Now that we’re more than a month into 2017, it’s likely that most people have abandoned their New Year’s resolutions. That’s not good news for everyone who vowed to lose those extra pounds, or even those who just wanted to detox from the overly indulgent holiday season. The upside is that there’s a way to accomplish both weight loss and detoxification — and it doesn’t involve gallons of green juice or giving up your favorite foods.
Simply put, intermittent fasting, or IF, is time-restricted eating. You can pursue it in a variety of ways, be it by reducing the number of hours during the day you consume food, skipping one meal each day or eating normally for six days of the week and then fasting completely on the seventh day.
The idea of fasting isn’t new. There are studies on it dating back to the 1940s, and it’s mentioned in the texts of every major religion. The practice of fasting likely goes back to the beginning of human existence, when food wasn’t available at a moment’s notice the way it is now. Today, fasting is gaining mainstream popularity as its potential benefits become more widely understood. The concept is that when the body doesn’t have to spend as much time and energy on digestion, it’s able to focus on activities that benefit us in other ways, like eliminating toxins or burning excess fat.
[See: How to Lose Fat Fast — and Fit Into Your Skinny Jeans.]
Wondering if you should give intermittent fasting a try? Unless you have low blood sugar, in which case IF should be avoided until your glucose and insulin levels are in check, I think you should. Here’s why:
1. You’ll detox more effortlessly.
Contrary to marketing messages encouraging you to buy expensive detox kits and teas, your body is always detoxifying. On a constant basis, there are millions of cellular reactions taking place that identify and replace worn-out cells. One of the best ways to make this process more efficient is to relieve the body of other high-energy tasks, so it can completely focus on cell regeneration. Because digestion requires the body to shift its focus from tending to cells to digesting food, giving your digestive system a break can enable your body to rid itself of toxins, oxidative stress and damaged cells.
2. You’ll help regulate your hormones.
Insulin resistance, which occurs when cells have trouble absorbing glucose from the blood and using it for energy, is a contributing factor in nearly every chronic disease, including Type 2 diabetes. But IF is an effective way of normalizing insulin sensitivity since it gives the body a chance to “reset” its relationship with insulin.
IF also helps us get better control over leptin, a hormone that regulates fat storage and hunger signals, and tells the brain when you’re full. When leptin levels are out of whack, however, the signal doesn’t reach the brain and you still feel hungry, even when you’ve eaten a sufficient amount. IF can help change that.
3. You may lose fat.
Any natural sugars in your food that aren’t used immediately for energy are stored in the liver as glycogen. And when there’s been enough glycogen stored, this energy will be stored as fat. The good news is that, even though this stored glycogen is the first fuel source the body will use, once those stores are gone (typically after six to eight hours), the body turns to fat cells for energy. When you eat throughout the day, it becomes much harder for your body to burn fat, as it never runs out of stored glycogen. But IF makes it possible kick into those fat stores, even if you never change your diet.
[See: 5 Weight-Loss Tricks That Don’t Involve Dieting or (Much) Exercise.]
4. You may feel more alert.
You’ve probably been told that when you’re hungry, your brain will slow down and make you feel sluggish. But far from making us hangry, intermittent fasting is actually good for brain health. It’s been known to reduce inflammation — a major contributor to almost every chronic disease — while also reducing oxidative stress.
On a day-to-day basis, IF may actually encourage the growth of nerve cells in the brain, allowing it to function better and keep you sharp. Early research also suggests IF might even protect our brain from strokes. Plus, when insulin resistance is improved and hormones are balanced, the brain naturally functions better.
5. You may improve your relationship with food.
For people looking to lose weight, eliminate toxins and get healthy overall, I always recommend my healing diet, which is designed to nourish the body and help it heal itself. But I also know that it may be too restrictive for those just starting to get healthy and, for them, IF can be a better fit.
Instead of radical eating plans that promise great results but are impossible to maintain, IF places the focus on when you eat, not what you eat. And, for many people, that freedom allows them to finally turn the corner and establish some healthy habits they can stick with long-term.
[See: How to Make Healthful Dietary Changes Last a Lifetime.]
Before trying IF, keep in mind that it’s important to be patient with yourself. It will take your body (and mind!) some time to adjust to intermittent fasting, so don’t get discouraged if your first few tries don’t go as planned. The more you practice IF, the easier it will be become.
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Should You Try Intermittent Fasting? originally appeared on usnews.com
