You’ve heard this recent buzzword, but like all things in the health space, you’re probably wondering: is there any merit to intermittent fasting? Before we uncover this and provide resources for additional information on fasting, let’s discuss what fasting entails…

Biology has shown us that humans can go without consuming food for many hours/days at a time. With this information, intermittent fasting has been thought to be impactful for weight management and blood-sugar control, as well as boosting energy levels, the ability to focus, heart health, and metabolic flexibility, among other things.

Let’s operate under the assumption that a person eats every 3 hours from 6am-9:30pm, and takes a break from consuming food from 10pm-6am, regularly. That is considered to be a 16:8 fast, where food consumption occurs for 16 hours of the day and the fast occurs for 8. Let’s also assume this person would like to become more metabolically flexible, and would like to increase the fasting hours to be from 9:30am - 9:30pm, becoming a 12:12 eating/fasting window. Would this person be "hangry" or feel "hungry" by 9am?

It’s a possibility, however, we must point out that feelings of hunger are often the body’s cells getting rid of unneeded damaged material, which is called autophagy. This essentially means that when this person’s stomach growls as a result of veering off of the typical eating schedule, it’s not necessarily telling this person to eat more. While the study of autophagy is new(er), fasting has been linked to this process and induced cell clean-out. “As the name suggests, metabolic flexibility means that your body’s metabolism is flexible and can use whatever fuel is available to it, whether that’s fuel from food you consume, or fuel already stored in your body. If you’ve eaten a snack or a meal recently, your body will metabolize that food and use it for energy production. But, if it’s been a while since you last ate, your metabolism can switch over to burning fuel that’s already in your body, like fat and sugar stores. Scientists refer to these fuel-burning processes as fat oxidation and glucose oxidation...” quoted from Dave Asprey, here's a link from Bulletproof.com explaining Metabolic Flexibility in relation to fasting!

So, let’s also assume autophagy and metabolic flexibility are the keys to cell clean-out, increased energy levels, potential weight loss, enhanced concentration, and other benefits...how do you begin your journey of intermittent fasting? This is incredibly personal, but the key steps to establishing a fasting routine are as follows (talk to your medical doctor first before embarking on a fasting journey - this is a recommended, general guide to begin fasting for those without identified health issues):

1. Identify your current food consumption habits - how long do you typically fast for, and how often are you eating throughout your “eating window?”
2. Aim for an increased “fasting window” without food by 2-3 hours for 7 days, and increase that by 2-3 more hours for an additional 7 days. Assess your energy levels, and determine a course of action accordingly.
3. These books are incredible resources for discovering more information on intermittent fasting:

• Intuitive Fasting by Dr. Will Cole
• Fast This Way by Dave Asprey (Founder of The Bulletproof Diet)

Intermittent Fasting has worked for millions of people so far.

“Research shows that intermittent fasting periods do more than burn fat. Mattson explains, ‘When changes occur with this metabolic switch, it affects the body and brain.’

One of Mattson’s studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed data about a range of health benefits associated with the practice. These include a longer life, a leaner body and a sharper mind.

‘Many things happen during intermittent fasting that can protect organs against chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, age-related neurodegenerative disorders, even inflammatory bowel disease and many cancers,’ he says.

Here are some intermittent fasting benefits research has revealed so far:

• Thinking and memory. Studies discovered that intermittent fasting boosts working memory in animals and verbal memory in adult humans.
• Heart health. Intermittent fasting improved blood pressure and resting heart rates as well as other heart-related measurements.
• Physical performance. Young men who fasted for 16 hours showed fat loss while maintaining muscle mass. Mice who were fed on alternate days showed better endurance in running.
• Diabetes and obesity. In animal studies, intermittent fasting prevented obesity. And in six brief studies, obese adult humans lost weight through intermittent fasting.
• Tissue health. In animals, intermittent fasting reduced tissue damage in surgery and improved results.”

An article from Hopkins Medical, on the benefits above.