4 Big Reasons to Start Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent Fasting has been a big buzz word all over social media and within the nutrition and coaching world for a few years now. I’ve been following IF for 18 years without even realizing that I was. Ha, that’s a win for me.
What is Intermittent Fasting?
There are several ways to fast and it has been practiced for thousands of years. Fasting can be used for religious purposes, health reasons, and even for social change. I choose to fast for religious reasons from time to time and spend that time in prayer, but on a day to day basis, I begin my fast right after dinner and wait at least 12 hours before I break my fast. This is referred to as Intermittent Fasting since it’s recurrent over a period of time.
Intermittent Fasting Windows (Schedules)
At one point in my fasting journey, I was practicing a 16 hour fast with and 8 hour feeding window, but now I fast 12-14 hours. Why did I change? I’m a type 2 diabetic and needed to extend my eating window in order to spread my meals out and allow my blood sugar to come down into a normal range.
The 16:8 fasting schedule appears to be the most effective overall, but it doesn’t mean that one can’t benefit from a 12 or 14 hour fast. The benefit to the body begins around 12 hours.
Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
- Autophagy: “a natural, self-preservation mechanism whereby the body removes damaged or dysfunctional parts of a cell and recycles other parts toward cellular repair”
- Improves metabolic functions that are known to improve brain health
- Improves heart health: lowers blood sugar, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and inflammatory markers
- Can reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in the body which helps to prevent degenerative diseases
How to start Intermittent Fasting
Do you practice IF? Would you like to begin and need some help determining which is the best schedule for you and your body? Set up an appt. with me on my website and we’ll determine what is best for you.