Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy?
One thing is certain in the field of health: what is common wisdom today can easily become “misapplied science” tomorrow. What’s “in” this year may be “out” next year. Often it’s hard to arrive at the right answer.
For example: Oily fish is good for you because the Omega-3’s are so healthy, but oily fish is bad because it can be contaminated with heavy metals, but oily fish is good because recent tests prove it’s not actually very contaminated, but oily fish is bad because the fishing industry paid for those tests…you get my point.
The Fats vs. Carbs argument is another. So when a reader recently asked about regular fasting as a means of maintaining good health, I had to re-evaluate my point of view slightly. What I found surprised me and convinced me to add a new twist to my ongoing health-and-anti-aging regimen. It’s called Intermittent Fasting – or IF.
Twenty years ago, as I was first forming my Primal Health point-of-view (based on a model of how humans evolved), I found it very easy to embrace the concept of “grazing” that seemed to represent the collective conscious of the weight-loss-and-health movement at the time. After all, eating several small meals a day – grazing to maintain even blood sugar and to avoid having your body go into starvation mode and start hoarding gobs of fat – seemed to fit my picture of early humans roaming the plains of Africa foraging for roots, shoots, nuts, berries, grubs and the occasional road-kill leftover from a hyena feast. The explanation that we in the weight-loss business gave the public was that by maintaining this steady supply of protein, fats and carbs throughout the day we would never experience a wild swing in blood sugar due to rapid rises and falls in insulin, therefore we would be less inclined to store fat and more inclined to burn off our existing fat stores. Heaven help us if we skipped breakfast, overate or starved ourselves periodically. That would surely wreak havoc on the delicate hormonal systems keeping us in homeostatic balance.
Well, maybe not.
The truth is, many people have succeeded in losing weight and keeping most of it off using this simple grazing method, which consists of eating 5 or 6 small meals or snacks spread evenly throughout the day, with no single meal exceeding 600 calories and where each meal or snack contains a little protein. This grazing method is the ultimate in portion control: take the 2400 (or more) calories you might otherwise scarf down in 2 meals and simply spread them evenly throughout the day. I think it’s reasonable to project that many more have avoided or postponed getting type 2 diabetes using the same method. I continue to use grazing as my main fueling strategy.
But like many behaviors in the fitness and health world, there comes a point where the benefits decrease and we find ourselves on the dreaded plateau.
The first thing most people will tell you about their attempts at grazing is, while it usually works well if you are diligent, it’s pretty difficult to stick with, since you need to be near a source of quality food every few hours. If you work at home most days as I do, it’s not a problem, but it can make life difficult if you work in an office setting or happen to be a road warrior.
The next common issue is that after a few months of progress, you arrive at a frustrating point where the weight stops coming off, the initial high energy levels decline or you stop building muscle. That makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, since the body is so well-tuned to adapt to any situation – including a perfectly even flow of nutrients. In this case, the body’s reaction to this steady supply of nutrition is to actually decrease insulin sensitivity. It “knows” there will always be food, so it “down-regulates” insulin receptors, and probably down-regulates other metabolic systems as well.
In my Primal Health articles here at MDA, I am always looking at ways we can harness our DNA blueprint to maximize health. I like to see how we can shake things up a little and trick the body into burning more fuel, creating more lean muscle, repairing cell damage and staying injury- and illness-free. So when my 79-year-old buddy Sid at the gym started raving about his weekly 24-hour fast over a year ago, and my friend Art started writing about his own fasting experiences, I decided to look into it further.
The results were surprising and impressive.
Numerous animal and human studies done over the past 15 years suggest that periodic fasting can have dramatic results not only in areas of weight (fat) loss, but in overall health and longevity as well. A recent article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition gives a great overview of these benefits which include decreases in blood pressure, reduction in oxidative damage to lipids, protein and DNA, improvement in insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake, as well as decreases in fat mass.
How can you argue with results like these? And it all makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, because our predecessors almost certainly went through regular cycles where food was either abundant or very scarce. The body may have established protective mechanisms to adapt to these conditions by sensitizing insulin receptors when it was critical that every bit of food be efficiently used or stored (as in famine), or by desensitizing them when there was a surplus, so the body wouldn’t be overly-burdened by grossly excessive calorie intake.
Beyond insulin sensitivity, it appears that caloric restriction and intermittent fasting may “turn on” certain genes that repair specific tissues that would not otherwise be repaired in times of surplus. One could surmise that this adaptation serves to allow certain cells to live longer (as repaired cells) during famine since it’s energetically less expensive to repair a cell than to divide and create a new one. That might help explain some of the extended longevity seen in animal studies using caloric restriction and/or intermittent fasting (read about here, here, and here). Intermittent fasting has also been shown to reduce spontaneous cancers in animal studies, which could be due to a decrease in oxidative damage or an increase in immune response.
So, what are the practical applications of this research?
It depends. There’s probably no right answer (remember what I said at the beginning!) Art suggests mimicking the experiences of our ancestors, which is to say don’t plan any fast, just surprise your body every once in a while with 24 hours of little or no food. My friend Sid does his fast every Tuesday like clockwork, so he has a light final meal on Monday night and doesn’t eat again until Wednesday breakfast. He does drink water and a little juice on his fasting day. Some fasting programs suggest you take a two-week “cleansing” approach where you eat regularly every other day and fast (or eat 40% of normal) on alternate days for two weeks twice a year.
One thing that is most interesting about the intermittent fasting studies is that slightly overeating on the non-fasting days (to make up for the lack of calories on fast days) yielded similar results, so it wasn’t so much about total calories as it was about the episodic deprivation.
As for me, I’m going to try the once a week deal, but I’ll start by no longer agonizing over a skipped breakfast or late dinner. What I used to think was the end of the world might just be the beginning of a new one!
Let me know of your own fasting experiences.
Further Reading:
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
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I used to do (once upon a time!) papaya juice fasts for 24-48 hours. While my whole system seemed to enjoy the “rest”… I dont think there were any long term beneficial results.. I think intermittent fasting is good for head and heart
gp in montana
I knew a guy who did a juice fast one day a week. He said it cured his sleep issues and gave him greater mental clarity. Haven’t ever tried it myself. I’m way too much of a foodie.
Only problem with a juice fast is that you may be defeating the purpose. Many forms of juice are high in sugar and might lull one into thinking they are fasting when they are not really. I think you have to achieve that true low blood-sugar state to start prompting the desired changes.
I can personally attest to IF working wonders. Most people especially in the gym are so brain washed into thinking they need protein every 2-3 hours or they go into a catabolic state and wither into nothingness. I say the body is smarter than that and can do with what you give it.
Personally I do a daily fast and only eat from 1-7pm taking in enough calories that I would normally take in and focus on lots of protein, quality fats and vegetables. I mix in some carb up days whenever I need them for a more explosive activity such as playing ice hockey.
So far I have lost 10lbs of fat, gained 5 lbs of muscle and hover at around 8% BF. I have plenty of energy in the morning to do a strength workout 3x a week and add in some walking and hiking. Needless to say I had to see for myself and I did not lose any muscle during the fast but rather gained and lost fat. I am sure my LDL and BP have gone down, I have more focus in the AMs with only a cup of coffee (and I only need one to last me a whole day) and my life does not revolve around food and I enjoy my meals when I have them.
Best part is IF is a lifestyle, not a fad fast. You can do a 16-18hr fast daily(like I do, 24 hr fast 1-3x a week, or just fit it in whenever. That’s not even to say the healing powers of fasting go back 100s of years.
