Intermittent fasting Meal Plans are easy to create
Intermittent fasting became one more food fad but one involving no food. Even though more people are becoming aware, fasting is still not as well-understood as a health practice. Fasting is easy; the more fasting, the more adapted you become to fasting. Feeling the benefits of fasting doesn’t take time; you must stop eating for longer and repeated intervals.
Choose a plan (at the end of this article) and start enjoying intermittent fasting.
Fasting is easier and more efficient than changing your diet. You don’t change what you eat; you don’t eat as frequently. The idea is to create controlled and consistent intervals between eating and not eating. By doing so, you jog your body into burning fat and activating hormonal and metabolic functions even when you’re not fasting.
When you’re done with a fasting interval, you feel less hungry during your eating intervals. When you’re on intermittent fasting, eat as much as you like to prepare or load up for the next fasting period. Fasting is natural and a part of our human DNA.
In the past, famine and food scarcity have forced mankind into periods of not eating or eating small amounts. Fasting has also been used for religious purposes for thousands of years. Fasting is a powerful healing and spiritual medicine dating back to the birth of humanity. Here's how you can enjoy the 7 benefits of intermittent fasting.
After fasting, you’ll notice weight loss, a general sense of well-being, deep sleep, and more energy. You’ll notice the difference after your first fasting session. But the long-term benefits of fasting are nothing short of a health transformation:
Increase life expectancy
weight loss
diabetes obliteration
cardiovascular protection
nervous system protection
muscle builder
cancer prevention
disease prevention
mental clarity
sexual stamina
deep sleeping
Why fasting is so powerful
We have been told since childhood that we need to eat frequently to survive and have energy. If you don’t eat, you’ll starve, go into a coma and die. Nutritionists tell us that we must constantly eat so our blood sugar doesn’t go down. But this is not true; our body has immense untapped energy reserves and doesn’t need glucose to function. Nutrition is important, but how you absorb nutrients and process energy is even more significant.
Humans are more likely to be injured by too much food than the lack thereof. In our not-so-distant past, food was hard to come by. After millions of years of evolution, we adapted to food scarcity [2]. To survive, our metabolism develops sophisticated biological tools, giving us stamina, immunity, resilience, and the energy to look for food.
Fast forward to our food-galore industrialized world, and these biological traits become dormant. Obesity and metabolic diseases are rampant and “the new normal.” Treatment with drugs and diet often don’t work. The good news is that we can reboot our biological lean and mean machine with fasting. In a nutshell, it works more or less like this:
A percentage of every bite we eat is stored as fat. Unfortunately, we can’t burn stored fat because we eat too frequently. To burn fat, we need hormonal signaling, which only occurs when no insulin is present in the blood.
Every time we eat, the insulin hormone is released. This powerful hormone takes priority in storing fat and stimulates appetite. Growth hormones and other metabolic functions are halted. We often don’t spend enough energy to burn these caloric stores. We eat 24/7, and having a sedentary life is like adding insult to injury.
By eating intermittently, we allow an insulin-free organism in our body to perform vital hormonal functions it desperately needs to keep us young, trimmed, and sharp-minded.
When we stop eating for longer periods, growth hormone is released. The body is encouraged to build muscle for more strength and glycogen storage, burn fat, and destroy old dysfunctional cells. Mental alertness is restored. The body rebuilds and is refreshed, cell by cell.
Fasting: a different way of eating
Our traditional way of eating is breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. With fasting, you think more like:
One chunk of the day for eating
The other chunk, not eating
If your goal is to lose weight, eat moderately or the same as usual during the times you are eating.
If you want to enjoy the benefits of fasting without losing weight, eat larger meals and snacks during the times you eat.
Fasting Vs. dieting
Fasting is not a diet; it is not about what you eat. With dieting, you must choose, count, and replace some foods. It can be annoying, anti-social, and hard to follow.
With intermittent fasting, you keep eating what you usually eat; you don’t eat continuously. Fasting is easier in your social life. You can easily switch your schedules to accommodate your social life.
But just because you’re fasting doesn’t mean you are immune to junk food effects. You should enhance your fasting by eating high-quality foods and consuming fewer carbohydrates. Eat more healthy fats as in a ketogenic diet.
You don’t need to go on a full ketogenic diet, but it would help if you are somewhat keto-adapted; you’ll feel less hungry when fasting. When you eat a diet rich in healthy fats, you usually have less urge to eat frequently, thus making fasting easier.
