What you didn’t know about Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting has helped John to manage his diabetes and improved his weight. This might sound weird, because for some time now people with diabetes have been told to eat six meals a day to manage their insulin levels and to prevent hypoglycemia.

John’s story says otherwise.

I recently met my friend, John, who has been battling diabetes for decades now. The last time I saw him was when he was seriously overweight, has problems with his heart and kidney and was seriously sick.

This time John is now looking so young and energetic. Even though he still has diabetes, his weight has become normal, he now has control over his insulin levels, and his failing heart and kidneys are appreciably working normally.

Like any normal person would do, I asked what has caused such a revolution in his health.

John told me that he’s been fasting intermittently for some time now.

That was the first time I heard about Intermitted Fasting. I asked him a lot of questions and made my own research.

I found a lot of interesting things, and I’m so excited to share them with you. Let’s get to it.

What is Intermittent fasting?

Intermitted fasting simply means eating at a specific window of hours and then fasting the remaining hours. In other words, it is the deliberate absence of food within a particular time.

This shouldn’t be confused with starving. With starving, you are experiencing pain and suffering because you haven’t eaten.

With intermittent fasting, you decide on your own accord to avoid food at certain hours of the day or on particular days of the week.

There are various plans or methods that exist.

• There is the 16/8 method, where you eat within eight hours and then fast the remaining 16 hours.
• The 5:2 diet method, where you eat normally for five days and then eat very small meals for two days
• The eat stop eat method, where you fast 24hours once or twice a week. For instance, you eat breakfast and don’t eat anything until the next breakfast, or you eat lunch and don’t eat anything else until the next lunch.
• We have the alternate fasting method, where you fast any other day. With this, you eat today and fast the next day. It’s up to you to decide whether to fast for 24 hours or you eat just a little
• Warrior diet, where you eat fruits and vegetables in the day and then eat one large meal at night.
• Finally, the spontaneous meal skipping. I do this one a lot. You eat when you’re hungry and then avoid food when you don’t feel like it, or you’re too busy to eat.

When fasting, you are allowed to drink plain water, black coffee, or tea, as these won’t break your fast. John says he drinks lots of water throughout the fasting period.

You might be wondering why anyone would want to avoid food when there’s no famine. The truth is, we all fast every day, most often unconsciously.

How can you fast unconsciously?

It’s simple. Whenever you go to sleep, you are not eating. Therefore you are fasting.

While starving has health complications, intermittent fasting on the other hand has lots of benefits for the body.

Importance of intermittent fasting

One main benefit of intermittent fasting that I agree perfectly with is its ability to help reduce insulin levels. Consider this.

Whenever you eat, your body secrets a hormone called insulin to move the energy from the food into your body cells to be used up.

The more often you eat, the more often insulin is secreted into your blood. As you continue eating frequently, the insulin level in your blood becomes high. With time, the continuous high insulin levels in your blood would make your body insensitive to insulin.

When this happens, doctors would say that you have Type 2 diabetes.

On the flip side, when you don’t eat too often, definitely insulin won’t become excess in your blood, and hence your body would continue to be sensitive to it. This would reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Apart from improved glucose levels and insulin control, intermittent fasting has the following benefits:

1. Reduces blood pressure
2. Lowers insulin levels and hence helps better control glucose
3. Helps cholesterol profile
4. Reduces cancer risks and the growth of some tumors

People who should avoid intermitted fasting

No matter how awesome a medical procedure or eating habit may be, it definitely isn’t for everyone. It’s the same with intermittent fasting.

Even though it has the above appealing benefits, here are the category of people who should definitely avoid it;

1. Pregnant women and lactating mothers
2. Children and teenagers
3. Those with acute or difficulty in controlling their sugar levels
4. Those who have diet-related diseases, such as anorexia
5. People who are underweight, frail, or the elderly.

Takeaway

Intermitted fasting is really good for your well-being. Among the intermittent fasting methods above, John mentioned above, practices the ‘eat stop eat method’. So far he’s enjoying himself and he’s happy with the results.

You can also decide which plan would work for you. However, before you make any major changes to your diet routine, it’ll be appropriate to contact your healthcare provider first.

After you have decided to give intermittent fasting a shot, I’ll advise that you go slow. You can start with eating just your main whole and healthy meals and avoiding eating in-between meals and snacking all the time.

With time, you’ll find that it’s way easier to fast than you thought possible. Plus, your health would improve gradually.

Make it as flexible as possible, and you’d enjoy the process. Do you fast intermittently? Tell us about how you got over your constant craving for food.