Sorry for the long post, but as a fitness professional and working with many people with chronic illnesses, I can’t stress this lifestyle enough.
sorry just to clarify too, it’s not a reduced calorie/calorie restriction diet, it’s just a smaller window of eating with the same healthy calories (within 10%) I would normally intake in a day. Also the fasting is strict water and only coffee for me, no sugar added. I also add in some apple cider vinegar and fresh lemons during the water fasting periods.
Mike
That sounds worth it! I believe i’ll give it a try, thanks for sharing how well it works, i’m convinced. Oh, i always drink water with a fresh squeezed lemon after a good work out.
Mark,
I have a friend that did drank juice for her fast. She did not complain about being hungry, it didn’t bother her not eating, You’re right, it does defeat the purpose. I told her i did not think drinking juice was a “fast” that she was just sacrificing eating.
I’ve fasted for 24 hours on water only. I do feel better. Monday night to wednesday morning may be difficult. An easier 24 hr. fast would be to quit eating on say Saturday 2:00pm and eat again 24 hours later Sunday at 2:00pm. It seems easier, anyway.
Hi Mark
Inspired by Art Devany, I’ve been doing IF for a while now – combined with a low carb / paleo approach – and find it is realtively easy to stick to. I’ve leaned out a little bit from it and it actually frees up time from food prep.
Eades wrote about this earlier int he year on his blog too.
The method I use is typically to eat only in the evenings – like the Warrior diet or http://www.fast-5.com/ It is realtively easy to eat nothing during the day and feast at night. Loren Cordain had an article on this in his paleo newsletter a while ago
http://www.thepaleodiet.com/newsletter/newsletters/PaleoNewsletterVol1Issue3.pdf
saying that the evidence suggested that typically hunter gatherers would tend to eat big once a day. Which is sensible when you think about it – life was feast and famine in general and this approach mimics the same hormone drives.
IF you search pubmed for “intermittent fasting” there are loads of interestig articles. There are a few on my blog too.
I read it too fast and thought it said Intermittent FLASHING. Keep’in cool in the summer!
Seriously, as I initiate a dramatic change in lifestyle to a Primal Diet, I have attempted to IF in the evening and it is too difficult at this time because of the already drastic reduction in caloric intake.
However, I am able to sustain on a High Protein Shake (Meal Replacement) at 5:20 AM until a 12:00PM lunch weekdays.
Honestly, I am not ready for any food consumption that early in the day. Shake and DCMF for breakfast.
While I think that intermittent fasting is reasonable within the context of how we evolved and life prior to farming, I do have one caution. If you are susceptable to gout you may not want to fast or try it in short bursts and build up to longer ones. I’ve had a gout attack flare up practically every time I’ve tried this (voluntarily or not). Fasting tends to increase uric acid levels and increase your risk of having an acute attack. That said, losing weight will significantly lower your risk for getting gout so I am working on lowering my weight and taking the med’s necessary to stave off an attack at the same time.
I was doing a shortened eating window like Mike OD up there (MOD, is that you?), but was having trouble getting in enough calories in a 4 hour window. I’ve since switched to a 24-on, 24-off plan and I’m enjoying it. I don’t have to gorge as much to get enough food, I don’t have to feel overstuffed, and I can maintain my bodyweight and activity. I’m doing 6:30pm to 6:30pm of fasting and then 6:30pm to 6:30pm of eating, usually four meals (dinner, breakfast, lunch, light dinner).
Scott Kustes
Modern Forager
Michael Eades had some great write-ups on IF’ing earlier this year. I’ve been doing low-carbing (which had already become second nature) with 18/6 IF’ing since then. All you have to do is skip dinner or breakfast most days (no snacking!), which is pretty easy if you’re working.
My feet hurt!
I like what’s called low carb in this context. I’m referring to an earlier post where Mark describes a lunch salad. I like eating this way. I don’t know if I have my food/energy level dialed in or if I’m just more naturally aware I’m in need of a nap (no constant supply of energy coming in). Anyway, the post has inspired me to fast, today. I’ve done it irregularly (which is the right way I hear) from reading Devany’s blog.
What kind of exercise are people considering on fasting days? Mimic the ancestor and walk a lot like I’m in search of food? Maybe an occasional run and throw a rock like I’m aiming for small tree rodents?
I normally do 3 exercises (from a mix of about 30) at high intensity 2 to 5 days in a given week. I’m skipping that stuff today.
After reading about this last Fall, I started doing IF, and have continued to do it with good results. I generally eat from about 6pm to 10pm at night and fast the test of the time. It is a good weight-management tool. After loosing some weight initially, I’ve stayed pretty steady for the last 5 months. This of course is without making any concerted effort to lose, but it sure is nice to not have to worry about how much I eat or even what I eat, as long as most days I eat what I feel is an optimal diet for me healthwise. So I wouldn’t say there’s no plateau for IF’ers. I think there are plateau’s for just about any eating plan. But I also think IF makes it very hard to regain weight and also potentially has some great health benefits on top of it’s facility in helping one lose weight.
It was nice reading the posts. I have started this way of eating two months ago and have noticed incredible results. Mostly, I fast for 19 hours and eat in a 5 hour window. I have lost weight and inches, have more (lots more) energy, sleep better and seem more alert. Generally, I eat whatever I want to in my eating window, but since the weight loss has slowed down, I am considering making some modifications and lowering my carbs. A couple things I noticed–the flavors of all foods seem more intense, so be prepared for fruits to seem too sweet, and be careful to taste your food before adding salt.
You asked about exercise…well I will be 69 tomorrow, work full time and exercise 5 times a week. I do yoga 3 x and work out at a gym with a private trainer 2 x. I do all of the exercising in my fasting mode and have had only one time that I dot dizzy when going from lying down to standing quickly. That may have been due to dehydration, so I try to keep my fluids up during the exercise phase.
Looking forward to learning as much as I can about this way of eating.
MJ
This IF stuff is becoming quite a fad in the fitness world today. As interesting (and seemingly logical) as this article was, it lacks solid research to validate some of its claims. Much ‘promising’ research has only been done on animals. Take a look at this for more info:
http://alanaragon.com/an-objective-look-at-intermittent-fasting.html
PS… Don’t get dragged in by weight loss anecdotes! Many people will experience weight loss simply because they are NOT eating as much as they used to, because, well, their available eating times are significantly reduced.
Have many of you tried the Master Cleanser by Stanley Burroughs. Its the one done by Beyonce with the Madal Bal Syrup. I am actually the US distributor of the syrup and thought some of you might be interested. The Master Cleanse makes fasting a bit easier than juice fasting because you get more calories from the syrup yet you still give your digestive system a rest. Over the years working with this diet I have heard so many miraculous stories that I really believe periodic fasting is the missing link in western medicine.
Be well,
Charlie Rebich
Hi,
I have been doing intermittent fasting (eating every other day) since January of 2007. I only use water on my days off food. Many people I explain this to say it sounds to difficult for them. However I found the body adapts and gets use to the routine, you have to stick with it or it becomes difficult. That is the only trick to it, just maintain the routine and you won’t be hungry on the days off, but if you cheat and make exceptions your system gets confused and you will have trouble. When people ask why your not eating today, just say you are detoxifying today(which is true), don’t say fasting or they may start to judge you because they may not understand etc. I’m also now a 100% vegetarian with I am enjoying very much and have never felt better in my life. I also completed a long fast (healing) in January for 14 days (water only) this was more difficult and I don’t recommend anyone to do this without a lot of knowledge on it first and even medical advice from a Doctor who knows the subject. I plan on a 30-40 day fast (water only) when I’m ready. The intermittent fasting will always be part of my life and I just would not be happy going back to eating food every day. If you have any questions I checked the notification for resposnes to this post. God Bless!
