Outside of nutrition, Intermittent Fasting is the practice that has been the most significant contributor to me getting healthier.
I’ve lost a lot of weight (85 pounds) and understand how easy it is to get out of control and how hard it can be to lose it.
My primary goal is to relay information from experts and bring awareness to lifestyle actions that have made a profound impact on our lives.
I’m blessed with a successful family business, but it does take a whole lot of time and energy. On top of the market in the last year, we’ve welcomed a new baby, was significantly burned, and my oldest child, Lander, was diagnosed with cancer. It has been a year to remember. By the grace of God, we are still pushing through. Becoming healthier has allowed me to help my son and family better. The struggles of life can be overwhelming, but we have control of much of the outcome.
Intermittent Fasting is merely extending the periods between eating. It can be done in numerous ways and is not starving yourself. I’m not going to get too scientific with this post but will cover some high points.
To understand how the role fasting plays, we must look at blood sugar.
Normal Blood Sugar Cycle
- When we eat, blood sugar goes up and varies depending on the type of food eaten. Measurements to look at are glycemic index, and even better is glycemic load.
- Insulin levels increase to lower blood sugar.
- Blood sugar goes down. The process is like a rollercoaster. (Ideally, the rollercoaster is gentle and not extreme ups and downs.)
- Blood sugar is back to normal at around 8 hours, again, varies from person to person. This is important because, with the common way of eating, we don’t give ourselves much of a window for blood sugar to be at a lower range.
Here is a straightforward article that goes more in-depth – https://fxmed.co.nz/the-roller-coaster-ride-of-blood-sugars/
The foods we eat have a lot to do with blood sugar. By looking at the glycemic load, which better illustrates the effect on blood sugar levels, a particular food will have more than the glycemic index.
Since I’m not a doctor, medical professional, or nutritionist, please don’t take what I’m saying as medical advice. Consult a professional if you have a medical diagnosis such as diabetes.
What is Ketosis?
Ketosis is a metabolic state where the energy the body’s cells use comes from ketones. A great book is The Keto Bible for a deep dive.
I’ve found it fascinating that fasting has been used for treating epilepsy since at least 500 BC and was introduced into modern medicine in the 1920s. A ketogenic diet mimics fasting metabolism. Because the body uses up the blood glucose and glycogen stores in the liver, the body switched over to converting fat into ketones.
More on glycogen – https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-glycogen-2242008
A ketone metabolism has many positive effects over both short and long terms. Ketones are a “clean” burning fuel in the body, meaning the oxidative stress less compared to glucose metabolism. I believe that cycling in an out of ketosis is a crucial strategy. More on that at a later time when we look at the incredible longevity research coming out. While not the perfect diet for everyone, there are a lot of benefits for many.
Fasting is a quicker way to reach ketosis and experience many health benefits. Autophagy is a primary benefit that has profound positive implications on overall wellbeing. Auto means self, and phagy means eating. Therefore autophagy means self-eating and is where cells recycle damaged parts of themselves, removing the junk that causes problems. Much of which is damaged and misfolded proteins.
Autophagy looks like it has a massive role in the prevention of cancers and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, also called Type 3 Diabetes.
Here is an article on Intermittent Fasting https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-guide#who-should-not
I’ve found the easiest way to fast is to eat an early dinner, before 6, and skip breakfast. If you don’t eat from 6p to noon, you’ve fasted for 18 hours. Carefully consider late-night snacking, it’s most likely not in your best interest.
Also, breakfast is the most important meal of the day is based on marketing by food corporations and not health-promoting science.
I track my sleep religiously and have found my quality of sleep is greatly improved when I don’t eat late or eat carbohydrates in the late evening. The boost in deep and REM sleep also has a profound impact on overall health. A relatively new area of research is around the Glymphatic System and is different than the Lymphatic System and activates during deep sleep, cleaning our brain.
There are ways to get the benefits of fasting without extreme periods without eating. Here is one such way in ProLon
Two of my favorite books, The Longevity Diet by Valtor Longo, and The Switch by James Clement, are in-depth and scientifically backed approaches. Both men have studied extensively into groups of people living extended life spans and packaged their findings into actionable steps.
I’ve used all of this for myself with excellent results. As for Lander, as he goes through chemotherapy, I’ve been unwilling to risk any extremes that may be harmful. We have employed the LanderMan Plan, which is a ketogenic approach at its core. I do try to extend out the last and first meal of the day for him. It’s a mini fast, but coupled with the dietary plan gives him much of the benefits.
Action Steps
- Consider a clean ketogenic diet. One full of high healthy fats (Wild Cold Water Fish, Coconut, and Avocados) and fiber and low in low glycemic load whole plants.
- Try incorporating an extended range of time between eating two meals — an example of eating an early dinner and skipping breakfast.
- Look into extended fasting; it has notable positive impacts such as increased autophagy, as well as an immune system, stem cell, and growth hormone boost while it is a much more extreme approach. About once a month, I push for 60+ straight hours of fasting. – Fasting can be overdone and understanding the goal, and particular practices are vital before trying it.