A member suggested this topic, but first, a little background.
Your hunting and gathering ancestors didn’t have regular access to food like we do, so their bodies had to develop a way to operate without a consistent source of glucose. That’s where fasting comes into play as a survival mechanism.
It’s called intermittent fasting (IF) and here’s what some experts are saying about it.
From the journomed.com: It is technically not a diet but a practice where one refrains from eating for fixed consecutive hours. There are various kinds of dietary patterns in IF:
- In Time-restricted feeding IF: fasting for 8-16 hours
- In alternate-day fasting IF, fasting for 24 hours is followed up by a full day of unrestricted eating.
- In Alternate-day modified fasting IF, 25% of calories needed on a fasting day is allowed.
- In Periodic fasting IF, fasting for 1 to 2 days (25% of calorie needs) followed by unrestricted eating for the rest of the week.
- In the 5:2 diet, the limited energy intake of 500 kcal (women) & 600 kcal (men) is recommended for 2 days and the rest of the 5 non-fasting days are usual 2000 kcal (women) and 2400 kcal (men) is advised.
- In the 6:1 IF diet, 6 days of usual diet and 1 day of fast per week.
- In Eat-Stop-Eat IF diet, a variation of the 6:1 diet with two 24 hours fasts per week.
- In the 16:8 IF diet, 16 hours of fasting followed by 8 hours of meal consumption window.
Sounds do-able for my weight gain during the pandemic. So at the end of this fasting process, fats in the liver break down to form ketone substances, and in the absence of regular glucose, ketone bodies are used as an alternative source of energy to maintain organs and tissues. In fasting, the elevated glucagon levels signal to break down and utilize the built up body fat. The result, among others?
- Enables weight loss
- Keeps insulin level stable in diabetes and in selected cases
- Offers cardiac protection by improving inflammation, thus lowering LDL (low-density lipoprotein) levels in cholesterol
- Provides process for calorie restriction leading to longer lifespan
But the risks are many. IF is not allowed in pregnant and lactating women, young children, the elderly with co-morbid conditions, immunodeficient and organ transplant patients, and people with eating disorders. Especially during the initial days, can lead people to experience migraine, weakness, insomnia, and dizziness, and there it is, the last on that list being subject to a fall. Been there, done that, as most stroke survivors would say.
Before you try IF, everybody should ask the primary doctor, even if you’re not on the above-mentioned list. EVERYBODY!
Aviv-clinics says, “Making dietary changes, such as Intermittent fasting, benefits brain health, promotes weight loss, and prevents certain diseases.”
Fasting can reduce brain fog and sharpen thinking and improved moods. It also can increase your lifespan, lower your risks for diseases, and improve your brain’s overall health. But perhaps fasting’s biggest benefit is that it allows you to put the joy back in eating. When you don’t have to worry about weighing, counting or measuring, you can focus on eating foods that nourish not only your body, but also your soul.
Not for me or most stroke survivors, but best wishes if it’s for you.