Hi I was just wandering around looking for more information on fasting, I myself am on my 8th day of just water, I am feeling so much better, I havent cheated once and I started at 242lbs and now Im at 217lbs, the weight came off quick in the begining and now I loose about 1lbs a day, I am so pleased that I dont feel hungery I never thought I could even go 1 day without food. So to anyone that has doubts( You can do it!)
IF may be good for your health but not for losing weight. As soon as you eat the next day you start gaining it back at least for me.
well it has now been a little over a month and as I said I started at 242lbs and now Im at 192lbs. I have now started eating a little veggi broth and every other day a mashed up veggi like a carrot, I mash it so it digests faster and easyer, for me this whole thing has had to be a change that will be with me my whole life, you see my grandmother died at 700lbs, my mother is 450lbs and I have a younger brother that at 22 weights about 360lbs so my fasting has been to correct my eating habits and make the change that will keep me around longer for my 3 children, I cryed when my kids got excited that they could give me a hug and fit their little arm’s around me all the way, I feel great inside and out, I will never make excuses again!
I have being on a 20-hour daily fast since 04-01-07 and the result has being amazing.Prior to this fast ,i was lethargic,having chest pains,weighing 83kg(height 5ft 4inches),depressed.presently i am weighing 65kg which i have maintained for past 6 months.I have never experienced so much energy and happiness in my life.I am focused and rearing to go.I eat as much i like after 6pm daily and stop eating at 10pm.i have not being sick since i started this program.I hope this helps someone
Yeah same here atumu I have been doing 20-hour daily fasts on water for nearly 2 years I dunno if its working but I am about 54kg 5′7. I eat as much as I want anytime really. Sometimes I start at 8pm, sometimes I start at 5 – 5:30pm. But no earlier than 4:30PM. When its cold and rainy and I have got nothin to do in the evening I just start whenever.
One meal every second day would be the best lifestyle for humans-(super). The meal should be of the highest possible nutrition such as oranges and apples and only small amounts eaten over a few hours. If one absolutely feels they need more calories then adding juicing to the meal would work. But remember the trick is to provide only what the body needs nothing more and nothing less. All cells in their natural state are immortal until debris is introduced (caused by eating) which leads to cellular death-(aging). Since humans have no other method of cellular stimulation – (needed to live) besides eating we are stuck with eventual death. To reduce the speed of cellular death we need to eat only what is required for stimulation allowing human life using food types that have built in cellular protective characteristics such as anti-oxidants.
Boy I don’t know about just eating apples and oranges cause you would be a twig literally starving wouldn’t you? If you have NO protein you have NO muscle. Which means you can pump all the iron you want and its not gonna do anything if you can even still lift it. Won’t your body start eating your muscles?? Can’t you do a water fast like two to three days a week then on the other days eat 4 to 6 meals with lots of protein, complex carbs like red and sweet patatoes and veggies?? What do you all think?? Lose fat, still build muscle?
Why does everyone choose to do an eating window
at night? I much prefer to do breakfast thru
lunch and then fast for the rest of the day.
It just makes more sense to me. I have only been
trying it a few weeks just to loose some additional fat to increase my running speed. In the past the easiest way to loose weight was to
concentrate on limiting my evening meals. It also
frees up more time for you to do other things…
like the exercise of your choice.
I like your concepts, Jordan. You would become
really lean and effecient on that type of diet.
Getting going on it would be an adjustment though…
Regarding the eating window. My theory behind eating a super only instead of breakfast or lunch is this: Digestion takes allot of nerve energy, if you eat breakfast and lunch the body is busy assimilating food all day. If you avoid eating breakfast and lunch, you instead detoxify all day (repairing) and you have all that extra nerve energy to use on what-ever you want…work etc. Some of the Free E-Books on my website discuss the NO breakfast approach to health.
Jordan,
Now I understand…you mean supper instead of
super, right? I thought at first you were saying
that eating once every other day would make you
a super human.
Woops! Sorry about the typo. Yes I mean Supper (Evening meal).
Mark,
I think you might have to do a more clarifying post. I don’t think IF is meant to be long periods of starvation, and it seems some of the people responding think that is what you mean. People SHOULD eat, but there are benefits to intermittently not eating. I’d love to hear more about what are acceptable intervals and what is just plain starvation.
First I should mention that fasting and starvation are two different things completely. During fasting the body uses Ketones for energy built primarily from fat reserves. During this time the body cleans house…removes any debris and attempts to rebuild any damages that it finds. Starvation only starts after all possible Fat and lastly muscle reserves have been depleted-basically you would look like a walking skeleton with some skin on it before you begin to starve. This takes many months to start for the average size human.
Starvation with an IF lifestyle is impossible in my opinion. IF generally includes eating one day and fasting the other. I practice this lifestyle. I take in vegetables and fruits in liquid form every second day – no solids. I then Dry Fast (no water – no food) the other day for about 36 hours. (Dry fasting only recommend for experienced fasters) In total I go for over half the year without food or water, additionally I do at least two 15 Day water fasts. I maintain a weight of 190 pounds and I am very physically active. If fasting every 2nd day is too difficult then even 1 day a week would be very beneficial to the body and mind. For anyone truly serious about adopting a lifestyle involving fasting then you may wish to visit http://www.fastingconnection.com. This site has fasting MD’s who are very experienced with supervising fasting. It was a great help to me when I was just starting a transition to this lifestyle. Remember… we are not nourished by the amount of food we consume but rather by the amount we assimilate.
I can offer a comment to G’s question about why some of us choose the evening as the eating window. I used eat only during the day but it often proved challenging to refrain from eating at night if hubby was cooking something that smelled fantastic. Not to mention air popped popcorn (one of my weaknesses). As a result I was sure I consumed more calories than I was aiming for.
Since reading this website and trying the reverse – black coffee between 9 and 10, water with lemon all day and breaking my fast with fruit, then easing into a big salad, protein and steamed veggies at night. I have had postive results overall.
In addition, eating at night will allow me to fulfill all my social engagements without having to be so fearful of eating. I am definitely less food obsessed and look forward to eating rather than having it be all about weighing my food and trying to figure out how many calories etc.
I use the 3 days on, 1 day off schedule promoted over at crossfit.com and do a run with some intervals followed by a cf workout.
Thanks so much for this website, Mark!
I have really enjoyed reading all of these very informative posts. I found my way to IF through a diet called The Doctor Johnson’s Up Day Down Day Diet. He suggests eating no more than 500 cals one day, then eat to satisfaction the next. But he had also talked about intermittent fasting, but said that “most” people could not do that, so their goal was to stay under 500 cals. But being the hard headed person I am, I was determined to not be “most” people. I have been fasting every other day for 2 weeks now, and find my fasting days much more pleasurable, than my eating days. I have more energy, better mood, and all around improved perspective on eating, and my relationship with food. I enjoy my ability to eat more intuitively now. I will be following this way of eating the remainder of my life!
Excellent Jackie! With strong will power and our advancing knowledge one can achieve a level of health that is un-heard of ever. I hope to be dry fasting 3 days and one day eating within this next month. Right now I’m still only 1 day on one off. Definitely I too fell much better on my fasting days. Good luck and stay strong!
I’m interested in starting this diet. Help me out! What does the one day on and one day off consist of? Do I eat anything I want the first day, then on the next day just drink water? HELP!
