What is Fasting?

When it comes to ideas around a healthy diet, we often look at what we eat and not when we eat. Fasting draws our attention to how often we are eating.

The practice of fasting results in the abstinence or reduction from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. Although sometimes viewed as unhealthy, multitudes of research support the practice of fasting and the excellent health benefits it offers. The age-old practice of fasting is becoming more widely accepted as a legitimate means of managing weight and preventing disease. When done correctly, fasting is extremely effective and beneficial.

The Science of Fasting

A large body of evidence now supports the benefits of fasting. The human body uses fasting as a way to cleanses our body of excessive tissue, toxins, and damaged and mutated cells. When practiced regularly or in extended durations of time the body forces cells into processes that are not usually stimulated.

When we fast, the body does not have its usual access to its regular source of fuel, glucose. This will force the cells of the body to resort to other means and materials to produce energy. As a result, the body begins gluconeogenesis, a natural process of producing its own sugar. The liver helps by converting non-carbohydrate materials like lactate, amino acids, and fats into glucose energy. Because our bodies conserve energy during fasting, our basal metabolic rate (the amount of energy our bodies burn while resting) becomes more efficient, thereby lowering our heart rate and blood pressure.

Ketosis is a process that occurs later in the fast cycle. the process of ketosis happens when the body burns stored fat as its primary power source. This is the ideal mode for weight loss and balancing blood sugar levels.

Fasting puts the body under mild stress, which makes our cells adapt by enhancing their ability to cope. This process is similar to what happens when we stress our muscles and cardiovascular system during exercise. As with exercise, our body can only grow stronger during these processes when there is adequate time to rest and recover. That’s why short-term fasting is recommended.

The Types of Fasting

In lab studies, these three types of calorie restriction, or fasting, have demonstrated positive effects on longevity:

• Time-Restricted Feeding
  This is the process of limiting calorie intake to a specific timeframe that aligns with our circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm is often referred to as our “body clock”, the natural cycle that tells our bodies when to sleep, rise, eat, and more. Eating meals only during an 8 to 12 hour period each day while fasting — between 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., for instance — is an example of aligning with our circadian rhythm. Body systems work better when synchronized with one another; midnight snacking when our body usually sleeps throws our natural repair system out of sync. In addition, giving our bodies more time to repair is beneficial for our health.
• Intermittent Calorie Restriction
  The practice of reducing the number of calories consumed in a day. Research has focused on a two-day diet where calories are reduced in half and carbohydrates are limited for two consecutive days in a week. This approach puts the body through short and intensive therapy. The intermittent calorie restriction approach also reminds us that we do not need to consume constantly. When we do consume we can choose wisely and continue normal activities and exercise with reduced fuel.
• Periodic Fasting with Fasting Mimicking Diets
  This means limiting calorie intake for three to five days, prompting the cells to deplete glycogen stores and begin ketosis. While this can be done without eating food, it isn’t considered the safest option. It is speculated that this method is superior to the two-day fast, allowing the body to enter ketosis and begin a true cleanse.

Health Benefits of Fasting

Although fasting can be challenging and sometimes uncomfortable, the mental and physical benefits can:

• Improve cognitive health, function, and performance
• Protect and reduce obesity and associated chronic diseases
• Reduce pain and inflammation
• Support weight loss
• Decrease the risk of metabolic diseases such as Type II Diabetes
• Benefit cancer patients — A recent study with mice and cancer showed that fasting during chemotherapy jump-starts the immune system and exposes the cancer cells. Ridding the body of old, toxic cells and replacing with new, healthy ones may be just the answer. Traditionally, cancer patients have been told to increase nutrients and caloric intake while undergoing chemotherapy treatments but this approach might now be under review.

If you are interested in trying fasting, please feel free to contact our Chiropractic Physicians today.