When you fast, your body becomes a fat-burning enzyme. After fasting for a while, anything you eat is processed more efficiently. Your digestive system becomes more powerful and able to handle just about anything you throw at it because you limit food intake.
A word of caution
Fasting is powerful stuff, and you should approach it carefully. If you are contemplating fasting to have a health boost and lose some love handles, intermittent fasting is as benign and safe as a walk in the park.
However, if you have serious health problems such as morbid obesity, diabetes, eating disorders, renal or heart disease — seek help from a specialized fasting clinic.
Fasting will not make your condition worse; much to the contrary. But your aggravated health might produce undesirable side effects as you fast. These adverse effects need to be monitored by a professional.
For example, if you are diabetic and use medications such as insulin or metformin, please seek professional help and do not attempt it alone. You may end up with serious hypoglycemic episodes.
If you try fasting on your own, stop taking insulin or oral antihyperglycemics and start with small fasting intervals. Keep a close watch on your blood sugar.
Eventually, fasting will reduce insulin resistance, improve glucose tolerance and allow you to burn fat for fuel, bypassing the need for glucose control altogether.
Note that when you initiate eating after longer fasting, be mindful not to eat too quickly and too much. Give your stomach a break.
Health Benefits of Fasting
#1 Cardiovascular benefits
The main risk factors for cardiovascular disease and stroke are the same conditions fasting improves.
High LDL
low HDL
inflammation
high blood sugar
oxidative stress
Hypertension
Dietary restriction and intermittent fasting improve cardiovascular disease risk factors [4]. Individuals with impaired glucose regulation experience marked improvement in blood sugar regulation in a short time. Intermittent fasting reduces inflammation, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance — all hallmark cardiovascular disease and stroke risks. It also reduces LDL while increasing HDL [4].
High levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Studies with rodents, monkeys, and humans suggest that caloric restriction also stabilizes heart rate, reducing beats per minute and thus diminishing injury to the heart. Neurons and cardiac myocytes are also protected against ischemic injury.
#2 Fat loss
Fasting is the ultimate fat-losing weapon. Diets don’t have as much of a punch as fasting. Better even than the Ketogenic diet, one of the best fat-loss diets.
A ketogenic diet burns fat by restricting carbohydrates and forcing the body to burn fat. By not eating carbs, one enters ketosis and begins to burn fat for energy. But any small slip-eating carbs will get you right back into the glucose path and out of ketosis. With fasting, there is no way out.
Fasting will help you start burning fat on day one. There is nothing to burn but your stored fat. Your body will tap into stored fats with an appetite. It doesn’t take long for your body to finally open the fat reserves when it senses that “there is no food coming.” This is especially true on prolonged 24-hour fasts.
Burning fat is beneficial to everyone. Even skinny people have accumulated internal fat around the organs that need to go. You can’t see it, but it's there.
#3 Reversal of type 2 diabetes
Diseases such as diabetes and obesity cause significant suffering and financial burden to many. These diseases are directly related to an inflammatory process of excessive caloric intake. Worse, we mostly eat sugary diets with simple carbohydrates [1,2].
Diabetes type II reversal is one of the great benefits of fasting. Diabetes can be completely reversed with fasting in only a few weeks.
Traditional health care treats diabetes by simply masking the symptoms and controlling blood glucose. Doctors do not address the causes of diabetes. Diabetes is not a chronic disease but a nutritional disturbance. It can only be reversed if we address eating habits and lifestyle changes.
The main cause of type II diabetes is insulin resistance. The causes of insulin resistance are? Guess what? — Too much insulin is secreted by eating excessively and too often.
When glucose is not absorbed by cells, it accumulates as fat in the liver or spills into the bloodstream. Once our liver glycogen stores are full, glucose spills out into the blood, thus creating the condition known as hyperglycemia or high blood sugar.
Our modern healthcare system treats high blood sugar as if high blood sugar alone is the cause of diabetes. High blood sugar is just a symptom of diabetes. What we need is to treat diabetes, and not its symptoms.
It would be best to reduce caloric intake, and fasting does that. When we reduce caloric intake, the liver's sugar and fat are used for energy. Insulin production is dramatically reduced. The need for oral anti-hyperglycemic comes to zero.