From some experiments that I have read from the National Library of Medicine it seems you can eat as much as you want on your eating day and still get the health – life extension benefits of fasting. The benefits are much more powerful then caloric restriction and you don’t have to get so skinny. The eating every other day such as 1 day on – one day off extends life generally about 30 – 40 percent an average suggest many experiments. The longer in between eating the longer the life extension. Reason seems to be (my theory) that the huge energy draining process of digestive metabolism and natural toxic properties of food cause what we like to call aging. Think about this: Even Fruits don’t want to die (be eaten) so they have a substance call fructose which is poison for mammals; luckily the fruit has anti-oxidants to protect itself from the poison fructose which also may protect us from the fructose to some degree. The simple method for eating every other day is not counting the hours but simple by sleeps. So Monday you Fast then go to bed and Tuesday morning you can eat all day if you want; then Wednesday Fast again etc. After you do it for a while to get use to it. But if you cheat you have to get use to it all over again. The body seems to get into a rhythm of eating and fasting which actually helps to make it easier. If your new to fasting you can use water on your fasting days; when you get lots of experience you can do dry Fasting (no water) the body obtains water from fat cells and other means but with that you need to know your body well (listen to your body). Dry fasting gives your body total rest from processing external substances forced into it hence making it a bit more powerful then water fasting, but it’s only for experienced fasters. If you want support from the fasting community including an experienced Medical Doctor who supervises Fasting check out http://www.fastingconnection.com. I have a hundred or so forum posts on that site.
Good luck,
Jordan O’Hara
Cure Zone Ltd.
http://www.curezone.ca
I have been following an IF diet for about 2 weeks now and i feel great. on the days i go to work and school I fast for 20 hours and eat around 1500 to 1800 kcal in a 4 hour window. I feel completely free from having to plan my day around my meals I now plan my meals around my day. On days i don’t have school or work(the weekend) i follow a paleo grazing diet with one “cheat” meal. The results are amazing, my wieght has gone done and my strength has gone up. I also have no early mourning slump i believe due to my old “larger” breakfast.
Great post!
If anyone wonders if this method is healthy, check out this study saying “Eating less and more than needed on alternate days prolongs life…”
Well, I don’t know whether to believe it or not…what do you think?
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WN2-4JFGFM7-1&_user=10&_handle=V-WA-A-W-CV-MsSAYWA-UUW-U-AAZUYUBBUZ-AACYBYVAUZ-AWZWYZAYU-CV-U&_fmt=summary&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F2006&_rdoc=3&_orig=browse&_srch=%23toc%236950%232006%23999329997%23624953!&_cdi=6950&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=96c00cfa4fff7eb7671448500eabcb1e
The link to the study in the previous comment is broken, hope this time it will work
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WN2-4JFGFM7-1&_user=10&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F2006&_alid=786931884&_rdoc=4&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=6950&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=5&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=2fd2849b1bcaae5bbc5fdd2b7ece3983
Jordan, your last comment belies a fundamental misunderstanding of biology –
“Even Fruits don’t want to die (be eaten) so they have a substance call fructose which is poison for mammals; luckily the fruit has anti-oxidants to protect itself from the poison fructose which also may protect us from the fructose to some degree.”
This is ENTIRELY false. Many plants rely on their fruit being eaten by animals to disperse their seeds – the animals eat the fruit and then crap the seeds somewhere far away, where the seeds never would have gotten if it weren’t for the animals. Many seedlings that just fall to the ground beneath the plant may not thrive due to shade from the mother plant. Also, why do you think most fruits are so colorful? You’d think if they didn’t want to be eaten by animals, they’d camouflage themselves in green. They’re colorful to attract the eye of roaming animals.
This is not Entirely false. We’re talking chemical warfare and plants are damn good at it. We only eat the failures. Otherwise they do their best to kill us. Why should it be any other way?
We seem to be in the midst of an “evolutionary arms race”, meaning plants evolve to make us carry their seeds and/or to fend off being gobbled by poisoning us, and we in turn evolve to process those very toxins, or at least to somehow neutralize them. However at this point we are still greatly damaged by fruit toxins – i.e. fructose. Fructose triggers deleterious modification in cells through the glycation process.
It’s all too easy to pick a nice shiny red piece of fruit. Too easy, I would say…
Plant defenses can be classified generally as induced or constitutive. Constitutive defenses are always present in the plant species, while induced defenses are synthesized or mobilized to the site where a plant is injured. There are wide variations in the composition and concentration of constitutive defenses and these range from mechanical defenses to digestibility reducers and toxins. Most external mechanical defenses and large quantitative defenses are constitutive, as they require large amounts of resources to produce and difficult to mobilize.
Induced defenses include secondary metabolic products, as well as morphological and physiological changes. An advantage of inducible, rather than constitutive defenses, is that increased variability increases the effectiveness of the defenses.[11] This advantage comes from the suggestion that if herbivores can choose among different plants and plant tissues, they may avoid eating plants that have both constitutive and induced defenses.
Plants have developed many secondary metabolites involved in plant defense, which are collectively known as antiherbivory compounds and can be classified into three sub-groups: nitrogen compounds (including alkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides and glucosinolates), terpenoids, and phenolics.
Sincerely,
Jordan O’Hara
Cure Zone Ltd.
http://www.curezone.ca
I like it simply because I am not FULL all the time. I get bloating pretty easily, and doing this is simple, I get to enjoy good foods and not worry about eating so much AND I feel lighter and only full once a day or every other day.
Very informative post.
I’ve been doing the 24/24 version of intermittent fasting and documenting the progress on my blog:
http://inhumanexperiment.blogspot.com/search/label/intermittent%20fasting
So far everything is going great.
- JLL
Hi Mark,
I learned about IF after reading a few entries on this subject on Dr. Mike Eades blog. I found it intriguing considering the fact that I had begun gaining a lot of weight on my low carb diet. Atkins is a diet that is perfect for me and I didn’t want to give up eating that way even though I had gained all of the weight that I lost and then some. I now fast for 20 hours and eat within a 4 hour window. I also increased my fat intake. The results have been great. My weight is slowly dropping and people are commenting on my weightloss.I wore my size 8 dress on Friday and it fit perfectly. Losing weight without changing the diet, so to speak, is the best part of IF. Eating a higher amount of fats have also been rewarding.I have included coconut oil and pure mct in my diet alsong with magnesium and vitamin D3. I am hypoglycemic ( self diagnosed )and have had no crazy episodes of insulin spikes.I function well during fasting. I do not experience dizziness. Once I had a headache which I blamed on my fasting but recall reading in the Brain Trust Program that headaches may be cause by low magnesium. So instead of ending my fast earlier than planned, I took one of my mag supplements and the pain went away just like I had taken an aspirin.Before I began Atkins, I had some severe joint pain. I felt elderly at the age of 45. But soon after beginning Atkins that pain dissipated considerably. However,I had some residual inflammation in my joints which vanished completely once I included IF. I am sure this is due to the anti-inflammatory properties or IF,LC and coconut oil.I really want to stand up for IF because it works and it is healthy.
I have included IF to my diet for 1 1/2 years now and I have lost nearly all the weight that I regained and I hope to reach 135 lbs in 2009.
Thanks,
Mary
I’d like to add that the reason that I had the guts to IF was that Drs Eades tried it…they didn’t look for human guinea pigs to do it. They did it themselves. I knew that with my healthy low carb wisdom, I too could embark on doing this. And I must say, I have been more sucessful on it than the doctors cuz I stuck to it.
Mary again,
Will it disrupt the desired benefits of fasting if one takes a fish oil or multivitamin supplement? The same goes with a simple cup of green tea.
Will these throw off all the benefits?
Yes, it will disrupt the fasting ‘detox+repair’ mode of the body & you will not have near all the benefits of water fasting. You should only have distilled water.
I have been IFing since Jan 1st, so it’s been 2 weeks. I started at 125 and I haven’t lost any weight yet! I have been fasting all day and eating between 2 and 6pm. I also would out 40 minutes 5 days a week! When should the weight start comming off???
