self-eating and internal cellular detox!
24-hour window without food. This type of fast will repair leaky gut and get rid of bad bacteria in your gut. It will eliminate constipation and change the microbiome within your gut. It will also help reset the microbiome for anyone who has been on antibiotics for an extended period of time.
36-hour window without food. This type of fast will burn stored excess fat in your body. That’s right! It is the fat-burning reset phase. It sends signals to your body to burn stored fat and get rid of it. Goodbye belly fat! Hello, ketones! What’s a ketone? Ketones make up 50% of our brain’s fuel source and are a part of the fat-burning system. A ketone “is a type of chemical that your liver produces when it breaks down fats.”
42-hour window without food. You get a rush of Dopamine. Dopamine is known as the “feel-good hormone.” It is a neurotransmitter that sends pleasure to the brain. The same happiness you feel when you eat your favorite dessert is the same Dopamine released into your brain. But would you rather access Dopamine through a highly processed piece of glucose or reach the happy state naturally?
72-hour window without food. This type of fast creates new white blood cells and resets your immune system. This type of fast is powerful in that it creates new stem cells and repairs damage in your body!
IF Is Different For Men & Women
Dr. Mindy Pelz suggests IF is different for men and women. Women should fast according to their hormones and menstrual cycles. She also suggests that IF advice is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Women should IF in phases based on their menstrual cycles and menopause. “Once a woman knows how to build a fasting lifestyle around her cycle, she becomes unstoppable.” - Dr. Mindy Pelz.
IF Is Not A Fad Diet!
IF is not a fad diet because it does not eliminate certain food groups or keep track of calories consumed. Again, IF is a cycle that focuses on a window of time when you eat and when you don’t. It’s that simple!
IF Is Not The Same As Keto
Unfortunately, diet culture has marketed IF as another diet. If you look at the shelves in grocery stores it is overstocked with items labeled “Keto”. Keto is short for the Ketogenic diet. Keto is a diet and is not the same as IF.
The Ketogenic diet eliminates carbohydrates and replaces food sources with high amounts of fat. Keto eliminates certain food groups and substitutes ingredients to make the product taste like the eliminated food. Keto products can trick your body into not responding to certain ingredients. An example of this would be the elimination of granulated sugar and substituting in erythritol or stevia for the same sugary taste.
In some people the use of erythritol or stevia still causes their blood sugar to rise. While others do not have an increase in their blood sugar response. The use of substituted ingredients may be damaging to your health. See “I Feel Like Something Sweet.” The Dangers of Erythritol for further information.
The additives used in many Keto products are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Keto diet has been massively commercialized. Just because a product has a Keto label on it does not mean it is healthier. Buyer beware when it comes to these products. Educate yourself on how to read and understand a Nutrition Facts label. Be prepared to dig deeper and read the ingredients listed on the packaging. Funny, how the font size on that part of the packaging is usually the hardest to read.
The Primal Approach To Eating
Let’s take a primal approach when consuming food as fuel and using IF. During primitive life food was scarce. Our ancestors did not have Uber Eats at the touch of their fingertips. If they did not have food they fasted until the next hunt, also known as feast and famine cycling. The concept of fasting and then feasting is an ancestral-rooted approach to how our bodies are meant to be used and fueled. Our ancestors used IF as survival in their daily lives.
Who Benefits From IF?
Certainly not big pharmaceutical companies (wink). Anyone who is pregnant, breastfeeding, on medication, or has an eating disorder is not encouraged to participate in IF. Everyone else is advised to consult the guidance of their doctor.
IF is not a solitary practice. If you choose to participate in IF please invite your primary physician alongside you on your health journey. I encourage you to give it 90 days and see what IF can do for you.
Happy fasting!
