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Why all the talk about Intermittent Fasting? 

Fasting has been found to offer many health benefits, including improved insulin sensitivity, regeneration of the immune system, and improved cognitive function.  Intermittent fasting, or IF, is a popular way to lose weight, and is also an important tool for preventing and reversing disease.

Fasting may be helpful for you if you want to:

  • Improve insulin sensitivity and reverse metabolic disorders
  • Reverse type 2 diabetes
  • Improve cognitive function
  • Reverse autoimmune disease
  • Reduce your risk of cancer
  • Slow down the aging process
  • Reduce age-related bone loss
  • Lose weight

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent Fasting is used to describe a variety of ways one can go without consuming food. Intermittent–meaning occurring at irregular intervals; and fasting–meaning going without food. There isn’t one single way to use IF, nor is there a right way or wrong way. You simply go a certain period of time without consuming food, and that is all there is to it.

Time restricted eating

Time restricted eating usually involves skipping one meal a day, which extends the fasting window from between 12 and 20 hours. For example, if you finish dinner at 8pm and don’t eat again until noon the next day, you have fasted for 16 hours.

One Meal a Day (OMAD) 

OMAD is another popular method of Intermittent Fasting. This method limits food consumption to one meal a day, with all food typically consumed within a 1-hour window of time. Some people use OMAD once a week to maintain their weight, some use OMAD twice a week for weight loss, and others may use it every other day or even every day.

Extended Fasts (EF)

Extended fasts are fasts that last longer than 48 hours. These are generally advised under the supervision of a doctor (not that you have to be in-patient, but a doctor should know you are doing this). Extended fasts have been made more popular by Dr. Jason Fung, a doctor who has helped thousands of obese patients lose weight, reverse diabetes, and regain their health. 

Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD)

The Fasting Mimicking Diet is yet another type of IF that helps people do a modified extended fast, while allowing for minimal calories to be consumed over a 3-5 day period each month. The FMD cycles are continued until the desired health results are achieved. 

It’s worth a try.

As you can see, there are many different ways to fast. You can try them all and see which one works best for you. 

The health benefits of fasting are nothing to dismiss. Humans are meant to both feed and fast. Unfortunately, we have been told by the ‘nutrition’ industry that if we go without food our metabolism will stall. This is just not true, but rather another way the food industry has convinced us to buy more food. Give IF a try and let me know how it goes!