Two weeks? How long did it take to prep for IF? It took at least a month for me to achieve the ability to IF. I don’t really know when the weight began coming off. I can testify, however, that it did come off. I did not starve my body and I gave it the time it needed to adjust to the new feeding schedule.At least that was my determination. I didn’t want to begin anything that I couldn’t continue, indefinitely.Kelly, you cannot begin IF, make it a temporary change and expect it to be a weightloss bullet.When you learned to drive a car, did you drive 85 miles an hour? I would assume the anser is “no”. Don’t expect IF to be any different. If you plan to do IF, you should also plan to do it as a lifetime change. Go slowly. Kelly, I lost 25(ish) lbs. in less than 2 years. I didn’t drop 25 lbs in weeks or months. As a matter of fact there were moments when my weight increased. However, my periods were lighter and shorter.Residual joint pain vanished. I felt lighter even when I had an increase in weight probably because of my increased regularity.
I made IF my friend. As the years go on, I have grown closer to IF. My body is actually responding to exercise and other physical activity. Since nothing was guaranteed, especially weightloss, I didn’t doubt the success. I receive way more than I expected. All I had to do was wait for it to happen.
Jon, I drink coffee with cream and MCT oil in the morning. Vitamin D, krill oil and a b vomplex tablet is also consumed in the morning. No, it does not disrupt the benefits of IF.
I’ve been doing a couple of 36 hour fasts a week since last April. My experience has been that I do better with both energy and losing weight if I really, really keep up my vitamin intake. While I know it’s not “pure” fasting, I do drink a single zip fizz (10 calories) for vitamins on my fast days, and make a point of getting enough water. I have the completely unscientific impression that a body not getting enough vitamins will be more reluctant to let go of it’s energy resources, like fat!
I also drink caffeinated tea with artificial sweetener on fast days. My energy levels, mental and physical were just too low when I water fasted. I’ve lost 30 pounds – and considering my really spotty compliance, that’s a great result!
The way I see it, the eating plan that works for you is the one you can stand to stay on. Obviously, the jury’s still out on whether this does anything to extend my life span, but my only ancestor who I know fasted (one day per week), was also the longest lived.
Kelly,
IF is a very slow way to lose. It took about 1 year and 8 months to lose 25 ish lbs. It took a few months to lose 5 lbs and it didn’t happen all at once. I did the fasting, taking my eyes off the scale. I began losing 2 lbs here, 5 lbs there until I began getting comments on my weightloss. The onlything I did was implement IF to my low carb diet.
Please keep in mind that caffeine and fasting might not be a preferred mix. The drug Caffeine promotes physiological aging. The fasting organism is trying to repair / detoxify and stop aging damage as quick as it can – so by adding the caffeine drug you may be negatively affecting the health recovery potential of your fast. Additionally the body is not in a true ‘fasting state’ until ‘all’ food / drug is stopped from entering the digestive processes.
I’m aware that it’s not a “perfect” fast, but it’s what I can do, and I think it’s definitely less stressful than trying a more traditional diet. I’ve gone off caffeine long and short term numerous times, and find that I really just like it, and like the alertness. And since my primary goal (for now) is weight loss, I’m satisfied that it’s working out.
I pretty much do just two cups of tea per day, and the aforementioned zip fizz for vitamins. This generally doesn’t provoke the *ahem* lower digestive system response that I get when I break the fast with a 70 calorie V-8.
But here’s something I was pondering last night: We all absorb a certain amount of *stuff* via our skin. Do you think that soaps, lotions, shampoos and hair gels, makeup, etc. also interfere with your recovery potential? I also know people who are very concerned about the amount of chlorine they absorb by showering in chlorinated water.
Jordan I disagree. If you feel like your body is fasting, you are in a fasting state. I am not fasting like a scientist who has done studies on a few subjects. I am fasting like a human who is on a food restricted diet.I consider my fast broken when I eat my first meal of the day. Also there have been studies made that say that caffeine is indeed healthy. If I had to remove all drugs from my body, that would mean that I couldn’t take medecine while fasting.
Sharon, we do absorb things through shampoos and soaps. I try to not obsess too much about that. I can’t afford the wonderful cosmetics at Mother’s Market but I do try and buy some things. I do use coconut oil on my skin and I injest it as well.
This is just my opinion but I get my opinion from things that I have observed.
A lot of changes happen when the body’s energy source is changed. From what I have learned is that the body will not make the ‘physiological switch over’ into a fasting state until all food intake to the stomach has stopped. Many processes then startup such as fatty acids are turned into Ketones, glucose is then no longer the only energy source used by the brain etc. Among the global Fasting community Eating small amounts of food is generally called Under-eating – which can also have many positive effects on life but I wouldn’t call under-eating fasting as that confuses the terminology of things. For example an animal in the wild would not be considered fasting when it is eating small amounts of food.
Hope this helps.
As for trans dermal absorption of substances: Yes many small substances absorb into the skin and into the blood via skin including the substances in your water – depending where you live could be chlorine + chlorine bi-products and maybe fluoride too. The lungs also absorb even more stuff & larger stuff but that’s another story. Hope this helps!
Jordan O’Hara
hey…im use to fasting because im a muslim as ramadan involves fasting without water everyday, these fasts last about 12-16 hours and then food can be eat, what i was thinking of doing was fasting 24 hours a day, and eat at night everyday, is this a good way to do it or not? seein as i will be living off one meal a day at night, roughly a few hours before bed, exercise during the day to lose weight, i will be doing HIIT cardio and strength training, would this work?
I have some days where I eat only one meal at supper time. I am sure that the body can adapt to this on a regular basis.
can anyone help me out?
Hassan, my comment was meant for you. It didn’t help?
ohh was it lol…my bad didnt notice, umm yeah that sounds good, but what else can i try? once a day eating only, around the evning time
Hassan, check out “The Warrior Diet” and “Fast 5″. The Warrior Diet is about under-eating during the day and then over-eating during a 4 hour window, preferably at the end of one’s day. Fast 5 is about fasting during the day and eating anything you choose during a 5 hour window.
Each is a form of IF that has many adherents.
to jordan o hara,hello i wanted to say i liked reading your post about how you have a eating window of breakfast until noon.and then you fast until the rest of the day until the next day. Thats what i do also ive been informed that my eating early in the day is considered IF and for many years id been doing this and didnt know that there was name for this.Im about 5″2 and currently 115lbs and i use IF to keep the 15 pounds at bay and if i keep it clean i wont gain weight . But i still dont understand why night time eating is preferred? if i eat at night in the past i would gain weight very easily and i have a small frame, so eating 2000 calories doesnt work for me even if im supposed to spread it out over a window of 5 hours. I only eat once it works for me i lost 50lbs 6 years ago doing this one meal a day and i work out during the day also.Sorry for the long post.
Hi everyone.
Been doing IF (18-19 hour daily fast) since Dec 1 08 and love it. I’ve lost 10 pounds with 18 left to go, and I have a defined waist again. This is my WOE for life.
My stringbean cousin has been IF-ing with a 7-8 hour (no breakfast) daily eating window for about 30 years. A professor suggested this diet when he complained of gaining weight in college. The professor believed that everyone except infants and young children should have an established daily eating window, meals only and no snacking, and his own three kids were 7-9 hour IF’ers by age 25. Athletes and others doing physical work should IF too, but with longer windows.
hi mr.JORDAN
Im a filipino and just read the articles about IF im just started 24 IF and hope u can give me advised to work on it.
I would start out in small steps – that is to allow your body time to adjust to the new healthy lifestyle of IF. You will in time notice how your body adjusts and IF becomes easier and you eventually require much less food to sustain your physical makeup. You will see that IF provides much freedom. Always try to listen to your body’s biological feed back.
Regards,
Jordan O’Hara
“hi mr.JORDAN
Im a filipino and just read the articles about IF im just started 24 IF and hope u can give me advised to work on it.”