Fasting promotes cell replacement and repair by autophagy, rejuvenating the liver and the pancreas. With insulin levels under control, cell insulin resistance is repaired. Blood sugar comes back to normal in a few weeks [17].
But the best part is not that blood sugar levels are normal. The best is that the diabetes process is reversed. For a more detailed explanation, watch the video below.
#4 Muscle building
Fasting is one of the most significant stimuli for the production of growth hormones. There is an inverse relationship between insulin and growth hormone.
When insulin is present, it inhibits growth hormone. When there is no insulin, growth hormone is secreted and does its work reconstructing the body, including muscle building.
This concept also applies to strength training. It’s a myth that we have to eat directly before training. If we eat right and train consistently, our bodies can perform with or without food.
I used to go to the gym eating only one egg. I did it because I thought working out on an empty stomach was impossible. That didn’t work well, so I returned to eating carbs before the workout. It improved my performance. But when I tried lifting weights and fasting, something amazing happened. I had explosiveness, endurance, and much more muscle power.
#5 Increase Longevity
Intermittent fasting and reduced meal frequencies, such as every other-day fasting, can increase life longevity, even when there is little or no overall decrease in caloric intake.
Studies show that fasting correlates with lower levels of IGF-1, a hormone scientists believe promotes disease and aging. In addition, research shows that fasting can help reduce levels of C-reactive protein, a biomarker of inflammatory responses [21].
Fasting also regenerates the body by getting rid of old and damaged cells. When there is a lack of nutrition, your body senses it as a threat. Next, it starts getting rid of all unnecessary cells that are consuming energy inefficiently. The net sum of this alone produces energy, but it also rejuvenates the body.
The creation of new cells follows the process of destruction and cleaning up, and your body is constantly rejuvenated while you fast.
#6 Mental clarity
Fasting produces mental clarity for a simple reason: There is a large survival advantage to animals that are cognitively sharp, as well as physically agile during times of food scarcity.
Autophagy Diagram
When facing starvation, mammals activate autophagy, a cellular cleansing process.
Dietary restriction improves the function and resilience of the cardiovascular system and the brain. After you eat a large meal, what happens? You feel tired and sleepy. This is due to the digestive system prioritization. All other systems are put on hold. You are supposed to be foggy and sleepy so your body can do all the work of storing fat for later [24].
When energy is not used for digestion, it is often directed to your muscles and brain [6]. Take note of how creative energy and mental clarity usually happen during periods when we’re not eating. Children, when deeply engaged in play, often forget to eat. The same happens when adults engage in highly creative activities with others or alone. People simply forget to eat; it is just not that important.
#7 Anti — Inflammation and Detox
Processed foods and environmental toxins from pollution take a toll on our health, creating oxidative stress (free radicals) and inflammation. But our bodies have an efficient system designed to clean and free us from toxic waste.
With intermittent fasting, you’ll bring back your detox system to life. Your body will have time to secrete growth hormones and other special hormones that will keep your body a lean and mean machine.
One study found that subjects who practiced intermittent fasting had greater antioxidants available in their bodies, helping to reduce the impact of toxins.
These protections are on hold or restricted when we are in eating or digestive mode. This is how it works:
The digestive process gets priority. When we ingest food, our bodies are hardwired to process and manage their caloric payload; fats need to be stored. The body processes food as if — expecting a famine or “it just doesn’t know when there will be food again.” We are simply hardwired to do that.
So, all hormones and other biological processes other than digestion stop when we digest. Muscle-building, detoxification, and free radical scavenging take second priority.
“When facing starvation, mammals activate autophagy, a cellular cleansing process”
3 SCHEDULE TEMPLATES
There are many ways to fast. Here are some Intermittent fasting Meal Plans You’ll quickly get used to it once you start fasting. No single plan or schedule is perfect and better than the other.
You have to do what works best for you. The only thing you have to do is to understand the basic building blocks of fasting:
You’ll eat during some hours of the day — the rest of the day, you will not eat. How you organize that is up to you, and you can alternate between different schedules. Here are the three most popular ones.
#1 Daily Fasting
Not eating: 16 hours eating: 8 hours.
This is the most accessible and most accommodating fasting schedule. You’ll use nighttime (when you’re not eating) and then some morning hours.
Your eating period is from 12 noon to 8:00 PM. Stop eating at 8:00 PM and begin the noneating period from 8:00 PM to 12:00 noon the next day. Repeat it every day.