Actually many who have suffered with neurological incapacities such as epilepsy and Parkinsons disease have been helped tremendously with IF most likesly due to its ketogenic components. In my opinion if IF improves the health of neurons in these people it should benefit those of us without it or prhaps be used as preventative measures for those who are at risk. I have been doing this for 2 years…this week and, although low carb has greatly diminished my migraines, I still had residual auras for some reason. However, after combining a healthy low carb lifestyle with IF, my auras are now gone. This is something to cheer about even if some people might doubt its reliability.
When it is time to break my fast I eat like a cave woman. I just finished my fast break meal of chicken thighs cooked in collard greens and black soy beans. I had a side of sliced avocado and tomatoes. What kind of mainstream science do you need if you are eating healthy? The best way to determine the health benefits is to try it yourself. You have to do it long enough to notice the results. My first theory upon beginning IF was that it, at least, enabled the gut to complete the digestive process. Afterall, some food can take up to 3 days to completely digest. Soon after beginning IF, I began having a bowel movement soon after my fast breaking meal. I believe that this was something that, at least partially supported my theory. One thing for sure, I feel much better.
Regardless, I beleive that the neurons need fasting. After much research I know this is a fact even if mainstream science is dragging its feet in the mud.
There is well over 100 years of scientific data behind fasting. Check out the National Library of Medicine for tons of great info. Many Universities are studying fasting right now and have been for many years. The benefits are well know to ‘mainstream science’ however not many people are willing to fast even if it could save there life.
Regards,
Jordan O’Hara
I hope it is okay to post this here. It is a blog entry on fasting, ketosis and metabolism. Quite interesting and it is one of my favorite posts. Thanks Dr. Michael Eades.
Sorry, I forgot to post it, here it is.
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/ketones-and-ketosis/metabolism-and-ketosis/
After i broke my fast is it ok that i ate solid food or ate a lot of rice and fried chicken,meat etc.
Toats, there are 2 concepts on this. How long was your fast? I know that some who have lengthy fasts of 2 or more days experience tummy distress upon breaking a fast with a heavy meal. I rarely fast beyond 24 hours and my meals are according to what I want to eat. I may REALLY want a large meal. If this is the case, I eat a large meal. I do low carb so my meals will have some form of meat/fish/chicken. I also try to eat 1/2 to 1 whole avocado, veggies ( especiallly collard greens, turnips, celery root ). If I have a small appetite, I eat according to that when I break my fast. This may be as small as some homemade chicken salad with a 1/4 of an apple.
you mean theres no problem regarding eating a lot of solid food after 24hr IF as long as u can bear it,ive heard people that skipping meal can cause ulcer can u please enlightened me about this.
sorry i forgot, can i take my vit.calcium (500mg)after i break my fast,i prefer my window at 7 to 12pm started today.
I eat exactly what my body wants at the end of my fasting. Yesterday, for example, I had a baked chicken thigh, 1/2 sliced avocado, and a mix of collard greens and black soy beans ( cooked Southern style ). I add plenty of butter and other fats to my diet. I topped that off with a a serving of sugarfree chocolate pudding. IMHO, the ulcer fear is mythical since it is bacteria that causes an ulcer…not the digestive process. Plus, I try to fast with the mind of a cave woman and she has no clue what an ulcer is. She eats when she can and all that she can cause she has no idea when her next meal might be. All I require of myself is making sure that my food is low carb and healthy.
Oh and about your calcium, I think that it would be just fine to take your calcium or any other supplement right after you break your fast. That is when I take mine.
I take digestive enzymes when I break the fast. With those I have no trouble with solid foods.
Regards,
Jordan O’Hara
how come that one of our friend she told me it might harm you due to our small intestine doesnt have anything to grind,about IF or(skipping 2 meal)
Toats, I don’t know why your friend would say that. It makes no sense to me. My gut feels great. In the beginning, there were no grocery stores, no candy bars, no McDonalds, no Pizza Huts. In other words, food was very difficult to come by.There was no way that life could have existed without an extended fasting period. That being said, we all fast. I ate dinner tonight at 7:00 PM. My next meal will not be sooner than 12 hours away. That is, if I eat at 7:00 AM. I don’t even plan on getting up until 9:00 and I may not eat breakfast until 11:00. That would be a minnimum of 16 hours going by without food. My small intestine will be just fine. It takes 3 days for some foods to even digest completely, so I doubt that a reasonable fast would harm any part of the digestive tract. My husband will have surgery on his large intestine and fasting is going to be necessary for a few days. This is to allow the intestine to rest. I had a colonoscopy which required me to basically fast fro several hours. My mom had to fast to heal her pancreas from pancreatitis. If fasting can be used to heal the digestive tract of those who are ill. I am sure it won’t hurt someone who is healthy. I think that the digestive tract does indeed needs rest. After doing this for 2 years, my gut feels much better.
http://www.davedraper.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/PmWiki/IntermittentFasting
This is a site that has many references to IF. It includes many that I have investigated while considering IF as a part of my lifestyle. I believe that I cam upon Mark’s Daily Apple through one or more of these sites. Hope they are helpful.
I’ve been doing the fasting now for 3 weeks. Today is the third day. So far I’ve been doing it where I eat dinner the night before and then nothing until dinner today, about 24 hours. I don’t normally make it with NOTHING all day. Last time I ate two cheese sticks and a few pieces of fruit. I would rather not do that, but frankly the low blood sugar, shaking, and feelings of weakness drive me crazy. Is this not normal? I also notice that I have a pretty short fuse on these days. I am über cranky. Does anyone else feel this way?
Jac – most people starting fasting have the same issues you mention to different degrees. However, these side effects do normally completely subside over time. Your body needs to complete a physiological adjustment to the new healthy lifestyle condition. It’s just like quitting a bad habit like smoking. Just takes time to comfortably adjust to the new healthy ways.
In my honest opinion, Jac, you are not eating enough. When I break my fasts, I do it with a butt load of food to make sure that I make through to the next time that I eat. For example, a T bone steak with 3 bean salad and sliced avocado. When I began to IF, I would add a glass of V8 juice. PLUS a nice low carbohydrate dessert such as strawberries with full fat sour cream with a scoop of whey protein . Now, that’s what I call eatin’. I eat like a cave man. My blood glucose remains stable. I am also even tempered. Supplements such as MCT oil,vitamin D3,Krill and B vitamins are also a part of my diet.
And, like Jordan O. says you do indeed have to allow your body to make necessary adaptations. But, make sure that you are eating enough food. Remember the best part of a fast is the meal that breaks it.
Also, think of the financial savings! That’s why I’m doing IF. We’re basically not eating for six months a year with a one day on/on day off IF. That means no money spent on food for six months!! Imagine the savings $$$!!!
Also, think of the time saved. Now I don’t have to stop working or whatever in the middle of the day to eat lunch – I just keep on doing whatever I’m doing. I can work later, too, because I don’t have to come in for supper on my non-eating days. IF has major time and financial savings.
Hey Guys
I did the Lemon Detox with the Madal Bal for 7days. Lost about 6 KG. I could not believe how great I felt. I eat between Midday and 8pm usually and I am thinking of bringing that in between 1pm and 7pm now. The only things I touch outside this Period is Water, Green Tea, Bee Pollen Capsules (High vitamins and minerals) and Fresh Lemon Juice.
I have never Felt better. I am going to start adding some intencse short workouts in as well between meals in the eating period. GO IF!
I think it is something that needs to happen more in daily living in the western world.
I’m very new to this but I have a question about IF. What about headaches? If I just skip breakfast I will get a headache by 1:00 if I don’t eat lunch. It’s hard to work with a headache.
If you are new at this, why would you go until 1:00 without eating? That is not the wise way to fast. At least it is not the way I began doing this. If you normally eat breakfast at , say, 8:00 AM. Eat at 9:00 AM for a few days, then eat at 10:00 for a few days. Continue doing this until you work yourself up to your desired oficial time to break your fast. If you experience headaches and have no insulinemia issues, try taking a magnesium pill. Sometimes headaches are caused by low magnesium. I don’t even use Tylenol or aspirin anymore. I take a magnuesium supplement and my headache vanishes just as if I had taken an analgesic. However, I rarely get headaches anymore.
I do not believe that you should do intermittent fasting without allowing your body time to become accustomed to the change.
I guess I wasn’t very clear with my explanation, sorry. I have not fasted in any way. I meant that I was new to the whole primal way of living. There have been times in my life when for one reason or another I have skipped breakfast, or eaten lightly, and been too busy to grab lunch until late in the day. That is when the headaches start as well as some of the same experiences that Jac expressed he was having.
We all fast. It is just that we are not aware of it. If we didn’t fast there would be no need for break-fast.I posted my concept of IF. That is how I began doing it. I eased into IF until I could go successfully to 3:00 in the afternoon. I have been doing this daily for 2 years. I am also a strong believer in reducing or even eliminating all sugars in the diet. You want to keep your insulin stable so toss the sugar. The best way to make it through a fast is to eat a high protein, ketogenic meal the night before. Also take your supplements at dinner time. You are getting headaches because you are waiting until 1:00 PM to eat. Don’t do that…you are not ready. If you were ready you would not get the headaches. Also if you are not accustomed to eating low carb, that is something else you will have to ease into for what I think would be the best results.But if you want to be able to go through the day without the headaches, you first must address the possibility that you may be experiencing low magnesium. Also address glucose issues. If your insulin/glucose are not stable, that can slam you with a headache. Hence make sure that you consume a hearty protein/moderate fat meal.
Thanks for the advice Mary. It is tough eliminating carbs from my diet espcially since I am a sugar addict. I am trying to ease in to that though, cutting sugar first then going for the breads and pasta. I will keep all this in mind when/if I try fasting.
Yes, it is tough. You must decide what foods you want to be addicted to. Sugar is not healthy. Anything that will rot your teeth as easily as sugar should not be consumed so regularly. Just imagine what it can do to your insides.
Good luck on your journey.
Mary
Hi,, I’ve read about i. f. and it sounds really good. I have one concern though. I am 5′4 and my weight is around 110 pounds. I eat well, and although I am vegetarian, I ocasionally smoke so I want to kick off the habit and try some fastings as well. The most I’ve done water fasting in the past is 2 or 3 days. However, I want to do a cleansing, empower my brain, clean my body. My only concern is how much could I do the fasting if I am mainly skinny, and I have a good metabolism? I guess my point is, how to fast in order to detox my body and my mind, without really losing more weight? What do you recommend? Is I.F. for me? Or should I try a juice fasting instead? Thanks.
I do IF on a daily basis. I do it for its ketogenic characteristics. My body runs better on high octane ketones.This meaning, I eat a normal balanced ketogenic diet in concert with IF.I think that fasting in its own right, cleanses the body without any help especially if you have a healthy metabolism. I am not a vegetarian and cannot really give you any advice that I would feel comfortable with BUT, I do think a juice fast would be counter-productive unless it is done with vegetable juice. Sweeter fruit juices have sugars that will swiftly impact your blood glucose. This would cause your insulin levels to rise and glucose levels to drop, which causes stress to your metabolism. Everyone should strive to keep both glucose and insulin levels under control.
Keep in mind that the purpose of IF is not to eat less food…it is to eat less often to allow the digestive system to complete the digestive process. By allowing the process to complete itself you will be amazed at how your body will cleanse itself. TMI, I know but this is significant. I have a nice BM that follows within 2 hours after eating my fast-breaking meal. Please note, that I did lose weight but it was only 22 pounds in 2 years. That’s not very fast. If I wanted to do this without weightloss. I eat within a 4 hour periods each day. So between 2:00 and 6:00 is when I eat. I eat whenever I want including snacks and 2 meals, which is my standard rule. The difference with that is, once I break my fast with a large caveman meal, my hunger is much milder througout the day.
So if I ate according to my standard rule, I am sure that I would not lose…at least not as much.
I would like to add that doing IF consistantly for 2 years, I have concluded that this isn’t something to do on occasion unless you do it for religious reasons. I believe that it should be done with some type of regularity to maintain healthy metabolism. But, that’s just me. Good Luck,
Mary
Plenty of research out there about IF and it’s benefits for the glucose metabolism and it’s neuroprotective stress responses. IF is not CR (Calorie resistriction) yet has many of the same health (and more) benefits. That is pretty amazing in itself. Here’s just one study:
“A consistent hormonal response to a decrease in food intake in rodents, nonhuman primates, and humans (30, 31) is a reduction in insulin levels and an increase in insulin sensitivity. We found that mice subjected to IF exhibited decreases in serum levels of glucose and insulin to levels at or below those in mice fed daily but with a 40% reduction in caloric intake. The ability of IF to alter fasting levels of insulin and glucose was independent of overall caloric intake.”
“The findings of this study suggest that IF can enhance health and cellular resistance to disease even if the fasting period is followed by a period of overeating such that overall caloric intake is not decreased.”
both from study: Intermittent fasting dissociates beneficial effects of dietary restriction on glucose metabolism and neuronal resistance to injury from calorie intake
If you improve the state of your glucose metabolism, you will lose fat. IF (even if just 1-2x a week) + Paleo foods will get you lean and healthy…IFOC (IF on Crappy foods) doesn’t work as well….simple as that.
You can also read about different approaches and 100s of comments about how people are using IF here: >a href=”http://lifespotlight.com/health/2008/02/27/intermittent-fasting-101-how-to-start-part-i/”>Intermittent Fasting 101
sorry….messed up the last link above…here it is again:
Intermittent Fasting 101
Great info Mike OD,
This is stuff that I read before doing IF. You put it all in a nutshell.
Thanks
Hi, I have been eating a ‘caveman’ diet for two years, eating 5 meals/day, eating around 100-120g carbs/day.
I exercise 4x/week using heavy weight compound exercises.
On those occasions when I have purposely skipped a meal on rest days, I notice a definite reduction in strength in my weights workout the following day.
May be i’m doing something wrong but I can’t combine IF and weight training without a measurable negative impact on strength.
I’d really appreciate any thoughts/comments.
From what I understand growth hormone production is stimulated with a combination of factors; Decreased blood glucose levels, increased blood protein levels,carbohydrate-restricted diet, FASTING, increased protein diet, free fatty acid decrease, PGE ( a good eicosanoid ) Stage IV sleep ( circadian sleep ) and exercise.This can be found on p. 191 in Protein Power by Dr. Michael Eades. There is more info on this but I would logically assume that if I have been consuming a lifestyle that is opposite from what I have listed here, it would indeed take some time for the body to adjust to the new lifestyle.Once the adjustment has been made, you should deveope muscles that will have a better sustainimg power.I think that it is worth taking the time to do it. I am not a weight trainer nor am I an athlete but I feel the best that I have ever felt…ever. I plan on running in a 5K race in November. During this race, I will just be finishing up my fast. I will not eat my first meal for anotther hour. By-the-way, I fast everyday.
I have been doing a complete fast with one 24-hour day per month for nearly 30 of my 36 years as part of my religious experience. I can vouch for how it is amazing to refocus the mind: I used to believe that I derived this benefit from all the practice I got from trying so hard to think about things other than food; so nice to know it is from a physiological effect too!