You’ll fast every day. Even though you do not fast for long periods, you do it every day. The net sum of your fasting is mighty.
In this plan, there is increased fat loss because you’re eliminating calorie intake from your diet. You’re skipping breakfast every day. You also eat less because the less food you ingest, the less hungry you feel. If losing weight is what you want — great!
If you want to retain weight and gain muscle mass, work out in the morning and increase your food intake between 12:00–and 8:00.
I used this schedule to start fasting, but it was initially OK to skip some days. This way, you’ll get your feet wet and allow your body to adapt to fasting. Your body will give you clear signs that it is working. You’ll feel the energy.
At first, daily fasting may seem too easy and not what “real fasting” people talk about. But don’t get deceived. The daily is powerful stuff. Remember, you are fasting every day. So, consider the compound effect of fasting.
#2 Once a Week
Not eating: 24 hours one day a week. Eating all other days of the week
Twenty-four hours without eating is intense. However, it should not be such a big deal if you’ve been fasting for 16 hours every day. I recommend you try schedule #1 before you attempt this one.
Make sure you drink lots of water. The advantage of this method is that you’re only doing one day out of a week. So, you commit for one day and then return to your regular eating habits.
This type of fasting is very powerful. This fasting method is ideal for those who want fast benefits without losing weight. You fast for only one day a week, so your caloric intake remains the same.
#3 Every Other Day
Not eating: 24 hours eating: 24 hours
(taking a break and eating on the weekends)
In this schedule, you fast for a long time and do it every other day. This is not for beginners. Master the #1 and #2 before you attempt this one.
In this plan, you’ll eat for 24 hours and stop eating for the next 24 hours. You’ll eat dinner at 8:00 PM on Monday as your last meal of the day and resume eating at 8:00 PM the next day or Tuesday. On Wednesday, you’ll eat all day and resume fasting at 8:00 PM on Wednesday evening.
This is the hardest type of fasting to perform, in my opinion. Because you are simply fasting for a long time and doing it often, this is ideal for extreme weight loss because the amount of caloric intake will tend to be seriously diminished.
Unless you learn to eat larger portions, you tend to feel less hungry. Remember that the less you eat, the less you’ll feel like eating because your stomach size will shrink.
Part of what makes us feel hungry is our stomach nerve receptors. When our stomach is empty, it triggers hunger responses as it shrinks. If your stomach is smaller, there will be less nerve response to hunger due to less shrinkage.
Fasting aids
There are things you can do while you fast that will help and enhance the health benefits of fasting.
Drink Water — Drinking lots of water is fundamental for good health, but this is more so while you’re fasting. The body uses water and lots of it to break down fat for energy. So, if you’re not well hydrated, the body will have more difficulty breaking down fat. Also, water helps get rid of toxins.
Black Seed oil — Black seed oil is a fat burner and glucose stabilizer by excellence. You can take black seed when you’re off fasting and for optimum health.
Yerba Mate — This South American tea is a beautiful aid to fasting. You can use yerba mate any time you fast. I like to use it in the morning when waking up. If you hunger for breakfast, the mate will feel like you had breakfast, quickly put your body in fasting mode, and burn fat for fuel. Beyond that, it has a wealth of minerals and antioxidant compounds.
Beyond Intermittent fasting
Extended water fasting — This is not intermittent fasting. Water fasting is when you fast for a much longer period. A week, two, or even months. This type of fasting is recommended for people with serious illnesses and should only be attempted if you:
know what you are doing and
have a fasting clinic to guide you
Juice fasting is similar to water fasting, but you take some special juices to aid your healing process. This type of fasting is also conducted with the help of professionals. There are many juice-fasting clinics in the United States and the world. Please research well before you commit.
Fasting mimicking diets — A special set of prepared foods induces the fasting state without fasting. So, you’ll eat and still be fasting. To find out more, refer to the links below.
Resources
References
Caloric restriction and intermittent fasting: Two potential diets for successful brain aging
Physiological and Chronobiological Changes during Ramadan Intermittent Fasting
Oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes: the role of fasting and postprandial glycaemia
Effect of intermittent fasting on prostate cancer tumor growth in a mouse model
Fasting and Cancer Treatment in Humans: A Case series report
Dietary Restriction and AMPK Increase Lifespan via Mitochondrial Network and Peroxisome Remodelin
Neandertal Energetics Revisited: Insights Into Population Dynamics and Life History Evolution
Image credit: Pixabay
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