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20071106/fasting-may-cut-heart-risks
I have been doing a one day a week 24 hr fast for the last 4 weeks. It gets easier every week. I find my strength and cardio workouts don’t suffer.
Also, during the days when I’m not fasting, I eat about 100 calories every hour. This combo works great for me.
In 2005 I used to follow the Warrior Diet religiously every single day. I was 21 at the time, but was growing a bit thick around the stomach. Fasting works, and it works good. WD makes you eat one large, very large meal a day and I’d normally have a huge salad with tons of protein and fats from evoo and such.
Every morning I would wake up and do strenuous exercise including kettlebell work and a lot of dive bomber pushups, hand stand pushups, bridges, etc. lots of bodyweight work. Not only did I drop weight but I looked much leaner than I ever had. No dizzy spells or anything.
Once your body adapts, it’s like any other normal day. I’m doing more Anabolic Diet eating, but cleaner and now I’ll start fasting again once a week. Good article!
IF and Clean low carb food- perfect! Toss in strength training to complete the package. Howl at the moon.
I am wondering whether or not it is okay to fast when breastfeeding. My daughter is 14 months old, but eats little solid food, mostly the breast milk. I am easing into primal eating, and it would be significantly easier with fewer meals. I’ve been told over and over that you’re not supposed to diet when breastfeeding, but I have 100 lbs to lose, and I hope to lose 50 of them at least before I get pregnant again, which is likely when I stop breastfeeding. I feel like I’m in a loop against weight loss by any form except just eating better food and exercising. I know that will help some, but I’ve had trouble being consistent and so I haven’t really lost anything.
Anyway, back to fasting:
Would the shorter eating window be okay (Dinner and a snack) If I ate a lot of nutritious foods and a pre-natal vitamin?
I can only offer up my opinion. I breastfed all 3 of my children. If I had it to do all over again, I do believe that I would be better at it the way I eat now. I do advocate eating low carb for the healthiest way to incorporate intermittent fasting. I would also use fats liberally in my diet. Fasting is nothing new…it is just new to modern civilization. Also, IF doesn’t really make you lose weight. It facilitates weightloss by allowing complete digestion.I did quite well losing weight after adding If but all in all, I only lost 15 lbs a year. A total of 30 lbs over a 2 year time frame. However, I was fifty when I began doing this and I know I would have had better weightloss results at an earlier age.
Make sure that you are consuming plenty of fluids for obvious reasons.The idea with IF isnot to consume fewer calories, just consume fewer meals.Hope ths helps.
Cheers,
Mary
I would like to add something else. If you have dinner at 7 PM and not eat breakfast until, say 9 AM the next morning,you’ve spent 14 hours fasting naturally. Not much different from an extended fast.
Thanks, Mary
I can make that 14 hours just fine. Maybe even up to 16, if I’m inactive. Still pretty blood sugar sensitive. I’ve been easing into this lifestyle, Trying not to be too harsh on my family (my mom complains about how she can’t seem to omit that one last eggyolk, and then turns around and eats boca burgers…) And my husband’s best friends are named Carl (Jr. of course) and Jack, who lives in a box. I’ve gotten my meals to be pretty primal, and even some snacks. Once the stress hits, though, I attack bad food. Ugh.
Anyways, I figure that if I can keep the discipline of an eating window, perhaps it will be easier to avoid the bad foods of the world.
Now to kick my kid of her Cheddar Bunny habit…
Hi Sara,
You have your work cut out for ya, I see. I am sure that our primal sisters had stressful moments. What did they do for that? Anyhoo, I’m enjoying our IF chats.With IF I do tend to eat less of the bad stuff. IF is work and I don’t want to mess that up with a hershey bar ;-0
I have been fasting a total of maybe close to 50 days on and off (mostly 5 hour fast got me prepared for longer fast) some 48 fast diffcult need more mental control) and 24 hour fast simple if you keep it up)
I have had great sucess..got discourage from a 1 day standstill i know that was silly (suffer from alot of doubt i swear if food talks to you it does on the inside to)
and switched back to diet pills for 3 days and horrible thoughts in my head.
I had wls 7 yrs ago lost over 200 pds i look amazing i must say but i been trying for the last 3 years to get to my (last goal of 120) and i have tried alot of things that i knew wasn’t right..But since i started fasting besides learning a new relationship with myself with out food (which i thought i could never live without and i know if i chew even a piece of gum i have to raid the fridge i have problems with food)
IF not hard it has been rewarding. Lol i been tip toeing around a 30 day fast i am going to have to work on that. I even thought about keeping up the 48 fast its a bit more diffcult but reguardless fasting has saved my life i think besides the fact i think GOD gives us more than what we need to survive. The health reasons must be way higher than having mcdonalds 4 times a day.
I totally support intermittent fasting!!
Holy Cow…who the heck want to take 2 years to lose 25 lbs?? Mark, I think your original post got hijacked! Over at Bodybuilding.com, I regularly see people completely transformed from 30% fat to under 10% for contests…in 3-6 months! Now I’m not interested in that lifestyle, and I don’t want to eat 6 flippin times a day, and I think fat is essential… BUT… these comments have done nothing to sell me on IF. I think, if done how you intended, it should have 3 benefits: 1. make you feel good, 2. give you the mental strength to not panic every time you don’t have access to food, and 3. help you lose weight (if you’re trying to do so) or maintain (if you’re already there.)
Food is not evil!
I would much rather lose 25 lbs in 2 years than to GAIN 25 lbs in 2 years. I know this as a fact because I did both.
No food is not evil, that is why a love IF…I get to eat all the food I want as long as it is low carb. I just make sure that I eat within a 4 hour windoq. I think that it is great to be able to eat a poop load of food AND lose weight while doing it. PLUS, after eating a poop load of food, I get to have a nice BM. My stomach is flatter without doing any form of exercise. My blood lipids and blood glucaose are stable. I can be physically active without the worry of passing out. I’m not trying to sell you on IF, I am just sharing my experience.
Mary, I regretted posting that because it does seem like I was referring to your posts, when actually it was other posts that I thought turned things around a bit. Unfortunately, it was the “25 lbs in two years” that stuck with me the most, as that would be awfully frustrating for me. You’re right though, it is much better that you didn’t gain that amount instead…you’ve created a lifestyle/weight you can maintain.
Marie, no worries. I actually lost 30 lbs in 2 years and have 10 more to go before reaching my goal. I post about intermittent fasting because I think that I adapted a pretty ideal manner of which to do it successfully and I just hope to be able to help someone to do this without it being a fad diet.
I fasted from Sunday at 7pm to yesterday (Monday) at 5 pm…definitely a first for me barring the flu
It wasn’t too difficult because this sinus infection has me feeling pretty bad; and I didn’t feel “light” or refreshed either because, again, I feel crappy from illness…but, I will do this again because,for me, the biggest reason is my #2 above: overcome that panic that comes in from missing a meal..teaching my body that it’s okay, I’ve got plenty of “stored energy” for use!
So while I believe humans are designed physically and culturally to eat…to share meals… IF is a nice tool to have.
IF does not remove the culture of eating and sharing meals. That is something else that you have to teach your body. Not only is it okay to skip a meal ( althoough, I do not believe that is possible ) but once you break your fast, meals are even more enjoyable
and sharing meals are even more rewarding.
We are in agreement
very interesting reading – I started Fast 5 two weeks ago now but I don’t do it every day – only Monday through Friday and then I eat normally on Saturday and Sundays (although I do low carb on those days) For me it has been liberating to stop eating so much – I seem to be the kind of person that when I start eating in the morning I can’t stop so to not start until 2pm is much easier – then I eat what I want until 7pm but do try to keep the food healthy – keeping it low carb as much as possible… I feel great…